OREANDA-NEWS. May 29, 2015. Mobile marketing costs continue on a trajectory far ahead of last year's pace, according to the Fiksu Indexes published today by Fiksu, Inc., the data-fueled mobile marketing technology company. While April's cost per loyal user (CPLU) of \\$2.74 represents an 11 percent decrease since last month, it's a significant 80 percent increase over 2014. To put it in perspective, CPLU never rose above \\$2.25 in all of 2014 -- yet it hasn't fallen below \\$2.74 this year. While advertisers are dishing out more advertising dollars per user, the slight decrease in the cost per loyal user this month indicates advertisers are spending smarter, perhaps as a reaction to the generally higher costs. 

The shift of marketers buying in to the "mobile mindset" has been clearly demonstrated this month, as all six supporting metrics of the indexes increased year-over-year, with four of the six increasing since March. The breakdown:

·      The Cost Per Install Index (CPI), which measures the cost per app install directly attributed to advertising, increased to \\$2.13 on iOS, a rise of 39 percent since March and 54 percent since April of last year. Android CPI increased to \\$2.08, up 20 percent month-over-month and 59 percent year-over-year.

·      The Cost Per Launch Index (CPL), which tracks the cost to drive mobile app engagement, increased to \\$0.41 on iOS, up 34 percent month-over-month and 75 percent year-over-year. Android CPL increased to \\$0.34, a 44 percent rise over last month and a 169 percent increase year-over-year.

·      On the volume side, the Fiksu App Store Competitive Index, which tracks the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free iOS apps, held steady at 8.1M, but continued its year-over-year growth, coming in at 52 percent over 2014.

"While April represented another expensive month for mobile, it's also an example of the heightened focus on strategic mobile spending by leading brands," said Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu. "As evidenced by eMarketer data, mobile ad spending is increasing both in the U.S and globally. However, as advertisers employ higher-value targeting and more precise audience segmentation data, we can say with confidence that loyalty rates of app users will improve as well."

The trend line towards spending more on mobile continues: increased attention to mobile and willingness to spend to reach the "right" app users is evident, and with that, costs have been rising. Higher-value sources, such as Facebook and video ads, cost more on a per-install basis but lead to higher-quality results. In addition, an increased focus on retargeting -- to retain users and convert them to loyal users -- allows advertisers to obtain higher loyalty rates. As demonstrated this month, the cost-per-install (CPI) and the cost to acquire a loyal user (CPLU) will eventually move closer together -- and even converge -- as targeting capabilities continue to improve, and each install is more likely to become a loyal user.