{"id":76,"date":"2022-11-26T08:48:43","date_gmt":"2022-11-26T08:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/persona.ly\/glossary\/attribution\/mobile-user-acquisition\/"},"modified":"2022-12-11T12:41:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T12:41:00","slug":"mobile-user-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/persona.ly\/glossary\/attribution\/mobile-user-acquisition\/","title":{"rendered":"Mobile User Acquisition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is user acquisition?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

User acquisition, or in short, UA, is the process in which mobile apps (or other products) obtain new users through marketing. User acquisition in the context of mobile apps usually refers to a strategy built to achieve a significant volume of app installs to increase your user base or targeting high-value potential users to increase your revenue cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

User acquisition is at the core of every app (and product) since, at its most basic, it signifies growth. Simply put, the more users the app has, the bigger the potential revenue and success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is User Acquisition Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Illustration<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Any product, service, store, or brand, needs user acquisition. User acquisition is a way to guarantee the product maintains an active user base. The easiest way to explain it is by example. It\u2019s not a perfect analogy, but let\u2019s compare a new app and a new physical store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a new physical store opens, consumers, who walk down the street and see it, walk-in. Some of them would make purchases, most of them won\u2019t. Some of them will come back and buy again, most, unfortunately, just won\u2019t. So far, somewhat good, as the store got some initial organic traction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, after its opening, if the store won\u2019t invest any effort in advertising itself, it\u2019d be hard to bring in new customers. Over time, the initial boost of customers will die down, and without actively bringing in new customers, it\u2019d be hard to keep the store profitable, by solely relying on the random bypassers (or the few returning customers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, some stores are able to maintain a revenue stream based on their premium and central location, and the fact that there is a lot of \u2018organic traffic\u2019 around, which is exactly why such locations are extremely expensive and rare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to not only stay profitable but actually grow, this new store will have to invest in advertising and reach new customers. The more customers – the greater the revenue potential (i.e, the more people enter the store, the bigger the chances someone will buy something! Of course, the more relevant your new customers are, the better the odds).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to mobile apps, the challenge is even bigger. Though users can enter an app store, search, and install, this rarely happens and no developer can or should count on organic installs (there are no actual \u201cbypassers on the street\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In combination with the fact that most apps are free to download and use, user acquisition plays a much bigger role. Most app developers simply cannot rely on organic traffic and this free-to-use model requires them to scale their apps quickly, which necessitates user acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another problem with apps, which requires constant scaling, is the high churn rate. While retargeting and remarketing campaigns are also important<\/a>, having a strong UA strategy, aiming to target high-quality users in the first place, is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n