Do you know that mobile apps are expected to generate over $935 billion in revenue by 2023? The Apple Store has about 1.96 million apps available to download, while Google Play Store has about 2.87 million.
A CPI app campaign is a mobile marketing format where a user is directed to the app store to download an app. This ad campaign allows mobile marketers to conclude the ad click-to-conversion process and generate mobile Web traffic, which is otherwise hard to drive.
There are various ad campaigns that marketers run to optimize their app’s traffic, and acquire followers or lead people into the sales funnel. Different Product Listing Ads, display ads, demand-side platform ads, affiliate ads, native ads, social media ads, video ads, email ads, and camping ads are some of the most common types of advertisements that marketers and advertisers run.
How to Optimize the CPI App Campaign?
1. Target the Right Audience
Approximately, there are more than 6.37 billion smartphone users globally having access to over 4 million apps available for Android and IOS. Hence, targeting the right user becomes the key to ensuring that your campaign will successfully gain downloads while also making a return on investment. What should you do then?
You need to make sure you’re finding intelligent ways to target people who fit the description of your ideal users by knowing which of their behaviors might suggest they would be interested in what you are offering them now. For instance, if you’re marketing a running app and trying to find new users, it makes sense to target people who have already installed some wellness apps, such as MyFitnessPal or WaterMinder.
2. Know the Metrics
While pushing the audience towards the installation of the app is one thing, engaging with them is another. Analytics plays a vital role in this. Marketers and advertisers need to know the right metrics to monitor and understand the success of their CPI app campaign.
Digital marketers and application advertisers can look at various metrics to analyze the effectiveness of their campaigns. There are various metrics that one can look at:
- Number of app installs
- Retention rate
- Daily active users
- The average number of referrals by each user
- Avg. Engagement per user for that campaign
3. Optimize the Post-install Actions
Installs are extremely common and the first step of the conversion funnel. You get an install, but then it’s essential to find ways to engage them if your product has a freemium model, requires a subscription, or in-app purchases.
Ever imagine having all future behavior data on your mobile users? That’s what post-install analytics can do for you! Post-install actions will tell you what your users are doing in the days, weeks, and months after installation.
Let’s say you own an app that sells women’s clothes – how many in-app search queries show that a user may be considering making a purchase anytime soon? This could be an example of what a vital action post-install can look like, and it would also serve as a sign that a quality user has been found.
Finding valuable insights might help you optimize your CPI campaign by targeting users more inclined to complete the desired action.
4. Focus on Revenue
Suppose an app’s revenue model happens to be the in-app transaction followed by an ancillary service that supports it. In that case, a single download of your app is not entirely necessary from a monetary standpoint since you can earn money anytime the service is utilized.
It’s essential to choose an appropriate platform to reach users who have previously demonstrated their willingness and preference to purchase or spend on specific applications.
For example, if they’re buying items related to certain hobbies, they should receive highly relevant ads emphasizing the resources that speak directly toward those interests.
To market effectively, one needs relevant data metrics regarding specific audiences and platforms, allowing them to make ad hoc adjustments necessary to optimize their campaign and generate revenue streams efficiently!
How do CPI Marketing Campaigns Work?
CPI is an abbrivation for cost per install. Under the CPI model, advertisers only pay for users who install their apps after seeing an ad promoting them. Since CPI campaigns only charge marketers for confirmed installs, they can protect their budgets while only paying for legitimate users. Like any other pricing model, there are many details involved with CPI marketing that determine its effectiveness.
Various Variables Affect the ROI of the Entire CPI Campaign
1. Geography of the installation:
Cost per Install by Country varies as wealthy economies like China, France, and Germany demand higher rates while emerging economies like India have lower installation rates.
2. Device Platform
Android and iOS apps generate contrasting CPIs as Apple users are ready to spend more than Android users. Hence, demanding higher CPIs.
3. Advertising Network
Each media source offers a different rate for deploying the advertisements. Social media channels have the highest rate, while other platforms have lower rates. Although, the success of the network also depends on the category of the app.
Conclusion
CPI marketing is one of two pricing models for mobile advertising campaigns, alongside CPA. It has been adopted as standard practice in the industry because it can be more specific when targeting audiences than CPA marketing.
This model can identify likely users and measure its impact on your target audience, allowing for a high return on investment (ROI) for mobile marketers operating within select categories.
Mobile Marketers at AppBroda know that top-tier CPI campaigns are worth pursuing, but it’s essential to keep a risk versus reward balance at all times!
