Is it worth buying app installs? An honest analysis of the pros and cons

Success in the app market has a taste of its own. To compete in the most competitive and innovative modern market is a thrill in its own right.

Why is it a thrill? Success is rare in the app world. 29% people abandon an app immediately if it doesn’t offer them any inherent value.

29%. This means almost three in every ten of your app users may abandon your app.

The website game is driven by traffic. All the hoopla around SEO and social media marketing essentially boils to clicks and traffic.

The app world is driven by downloads, at least for the beginners. A new app can flounder and fail very soon if the company running it doesn’t put together a plan to create a viable user base with high engagement.

In the heat of the competition, companies and entrepreneurs begin entertaining some dicey propositions. One of these is buying app installs and gaming the system.

This piece provides an honest and non-judgemental view on the proposition. From those with an app built from scratch to others who used a mobile app creator, the following sections provide unique insights for all.

Can you buy app installs?

Can you?

Yes. You can buy app installs.

There are many mobile ad networks that enable you to publish ads. These ads are typically driven to enhance app downloads.

Also known as CPI (cost per click) campaigns, advertisers have to pay publishers for every app install.

This is the established way of essentially buying app downloads.

Using various mobile app analytics tools, you can find the right audience and target them with CPI campaigns. You legitimately look for the right audience and use adverts to convert them into becoming app users.

There is another way of buying app installs. This is where things can get a little murky.

You can essentially use app install providers to get fake app downloads. You might have heard of people buying fake Instagram or Twitter followers. The same thing happens here, except you get fake app installs instead of fake followers.

Why would you need to buy app installs?

Let’s take CPI campaigns first. Using such campaigns is not exactly uncommon. In fact, it’s a legitimate part of app marketing and often used by marketers to expand their app’s reach.

Making people download an app can be a tedious process. People are much less likely to download an app compared to visiting a webpage or participating in a lead generation campaign.

Thus, getting real downloads is a challenge. It is not easy to create organic mechanisms to drive app downloads in a short span of time.

This establishes the need for CPI app install campaigns is well established. It is a perfect outbound measure that directly contributes to an essential app metric.

The worth of a CPI campaign is easy to evaluate. If there is a real positive ROI and the incoming users have a decent user retention rate, the CPI campaign is worth it.

The only real con of running a CPI campaign is that some companies develop a dependence in it. CPI campaigns are a useful temporary measure. However, marketers must develop organic structures that enable direct downloads without direct injection of capital.

Why would you need fake app installs?

Downloads are a prestige metric. One reason your target audience may not download your app is that it has a low number of existing users and downloads.

Buying fake downloads will at least alleviate you from this problem. For those trying to convert WordPress website to Android app and other coding their way to make one, getting the initial batch of app downloads is always challenging.

Are fake apps installs worth it?

It depends.

The worth of fake app installations to the company buying them depends on a few factors. The pros and cons clearly explain situations where fake installs help.

Pros

To whom are fake installs worth the money?

Answer: those who only have an app as a prestige entity.

Many companies don’t really launch an app to enhance their business and reach out to their customers. They have other working channels to attract their customers and are happy to continue using them.

The only reason they have an app in the market is to tell their customers and essential stakeholders that they have an app.

That’s it. It’s essentially an obligation for them.

Such companies don’t find any value investing time and resources in CPI campaigns and app marketing. They only need to have a certain threshold of downloads to show their stakeholders that have an app.

Cons

You cannot consider getting fake installs if you plan on making your app the centre of your business success.

There are many reasons for this. Fake installs will kill your app growth and ensure low rankings.

WHy? Fake app installs don’t come with regular app engagement. Your app will lose its visibility on the app store thanks to poor in-app metrics. A new update to the algorithm may even detect your fake installs and lead to your developer account being blacklisted.

The immediate allure of fake installs is very promising.

Let’s assume you’re spending day and night promoting an app you created from a free online app maker. You already know the amount of effort it takes to get every single app download through the line.

Then you find a way to get 10000 app downloads in five minutes for $100. You would naturally take notice of such a proposition. In a moment of weakness, you might even indulge in the possibility and pay the $100.

This situation is a con because these 1000 app users won’t actually do much for your app. Your app store page would suddenly display a higher number of downloads. That is the only real value you get.

In conclusion

The search for success leads people down many roads. The mobile app market has its own effect on entrepreneurial minds looking for a way to get more app downloads.

This piece explores the proposition of buying app installs. Many in the app market dismiss the prospect outright. However, it is still important to study the scope of buying app installs.

The latter sections of this article explain the type of companies and entrepreneurs that can benefit from fake app installs. In most cases, it is best for companies to focus on getting app downloads through legitimate means.