The number of apps is growing. It is becoming more and more difficult to stand out in search and attract the attention of users. To solve this problem, in addition to doing ASO, many people have decided to use paid tools to attract traffic. Are you looking for ways to grow your business and win more app installs? Then Apple Search Ads may be the answer! In this article, we'll explain how Apple Search Ads work and how to use them to increase app download rates.
How ASA boost your app keyword ranking on iOS App Store?
Maximum visibility in App Store searches
Given that half of all users find apps through App Store searches, it's critical to be featured prominently in searches. Ads are placed at the top of the App Store search, above any natural search results. This is the main attraction of ASA. But there's a lot at play here, too - it's important to know how to manage your bids and how to reach the coveted sponsored spots.
For example, since Apple makes money from the number of clicks an ad gets, the highest bidder isn't guaranteed to win the auction. If another advertiser has a lower bid but a higher TTR, they may win the position.
Apple Search Ads is an intent-based channel
This is important in the post-IDFA era because Apple looks at the context of a particular search to target ads based on keywords. By its very nature, ASA does not rely on IDs to target individuals. Attribution models already have an advantage over other channels that rely on IDs for individual behavioral targeting.
With Apple Search Ads, you can tap into user intent signals that match your offerings and attract higher-quality users. That's why Apple claims such impressive performance numbers, such as 50 percent average conversion rates and 65 percent download rates.
Click "Learn More" to drive your apps & games business with ASO World app promotion service now.
How to maximize your app visibility with ASA keyword research and optimization
App Store search ads keyword match types
Search Ads involve three different types of keyword matches.
They are ways for you to tell Apple whether you want to bid on keywords exactly as you enter them or more broadly. This is influenced by campaign goals and will ultimately determine campaign results. So you must first understand the different types of keyword matches Apple offers.
Broad Match
Broad match is the default keyword match type. By selecting broad match, you are telling Apple that you want to bid on the keywords you select and other keywords that are broadly related to them.
Broad match includes misspellings, plurals, closely related words, synonyms, related searches, related phrases, and translations.
For example, when you type "Friends," Apple also considers variations of "Friend," "Amigo," "Freind," and more.
Exact match
Exact match helps you narrow your ad bid spread. By choosing exact match, you're telling Apple that you want to bid exactly as entered for the selected keyword.
Common misspellings and plural forms will also be taken into account.
For example, when you type "friends," Apple will consider "friends" and "friends.
Search matching
Search matches are best suited for keyword discovery. By selecting Search Match, you allow Apple to use its metadata to automatically match your app to relevant keywords and search terms.
For Search Match to work, your app's metadata needs to be up to date and optimized. This means that App Store optimizations have been completed and recently updated. In this way, Apple can easily pull information about your app and generate the best and most relevant keywords.
App Store Search campaign types
When creating an account to start keyword bidding, ASA best practice is to split your keywords into four different campaign types: Generic, Branded and Competitor, and Discovery.
Generic Campaigns
Typically set to broad match, generic campaigns use keywords that are relevant to your app. For example, if you have a fitness app, you should include keywords such as "fitness" or "exercise" in this campaign. The purpose of the general campaign is to attract high intent app store visitors.
Branded campaigns
You will want to use a brand campaign to reach a more specific audience searching for your brand in the App Store, drive reinstalls and brand protection. Your keywords in this campaign will be keywords related to your brand name or a variation thereof. By bidding generously on your branded keywords, you ensure that your competitors don't take this valuable space away from you.
Competitor activity
Set up exact matches, competitor campaigns to target App Store users who are searching for competitors. Keywords for these types of campaigns include your direct competitor's name or a variation of their name.
Discovery campaigns
You need to set up a discovery campaign to discover new keywords or find alternative keywords that you are not using in other campaigns.
To maximize the effectiveness of a Discovery campaign, new keywords from Discovery should be added as exact match keywords to the other three campaign types, and all keywords from branded, generic, and competitor campaigns should be added as negative keywords in Discovery.
Best practices for using Apple Search Ads
Getting started with Apple Search Ads isn't a problem. But you need to make sure you adopt some best practices that will ultimately help you make the most of your investment. Here are some App Store advertising best practices you should follow when using Apple Search Ads.
Review app metadata before launching a campaign
Before launching a new campaign, you'll want to visit App Store Connect and take a closer look at app metadata. The appearance of your ads will be based on your app's metadata, and you won't be able to change it later. Keep in mind that the same ad is unlikely to be shown to every user. Some people may get a simple description of the app, while others will see screenshots and preview videos.
USP-based targeted keywords
This is very important for marketers using ASA Advanced. You need to do some research and identify keywords that will increase installs. For example, if you have a fitness tracking app, use keywords like "fitness tracker" or "diet plan" as keywords. You must understand the search patterns of your audience because it can greatly improve your conversion rate.
You can always expect higher competition with general keywords, but if you can find more specific keywords, they will not only be cheaper to bid on, but will also have a higher conversion rate.
Tip: Use the keyword research in your ASO strategy to understand your options and sync your goals!
Use the 80/20 budget allocation method for App Store promotions
When comparing keywords, you must split your keywords between broad match and exact match. 80% of your spend should go to exact match and the remaining 20% should go to broad match. Both will be used primarily for discovery campaigns to identify keywords that perform better than others.
Exact match keywords will allow you to attract and convert interested users. They will be easier to convert and more likely to generate more revenue. They may cost more, but they will also pay off. Ideally, you should allocate an 80/20 budget to get the maximum return. Once you start generating interest, you can also reduce your budget allocation.
How to leverage your app business within ASO and ASA on iOS app store?
The great thing about Apple Search Ads is that you can use the search match feature to identify new keywords. When Search Match is enabled, your ads are automatically matched to new search terms based on metadata in your App Store listings, information about similar apps of the same type, and other available search data.
The ability to check keyword relevancy is an invaluable part of Apple Search Ads. In just a few hours, you can run a small test campaign to collect data and get a complete picture of which keywords to optimize for in your ASO efforts. By analyzing Tap Through Rate (similar to Click Through Rate on the web), in-store conversion rates, and actual downloads, you can begin to develop a more effective ASO strategy. In addition, you can use attribution tools to explore the LTV of each keyword for campaign analysis.
ASA can help you narrow down your ASO strategy, but it's not a gold mine; ASO is a long-term strategy, and your goal should be to keep increasing natural downloads. A key learning point is to look at ASA data from a longer-term perspective so you can see the true trends and performance of each keyword.
Apple Search Ads only work if you know how to properly target your keywords. To ensure maximum app visibility and download rates, you need to target specific and general keywords and carefully determine how much you are willing to bid for each keyword. An easy way to find keywords is to use a tool that automatically compiles a list of targeted keywords. You should increase your bids until you reach your cost-per-acquisition target and start winning downloads from popular keywords related to your niche.
Unfortunately, simply outbidding your competitors for high-volume keywords isn't enough to win the number one spot, because Apple also considers the relevance of your app to the keyword. To ensure you always rank #1, you need to combine winning bids with ASO optimization. Factors that affect your ASO include app name, URL, description, reviews, and ratings.
To learn more about ASA&ASO, you can check "
Why ASA and ASO Should Complement Each Other?" of our previous articles.
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