The best shot for developers to market their mobile apps ends just after most people's dinnertimes, or 8 p.m., based on research from Localytics. The firm's recent research study examined U.S. app usage over the last month using its proprietary tool to look at session length and history.
- Overall app usage peaks at 8 p.m.
- News, travel and weather apps all peak in the morning between 7 and 8 a.m.
- Business, finance and music apps all experience heavy usage throughout the day and into the evening.
- Entertainment and social networking apps maintain strong usage during late night hours--all the way to 5 a.m.
"Most people check the weather right when they first wake up, followed by the day's headlines and traffic information," the report says. "To no one's surprise travel apps experience peak usage in the morning and evening commutes, as people are trying to find efficient ways to get to and from work or school. For apps that experience heavy early morning usage, a well-timed in-app message in the morning could result in significant engagement with the user."
Although the study generalizes some aspects of app usage, there is some interesting data here about differences within some other categories. For example, business and finance apps are by no means 9-to-5 experiences for many users. Entertainment apps, meanwhile, are the true all-nighters, with usage holding steady at 50 percent between 2 and 5 a.m.
A lot of this may seem like common sense, but if nothing else this gives developers a baseline from which to study their marketing efforts over time. If the usage or results of marketing campaigns of their apps fall somewhere far outside of what's shown here, it may be worth delving in further to see if there's a more competitive advantage to be had. Often we suggest that mobile app usage happens 'round the clock--and it does--but there are spots on that clock that may be more important than others.
For more:
- get the full report here
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