Checking the pulse on current app trends, YouAppi brings you a regular bi-weekly rundown of the actionable insights digest from the latest app engagement trends in mobile. In our first installment, we’re spotlighting global app engagement across verticals, and the top apps of Q1 2020, meant to be applied to better market your app in the “new normal”.
Global App Engagement
In-App Revenue is Up - Consumer spend in apps increased by 8% this week, growing an overall 36% since March 17.
Session Time is Up, CPMs are Down - Longer session times have led to higher IAP and lower CPMs. The more people spend time browsing ad-supported services, the more inventory there is for advertisers. As volume goes up, CPMs go down.
Installs are Down Slightly - While in-app revenue and session time is increasing, installs across verticals have seen a slight decline in recent weeks. Installs seem to have peaked in early April when demand and aggressive user acquisition (UA) was up.
Weekly Percentage of Installs, Sessions and Revenue in Measured Time Frame (Normalized)
Source: AppsFlyer
The Leading Verticals
First place: Mobile Games - This week, game app revenue is up 16%, with an overall 37% growth since March 17. In the last 3 months, monthly active users (MAU) have grown by 46% and total hours spent playing games by 62%. Game apps domination can be attributed to the longer periods of boredom individuals are looking to fill as well as the aggressive UA activity game marketers undertook during the second week of March. UA activity has since decreased by over 20% showing opportunities for retargeting.
Second place: Shopping - Shopping app revenue is up 11% and an overall 35% since March 17. Drivers of revenue increases are heightened UA activity (+45% in same time frame) and usage (+25%).
Honorable mentions: Social, Food Delivery and Health & Fitness
The desire to connect with friends and family, order food and workout is high and these verticals are enjoying user behavior shifts as people are relegated to their homes.
Social - Social app revenue this week is up by over 20% and an overall 57% since March 17. While IAP is up, session time, organic and non-organic installs have taken a slight dip since April 21.
Food Delivery - Food delivery app revenue this week is up by over 2% and an overall 50% since March 17. While IAP is up, session time, organic and non-organic installs have been trending down since April 7.
Health & Fitness - Health and fitness app revenue this week has grown by over 4% and an overall 3.8% since March 17. While IAP is up, session time, organic and non-organic installs have taken a slight dip since April 14. Overall, revenue has increased 10% this month compared to February and January.
Top Apps Overall
Q1 Apps by Worldwide Downloads
Source: Sensor Tower
Overall for Q1, TikTok showed the best performance of any app in history, surpassing the previous record of nearly 308 million installs for Pokémon GO in Q3 2016. The app clocked 315 million installs, more than 50 percent higher than its previous best in Q4 2018. Shelter in place restrictions also drove astonishing growth for video conferencing apps. Zoom entered the top 20 list for the first time at No. 7 at 80 million downloads, 11 times its Q4 2019 total.
We’re keeping a close watch on app engagement as user behavior changes during the coronavirus crisis. Check back in 2 weeks for an update of actionable insights to better market your app in the “new normal”.
