Two new reports present data on the cost of mobile app user acquisition and, once acquired, app user engagement and retention benchmarks. The app acquisition data come from Kenshoo, which looked at key trends in 2015. The engagement and retention benchmarks come from Localytics, which reported aggregated data from across its customer base.
The Localytics data are global, but this post focuses on the US metrics. The Kenshoo data represent “over $85 million in advertiser spend, and over 45 million app installs, targeted across over 100 countries worldwide.”
Ad spending to drive app installs grew more than 150 percent from Q4 2014 to Q4 2015. Impressions, clicks and installs were all up during the same time frame.
Kenshoo said that there was little or no seasonal price fluctuation, unlike in other areas of digital. There was general price stability, and even a meaningful decline, in cost-per-install. The iOS platform commands a price premium vs. Android but doesn’t offer better performance metrics, according to Kenshoo.
Perhaps the most interesting finding is Instagram’s growth as an app-marketing platform. Kenshoo said that Instagram ads are lower-priced but also less effective than Facebook in driving installs. However, the company conveyed that it is a relatively effective channel for app installs.
Once installed, the majority of users have abandoned apps by the second month (67 percent). Three months out, only 25 percent of apps have been retained.
The following are Localytics’ findings regarding general app engagement:
App Launches — 11.48 average app launches per month
Session Length — 5.17 minutes average spent in any individual app per month
Time In App — 59.35 total minutes spent in apps per month
Localytics discovered that there’s a big difference in engagement between users who allow push notifications vs. those who do not. The company said that 51 percent of users who don’t allow push “will only visit an app once.” Those who allow push will also average 15.5 app launches per month, compared with 6.2 app launches for those who’ve disabled push.
Finally, Localytics identified the top five user acquisition channels for US app marketers:
Organic Channels
Facebook
Opera Mediaworks
Tapjoy
Instagram
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