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- 1. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 1 User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks MOBILE DATING2015
- 2. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 2 Introduction Dating App Costs and Conversion Rates Dating App Engagement by Gender Dating App Engagement by OS Monthly Trends Is the Season the Reason? Conclusion 3 4 5 6 7 12 13 User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks MOBILE DATING2015
- 3. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 3 Introduction The online dating industry, once reserved for desperate singles1 with a connection to the Internet, has grown into a $2.2 billion industry2 in the US alone, with nearly 50 million Americans3 looking for love online. As the world has gone mobile, so too has online dating. Dating apps represent some of the highest grossing non-gaming apps4 in the App Store while investing significantly into paid app install campaigns to acquire subscribers. To better understand whats behind the performance of dating apps, we examined a large set of app install campaign and engagement data, comprised of over 936 million impressions and 129,496 post-install events. Included are average costs and conversion rates for dating app installs, install-to-registration, and install-to-subscription. We also take a deeper dive into differences between gender, operating systems and the effect of seasonality. Our analysis shows a strong seasonal impact on dating apps, with smartphone users 131.7% more likely to subscribe during the spring than any other time of year. In 2015, subscription costs were at the their lowest in the second quarter, while the install-to- subscription rates peaked.
- 4. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 4 About This Report The Mobile Dating Apps Report benchmarks the costs and conversion rates to acquire new users from non-incentivized app install campaigns who engage in a post- install event for the first time. The events measured include installs, registrations and upgrades to a premium subscription between January 2015 - January 2016. Dating App Costs and Conversion Rates Dating apps perform well relative to other app categories. Install-to-action rates are high throughout the funnel. And while first time subscription costs can also be high, the lifetime value of a dating app subscriber more than compensates for this. Dating App Engagement As you will see in the report, gender, operating system, and seasonality all play an important role in performance. Install-to-Register Install-to-Subscribe
- 5. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 5 Dating App Engagement by Gender Male and female dating app users exhibit roughly equal post-install conversion rates, but the costs associated with acquiring them are much different. The average cost to acquire a male subscriber was $291.68, 18.2% lower than the cost to acquire a female. Female registrations were also 59.7% more expensive to acquire than their male counterpart. When comparing install-to-action rates, male and female users converted at a similar rate, with men only slightly more likely to install and register, and women only slightly more likely to install and subscribe. Dating App Engagement by Gender
- 6. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 6 Dating App Engagement by Operating System Mobile operating systems also impact dating apps costs and conversion rates. Android was more efficient than iOS in both the average cost per install and cost per registration. Yet iOS users successfully installed and registered for a dating app (63.4%) at a higher rate than Android users (47.9%), suggesting a greater interest in using the app. For generating subscriptions, iOS users were more cost-effective. The average cost per subscription on iOS was $283.69, compared to $497.54 on Android. iOS users also exhibited greater post-install transactional engagement, as they were 3.4x more likely to subscribe to a mobile dating service than Android users. Dating App Engagement by Operating System
- 7. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 7 0 $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 Jan-15 Average Cost Per Install Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 July-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 0.01% 0.01% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 0.03% 0.03% 0.04% 0.04% 0.04% 0.04% 0.03% 0.04% Male Female Impression to Install Rate Monthly Trends Installs by Month While dating app usage is directly impacted by seasonality, the average cost per install showed decline through most of 2015. November and December saw a noticeable uptick in cost per install, suggesting fewer people are interested in dating during the holiday season. Dating App Install Cost by Month From February 1-14, men are 1.9x more likely to install a dating app, and 10% more likely to register for one during the same time period.
- 8. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 8 0 $2 $4 $6 $8 $10 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 July-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Average Cost Per Registration Male Female Monthly Trends Registrations by Month Seasonality appears to have an even bigger impact on new user registrations rates and costs than on installs, with install-to-registration rates peaking in the spring. Also worth noting is that the average cost-per-registration decreased significantly between January 2015 and January 2016. This is likely due to improved performance in app install campaign targeting and optimization, as well as a growing number of people becoming more comfortable using dating apps. Dating App Registration Cost by Month
- 9. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 9 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 July-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Install-to-Registration Male Female 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Monthly Trends Registrations by Month Install-to-Registration Male users are 6.5% more likely to install and register for a dating app than females.
- 10. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 10 CPA Subscribe Male Female 0 $200 $400 $600 $800 $1000 Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 July-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Monthly Trends Subscriptions by Month Similar to registrations, the average cost per subscription tends to rise and fall depending on the time of year. Despite February 14th being Valentines Day, February 2015 ranked as the 4th most expensive month for acquiring new dating app subscribers. The install-to-subscription rate was even lower, marking February as the 3rd worst month for acquiring new subscribers. Come March however, dating apps enter a peak period of usage, with new subscribers costs at their lowest and install-to- subscription rates at their highest. Dating App Subscription Cost by Month
- 11. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 11 0 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0% Jan-15 Feb-15 Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 July-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Install-to-Subscription Male Female Monthly Trends Subscriptions by Month Install-to-Subscription In April, the rate at which female users install and subscribe to dating apps is 2.3x higher than average.
- 12. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 12 Is the Season the Reason? User engagement amongst new installs was much higher in the spring than during the fall. Between March-May, new users were 48.6% more likely to register after installing a dating app than they were during the fall. Users were also 2.6x more likely to upgrade to a premium subscription during the spring. Looking a bit deeper, both men and women demonstrated a greater interest in dating apps throughout the spring. Men were 212.7% more likely to install and subscribe compared to the fall, while women were 45.2% more likely to subscribe. In April alone, 70% of women who installed a dating app went on to register. Acquisition costs were also at their lowest in the spring, with the average cost per subscription costing 51.8% less than the yearly average. Male and female subscription rates drop by 36.6% from September to November. Male v. Female Seasonal Registration Rates Male v. Female Seasonal Subscription Rates Fall 44.0%47.7% Spring 67.0%71.1% Fall 1.2%0.6% Spring 1.7%2.0%
- 13. Mobile Dating: User Acquisition Trends and Benchmarks 13 Conclusion During the month leading up to Valentines Day, finding love may be on every smartphone users mind, but it is not necessarily the most efficient time of year to spend on user acquisition. In 2015, gender and operating system both impacted dating app user acquisition costs and conversion rates, with women being more expensive to acquire across all metrics. iOS users were also more expensive to acquire as new registered users, but with a high install- to-registration rate, the investment in paid user acquisition on iOS continues to be a good one. Most notably, dating apps saw the greatest increase in engagement during the spring, as users installed, registered and subscribed at a higher rate and lower cost than at any other time of the year. Sources 1 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/20/5-facts-about-online-dating/ 2 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/04/06/ online-datings-age-wars-inside-tinder-and-eharmonys-fight-for-our-love-lives/ 3 http://www.statisticbrain.com/online-dating-statistics/ 4 https://www.appannie.com/apps/ios/top/united-states/overall/?device=iphone Liftoff is a full-service mobile app marketing and retargeting platform which uses post-install data to run true CPA-optimized mobile user acquisition and retention campaigns. With Liftoff, campaigns are optimized to drive specific actions beyond the install, to acquire users who engage in more profitable post-install events like booking a hotel, subscribing to a service or making a purchase. info@liftoff.io @liftoffmobilewww.liftoff.io