Mobile App Marketing Pricing Guide 2024

Whether you develop an Android or iOS app, it’s safe to say your work is far from over post-launch. Once the app is in the world, companies follow app marketing strategies to ensure users download and enjoy the application. The success of app marketing can often determine the app's overall success.

Digital marketing plays a fundamental role in all industries, but it holds a special place in tech. When it comes to launching applications, all the planning and development work that takes place pre-launch relies on a powerfully executed post-launch strategy, which is bound to include a marketing campaign or two.

App users are very particular when choosing which apps to download. The average user has 80 apps on their phone, so you must beat out the competition for one of those coveted spots. One approach to getting in front of the right potential users is hiring an app marketing agency to facilitate ad campaigns and other marketing efforts.

On Clutch, mobile app marketing costs can range tens of thousands of dollars. Of course, the exact cost of a mobile app marketing project will depend on the desired complexity of your campaigns and the team required to execute your needs. 

Mobile App Marketing Services Costs by Industry

Some industries invest in more technically challenging mobile app development projects than others. As a driver of complexity, a company’s industry can also dictate whether marketing expenses are higher or lower. 

As you can see, there is considerable variation in the cost of mobile app marketing services depending on the industry. The required marketing efforts on marketplaces like Apple’s App Store or the Google Play Store and outside of those platforms will determine how many mobile users you acquire and how expensive the project is. A company's app marketing strategy can have an impact as well. 

What is the Real Cost of Hiring App Marketing Companies?

For projects on Clutch, app marketing services cost between $25–$49 per hour. For many companies, this cost is well worth it for the high ROI of strong marketing.

Whether you’re looking for social media marketing, viral marketing efforts, outreach strategies, or landing page creation, app marketing agencies are equipped to deliver. Some agencies specialize in certain focus areas, but many can provide a full-service experience to their clients.

While app marketing pricing can generally be identified via averages, it’s important to explore the nuances of your needs to budget most effectively.

Mobile Application Marketing Pricing Models Vary

One method of narrowing down potential price points is by examining possible pricing models marketing agencies utilize. Every firm charges slightly differently, so it’s critical to grasp the pricing structures potential business partners prefer.

• Fixed Price: the service provider gives clients a quote for a given amount of work, set at a fixed rate. This rate does have the potential to change if add-ons are incurred, or the scope of work expands past what was documented.
• Hourly Rate: the app marketing agency charges an hourly rate for the time spent working on the project. This pricing model is common for larger, more complex projects where the scope of work is not well-defined or may change over time.
• Retainer: app marketers charge a fixed fee over a set period of time for regular, recurring work. This pricing model is common for long-term partnerships based on ongoing support tasks.
• Percentage of Ad Spend: agencies charge a percentage of the budget for advertising campaigns, which is common of campaigns centered on paid advertising on platforms such as Google Ads or social media.

Consider the Cost of Advertisements and Fees in App Marketing Costs

Particularly when your agency charges based on ad spend, it’s important your advertising budget in mind when choosing a provider. Two very important factors for determining app marketing costs are cost-per-action and cost-per-install.

Cost-per-action (CPA): the app marketing agency charges a set fee each time certain high-value user actions occur post-install such as in-app purchases or sign-ups.

Cost-per-install (CPI): the app marketing agency charges a fee for each app install generated through their marketing efforts. App marketing campaigns where the primary goal is to increase app downloads.

Both of these metrics can be used to benchmark potential ad spending and agency fees, making them essential factors to track on a continuous basis.

Why Do Global Companies Invest in Mobile App Marketing Services?

Mobile app marketing agencies are valuable enough to many companies to hire to support any existing in-house marketing efforts.

Hiring experts with many years of experience in the app marketing field will maximize your return far past what your in-house team could do. Here are just a few ways app marketing agencies can contribute to your mobile app life cycle.

• Increasing App Visibility: Like a PR agency, app marketing companies are responsible for your app getting noticed on and off app marketplaces. Using press releases, social media channels, ASO, and more, firms make it easier for users to find and download the app. With millions of apps available in app stores, it can be difficult for new apps to get noticed. App marketing agencies use a variety of strategies to increase app visibility and make it easier for potential users to discover and download the app.
• Improving User Acquisition: Using market research, agencies can target certain demographics on social media and app store listings. This ensures that search ads and listing content
• Boosting User Retention: After bringing new users to the app, it’s a firm’s job to retain a user base with improvements to user experience and functionality. Additionally, app marketing companies can contribute by setting up push notifications to be sent to existing users’ mobile devices as a means of engagement.
• Increasing Revenue: By increasing app visibility and user acquisition, app marketing agencies can help developers generate more revenue from their apps through in-app purchases, subscriptions, or other monetization strategies.

What Services Do App Marketing Companies Offer?

The cost of app marketing services heavily depends on the types of services provided, which can be wide-reaching. Clients can receive any or all of the following activities from their marketing partners:

• App Store Optimization (ASO): optimizing an app's listing on the app stores to improve its visibility and rank higher in search results (think: SEO for app stores). With ASO support, companies can optimize their app store listings by conducting keyword research, writing compelling descriptions, and utilizing screenshots and videos.
• Social Media Advertising: promoting apps via social media channels, allowing for the quick targeting of certain audience groups. App marketing agencies can create and manage social media advertising campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter to drive app downloads and user acquisition.
• Influencer Marketing: finding and partnering with social media influencers or bloggers to promote an app to their followers. Agencies play a key role in identifying relevant influencers, negotiating partnerships, and creating content that resonates with their audiences.
• Content Creation: Building eye-catching and relevant content for social channels, blogs posts, email marketing campaigns, and app store listings to attract and delight potential users

App marketing companies help development teams showcase their product in inviting and exciting ways, attracting new and returning users to engage with the app.

Factors That Influence App Marketing Costs

As you’ve seen, there’s a seemingly endless list of factors that contribute to the overall cost of app marketing. However, it’s important to train your eye on the ones that will catalyze the greatest level of impact prelaunch.

• Scope of Services: App marketing agencies often have different packages or a la carte services that will scale the cost of an engagement. The more additional services, the higher the cost to perform activities needed to achieve the marketing goals.
• App Complexity: If an app has unique features that require nuanced marketing efforts, or if the app is in a highly competitive market, it may require a more tailored marketing approach, which could increase the cost.
• Target Audience: If the app is aimed at a highly specific or niche audience, it may require more targeted and focused marketing efforts. In the vast majority of cases, this will increase costs.

Develop an App Marketing Budget to Account for Costs

The best way to anticipate the pricing of an app marketing project is to build a budget that accounts for your needs and expected spend for advertisements themselves.

From there, discuss your expectations with shortlisted companies. There’s likely some wiggle room to accommodate your needs, but communicating them is the only way you’ll discover whether or not it’s possible.