Cost per Install


What is Cost per Install
Cost per install (CPI) is the term that describes the pricing model of mobile user acquisition (UA) efforts to drive installations. CPI is specific to mobile apps. To increase an app’s exposure, a digital advert will be placed on a channel like FB, Snapchat, Google or other mobile ad networks, and, depending on the cost model utilized, each time a user taps on the ad/installs their app from the ad, a cost is incurred.
It’s calculated as follows: Cost of ad (expenditure) divided by the number of installs the ad was able to generate = CPI.
Why Cost per Install is Important
CPI is one of the most important metrics to track the efficiency of a mobile advertising budget and how many installs it’s possible to drive with X amount of dollars.
To improve audience exposure and enjoy the benefits of reaching new audiences, paid ad campaigns are a key component of an app marketing strategy in targeting high-quality audiences.
Let’s talk about Facebook which is one of the popular channels advertisers use for their paid ad campaigns and explains why CPI is important. A global issue overall but largely on Facebook is that there’s an ongoing competition for inventory which is the amount of mobile app advertising space that a channel has available to sell. The demand for advertising grows faster than the supply (inventory) does. As a result, ad space becomes more desirable. Because the cost to advertise increases by the nature of supply and demand, the CPI increases too.
This only highlights the importance of tracking CPI in order to manage that increase as best one can, which is done by optimizing the following:
- Targeting
- the ad’s creative performance
- tap through rate
- and App Store conversion rate (CVR) for paid traffic which has a direct effect on CPI.
Cost per Install and ASO
A UA Manager should always be looking for ways to improve Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), but the process can be complemented via ASO techniques. ASO and UA form a fundamental basis for an app/game’s marketing strategy. The teams can combine their activities to optimize every paid ad campaign that’s run, in an effort to improve growth.
By bringing in ASO experts it’s possible to decrease the CPI, sometimes dramatically. Based on the analyses of over 500M users, Storemaven has a deep understanding of how users respond to the creatives they see on the App Store just after they were exposed to the ad creative and tapped on the ad.
From A/B testing it’s possible to identify the most successful App Store marketing assets so UA teams can increase app store conversion rates, lower the CPIs, build a data-driven, successful ad campaign that both optimizes CVR for paid traffic and boosts marketing ROI.
Navigate between the letters to explore additional glossary terms:
- a
- b
- c
- d
- e
- f
- g
- h
- i
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- o
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- u
- v
- w
- x
- y
- z
- User Segmentation
- User Acquisition for Mobile Apps
- Paid App User Acquisition
- Organic User Acquisition
- Explorative Users
- Decisive Users
- App Store Update
- Supply Side Platform
- Software Development Kit (SDK)
- Soft Launch
- SKAdNetwork
- Sessions Per Active Device
- Sales Per Paying User
- Google Play Search
- Apple Search Ads
- App Store Subtitle
- App Store Seasonality
- App Store Search
- App Store Screenshots
- App Store Screenshot View Rate
- App Store Sales
- App Store Analytics: Standard Downloads
- App Store Analytics: Source Type
- App Store Analytics: App Store Sessions
- App Size
- Rewarded Video Ads
- Return on Ad spend (ROAS)
- Replicated App Store Page
- Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
- Re-engagement
- Google Play Third-party Referral
- Google Play Ranking
- App Store Web Referral
- App Store Reviews
- App Store Review Engagement Rate
- App Store Redownloads
- App Store Ratings
- App Store Ranking
- App Store App Referral
- App Store Analytics: Region
- App Retention Rate
- Product Page Conversion Rate
- Proceeds Per Paying Users
- Preloaded Apps
- Pre/Post App Store Tests
- Post-Install Event
- Playable Mobile Ads
- Performance Marketing
- Pay Per Install
- Google Play Product Page
- Google Play Personalization
- Apple’s Product Page Optimization (PPO)
- App Store Product Page Views (Unique Devices)
- App Store Product Page Views
- App Store Product Page
- App Store Proceeds
- App Store Preview Videos
- App Store Pre-Orders
- App Store Pre-Launch
- App Store Personalization
- App Store Paying Users
- App Store Page Scroll Rate
- App Store Analytics: Purchasable Item
- App Store Analytics: Product Page
- App Store Analytics: Pre Orders
- App Store Analytics: Platform Version
- App Store Analytics: Page Type
- Monthly Active Users (MAU)
- Mobile Growth
- Mobile Game Monetization
- Mobile Game Marketing
- Mobile Game Business Model
- Mobile Delivery Platform
- Mobile Bid Adjustment
- Mobile Attribution Window
- Mobile Attribution Manipulation
- Mobile App Retention
- Mobile App Onboarding
- Mobile App Monetization
- Mobile App Advertising
- Mobile Ad Viewability
- Mobile Ad Fraud
- Mobile App Growth
- Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU)
- Average Revenue Per Daily Engaged User (ARPDEU)
- Average Revenue Per Daily Active User (ARPDAU)
- Attribution
- ARPU – Average Revenue Per User
- Apple Arcade
- Apple App Store Connect
- App Store Optimization (ASO)
- App Store Audience Testing
- App Store Analytics: App Version
- App Store Analytics: App Store Active Devices
- App Store Analytics: App Referrer
- App Store Analytics: Active In Last 30 Days
- App Store Acquisition Channels
- App Store A/B testing
- Ad Unit
- Ad Server
- Ad Revenue
- Ad Network
- Ad Mediation
- Ad Impression
- Ad Exchange
- A/B Testing Statistics
- Keyword Localization
- K-Factor
- Google Play Keywords
- App Store Keywords Research
- App Store Keywords
- App Store and Google Play Keywords Optimization
- Interstitial Ads
- Interactive Ads
- Installs Per Mille (IPM)
- In-App Events
- In-App Bidding
- In-App Advertising
- Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA)
- App Store In-App Purchases
- App Store Impressions (Unique Devices)
- App Store Impressions
- App Store Icon
- App Store Analytics: Installations
- App Install Rates
- App Influencer Marketing
- Growth Loop
- Google Play Points
- Google Play Pass
- Google Play Experiments
- Google Play Developer Console
- Google Advertising ID (GAID)
- Gametech (Game Technology)
- Game Bundles
- Google Play Short Description
- Google Play Long Description
- Deep Linking
- Daily Active Users (DAU)
- App Store Description Read Rate
- App Store App Description
- App Store Analytics: Device
- App Store Analytics: App Store Deletions
- App Store Analytics: App Download Date
- Google Play Creatives
- CTR (Click Through Rate)
- Cross Promotion
- Cost Per View (CPV)
- Cost Per Mille (CPM)
- Cost Per Engagement (CPE)
- Cost Per Completed View (CPCV)
- Cost Per Click (CPC)
- Cost Per Action (CPA)
- Churn Rate
- Casual Games
- Apple’s Custom Product Pages
- App Store Culturalization
- App Store Creatives
- App Store Conversion Rate
- App Store Categories
- App Store Analytics: Campaign
- App Store Analytics: App Store Crashes
- App Conversion Rate
- App Clip Sessions
- App Clip Installations
- App Clip Crashes
- App Clip Card Views (Unique)
- App Clip Card Views
- App Clip Active Devices
Related Terms
-
Google Play Explore
Google Play Explore is an organic traffic source that includes all visitors arriving at an app listing while exploring and navigating.
-
App Store App Description
The app description is a text paragraph explaining to users about the app or game.
-
Google Play Search
Google Play Search is an organic traffic source that includes all users who find an app after searching for a query or keyword in the search bar in the Play Store.