Mobile Adoption and Retention: 15 Stats Every B2B Marketer Should Know [Infographic]

July 1, 2015

There’s no denying we live in an increasingly mobile world. Until recently, however, stats around mobile app performance and how it relates to traditional metrics gauging software growth have been limited.

Here at OpenView, we’ve invested first-hand in research monitoring not only the rapid migration to mobile, but also the emergence of mobile-first B2B SaaS companies (see our Mobile SaaS Metrics report for more details). And thanks to other research efforts, like the new App-Store Marketing Report from Business Insider Intelligence, our view of the current mobile landscape is continuing to come into focus.

To share highlights from that report and others, we’ve created a new infographic showcasing the latest mobile adoption and retention stats and trends below.

3 key takeaways on mobile customer acquisition & retention in 2015

  • Mobile users are spending more time in apps than ever, but they’re spending that time on fewer apps
  • Thanks to overcrowding and increased competition in app stores, customer acquisition cost is soaring
  • Customer retention is a BIG problem (in fact, it’s costing even more than acquisition)

What are companies doing to address these challenges?

There are numerous tactics and approaches, but two that have received a lot of attention are mobile app install ads (for customer acquisition) and push notifications (for engagement and retention). Unfortunately, while install ads do remain effective, the cost for them is soaring, and the viability of adopting a push notification strategy appears to be largely dependent on your industry.

In order for either to be effective, companies need to do their homework and develop a well-thought-out strategic plan before simply diving in.

Note: While the stats below aren’t specific to B2B SaaS companies, they can nevertheless provide marketers and other execs with an idea of what they’re up against when it comes to the competitive landscape of mobile app user adoption and retention.

Print

 

 

Embed Code

Want to feature this infographic on your site? Just copy & paste the code below:

 

Sources

  1. 86% of mobile time spent online is within apps (BI Intelligence)
  2. 70% of the average user’s time is spent in his/her three most frequently used apps (BI Intelligence)
  3. Cost-per-install on iOS rose 59% from October 2013 to October 2014 (BI Intelligence)
  4. 52% of all apps lose half of their peak users after just 3 months (BI Intelligence)
  5. Avg cost of a single installation (iOS): $2.13; avg. cost of a loyal user (iOS): $2.74 (Fiksu)
  6. Mobile app install ad spend increased 235% from January to December 2014 (source: Kenshoo)
  7. Click-to-Install Rate also increased 135% (Kenshoo)
  8. 93% of all app downloads still came via organic search (BI Intelligence)
  9. User acquisition cost on Android and Google Play store is 25% less than on iOS (BI Intelligence)
  10. 60% of mobile users will abandon an app that takes longer than 3 seconds to load (Xamarin)
  11. Apps that require registration before use lose up to 56% of their users (Optimizely)
  12. A personalized push notifications strategy can increase app engagement by average of 36% (source: Kahuna)
  13. Push opt-in rates vary widely by industry — as low as 20% for social apps; as high as 80% for ride-sharing apps (see industry averages here)
  14. On average, push notifications beat email by driving 5x in-app activity (source: Kahuna)
  15. After the first month, users who have opted-in to push notifications are retained at 2x the rate (Source: Urban Airship)

Infographic by: Rachel Worthman

Feature photo by: Luis Lierena

OpenView, the expansion stage venture firm, helps build software companies into market leaders. Through our Expansion Platform, we help companies hire the best talent, acquire and retain the right customers and partner with industry leaders so they can dominate their markets. Our focus on the expansion stage makes us uniquely suited to provide truly tailored operational support to our portfolio companies. Learn more about OpenView at openviewpartners.com.