A Comprehensive Guide to Cost Per Install Marketing in Mobile Advertising

Are you trying to expand your app without spending all your cash? Cost Per Install (CPI) marketing could help you hit your goals. With CPI, you only pay when your app is downloaded and not for clicks or views that lead nowhere. Setting up CPI campaigns is necessary for developers and marketers. This article will describe CPI marketing. It will explain what CPI is about, its functionality, why it is useful, and its comebacks. You will understand the differences between CPI and other pricing models and how to run a successful campaign while measuring its results. More importantly, it will highlight how Offer.One makes acquiring users simpler.

What is CPI in marketing?

CPI in marketing is an abbreviation for Cost Per Install. It is a method companies use to determine the cost of mobile app advertising. A fee is paid to the app owner each time a person clicks on their ad and then installs the app. The focus in this model is to get more users. It allows app makers to find new users and only have to pay when people download the app.

CPI marketing matters since it relates ad expenditure to actual results. Only after someone installs your app will you pay for the advertisement. This method is better than cost-per-impression or cost-per-click. By doing this, assessing the success of a campaign and staying within budget are easier. Turbo-charging user growth and reaching new users is best achieved by using CPI campaigns for apps.

How Does CPI Marketing Work?

CPI marketing uses a basic procedure. An advertiser plans a campaign and agrees to pay the same amount for every person who installs their app. Users see the ads on mobile apps, websites, or social media platforms. The advertiser pays for each click that results in an app install. Tracking tools help track the origin of downloads from ads, allowing advertisers to pay only for installs. App owners grow, since they pay only for users who install the app.

What Factors Affect the Cost Per Install

Influencers of cost per install are described in this section. A grasp of the influencers of cost per install helps advertisers focus on improving their CPI campaigns for better results.

National or local

CPI depends on the region where the user lives. In countries with higher purchasing power, such as the US, UK, or Australia, app installs are high. In countries with lower incomes, CPI is reduced. This is the case since advertisers expect users from richer countries to spend more on apps, which leads to them becoming more profitable for CPI marketing.

A channel or advertising network

The selection of an ad network or platform can improve or worsen the amount you spend on campaigns. These types of channels that offer better advertising usually have higher prices for installs. Social media and in-app networks have different audience options and targeting methods. Their CPI rates differ.

App category and genre

CPI can change based on the type of app promoted. Gaming apps, finance apps, and dating apps cost more per installation since they face stiff competition and attract users who tend to make in-app purchases. Categories such as utilities or lifestyle apps usually have a lower CPI.

Platform of the device (iOS or Android)

Most iOS apps have higher CPI compared to Android apps. This happens because iOS users are more likely to make in-app purchases, which is attractive to advertisers. Consequently, apps spend more per install on iOS than they do on Android in CPI campaigns.

Seasonality

More advertisers usually compete to get users during holidays and special events, which often results in higher CPI. Running a campaign in these seasons can impact the total cost you spend on every new install.

How to Calculate Cost Per Install

Cost per install (CPI) shows advertisers the amount per install their campaigns create on their behalf. This is done by dividing the money spent on advertising by the total number of installs you get. 

                           CPI = Total Ad Spend / Number of Installs

If someone spends $500 and gets 200 downloads, the CPI comes out to be $2.50. It reflects the expected price you will pay to get a single new user with paid advertising.

Monitoring CPI tells advertisers whether their ad campaigns are cost-effective. Advertisers compare CPI across platforms or over different days to understand the source that works best for them. The cost per install gives a clear financial view and helps us use pay-per-install advertising strategically. Controlling and executing CPI campaigns well depends on monitoring CPI closely.

Offer.One: A Platform for CPI Marketing

Offer.one is known as a leading performance marketing platform, mainly for CPI campaigns. It helps advertisers reach many affiliates and publishers. On the platform, advertisers only pay for successful downloads. The platform is thus a low-cost way to get users. Advertisers can use the platform for Android and iOS CPI ads. The ads are monitored with fast analytics and strong measures to stop fraud. The website makes scaling easy and smart for both mobile game and utility app campaigns.

CPI specialists will benefit from the platform because it offers the best offers. Offers like clear stats on outcomes and competitive payments are available on the platform. It simplifies setting up and fine-tuning marketing campaigns by combining major mobile tracking tools. App makers learn the cost per install formula based on data, crucial in making informed decisions. If CPI advertising is new to you or you want to get better results, Offer.one can perfectly fit any CPI advertising plan.

