Despite a challenging 2020 for the financial sector, remarketing efforts soared threefold and non-organic installs increased by 70% globally.
This was just one of the key findings from the 2021 edition of The State of Finance App Marketing report by marketing measurement firm AppsFlyer.
Fintech apps are in high demand, according to the study, experiencing a 132% leap globally in downloads since 2019, with the UK having seen a 129% increase in the last year alone.
Shani Rosenfelder, head of content & mobile insight, AppsFlyer, said: “Fintech experienced rapid digital transformation over the last year, with the pandemic leading to a shift in mindset even for those that have been slow to adapt.
“Marketers should strive for efficiency with their spend by following the rising Cost Per Install trend and focusing on user acquisition to meet new demand. Marketers should also explore more affordable remarketing campaigns to keep their brand top of mind amid rising market competition.”
FinTech apps are in high demand, increasing significantly over the last two years with a 132% leap in global downloads between Q1 2019 to Q1 2021. The UK specifically has seen a 131% rise in downloads between 2019 and 2020, and a 129% increase between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021.
Marketing driven installs soared by 300% in the UK between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, leading the charge in Western Europe with Germany following at 230%. The average rise across the region was 170%, which is the result of marketers running aggressive acquisition campaigns in the last year.
Demand for investment apps has surged, with installs climbing by 61.4% in the UK in the last year alone. This was followed by financial services apps (24.8%) and digital banking apps (13.8%). Investment apps are a fast-growing vertical because of the rise of the stock markets with the biggest growth in demand seen in the UK, Germany, Russia and Turkey.
App spend grew over two thirds in the UK, with the average spend per app between Q2 2020 and Q3 2020 climbing 70%, as the CPI increased by 57%. By Q1 2021, the high CPI led marketers to reduce spend, dropping by 26% with the CPI following suit with a 24% decline.
Digital banking installs up 45%, while traditional banks gain 22% in 2021. Finance app installs increased 20% overall, but financial services and traditional banking app installs saw only a 15% increase between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. However, only in the first quarter of 2021, traditional banks picked up speed with a 22% rise in installs.
3.3x growth in the number of remarketing conversions between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021. Following a 32% drop in spend in Q2 of 2020, efforts rebounded in Q3 and with rising user acquisition costs, marketers increased activity in remarketing, which soared 3x by Q1 2021. Overall, the growth path of non-organic installs continued upward, hitting 172% growth between 2019 and now.
Gal Ekstein, GM EMEA & LATAM, AppsFlyer, said: “The UK has a well-established finance industry, so it’s not a surprise to see demand for finance apps increase amongst consumers.
“With marketing-driven installs climbing 300% and the average Finance app spending $128K on user acquisition in EMEA in Q1 2021, we can expect marketers to continue to run aggressive acquisition campaigns for the remainder of the year.”
The State of Finance App Marketing from AppsFlyer is an anonymous aggregate of proprietary global data collected from 4.7 billion finance app installs. Of this, 400 million installs and 120 million non-organic installs were North American based.
Interested in hearing leading global brands discuss subjects like this in person?
Find out more about Digital Marketing World Forum (#DMWF) Europe, London, North America, and Singapore.
