In plain English
It is the standard metric in app advertising and a misleading one on its own. An install is permission to try, not a user.
Most installs never become active users. The figure that matters is cost per retained or paying user, which is frequently many times the cost per install.
What to know
Spend over installs
The first step only.
Installs churn heavily
Most are never opened twice.
Retention decides value
Cost per retained user is the real number.
Varies by source
Some channels deliver installs that never activate.
Why it matters
Optimising to cost per install reliably finds the cheapest installs, which are usually the ones least likely to become customers. The onboarding step matters more than the acquisition price.
Common mistakes
×Optimising to install cost alone.
×Ignoring day-one and day-seven retention by source.
×Scaling a channel with cheap installs and no activation.
×No in-app conversion tracking.
FAQs
What should I measure instead?
Cost per activated or paying user, segmented by acquisition source.
Why do cheap installs perform badly?
Cheap inventory attracts accidental and incentivised installs.
WRITTEN BY TARIQ SALLAM
Marketing Consultant. Entrepreneur. Content Creator.
I'm a marketing consultant, entrepreneur and content creator. I help businesses grow through practical marketing, websites, SEO, content and AI.
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