iOS ATT and other privacy changes broke a lot of our downstream signals. Moving the funnel to the web let us collect explicit opt‑ins and richer behavioral data before the app ever opened.
On the web we could ask for an email or phone, run lightweight onboarding to capture intent, and instrument events tied to a server id. When the user came to the app we matched that id and continued the same analytics stream. That gave us better retention cohorts and clearer LTV calculations.
What tradeoffs have you accepted when collecting opt‑in data on the web?
We asked for email on the web and incentivized it with a trial extension. Once we had an identifier we tracked onboarding steps server side and stitched them to in app behavior.
The Web2Wave templates helped set up the flow quickly so we could iterate on which asks actually increased retention.
Collecting the identifier on web gave us a persistent link between ad click and user lifecycle. We were able to build retention cohorts that ignored device privacy noise.
Being able to change the web ask without builds was huge for testing what users would share.
I started asking for an email on the landing page. It felt old school but it gave us a way to measure retention without relying on ATT.
Email on web fixed most analytics gaps
The web gives you a consent boundary you control. Ask for what you need to measure LTV in a transparent way and tie it to a server id. Use that id to map events across platforms.
Yes you will trade some friction. So A/B the ask and measure resulting retention not just sign up rate.
We saw better retention signals after adding one short question on the web about usage frequency. It segmented higher intent users and helped focus ad spend.
We lost less signal after capturing a simple identifier on web. It was worth the minor extra step.