What Is IPM?

Installs Per Mille Formula: How Do You Calculate IPM?

To calculate your app’s install per mille, you need to multiply the number of installs by 1,000 and divide this by the number of ad impressions you received for that campaign. To visualize this better, here is the install per mille formula:

So, let’s say, for example, 200 people out of 2,000 ad viewers installed your game, you would have an IPM of 100. 

Why Measure Installs Per Mille?

Why does IPM matter? This metric gives you the bigger picture of the user journey when you target new users. By tracking your installs per mille, you can better understand how successful your user acquisition efforts are. 

With a high IPM metric, you’re also able to positively influence the CPM value of your campaign (remember, this is your CPI × installs ÷ impressions × 1,000).

If your goal is to acquire new users, you need to ensure your ad is effectively distributed and then installed by these new users. The better your campaign is at generating installs, the higher your ad’s relevance is, and the more your ads will be distributed to users. 

As a metric, IPM is useful to measure – along with cost per install (CPI) and click-through rate (CTR) – for the following reasons:

• Unlike CTR, IPM is a better metric to measure high user intent and engagement. After all, an app install is less likely to be accidental than an ad click.
• IPM doesn’t fluctuate based on supply and demand in a given region, platform, or category – it is based purely on the performance of your ad and how well it generates installs (that is, interest) from users. That is, the relevance of your ad to the user pool.

IPM Benchmarks: Looking at Install per Mille in Specific Verticals

When setting benchmarks for your app, you need to look at how the other titles in your app genre are performing. This is because the IPM metric varies significantly from vertical to vertical. 

The IPM benchmark for hypercasual games particularly varies quite heavily depending on GEO or operating system – but you should know that the IPM for hypercasual games is much higher than with other gaming verticals, such as casual or midcore games. Due to the high competition in the match-3 vertical, these titles tend to have the lowest IPM.

How Do You Boost Your IPM Metric?

Your IPM might not be where you want it to be – and there could be a few reasons for this. 

If you want to boost your app’s installs per mille, you could look at carrying out a few optimizations. These include:

• Optimize your ad creatives: Carry out A/B testing to see which CTA, colors, or messaging (for example) convert better to installs
• Carry out app store optimization measures: Ensure your app is more prominently placed in the app store and engages users with creatives and descriptions to generate more installs
• Prevent ad fraud as much as possible: Reduce the risk of making data-driven campaign decisions based on low IPM due to fraud
• Fine-tune your targeting strategy: Analyze your app’s current user base to find out which users you can target to generate even more installs
• Optimize your traffic sources: Make sure you are targeting traffic from high-quality sources and adjust your campaign budget depending on where your ad performs best
• Change the difficulty of your playable: Guarantee more installs by making your playable as engaging for users as possible – if it’s too easy or difficult, potential users may lose interest and not install the game

Conclusion

The install per mille metric is becoming more and more interesting for mobile marketers to track. While IPM may not be as popular as CTR, it’s an important indicator of how appealing your ad campaigns are. 

IPM is an important early indicator; however, you should, of course, track other KPIs along with IPM in order to understand your ad’s performance on a holistic level – such as retention rate and other post-install KPIs. You want your users to continue engaging with your app long after they’ve installed it.

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