Mobile App

Engagement Index
Q2 2015

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 1

 Mobile App
Q2 2015 Engagement Index
Introduction
The Liftoff Q2 Mobile App Engagement Index measures the costs
associated with the most common actions on mobile that marketers look
for their users to engage in. The index tracks costs associated with app
Installs, Registrations, Shares, Purchases, Subscriptions and Reservations,
with a deeper dive into differences across gender and operating systems.
It focuses on five major categories of non-gaming apps including: Dating,
eCommerce, Social, Travel and Utility.

While the cost of mobile events are steadily increasing year after year,
Q2 brings a welcome reprieve, with nearly all mobile event CPAs trending
downward, with the exception of making reservations. These decreases
in cost provide marketers with an opportunity to increase their user
acquisition numbers in a more cost effective manner, and may provide a
way to preempt what is expected to be a rise in costs over the summer
and leading into the holiday season.

The Index is based on an analysis of 39 million app installs and 910 million
post-install events, 70% of which are based in North America and 30% in
Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East.

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 2

Highlights
Mobile advertisers spent an average $9.60 to acquire a new
registered user, consistent with the previous 6 months.

While the cost per install and cost per registered user remains flat,
subscription services have seen a decrease in cost per subscription of
13.5% in the last 6 months.

Social Apps again outperformed all other apps in obtaining

registrations, with 77.8% of all installs signing up. eCommerce apps had
the second highest install-to-registration rates at 77%.

The average cost per reservation has risen 28.9% in 2015, with travel
apps spending an average of $45 to acquire a new reservation.

Android users are catching up to their iOS counterparts in their

willingness to make purchases in app. Acquisition costs for iOS users
that complete a purchase are now only 4% lower than Android at $76.19
vs $73.11.

Utility apps show the lowest cost-per-purchase at $35.88, with

generally lower cost in-app-purchases that provide a low barrier to entry.

Men are more willing to pay for subscription content, which makes
acquiring male subscribers 9.5% less expensive than female subscribers.

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 3


Mobile CPA benchmarks
are influenced by several
factors including volume of
users, app install campaign
targeting and optimization,
ad creatives, app store
rating and reviews, and the
in-app experience.
$9.60
Register
Q2 2015 Mobile Cost per Action Index
Mobile Engagement Benchmarks
The mobile engagement benchmarks track the average cost to
acquire a new user from a paid app install campaign who engages
in a post-install event for the first time. The events measured are
registering, making a reservation, making a purchase, subscribing
to a paid service, and sharing content.
Consistent with Q1 2105, non-transactional events, including
registering and sharing, continue to have the lowest CPAs while
while transactional event CPAs cost up to 19x more.
$73.38
$45.27
$17.80
Share Reserve Purchase Subscribe
Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 4
 Mobile Indexes
Average Cost per Registration
The Registration Index measures the cost to acquire a
mobile user from a paid app install campaign who creates
an account in an app. Over the past 9 months, the cost
per registration has remained relatively flat, showing
only a slight increase in November and May, likely due
to increased ad spending ahead of winter and summer
breaks.

Register:
A user installs an app and creates an account.

$12

$10.66
$10.43

$10 $9.58
$9.98
$9.55
$9.60
$9.43
$9.25
$9.09

$8
Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15

Average Cost per Registration

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 5

 Average Cost
per Share Index
The Sharing Index measures the cost to acquire a mobile
user that shares content for the first time, including a
photo, video or message. In Q2, the cost per first share
dropped to $17.80, a 23% decrease from Q1. This decrease
reflects the increasing normalization of sharing content as a
standard interaction in social apps.

Share:
A user installs an app and shares content
for the first time, including a photo, video or
message.

$30

$25.46
$24.30
$25
$23.12

$23.12 $23.14
$22.10 $20.01

$20 $18.54

$16.65

$15
Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15

Average Cost per First Time Share

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 6

 Average Cost per
Reservation Index
The Reservation Index measures the cost to acquire a
mobile user who makes a reservation, such as a flight or
hotel room. Between Q1 and Q2, 2015, we see an upward
trend in reservation costs, mostly driven by increased
spending amongst travel apps looking to attract summer
travelers.

Reservation:
A user installs an app and makes a reservation,
including airlines, hotels and taxis.

$60

$50.59
$50
$43.85
$45.27

$40 $37.13 $37.05

$40.37
$39.52
$31.98
$34.15

$30
Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15

Average Cost per First Time Reservation

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 7

 Average Cost per
Purchase Index
The Purchase Index measures the cost to acquire a mobile
user that makes a first purchase. In Q2 2015, the average
cost per first purchase decreased by 15% compared to
Q1. Seasonality appears to be a key factor influencing
consumer behavior, with the warmer months driving an
increase in purchases, including apparel and accessories.

