Benchmarking app store competitiveness & the cost of mobile app marketing

Mobile marketing shouldn’t require guesswork. Our award-winning Fiksu Mobile App Marketing Platform injects predictability into your campaigns, removing complexity and guesswork and shifting the focus to where it belongs: performance.

We’ve accumulated more than 100 billion mobile app actions to-date – including launches, registrations, and in-app purchases – and use this data to help you better understand the fluctuating dynamics of the complex app marketing landscape through our monthly Fiksu Indexes. 

The Fiksu Indexes include:

• App Store Competitive Index - Ever wondered if specific positions inside the top ranked apps become more and less competitive over time? This index analyzes the average aggregate volume of the daily downloads of the Top 200 ranked free iPhone apps in the U.S.
• Cost per Loyal User Index - Cost per loyal user is a more meaningful measure of ROI than click-based campaigns. Loyal users are the key to building sustained growth for your mobile app business. This index tracks the fluctuating cost of acquiring loyal users (people who open an app three times or more).
• Fiksu Analysis - Read our take on the story behind the numbers each month, based on our expert understanding of mobile traffic, app store behaviors and our analysis of over 100 billion mobile app launches, registrations and in-app purchases recorded via the Fiksu Mobile App Marketing Platform.

App Store Competitive Index

March 2013

The App Store Competitive Index tracks the aggregate volume of downloads per day achieved by the top 200 ranked free iPhone apps in the U.S. In March, the Index dipped four percent, to 5.02 million daily downloads in March from February’s 5.20 million. In examining the App Store Competitive Index year-over-year, volume has increased by 12 percent since March 2012.

Cost per Loyal User Index

March 2013

The Cost per Loyal User Index measures the cost of acquiring a loyal user for brands who proactively market their apps. For the purposes of the Index, loyal users are defined as people who open an app three times or more. In March, the Fiksu Cost per Loyal User Index increased by five percent, or seven cents, to $1.36, from February’s $1.29.

Fiksu’s Analysis: March 2013

Despite a 12 percent year-over-year increase in the volume of daily downloads of the top 200 free iPhone apps, mobile app marketing costs remained steady in March – extending from February’s calm and consistent, yet valuable landscape.

This “new normal” seen in March was good news for mobile app marketers. Inventory has increased but costs have held steady, reflecting a maturity in the overall quality of apps and their ability to engage users. Yet despite the last few months of relative stability, marketers must always be prepared for the ebbs and flows that inevitably happen in the complex app ecosystem to shake things up. Notably, with Apple’s recent announcement that it will no longer accept new apps or app updates that access UDIDs after May 1, we’ll likely see some impact in our April Index data. Additionally, Apple’s evolving stance on apps used to promote other apps may affect the numbers in the coming months. Be sure to check back soon for more!

How can the Fiksu Indexes help you?

Your app is competing for users with more than a million others. The best way to improve your mobile marketing is to more precisely understand the competitive landscape you’re pouring your budget into. The Fiksu Indexes reveal how industry dynamics – such as iOS upgrades, device launches, advertiser demand, ad network/publisher inventory, and seasonal activity – impact your business goals. Armed with this insight, you can adapt and plan with more agility.

For example, maybe your cost to acquire loyal users increased month over month and you’re not sure why. Our Cost per Loyal User Index shows how much the industry paid on average, so you can compare and contrast and potentially understand the reasons for changing costs. Or, perhaps your rank slipped one month. Our App Store Competitive Index shows you the average daily downloads of the top ranked U.S. apps, so you can assess the competitive landscape and understand how larger industry trends may be impacting your rank.