Best Practices for ASO: How to Market Your App with Optimizing App Preview Videos?

It’s not enough to just draw users to the product page on the App Store as part of your ASO strategy. Your goal is to get people interested and lead them to installing the app. You have to maximally optimize all the graphic elements on the app page, because the visual part affects conversion into installs.

the product page should take no longer than 3 seconds to explain what the application does. It is these few seconds that affect the decision about making an install. If you want your app page on the App Store to increase conversion, you should make it memorable.



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What is an app store preview video?

For an app to gain installs, developers must show users what makes the app great. While this can be done through screen-shots and descriptions, App Preview videos are another effective way to help with conversion.

A good App Preview video can increase conversions by up to 25%. Conversely, a bad App Preview can have a negative effect on an app’s conversion rate.

Developers should understand what makes a good App Preview. With that in mind, here are some of the best practices to remember when designing your App Previews for App Store Optimization.

Use the app preview video to stand out

Video previews on the App Store is an additional opportunity to tell the audience about the features and functions of the app.

Adding a video can substantially increase conversion from page views to installs. According to SplitMetrics’ report, adding a video preview onto the App Store can increase engagement and conversion rate by 16%, the presence of a video on your app page can heighten the conversion rate by 20-35%.

Before planning to post a video preview on the app page, we recommend that you conduct A/B tests. There were cases when adding a video preview negatively affected the conversion rate to install.

When planning your products’ promotion on the App Store and Google Play, remember to prepare for store differences. Whereas you can add a video preview on the App Store, in the case of Google Play you can only add a link to a video, published on YouTube. Together with this, you must add special graphics on the app page.

Get Straight to the Point

Introduce the main purpose of your app in the first 5 seconds. People’s attention spans are short nowadays and they won’t want to wait until the end of the video to see what your app is about. Get straight to the point from the beginning and then use the rest of the time to elaborate.

Videos also auto-play in the App Store. Interesting and dynamic intros will catch a person’s attention while they’re scrolling.

Start with your most impactful messages

An average video watch time among all iOS app categories is 4–6.5 seconds and the Video completion rate is below 20%. So, although the app preview video is on autoplay, the visitor could drop off at any second. Try to start your video with your most impactful message in the first 4 seconds.

Given the short amount of time you have to capture visitors’ attention and encourage installs, it’s also important to strike the right balance between highlighting brand assets and showcasing the app functionality and experience. We recommend that you avoid beginning your Video with a splash screen, countdown, or even App Icon. Visitors would have already been exposed to your App Icon or logo when they first landed on your Product Page, so the repetition is unnecessary. Plus, those tactics generally lead to higher immediate drops from your Product Page, and you will subsequently be wasting valuable, initial seconds that you should be using to showcase key app features.

Instead, start with your strongest visuals and test what your most convincing and impactful message is in the first segment of your Video.

Consider small screen sizes

Not everyone will be watching your app preview video on large iPad Pro screens. Take into consideration the many different iOS device sizes when you’re filming and editing the app preview video. For example, if the details of a feature are too small to be seen full screen, zoom in.

Localize your app video

Since the release of iOS 11, developers have the option to upload localized Videos for all available App Store languages. Localization is the process of adapting an app store’s metadata (i.e., app name, description, keywords, and screenshots) to different countries and their languages. If your App Store Product Page is only optimized for a top market or simply one country/language, you’re not maximizing your app’s distribution potential.

gets organic installs with the app store preview video

Use each video asset to focus on a specific aspect of your app

This tip is twofold. Each segment within an individual Video should focus on different app elements, and since you can host up to three App Preview Videos in the Gallery, each Video should focus on varying but cohesive aspects of your app as well. The key is to avoid blatant repetition because if visitors see the same message across multiple Videos, they will think that’s all there is to see and won’t be encouraged to explore further. Instead, you should use each section of the Video to highlight different concepts and app unique selling propositions (USPs) to keep watchers engaged.

Building Videos as independent segments also allows you to create a cohesive Video that can be cut at different sections and presented in different orders when tested. This will enable you to see how visitors engage with specific segments and will give you insight into which messages best resonate with them.

For example, in the game industry, you can divide three Video assets into the following themes: game storyline and characters, gameplay, and game level progression. Based on the results of the test, you can identify which theme drove the most installs and represents the most impactful message to your target users. These insights can help guide not only the development of your App Preview Video, but also your broader app marketing and user acquisition (UA) strategies.

A unique take on this tip is to hone in on a single feature with an animated 3–6 second looping GIF Video. This enables you to showcase a specific clip of gameplay, app feature, or other main message while keeping the length short enough to capture visitors’ attention regardless of their initial engagement level. Based on tests we’ve run, including a GIF increased Video completion by 70% and led to a 9% higher Video watch and install rate.

However, please note that Apple have a minimum Video length requirement of 15 seconds, so it’s important to loop the GIF in order to meet their guidelines. As you can see in the Lineage 2: Revolution GIF example above, they use a short looping Video to highlight one specific aspect of their multiplayer, action-packed gameplay.

Make your video work with and without sound

App Preview Videos are muted by default, so the main selling propositions and functionality of your app should be communicated effectively without being reliant on sound. You can engage visitors with subtitles, callouts, and other elements that contextualize the visuals.

In general, best practice is to use easily understandable terms and language that will appeal and make sense to your target audience. You should also ensure that any text you include is legible and remains on the screen long enough for your audience to read it.

Show actual footage of your app

Apple will reject any videos that have footage filmed outside of the actual app itself. So think, screen recording over highly produced commercial. It’s especially important to follow these guidelines if you have a new app. You don’t want your submission to be rejected because you didn’t cut out a few seconds of footage.

Leverage app store testing platforms to fully optimize your video

In order to get the full potential out of your app video make sure you are using the App Store testing platforms. Testing gives you insight into exactly how visitors interact with your video and helps you answer valuable questions. 

Here are some tests we recommend to get started:

Test the presence of a Video

Just because you have the option to include a Video doesn’t necessarily mean you should have one. Start by testing the following variations: no Video, one Video, two Videos, and three Videos. Based on the results, you will better understand the impact a Video has on your CVR and can strategize accordingly.

In some app categories, we’ve seen Videos cause CVR lifts of up to 14% when comparing the same apps with a “no Video” variation versus a variation with at least one Video. In other instances, the variation without a Video converted better.

It all comes down to the unique wants and needs of your target users and how they respond to your content. This is an important initial test to run so you don’t spend valuable resources optimizing an asset that may not improve your app’s overall performance.

Test Video content

This test ties in with Tip #2. If your Video is already organized by sections that focus on a different theme or feature, it’s much easier to determine which segment led to an increase in installs and which led to drops. Understanding the exact visuals or messaging that made the most impact and drove installs will influence the creative design of the Video and ensure that no precious seconds are wasted on content that doesn’t convert.

Test optimal Video quantity

With the option to include up to three App Preview Videos in your Gallery, it’s important to know how many you should include in your page to maximize conversion. In many of our tests, we’ve seen that a lower percentage of visitors watch the second Video compared to the first, but that the second can drive up to 24% more installs than the first.

Test Video orientation

You have the option to include Videos in landscape orientation, portrait orientation, or a mix of both. Each orientation has varying implications on the layout and visibility of assets in your Product Page, so it’s important to test Video orientation in order to determine what converts best for your app.