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APPS, ADS, AND AUDIENCES: Reaching today’s
mobile consumersCONSUMER SURVEY
IntroductionThanks to the hyper-connected consumer, there’s now an app for everything from fitness tracking
to ghost finders, changing the way people go about their day. This has created opportunities and
challenges, as well as a highly competitive environment, with app developers and marketers vying for
coveted home screen space and looking for new ways to connect with users. More visual ad formats,
like video, have become popular, and new interactive approaches, such as
playable ads, are gaining traction.
There’s a major opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers with ads that are not only
engaging, but also speak to their preferences. Tastes and priorities vary among millennials and
other population groups, and even between iOS and Android users. With the abundance of data
available on these personas and others, advertisers now have a unique chance to give prospective
users what they want, where they want it, how they want it.
In order to learn more about how users feel about mobile
advertising and the app ecosystem, we surveyed more
than 500 consumers in the U.S. from ages 18-70 to
gauge their sentiment on a variety of topics, including
how they interact with apps, their mobile ad preferences
and their perspective on mobile shopping.
2 www.fiksu.com
Playable ads like this one drive outstanding click-through rates.
What users want, where they want it: New tech and approaches are increasing ad valueThe rise of mobile device use and the accompanying consumer affinity for apps has changed
the advertising landscape. Many users say they are receptive to mobile ads and acknowledge that
seeing the right ad at the right time has the power to affect their decision-making. Millennials are
even more receptive and responsive to app advertising across channels. Despite this relative
acceptance of mobile advertising, marketers remain faced with the challenge of achieving sustained
loyalty in a crowded marketplace of competing solutions and ad blockers.
App users – especially millennials – are receptive to mobile app ads
When done well, advertising on mobile can be an effective way to drive new app installs.
21% of respondents reported downloading a new app because they had seen an ad for it on their
phone. Millennials are even more open to mobile app ads, with 33% citing ads as the primary reason
for downloading a new app!
Mobile isn’t the only play where app advertisers are seeing results: 30% of respondents who
downloaded a new app did so because they saw an ad in some other medium.
The Consumer Technology Association reports that 88% of millennials regularly use a mobile
device while watching video, so it’s no surprise that a combination of mobile and TV ads is an
increasingly popular tactic among advertisers. Whether users are “second screening” to supplement
what they’re seeing on TV or looking at totally unrelated content, advertisers have a chance to
reinforce their message or reach blind spots that the TV commercials might miss.
Android users are nearly 40% more likely to choose one app over an alternative based purely on customer reviews.
Consumer Survey
3
When choosing between one app and another, nearly half of respondents select an app with more
positive customer reviews. Meanwhile, only about 3% of respondents choose one app over another
based on an advertisement they saw on mobile.
The disparity between those who say that advertisements influence their decision to install an app,
and those who say it helps them choose one app over another, suggests that app advertisers may be
missing the mark. One explanation is that ads for an app are not accurately representing the in-app
experience. For instance, a slots app was able to grow conversion rates by 84% and increase return
on ad spend by 157% in just three days by refreshing the creative to more closely reflect the feel
of the app.
As users spend more time on their phones, they’re becoming increasingly susceptible to ad fatigue.
Deloitte reports that users from ages 18-24 look at their phone 74 times per day on average.
Fiksu’s survey found that 40% of respondents reported seeing the same mobile app every day.
More than three quarters said they see the same app at least once a week. 50% of respondents
said that the ads they see are almost never relevant to their needs and preferences.
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How many apps do you use daily?
1-10
11-20
21-30
More than 30
87%
10%
2%
1%
77% of people are likely to delete an app if they repeatedly receive the same irrelevant ad in an app.
Brands can avoid this oversaturation by implementing a frequency cap on the number of times a user
can see the same ad. It’s critical for advertisers to get IDFAs (Identifiers for Advertising) and Android
Advertising Identifiers, which are the identifiers unique to each device used to track conversions and
loyalty, so that they know exactly the number of times a specific ad hit a specific phone.
It’s clear that many users are dissatisfied with the mobile ad experience. This has led many to seek
out ad blocking features, including the updated Limit Ad Tracking feature found in the iOS 10.
