CPI stands for cost per install. CPI is calculated on Facebook by dividing your spend by mobile app installs.
For example, if your spend was $80 and you generated 22 mobile app installs for that $80, your CPI was $3.64 ($80/22=$3.64).
A good cost per mobile app install on Facebook is relative to your app, whether it’s paid or free, and if it’s free will be dependent on your app’s throughput of free users to paid users.
For paid apps, you should be aiming for a cost per app install that is equal to or less than your take of the revenue from one purchase.
For free apps, you should be aiming for a cost per app install that allows you to generate enough free users to get one paid user conversion with an average lifetime value equal to or above your cost.
You can also use the chart above to see what the average Facebook cost per mobile app install is and compare it to yours, or you can join our Facebook community where you can ask folks in your same industry what their CPI is to get a baseline and tips on how to reduce your cost per mobile app install.
If you have a high cost per mobile app install, it could be due to several reasons not just with your Facebook ads, but also on your app store listing:
Think of all aspects of your funnel from the Facebook ad and its components to the conversion rate on the app store to identify weak links that could be increasing your cost per mobile app install.
You can lower your cost per mobile app install by finding what’s causing your CPI to be high from the above list and addressing those issues. On the Facebook ad side, here’s what you can do to lower your CPI:
