The most important but least considered app marketer metric is the Click-to-Install Time(CTIT). Numbers alone is not the focus here, it’s about the patterns, budget protections, and the smooth, sophisticated experiences for the user.
Key Statistics You Should Know:
- The average CTIT for mobile applications is 10 seconds.
- The click-through rate of 1-2% is good.
- 50% of mobile app users will not proceed with an installation that takes more than 10 seconds.
- 75% of mobile app users will abandon an app if the installation process takes more than 30 seconds to complete.
What does CTIT mean?
Timing speaks volumes – especially when it comes to understanding how user interacts with ads. CTIT is defined as the time elapse between the moment at which an ad is clicked and when the application is opened for the first time.
The first open is given a lot of importance because installs are not officially counted unless the app is opened. This is due to the specifics of most major tracking tools, all of which primarily operate through SDKs; which are only triggered upon the start of the application.
For instance, if a person clicks an ad for a shopping app and opens it 2 minutes later, the CTIT is 2 minutes. This number can give insights about the efficacy of the ad and could shed light on subtleties of your app’s onboarding that may require further refinement for better user flow.
Why care about CTIT?
Click-to-install time is indeed one of the most valuable ways to measure user engagement. In fact, it even empowers app marketers to effectively detect ad frauds, that has become a looming problem in the digital advertising world.
1. Fraud Detection
CTIT can help identify two common types of ad fraud: Click injection and click spamming.
Click Injection: This kind of fraud is mostly carried out on Android gadgets. There is a rather smart trick, a fraudster inserts a fake click at the very time an app is being downloaded, and take the credit for the install. Even though they may appear as if they are normal installs, more often than not, they are marked by a very short CTIT; not more than ten seconds.
Click Spamming: This fraud occurs when a massive number of fake clicks are produced at once, and not necessarily with the user’s permission. These clicks are happening in the background of a webpage or an application to get installations that otherwise would not have been earned. Because these clicks do not depict real user interactions, click spamming yields a flat CTIT pattern. This distorts the campaign performance statistics and leads into the attribution of organic installs to paid campaigns.
2. Campaign Optimization
It is not only about catching fraudsters, CTIT also provides actionable insights on improving campaigns. If the CTIT is longer than normal, the user may be losing interest, due to lengthy download time of the app or registration process. They are the types of delay that if solved will give an improved user experience and in the real essence, higher conversion rates.
What Influences CTIT?
CTIT however isn’t the same for everyone and depends on various factors. Here are some common ones:
1. App Size
The larger the size of an application, the longer it will take for a user to download the application, especially in slow internet connections. However, if an app is large, then compressing it or giving a lighter version of the app can be used to shorten the download time.
2. Network Speed
As mentioned in the earlier point, the internet connection of the user plays a very major role in CTIT. Mobile networks may be sometimes weak due to the coverage of the network in that area. In such areas downloading even a moderately sized application can take ages.
3. Device Performance
Some of the smart devices are old and less memory intensive, and this can make the installation of the apps take a long time. The knowledge of how well your app runs across devices is important; not only on the latest devices, but all the old ‘Jelly Bean’ devices too. This can let down users who are using the low-end or very old models of the devices in its usage.
4. Ad Quality and Targeting
Any ad’s placement and relevance matters a lot. So if the ad message speaks to the user and it is placed in a tempting environment, the chances of action will be high. On the other hand, wrong choice of channeling or presentation of advertisement will lead to hesitation; therefore, increasing the CTIT.
Utilizing CTIT to Improve Campaigns
Knowing the CTIT patterns can help in improving the campaign strategies. Here are a few ways to use the CTIT data to campaign’s advantage:
1. Detect Anomalies
CTIT can be monitored to detect cases of fraud by means of the analysis of abnormal patterns. In one example, CTITs that are too short would imply click injection, flat distribution would imply click spamming. These anomalies could save the ad budget and direct resources into the real user worlds before they snowball.
2. Streamline the User Journey
If CTIT takes more than expected time, it means that it is time to review the journey of the app. Look for features in the case of mobile apps which are large app size, slow downloading, or registration process which may hinder it. This in turn can arise as improved engagement.
3. Optimize Ad Placements
By analyzing CTIT in the various campaigns, it becomes easy to see the right channels to be used and where to put the ads. It is also useful in resource allocation as the app marketer can spend more money in big win channels and ditch the low performers wasting the ad budget.
Bottom Line
CTIT is not just a metric, but a view into your user acquisition process, and a barrier to ad fraud. The CTIT patterns analysis can protect the ad budget or make sure that if the user clicks on the ad they have a smooth first-time experience of accessing your application.
In an app market where so much depends on how quickly an app engages a target customer, knowing and optimizing CTIT could be a critical moving piece for an app. The little things matter when it comes to your app.