Unfortunately for users, limiting the information available to advertisers – and in this case, obscuring
IDFAs – will actually make the ad experience less personalized and relevant. Still, the message is clear:
in order to earn long term loyalty, marketers need to reach the right audiences, with the right
messages, at the right times.
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How many apps do you use daily?
6
Crowded and cutthroat: Standing out and sticking around in a competitive app marketplaceSmartphone users are not afraid of app overload, but that doesn’t mean app advertisers have it
easy. 87% of app users engage with 10 or fewer apps per day. While 72% of respondents have
downloaded more than those 10 apps, and more than 10% have downloaded more than 50 apps,
usage is predominantly confined to just a few apps per day.
The competition for app attention might be even more cutthroat than the average consumer
perceives. We conducted an internal survey, first asking how many apps our employees thought
they had on their phone, then asking them to count. 78% of respondents underestimated
the amount of apps they had installed on their smartphone, while none overestimated.
What this reveals is that advertisers are fighting a difficult battle for a finite number of impactful
engagement opportunities. It’s a crowded market, and advertisers need to consider the best
avenues for their advertising investment.
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When you get a new phone, how many new-to-you apps do you add?
What reasons have influenced you to download new apps?
0
1-5
6-10
11-15
15+
Purchased a new phone
Recommendation from a friend
Saw an ad for the app on my phone
Saw an ad for the app in some other media
Replacing an old app for an alternative option
23%61%
12%2%2%
60%
40%
31%
30%
21%
New devices can be a threat to longevity – or an opportunity to pounce
For app advertisers, a phone or tablet purchase is a critical moment, as data shows
users are likely to take this time to reevaluate their app downloads and usage.
In fact, when switching to a new phone, more than half of people will reconsider the apps
they have and begin to look for new apps, getting rid of at least some of the apps they had
on their old phone.
Of the people who delete apps when they get a new phone, more than 40% will delete at least six
apps. It’s an opportunity for app advertisers to claim valuable real estate only 46% of respondents
said that they automatically transfer everything from their old device to the new one.
App users have a variety of reasons for removing or replacing apps, but the fear of storage limits is a
primary factor in app uninstalls. Of the people that typically uninstall apps on a new device, 52% do
so because they want to save space for future apps.
For app advertisers, spending advertising resources during times when users often switch to new
a devices (holidays, new device launches, etc.) can be an effective way to acquire new users.
Survey data bears that out: 79% of people are adding at least one new app when they get
a new phone, with 17% of that group adding more than five apps.
While Fiksu Indexes have detailed that app prices rise around holidays and new device launches,
app advertisers need to continue to look at investing at those times given the opportunity to gain
a valuable spot as one of the few regularly used apps on a user’s phone.
Only 5% of the general survey population cited switching from iOS to Android as the primary reason for uninstalls – none of these were millennials.
Consumer Survey
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More space, more time and good recommendations create demand for new apps
Unsurprisingly, word of mouth remains a primary factor in a user downloading a new app,
as the majority of respondents indicated a friend’s recommendation was the number one factor
in downloading a new app.
More interesting is looking at why app users are downloading new apps when they get a new phone.
When asked, nearly half of respondents reported the primary reason was that better functionality
on the new phone encouraged them to download new apps.
With increased storage paired with better functionality, users feel free to download and engage with
apps more regularly. As with any new toy, users are also apt to spend more time on their new device
directly after purchasing, leading to more opportunities to download and try out new apps.
Millennials were 20% more likely than the general population to download
new apps because they expect to be spending more time on their new device.
While nothing beats a good old-fashioned recommendation, increased storage space and more
time spent on the device are also critical factors in new app demand.
Did you know? The larger your game download, the lower your conversion rate may be. The average download size of the top 10 free games in the App Store is 42MB, with only one game in the top 10 over 80MB.
8 www.fiksu.com
Social media, games and utilities earn the most engagement
Despite having plenty of apps installed on their devices, 65% of respondents
reported using fewer than three apps for at least 15 minutes per day. It’s clear that
only a few apps get the bulk of the attention from users. Google has reported that at least
25% of installed apps are never used. The challenge for app marketers is finding high-quality users
up front through advanced targeting techniques.
