App engagement company Fiksu noted an increased cost to acquire loyal users during July 2012, “as major brands increasingly invest in mobile apps as an integral part of their overall marketing strategies”.

It noted that the average aggregate daily download volume for the top 200 free US iPhone apps “dipped slightly” by 5.6 percent to 4.37 million, with the company stating that there was a “relatively stable landscape for mobile app marketers”.

According to Fiksu’s Cost Per Loyal User Index, the cost to acquire users during the month was US$1.54, up from US$1.44 in June.

Micah Adler, CEO of Fiksu, said: “Over the past three months, we’ve observed a steady, incremental increase in loyal user acquisition costs as brands increasingly turned to mobile as a pivotal marketing channel for reaching high-quality, engaged users at a fraction of the cost of more traditional advertising methods.”