OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2015.  The cost to acquire a loyal user fell slightly in October while app download volumes increased, according to the Fiksu Indexes published today by Fiksu, Inc., the data-fueled mobile marketing technology company. According to the Fiksu App Store Competitive Index, combined daily downloads of the top 200 free iOS apps rose to 7.9M, up 23 percent over September, while the Cost Per Loyal User (CPLU) Index fell 3 percent to \\$4.01.

Due to the widespread adoption and popularity of the new iPhone 6S, users were busy downloading their 'vital apps' on new devices -- apps they have a higher propensity to keep and use. That tendency towards loyalty offset some higher media costs and kept CPLU down.

The higher media costs were reflected in the Cost Per Install (CPI) Index, which doesn't take loyalty into account. The CPI Index showed an increase of 12 percent to \\$1.72 on iOS, a rise of 18 percent year-over-year. Unsurprisingly, advertising costs are high leading up to and during the holidays, but the flurry of app usage also increases the supply of in-app advertising inventory, which has a moderating effect on overall costs.

On Android, CPI dropped 10 percent since last month but increased 110 percent over last year, marking the third month in a row with Android CPIs more than double last year's figures. While the Android market is less mature in some ways, the continuing high CPIs demonstrate that Android monetizes very well for some advertisers.

With costs on the rise, brands need to put user acquisition at the forefront. According to comScore's 2015 U.S. Mobile App Report, two of the top three ways users discover new apps are within the app stores -- search, and browsing the top charts or featured apps. App visibility in both areas is significantly impacted by download volume, which means acquiring new users should be an integral part of brands' visibility efforts. A surge of new users will improve app rank in both search results and the top charts.

"During the Thanksgiving break, we expect to see an influx of downloads on new devices, particularly as friends and family share downtime and even their favorite apps," said Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu. "With nearly 20 percent of millennials finding new apps through friends and family, this time of the year is a key period for marketers to acquire more of the right, loyal users."

Moving into the holidays, an important takeaway for advertisers is the difference between remarketing (using first-party data from a non-mobile channel to get customers to download and engage with your app) and retargeting (serving ads to people who have already downloaded your app, with the goal of pushing them farther down your customer funnel.) The best mobile acquisition campaigns feature both of these techniques. The holiday shopping season inevitably attracts new, one-time customers on desktop and in-app, but through smart targeting and creative, marketers can turn those users into long-term customers.

For Fiksu's full October analysis, visit http://www.fiksu.com/resources/fiksu-indexes#analysis.