While an install is not considered the real “end game” of marketing efforts, it is still an important milestone, as users must physically download the app to their phone and invest attention and/or resources into it.
Let’s explore each metric:
Formula: Number of clicks / number of ad views
Informs: Creative optimization
Explanation: Higher in the funnel, CTR has limited value informing other overall marketing goals, but directly reflects the effectiveness of a creative in a campaign based on the clicks received.
Formula: Number of installs / number of ad clicks
Informs: Creative and app store optimization; targeting; and/or tech implementation (for example, your MMP, internal ID matching tech, and time between the game loading and the attribution provider firing an install event to the API) that can affect loading and downloading times.
Explanation: Measuring the direct conversion between the two strongest touchpoints on a pre-install user journey, CTI is both socially and technically critical, as lower rates might mean less relevant audiences, ineffective creatives, or slow loading time before an install is complete.
Formula: Number of installs / 1000 impressions
Informs: Creative optimization; lowering CPIs; boosting install volumes; and/or effective waterfall bidding and management
Explanation: IPM shows the full picture of the user journey when targeting new users. Additionally, a high IPM directly impacts the waterfall ad bidding process, moving the rank of a given ad campaign towards the top due to the high performance of a creative, ad, and campaign in generating installs. In turn, the ad receives more traffic and a higher volume of impressions, further boosting install rate.