What is an organic install?

An organic install is any install of an app that is not attributed to specific, direct marketing efforts. In simpler terms, an install is considered organic when a user discovers, downloads, and opens an app without interacting with a paid advertisement or campaign, such as mobile ads, influencer promotions, or sponsored content. 

Organic installs are typically driven by the user’s own search behavior or recommendations, such as finding the app thanks to word-of-mouth, organic search results in app stores, or being featured in top charts.

In contrast to non-organic installs, which are the result of paid advertising campaigns or incentivized marketing efforts, organic installs occur organically, or without a direct prompt. While a non-organic user might be motivated by seeing and interacting with an ad before downloading an app, an organic user is typically self-driven, arriving at the point-of-download via app store browsing, referrals, or other content they encountered.

A key differentiator between paid and organic installs from the mobile marketing perspective is attribution. An organic install in this context refers to a scenario where the user journey is not linked to a defined campaign or marketing effort. If a user has seen and interacted with an advertisement and proceeds to install the app, this install can still be attributed to organic if the install takes place outside of the attribution window.

Organic installs often result in the highest lifetime value (LTV) users, and play a critical role in the success of any app growth strategy for the following reasons: 

1. High user quality and retention: Organic users often demonstrate higher engagement, retention rates, and LTV. This is because these users have actively sought out and chosen the app, which usually indicates stronger intent and interest. Studies show that organic users tend to have more in-app sessions, more in-app engagement activity, and exhibit greater loyalty compared to their paid counterparts. 
2. Cost efficiency: Although generating organic installs requires upfront investment efforts via channels like app store optimization (ASO) and content marketing, there is no cost per install (CPI) involved. This can result in drastic user acquisition (UA) cost savings. 
3. Sustainable growth: Organic installs contribute to scalable growth and the long term performance of an app. A solid base of organic users will help your app maintain visibility in app store rankings, which will drive more downloads without the need for continuous, high-volume paid initiatives.

Though no install is likely to truly be free of cost, organic installs result in considerable savings. Incrementality testing provides granular insight into the impact of all your marketing efforts. This means you can understand the impact of each dollar with greater clarity and avoid cannibalizing organic traffic. 

There are many ways to increase organic installs to your app. In cases where organic cannibalization does not take place, paid campaigns can also result in incremental lift, or increasing your organic installs that would not have occurred had the campaign not taken place initially. 

Here are our top tips to drive more organic installs:

App store optimization (ASO)

Probably the most effective way to improve your app’s discoverability, ASO is the science of improving your app store listing. Successful ASO involves using relevant keywords in the app title, description, and metadata, highlighting your app’s unique features and benefits with compelling visuals and clear messaging, and encouraging positive ratings and reviews.

Organic installs are coveted by mobile marketers, but can be difficult to measure and scale due to the saturation of the market and lack of direct attribution. Organic users are more engaged and loyal over time, but relying solely on this source is challenging and likely unsustainable. A balanced approach, combining the lasting benefits of organic installs with the scalability of paid UA, is the basis of app marketing success. Paid provides initial and ongoing boosts where needed and a strong organic foundation ensures continued growth and retention. 

Using Adjust’s Datascape, you can see organic installs directly on the dashboard. To determine that an install is organic, Adjust uses an attribution waterfall methodology. If no click, impression, or engagement can be matched to the install, the user will be attributed as organic, and will also not be considered for an assisted install. Installs being attributed as organic may indeed be the result of paid efforts, but if the install occurs outside of the relevant attribution window, it can no longer be attributed to an engagement related to the campaign. Adjusting your attribution window can provide insight into this, along with incrementality testing. 

With Adjust, marketers can see all of their data in one place—organic or paid—to make smart, fast decisions around budget allocation, where to pause, and where to scale. 

To learn how we can help grow your app, request a demo today.