Fiksu: 21% rise in cost to acquire new loyal mobile app user

The number of new mobile devices being used at the end of last year, both Android and iOS, resulted in millions of new downloads in December. Christmas Day 2012 saw a record 17.4 million iOS and Android device activations, two and a half times more than Christmas Day 2011. That, in turn, has pushed up the cost to acquire a new loyal user*, found Fiksu.

The firm's index, which tracks this cost, shows a 21% rise in December, 2012, up 29 cents, bringing the acquisition cost to $1.67 up from $1.38 in November, 2012.

"Mobile app marketers are a year older and a year wiser compared to 2011, and we saw this reflected in the December Indexes," says Fiksu on their website. "Unlike 2011, this time many opted for a value-versus-volume approach in the lead up to the holiday, spreading out their spending and, collectively, applying a more conservative, sophisticated strategy to their Q4 campaigns. By understanding exactly how much a loyal user is worth to their business and keeping their costs below that level, savvy marketers were able to maximize ROI during the busy season without over-spending."

*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.

Tags: customer acquisition, mobile apps, mobile marketing, ROI