Dive Brief:

• Mobile marketing company Fiksu released a report that found the cost of acquiring a loyal user for apps dropped to $2.51 in April, down 8% year-over-year and 22% since March.
• The news wasn’t unexpected as the app industry has a history of a springtime lull in competition among app publishers.
• According to the Fiksu App Store Competitive Index, volume is also down 7% from last year at 7.5 million daily downloads. The index tracks daily downloads of the top 200 free iOS apps.

Dive Insight:

"An increasing number of ad technology providers are making it easier to get good targeting data, reach the right people and test different creatives — ultimately resulting in advertisers showing ads to the right people and obtaining better user loyalty," Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu, said in a statement.

Adler continued, “While this may not be representative across the entire industry yet, it has certainly impacted our index results. We encourage all brands to treat mobile as more than just a sideshow, as they will see the investment pay back considerable dividends.”

While user acquisition is an important metric for app marketers, and app install ads are a popular advertising format, in part because the space is so competitive, one mistake app marketers make is prioritizing gaining users over improving the app to ensure those people who do download the app become loyal users. Experts agree that the likelihood of getting it completely right at the launch is slim, and the focus should instead be on harnessing user feedback and analytics to improve the app over time.