Purchase:
A user installs an app and makes a first
purchase (not including in-app).

$120

$104.45
$101.23

$100
$87.25
$84.18

$86.57
$80 $85.07
$73.38
$81.07

$66.89

$60
Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15

Average Cost per First Time Purchase

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 8

 Average Cost per
Subscription Index
The Subscription Index measures the cost to acquire a
mobile user who subscribes to a paid service, including
dating and prosumer apps. Between Q1 and Q2 2015, the
average cost per subscription decreased by 13.5%. The rise
of mobile-first dating apps with well-oiled funnels and user
experiences is helping drive down dating CPAs.

Non-dating apps with a subscription event continued to

demonstrate lower CPAs than dating apps.

Subscribe:
A user installs an app and subscribes to a paid
service including dating apps, business apps
and other consumer-related apps.

$250
$229.94

$215.09
$211.60

$200
$207.37 $180.95
$192.10
$164.09
$181.60

$150
$149.10

$100
Oct-14 Nov-14 Dec-14 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15

Average Cost per Subscription

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 9


43%
The cost to acquire a
registered user on Android
was 43% less than on iOS.
Engagement by Platform
iOS vs. Android
In Q2 we continue to see sizeable differences in mobile CPAs
amongst iOS and Android users. Android again delivered lower
CPAs for non transactional events including registering and sharing
content. Yet the advantage iOS held in Q1 with lower CPAs for
transactional events narrowed quite a bit in Q2.
Paid subscriptions on IOS were 12.1% less than Android, compared
to 22% less in Q1, with the purchase CPA on Android dropping
by $45. The CPA gap between platforms in first time purchase
narrowed even further, with iOS users costing 4% less than
Android users.

Where iOS continues to strongly outperform Android is in mobile

16% reservations. In Q2, the cost per reservation on iOS was $40, or
iOS was more cost effective 16% less than on Android.
in acquiring reservations
(16% less).

Register Share Reseve Purchase Subscribe

Cost per First Time Engagement by Platform

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 10

 Engagement by Gender
Males vs. Females
vs. In Q2, we continue to see notable differences in mobile
engagement CPAs by gender. The cost per share and cost per
purchase were again significantly lower for women, suggesting
women have a greater interest in sharing and shopping than men
do. Women also continue to have a lower registration CPA, coming
in at 5.7% less than men.

Continuing Q1 trends, men again demonstrated a stronger interest

in paid subscription services than women. The cost per subscription
amongst men was 9.5% less than women, widening the gap
compared to Q1. In addition, the cost per reservation continued to
be lowest amongst men, though by a slim margin of 2.9%.

Register Share Reseve Purchase Subscribe

Cost per First Time Engagement by Platform

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 11

Engagement by App Category
Dating
In Q2, the install-to-registration rate for new users of dating apps was 39.8%, nearly identical to Q1. The
install-to-subscription rate was 1.4%. The average cost per dating subscription was $175, with a range
of $100 - $500. Compared to Q1, the cost per subscription is down by more than $100, a result of both
warmer climate as well as a growing number of lower cost mobile-first dating subscription services.

We continue to see differences by gender persist in Q2, with men having a lower cost-per-install, lower
cost-per-registration and higher install-to-registration rate, suggesting men have a greater interest in dating
than women. But unlike in Q1, the install-to-subscription rate was nearly equal for men and women.

With men converting at such a high rate and a low cost, marketers of dating apps can benefit by
targeting user acquisition efforts more heavily towards men.

Dating App Engagement Funnel

* Install to action (ITA) is the %

of users who install an app and
convert in a post-install event.

Dating App Engagement Funnel by Gender

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 12

 Finance
In Q2, the cost per install of financial apps (eg. financial protection, credit score monitoring, etc.)
increased by 25.7%. The install-to-registration rate for new users of financial apps improved slightly to
47.5%. And the install-to-purchase rate was 9.2%. The average cost per registration was $16.16, with a
range of $7 to $30.

Gender differences persist in use of financial apps. Men cost 14% less to acquire as registered users.
But this is dwarfed by the difference in the cost per first purchase, with women costing 4x more to
acquire than men. Marketers may be best served to target men and women separately with creative
optimized to each gender.

Finance App Engagement Funnel

* Install to action (ITA) is the %

of users who install an app and
convert in a post-install event.