By making a concerted effort to acquire users who are more likely to
be engaged long term, marketers will put their product in a better
position to be among the ranks of users’ most coveted few apps.
In the heavily saturated app market, the lifetime value (LTV) of a user
is just as important as having high volumes of app installs, so more
precise targeting is critical if marketers want to find the right users.
Survey results also found that social media, utilities/organization
and gaming apps were among the most heavily used app categories.
While gaming apps are popular among the general population,
millennials are slightly more likely (40%) to interact with games the
most on a daily basis. Android users are 27% more likely than iOS
users to interact with games the most on a daily basis.
Consumer Survey
Millennials are using more apps longer – this age group is 32% more likely to be using at least three apps for more than 15 minutes per day.
Most used app types for millennials
1. Social media
2. Utilities/organization
3. Games
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What kind of apps do you interact with most on a daily basis?
Social Media
Games
Utilities & Organizational
Shopping
Health & Fitness
Finance
63%
38%
35%
25%
21%
20%
Room to grow for mobile ad engagement and in-app advertising: Are playables the next big thing? The gap between desktop and mobile is closing fast. Survey respondents claim to be slightly more
likely to click on a desktop ad than a mobile ad (26% vs. 24%), but millennials are 26% more likely
to click on mobile ads than rest of population. Millennials also responded more favorably to in-app
advertisements, and were 22% more likely to prefer those types of ads over ads found in their
mobile browser. As millennials reach their peak earning & spending ages this difference will be critical
for marketers.
When it comes to the type of ad that users like the most, respondents favored banner ads and video.
iPhone users and millennials preferred video the most, ranking that ad format higher than banners.
Meanwhile, Android users are in line with the general population, claiming to prefer banners
over video and all other ad formats. This was unsurprising, given the ubiquity of both formats;
the majority of respondents have probably interacted with both banner and video ads in the past,
while fewer have been exposed to newer formats such as playable ads.
However, data that Fiksu tracks across four billion devices tells a slightly different story, with playable
ads receiving a click-through rate more than twice that of banner ads. This discrepancy between
perception and practice may indicate that playable ads are accomplishing their goals of mimicking
the in-app experience so well that they don’t register as “ads” in the minds of consumers.
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What type of ads are you most likely to interact with?
Banners
Videos
Playables
Native Ads
Interstitials
36%
32%
13%
12%
7%
Mobile will be playing a huge role in holiday shopping this year
More than 85% of respondents said they plan to do some holiday shopping
online this season. Of the people who will be doing online shopping, 45% plan
to do more than a quarter of their online shopping via mobile. Of those who plan to do
at least 75% of their mobile shopping online, 84% are likely to shop via a mobile app.
Millennials are even more likely to be shopping on their phones this holiday season, as nearly
57% of millennials plan to do more than a quarter of their online shopping via mobile.
This presents performance marketers with a tremendous opportunity to target users that
are looking for app-based shopping solutions this holiday season.
Consumer Survey
70% of respondents plan to shop via mobile app this year.
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What type of ads are you most likely to interact with?
12
Despite the noise, users are still eager to listen
A crowded marketplace and disparate preferences among various subgroups of
users can create a challenging environment for app developers and marketers.
However, survey results also make it clear that consumers are reliant on smartphones, with apps
playing the most prominent role. Users are open to trying new offerings and even receptive to ad-
vertisements from brands—if they’re done well.
The app world might be competitive, but there is still tremendous opportunity to reach consumers
in ways that resonate and earn long-term loyalty. Whether the goals are focused on user acquisition,
brand awareness, cross-device retargeting or app re-engagement, brands need to use all the tools
at their disposal in order to target the highest quality users who continuously monetize and engage.
Learn how you can get more out of mobile by putting the Fiksu platform to work.
Consumer Survey
Copyright © 2016 Fiksu DSP. All rights reserved. Fiksu DSP, the Fiksu DSP logo, are registered trademarks of GDM Services, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holders.
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Phone: 855-463-4578
Email: [email protected]
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Phone: +44 208 434 7051
Email: [email protected]
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