Spending on app advertising has grown 155% year-on-year and has lead to a staggering 196% increase in installs, according to research by Kenshoo.
Its latest Mobile App Advertising Trends Report, benchmarking key metrics for mobile app marketers, finds that overall these figures make for a decrease in the cost per install (-14%) for those that advertise and that impressions increased 187%, clicks by 280%, click through rate by 32% and cost per click dropped by a third.
Interestingly, Instagram advertising is proving highly effective for mobile app advertisers, with share of both clicks and app installs obtained through Instagram since the introduction of its advertising API in Q3 2015 exceeded the share of total advertising spend, and all three metrics showed considerable improvement over the last two quarters.
In fact, app install ads on Instagram delivered more than 20% of all app install ad clicks in Q4. Instagram provides an opportunity for app advertisers to acquire new customers at a lower cost than other social ads, because Instagram advertising has been consistently lower in price than other Facebook ad placements, while delivering nearly identical click-through rates.
App install ads for gaming apps were priced higher for CPM and CPC than their consumer counterparts ($6.18 and $0.67 vs. $3.15 and $0.28, respectively) but once consumers click on a gaming app ad, they are much more likely to install (39% vs. 11%) resulting in a drastically reduced cost per install (CPI) ($1.73 vs. $2.70) justifying the investment in garnering impressions and clicks.
“Marketers have embraced the influx of new ad types, publishers and tools to tailor their mobile app campaigns for success, but the evolution of the ecosystem is just beginning,” said Chris Costello, director of marketing research for Kenshoo. “Incorporating additional elements of the app experience like in-app engagement and lifetime value are the next steps for marketers in optimizing app campaigns to their specific goals and maximizing the app marketing opportunity.”
The news comes amid a recent flurry of interest among retailers in apps and augments calls for retailers to make more use of Google App Indexing to also drive traffic to apps. With more and more consumers looking to use apps to not only ‘do’ m-commerce, but as their way into your brand, making sure your app is found and used is more crucial than ever.
