What is Conversion?

A conversion is any user action inside your app that reflects meaningful engagement or value, such as completing onboarding, starting a trial, making a purchase, or subscribing.

In mobile growth and measurement, conversions are the foundation of how we evaluate campaign effectiveness, product performance, and user quality.

For example, a learning app might define “watched first lesson” as a conversion, while a subscription app may use “trial started.” What qualifies as a conversion depends on the business model and growth goals.

How does it work?

When a user installs and opens the app, you track specific events that indicate progression or intent. These events, such as account created, first purchase, or level completed, are captured via your SDK or backend.

In SKAdNetwork, only one conversion value is sent per postback, so you must define a mapping strategy that translates key conversions into values Apple will return.

This forces teams to prioritize what matters in the user journey. A well-chosen conversion event can serve as a strong proxy for long-term value, even if you can’t see everything the user does.

Why it matters

Conversion tracking is at the heart of performance marketing. It enables:

• Measurement of how users respond to acquisition efforts

• Modeling of retention and monetization

• Decision-making across product and marketing teams

In the SKAN context, defining your primary conversions well and aligning them with your value mapping is essential for reading the limited data you’ll get back.