Even though marketers were competing heavily during the month, driving up CPIs, Fiksu’s Cost per Loyal User Index (CPLU) showed a slight decline in October to $2.16 from September’s $2.25, as a result of the tendency of app users to quickly re-download their ‘vital apps’1 during upgrades. The first set of apps users download on their new iPhone 6s are likely to be those they can’t live without, which makes them much more likely to become loyal users of those apps. The trend underscores the importance of nurturing user loyalty prior to device launches and gift-giving seasons.
Despite the decline in cost per loyal user, the fact remains that the cost to acquire loyal users is still high: October’s CPLU is up 33 percent year-over-year, and other iOS metrics were up as well. The Cost per Launch (CPL) Index, which tracks the costs of driving engagement from mobile users, showed an increase on iOS to $0.26 up 24 percent month-over-month and 39 percent year-over-year. iOS Cost Per Install (CPI) increased 21 percent from September to $1.46, for a 59 percent rise year-over-year. This substantial jump in costs demonstrates a marked growth in competition this year as advertising dollars continue to flow into mobile.
“While recent indexes have shown a steady stream of escalating costs, the October index numbers validate another important trend: the increasing importance of apps to consumers,” said Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu. “Mobile marketers must start thinking strategically about their marketing tactics over the longer term and figure out how to use apps to connect with customers. October’s hindsight should serve as a guide for marketers preparing for impending holiday activity.”
In the coming months, marketers should also look to capitalize on untapped Android opportunities, Fiksu advises. The October Indexes showed CPL on Android at $0.10, up 28 percent month-over-month but down 26 percent year-over-year. Android CPI increased slightly to $1.10, representing a 1 percent increase from September, and 2 percent increase year-over-year. Given that costs and competition are lower on Android, marketers should look to use this channel to their advantage.
The Fiksu Indexes measure monthly fluctuations in competition for rank in the Apple App Store and the cost to acquire loyal users, helping mobile app marketers benchmark their performance against industry trends, remove complexity and guesswork and plan with more agility.
In the interest of more accurately representing how the incentivized traffic impacts the Cost per Install and Cost per Launch metrics, Fiksu has updated the formulas used to calculate those indexes. As a result some previous months’ data has been adjusted to reflect that new formula.
For Fiksu’s full October analysis, visit https://www.fiksu.com/resources/fiksu-indexes#analysis.
About Fiksu
Fiksu is the leading provider of mobile marketing products. A data-driven mobile ad tech company, the power of Fiksu is fueled by information assets from over 3.5 billion app installs and 5.4 trillion marketing events tracked across 1.7 billion devices. The company’s patent-pending Programmatic Mobile Demand Platform applies intelligent technology to proprietary big data to master ALL the challenges of mobile advertising — including tracking, optimization, media buying and integration. This cohesive approach spans the entire mobile ecosystem and ultimately delivers the best marketing performance. Additionally, Fiksu offers FreeMyApps®, the world’s largest app discovery platform where users are rewarded. Based in Boston, Mass., Fiksu is venture-backed by Qualcomm Ventures and Charles River Ventures. More at www.fiksu.com, @Fiksu, and on the Fiksu blog.
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