• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, May 9, 2019

It requires creating an overarching data strategy and securing access to user-level data, according to new recommendations from the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).

The MMA is recommending a number of workaround strategies to create more effective attribution models.

That includes going all-in with publishers in a “clean room” approach, which allows marketers to merge their data with publishers.

Marketers should also align with MTA providers whose data tagging systems are approved by major platforms, as well as implement an ad server with unrestricted IDs.

Additionally, the MMA suggests that marketers create an “uber-model” to combine findings from disparate sources into one cohesive view of media impact.

The recommendations are a response to more restrictive walled-garden practices among media companies, which are cutting off access to user-level data. That makes it harder for marketers to link ad serving and conversion data to user profiles.

The MMA largely attributes these more restrictive practices to the passage of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by the European Union, last year, which it believes is causing changes in practices worldwide.

According to research conducted by the MMA, marketers report that 34% of ad spending is currently covered by their MTA models, which results in a 9% average improvement in ROI.