Finance App Engagement Funnel by Gender

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 13

 Shopping
In Q2, the install-to-registration rate for shopping apps was 77%, a 5% improvement over Q1. The
install-to-first-purchase rate was 2.1%. The average cost to acquire a first purchaser was $210, with
a range of $30 to $400. Given the high lifetime value of a mobile shopper, ecommerce companies
can comfortably spend at this level.

Amongst shopping apps, women continue to outperform men across all metrics including a lower
cost per install, cost per registration and cost per purchase. The cost per registration of women was
33.5% less than men, with the gap in first purchase CPAs even larger at 46.5%.

Shopping App Engagement Funnel

* Install to action (ITA) is the %

of users who install an app and
convert in a post-install event.

Shopping App Engagement Funnel by Gender

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 14

 Social
Social apps performed similar to past quarters. The CPI and registration CPA were lower than in Q1,
but at $9.13 per first share, the CPA was on target with the previous quarter.

The install-to-registration rate remained consistent with past quarters, a reflection of well designed
apps with light-weight registration flows. The install-to-first-share rate was 33.7%, a slight dip from
Q2. The average cost to acquire a registered user was $3.96, with a range of $4.00 to $15.00.

We continue to see gender differences across all metrics, with men costing nearly 40% more to
acquire as active users than women. In addition, 30% more women who install a social app from an
app install campaign go on to share content.

Social App Engagement Funnel

* Install to action (ITA) is the %

of users who install an app and
convert in a post-install event.

Social App Engagement Funnel by Gender

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 15

 Travel
The install-to-registration rate amongst travel apps was 42.9%, nearly equal to Q1 performance, while
the cost per first time reservation was $45.27, a 7.3% increase. Reservation CPAs fell within a range of
$20 to $400.

Travel apps had the second the highest cost-per-registration, with Finance apps taking the top spot in
Q2. The average cost per reservation was $45.27, a slight increase over Q1. The increase was mostly
due to an increase in ad spending amongst travel apps entering summer.

CPIs continue to be lower for men. And similar to Q1, the cost per registration was nearly equal for
both men and women. However, the cost per reservation for men increased quite significantly in Q2,
resulting in a 31.5% gap between men and women.

Travel App Engagement Funnel

* Install to action (ITA) is the %

of users who install an app and
convert in a post-install event.

Travel App Engagement Funnel by Gender

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 16

 Utilities
In Q2, the install-to-registration rate amongst utility apps was 20.1%, a decrease of 6.2% from Q1, and
the install-to-first-purchase was 8.1%. The average cost to acquire a first-time financial purchase was
$35.88, with a range of $30 to $200.

Utility apps again had the lowest install-to-registration rate, a reflection of the fact that many utility
apps do not require users to create an account in order to use the app. Utility apps also have the
highest cost-per-registration at $14.41, compared to all other app categories. However, they continue
to demonstrate the lowest cost-per-purchase, at $35.88 per purchase, almost 6x less than Shopping
apps. Given that many Utility apps have light-weight purchase funnels that deliver more immediat
gratification, the data is inline with expectations.

Utilities App Engagement Funnel

* Install to action (ITA) is the %

of users who install an app and
convert in a post-install event.

Utilities App Engagement Funnel by Gender

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 17

The Bottom Line
While most CPA benchmarks decreased or remained flat in Q2, this will soon change, driven by
growing mobile marketing budgets and the coming holiday season.

Gender differences continue to be a factor, however these effects appear to remain relatively
constant over time. Women are still more willing to engage in sharing content and remain the
primary mobile shopping demographic, while men are more likely to subscribe to mobile content.

Mobile operating systems remain a relevant influence, with Android users engaging in more light-
weight non-transactional events and iOS users more willing to open up their pocketbooks to
spend. The magnitude of the difference, however, appears to be changing and we may be seeing
mobile behaviors between these two groups starting to balance out. If this is indeed the case,
as the revenue potential of Android increases, we can expect to see a corresponding rise in the
traditionally less expensive cost per install for Android apps.

Fueling Mobile Growth.

Liftoff is a full-service mobile app marketing and retargeting
platform which uses post-install data to run true CPA-optimized
mobile user acquisition and retention campaigns. With Liftoff,
campaigns are optimized to drive specific actions beyond the
install, to acquire users who engage in more profitable post-install
events like booking a hotel, subscribing to a service or making
a purchase.

www.liftoff.io

Contact us: info@liftoff.io @liftoffmobile

Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index Q2 2015 18