What the holiday shopping season taught us about smarter signals for 2026

The article reveals a common post-holiday marketing challenge: campaigns often generate strong surface-level engagement metrics (clicks, installs) but fail to drive meaningful revenue because these signals don't indicate true purchase intent.
Marketers end up optimizing for activity rather than business outcomes.
Signal Hub, a privacy-safe signal marketplace within AppsFlyer, addresses this by providing anonymized transaction-based purchase data.
This allows brands to build audiences based on verified spending behavior rather than just digital interactions.
Examples include finding new subscribers with proven entertainment spending habits and re-engaging paying mobile gamers.
The solution integrates with major ad platforms to activate these higher-value audiences and measure real revenue impact, shifting focus from campaign metrics to business optimization.