Fiksu Indexes: Mobile App Marketing Costs Hit Record High in August

Big Brands Are Saturating the Market Ahead of Q4


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Oct 1, 2013) - Fiksu, Inc. (www.fiksu.com), developer of the award-winning Fiksu Mobile App Marketing Platform, today published its latest Fiksu Indexes, which indicate the cost to acquire loyal users reached the highest level ever recorded in August at $1.90.

The Fiksu Cost per Loyal User Index increased by six percent in August, or 10 cents, to $1.90 from July's $1.80, driven by two main factors. First, big brands are saturating the market spending ever-increasing budgets on mobile to cost-effectively acquire loyal users. Second, marketers are starting to make headway with holiday planning, applying their Q3 budgets to test different mobile marketing strategies before the big rush in Q4 when costs will likely rise further, as seen in previous years.

The Fiksu App Store Competitive Index (which measures the average aggregate daily download volume of the top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps) saw a two percent bump to 5.9 million daily downloads in August from July's 5.8 million. While the month over month change is minimal, this represents a 46 percent year-over-year increase from August 2012, underscoring both the explosion of app usage and the reason big brand advertisers are continuing to increasing their mobile spend.

"Mobile is where marketers are competing today, especially as big brands and Madison Avenue get on board in the quest to reach consumers where they are most: on mobile," said Micah Adler, Fiksu CEO. "With marketing costs at a record high, and only likely to grow as the holidays approach, now is the time for mobile marketers to hone their campaign strategies -- before the real competition starts."

The Fiksu Indexes measure monthly fluctuations in competition for rank in the Apple App Store and the cost to acquire loyal users1, helping mobile app marketers benchmark their performance against industry trends.

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

Fiksu has accumulated more than 161 billion app actions including launches, registrations, and in-app purchases, as well as massive amounts of data from real-time bidding requests and mobile advertising networks. This data is used to drive real-time optimization of ad campaigns, to help app developers acquire large volumes of loyal users at very efficient costs. Additionally, the company has driven more than 1 billion app downloads for its customers.

About Fiksu
Fiksu, Inc. helps leading brands optimize their iOS and Android mobile app marketing campaigns and secure large volumes of loyal users. The company's flagship platform, Fiksu® Mobile App Marketing Platform, spans the entire mobile ecosystem providing the most cost-effective, predictable and intelligent mobile advertising solution, slashing user acquisition costs and ensuring sustained user engagement. Additionally, Fiksu offers FreeMyApps®, an app discovery platform where users are rewarded. Based in Boston, Mass., Fiksu is venture-backed by Qualcomm Ventures and Charles River Ventures. More at www.fiksu.com, @Fiksu and on the Fiksu blog.

1 For the specific purpose of the Fiksu Indexes, a loyal user is defined as someone who opens an app three or more times.