Even though consumers now spend considerably more time on their smartphones and tablets than PCs, organizations often struggle to drive adoption for their mobile apps due to the lack of many of the marketing capabilities available on more traditional platforms. That’s according to a startup called Yozio Inc., which raised $7 million in funding this morning to try and fill the gap.

The capital will be used to fuel the continued development of its namesake marketing service, which acts as a central hub for managing user acquisition campaigns across so-called organic channels such as email, text messages and social media. Yozio helps find the optimal placement for download links to increase conversion rates and personalizes the installation to boost retention from there onwards.

In practice, that means a retailer can set up their app so that consumers who find the download page through, say, a promotion are automatically given the promised discount upon logging in for the first time instead of having to redeem a code or perform some other tedious activation routine. The same functionality also allows organizations to point links towards specific sections of their apps.

Pinterest Inc., one of Yozio’s more notable customers, uses that feature to gain new users through shared images. Links to content on its site prompt recipients to download the mobile app, which in turn automatically opens the appropriate board once the installation is complete. The entire process can be tracked through the startup’s marketing dashboard, which provides insight into all the usual performance metrics.

That combination has proven appealing for consumer-facing organizations and investors alike. The startup’s newly announced $7 million round includes contributions from Foundation Capital, which led the round, along with Illuminate Ventures, Webb Investment Network and a number of other backers. The cash infusion brings its total raised so far to $8.3 million.

Photo via Geralt