• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 17, 2011

When it comes to the truth behind the value of mobile app downloads the cat is out of the bag. Or in the case of Kim Luegers' presentation this morning at MediaPost's Mobile Insider Summit on Lake Tahoe, Pandora may be out of the box. Yep, Luegers is director of mobile and emerging media for the online music service, and she just walked us through some best practices for analyzing the value of the best available metrics for mobile apps.

Specifically, Luegers looked at devices utilizing Apple's IOS operating system – iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch – and advised that marketers and agencies should not get too worked up on the massive download numbers, or what people in the biz call "installs."

Instead, she suggested drilling down into the data to understand the metrics that reveal actual usage, reach and engagement with the app – and any attendant advertising associated with it.

In other words, Luegers was suggesting that media planners and advertisers think about apps the way they'd think about a cable television network. Advertisers don't buy the potential reach – the number of households that have a cable TV channel available to them because they are distributed on cable and satellite TV systems – but based on the actual viewing they get.

So Luegers said look beyond the installed reach to understand the "real audience" and "active reach" of the app users, including the "time spent" with the app, and the repeat usage of it.

Equally significantly, she suggested that advertisers and agencies should also look at the different rates of usage across the various mobile screens. On Apple's IOS, that means looking at the differences among iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users.

For example, Pandora is currently installed on more than 40% of all of Apple's IOS devices, but its installed on nearly 55% of iPhones.

"If you're a marketer, if nobody actually opens up the app and uses it, it's worthless. Because nobody buys apps, they buy eyeballs," Luegers said noting that 52% of Pandora's iPad users open the app at least once a month.

Luegers said those stats are key for planning, because agencies can use it to "cap frequencies" and other important metrics.

"It's not going to cure cancer or anything," Luegers, "but for marketers who are looking to provide cross platform deals, it will give them a little more."