Custom events

A campaign can optimise against something other than installs or revenue. If you track a signup, a subscription start, or a first-purchase event in your MMP, you can point a Catchbase campaign at that event and set either a cost-per-objective (CPO) target or a return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) target based on it. This page is the end-to-end configuration flow.

Before you start

An MMP integration (Adjust or AppsFlyer) connected to Catchbase.
The event you want to use is already configured and actively tracked in the MMP. Catchbase can only surface events the MMP is already receiving.
Admin or Editor role.
If you are using an AppsFlyer Partner integration, expect a 24 to 48 hour delay after the integration is created before events appear in the dropdown.

Configure a campaign against a custom event

Open the Campaigns table. Navigate to a campaign group. The Objective column shows each campaign's current metric as a coloured badge (for example, "Installs (Tap-Through)" or "Revenue D7").
Click the objective badge on the campaign you want to change. A dropdown opens with three sections: Conversions, In-App Events, and Revenue & ROAS.
Expand the In-App Events section and find the event you want. Events are listed by name, with the MMP source shown next to each. Each event has a chevron that expands into two sub-options: Count and Revenue.
Pick the event. Click the event row to expand its Count and Revenue sub-options.
Choose Count or Revenue.

Choose Count when you want a CPO target. The campaign will optimise for a cost per event (for example, "get signups at two dollars each"). The objective becomes a volume objective.
Choose Revenue when you want a ROAS target. The campaign will optimise for return on spend using the revenue attached to that event (for example, "achieve 1.5x on purchase revenue"). The objective becomes a revenue objective.

Set the target. A confirmation dialog opens asking for the target value. Enter the CPO in your campaign currency if you picked Count, or the ROAS multiplier (a unitless number) if you picked Revenue.
Confirm. The campaign's objective badge updates, and the bidder starts working against the new target on its next update cycle.
Verify on the campaign detail page. Open the campaign to see the new objective metric and target reflected in the header.

Limits

MMP first, always. Catchbase cannot create or backfill events. If you add a new event in your MMP, it needs to start producing data there before Catchbase will show it in the dropdown.
AppsFlyer Partner sync lag. Events from an AppsFlyer Partner integration typically appear within 24 to 48 hours. The dropdown shows a message with the expected wait when it detects a newly connected integration.
Switching units requires a new target. Moving a campaign between Count and Revenue on the same event, or from one event to a different one, changes what the target means. You will be prompted to set a new target in the confirmation dialog.

Why custom events differ from customer to customer

The standard Apple Ads metrics (impressions, taps, tap installs, spend) are identical across every Catchbase customer because they come from Apple. Custom events are the opposite: they are yours. The event names, the events that carry revenue, the mapping of in-app actions to event strings, and what a "conversion" means for your app are all configured in your MMP. Two customers running the same MMP provider will typically have different events. Catchbase surfaces whatever your MMP reports; it does not impose a vocabulary.

References