Benefits of CPI Marketing

Advertisers and developers find it useful to rely on CPI marketing for building their user community and maintaining control over spending. The benefits of CPI Marketing are described below.

• You only pay for app install: Rather than paying for impressions or clicks, you are only funding real users with this system.
• It reduces the waste: CPI helps improve marketing spend so that you don’t waste your budget.
• It is easy to measure cost per install: This shows you exactly how much each new user costs you.
• CPI campaigns can be adjusted for any market need: You can try out different groups of people, creative messages, and places to advertise, then scale up spending where performance improves the most.

Challenges and Risks of CPI Marketing

Real issues may arise in CPI marketing, hampering the results and the available budget. 

• Fraud in CPI campaigns: People attempt to fool advertisers into believing real users are downloading their products, despite the downloads being from automated software. These installs cost money and also make the data questionable. 
• Click injection and SDK spoofing: Knowing which installs are real is not simple. Some CPI campaigns, like AppsFlyer, discovered that up to half of all app installs were fraudulent.
• Low-quality users: App installs from CPI campaigns are not always from people who will use the app. 
• Resource wastage: With low-quality users, you pay for installs that are not helpful, which makes it difficult to enjoy profit.

To cut down on risks, people who advertise must watch their campaigns closely, rely on fortified fraud detection, and use reputable partners. 

CPI vs Other Pricing Models

This is how CPI differs from other models.

CPI vs CPA

CPI concentrates on quantity more than quality, and some installs might go unused. CPA campaigns add a more detailed level to the process. Advertisers only have to pay when a user completes a given task after installing the app, such as buying something or joining an account. 

CPI vs CPC

Every click on an ad in a CPC campaign leads to the advertiser being charged, no matter what happens later. It is different for CPI ads. You pay when the user installs a CPC app, not just when they click on it. 

CPI vs CPM

CPM, or cost per mille, means advertisers are charged for 1,000 times their ad appears on the platform, no matter how many actions the ad receives. CPM helps you grow brand awareness and not direct installs. CPI marketing, on the other hand, allows payment for real installs. CPI helps users achieve stronger performance-oriented results. 

How to Run a Successful CPI Campaign

Getting a CPI campaign up and running takes some planning, tryouts, and suggested changes. These are the main ways to achieve the best outcomes with CPI marketing:

1. Decide who your users are. Using platform tools, find people who have installed or shown interest in apps similar to yours. 
2. Determine the number of clicks you want and the desired cost per installation. Decide on a budget that suits your aims and be willing to modify it after findings come in.
3. Make and test interesting ads. Show quickly what makes your app special and important to download. Try using videos, banners, or playable ad formats.
4. Adjust your settings. Tweak your targeting to include different places, devices, and user actions to see which brings the most sales. 
5. Monitor the installation and quality of users. Check user retention, how much they use your app, and if they make purchases to find out the actual value of your campaign.

Measuring CPI Campaign Performance

Tracking CPI campaigns mainly involves checking the cost per install, which you get by dividing your total ad spend by the number of people who have installed your app. This explains the cost you spend each time a new customer joins.

Key metrics also include how many users install the app, whether they stay using it, and which events occur after they acquire it. These include signing up or making a purchase. These support tracking user activity and interaction, apart from counting downloads.

Analytic software and tools help marketers follow these key marketing metrics. The data improves strategies to fit the top channels, designs, and people, lowering CPI while improving performance. 

Real-World Examples and Trends

In mobile gaming, CPI marketing is popular because developers only pay for people who download their games. It helps bring in faster users and engagement. It also increases how much those users are worth to the company while reducing costs.

Shein grows its app installs and revenue by using cost-per-install campaigns. Because of referral programs and perks for users, keeping users active is achievable. This helps to justify the cost.

Advertisers currently concentrate on precise targeting and experiment with creative variations to lower how much they pay per install. IOS or Android users often choose TikTok because it helps them install apps affordably. One example is Shopkick, which used TikTok ads to lower its CPI by 87%. Data-driven thinking and user involvement are now central to getting the most from CPI campaigns.

Conclusion

In summary, CPI marketing is the best marketing strategy for developers and marketers. With CPI marketing, you only pay based on actual users who install your app, which is more affordable. Using this calculation helps you monitor and set up more effective campaigns. CPI campaigns that work well pay attention to the quantity of installs as well as user quality, which can be seen by monitoring the retention and activity of users.

If you implement CPI in marketing with focused targeting and new ways to test your ideas, your app will do better and grow easily.

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