Mobile App Marketing Channels

November 29th, 2021

Mobile App Marketing Channels
Anh Nguyen

by Anh Nguyen

COO & Co-Founder at Gummicube, Inc

Organic Performance and Paid Marketing

If you have a great app and you really want to get it in front of the most users, you are likely to turn to paid marketing. There are so many options when it comes to mobile advertising that it can be hard to tell which route will work best for your app. Luckily every app benefits from App Store Optimization, and there are two mobile advertising options that can improve your ASO strategy: Apple Search Ads and Google Ads.

Apple Search Ads

When optimizing your app for the iOS App Store, Apple Search Ads can be a great option to get the extra boost in visibility that you need. Apple Search Ads is Apple’s native advertising channel on the iOS App Store and thus provides some unique benefits when it comes to App Store Optimization.

Apple Search Ads uses your app’s metadata to serve ads to the users that are most likely to convert. Because of this symbiotic relationship, App Store Optimization improves the effectiveness of Apple Search Ads. The same keywords that are likely to get you discovered organically in search results can help place your ad in front of a user that is looking for your app. The perfect keywords to bid on aren’t always straightforward, though, and this is where ASO tools come in.

Often times finding the right keyword set takes research and experimentation. Even though a term might technically seem relevant it may not actually reflect the search behavior of users on the app stores. With the right tools and knowledge, and the help of an ASO agency, this process of finding the best keywords can be made substantially simpler.

Another benefit to having Apple base Apple Search Ads on your app’s store listing is the interplay with creative assets. Apple allows you to use any three screenshots from your product page in Search Ads, so long as they appear in the same order in the advertisement as they do on your store listing. By taking advantage of this, you can use Apple Search Ads as a proxy for A/B testing your screenshots with Creative Set Testing.

Creative Set Testing allows you to analyze the effectiveness of your creative assets on users that are already in the iOS App Store. This subset of users is more likely to reflect organic search behavior than a user coming from a web or app advertisement.

Creative Set Testing has its limitations though, and the users who are likely to click and install from an ad do differ from the users who will forgo the Search Ad in favor of top results. Although soon Apple will be debuting their brand new native A/B testing tools, Creative Set Testing has historically been incredibly useful for this purpose.

Google Ads

Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords and Google Universal App Campaigns, allows your app to be advertised in many areas across the internet. Google Ads serves advertisements to users who are browsing Google websites, which is a large and ever growing number of sites.

Since Google Ads appear across these websites as well as the Google Play Store, running a Google Ads campaign can help build keyword relevance and brand awareness. Running your paid marketing through Google Ads can help Google Play App Store Optimization by driving organic growth for your app. Taps and installs gained through Google Ads sends traffic to your app that improves the click through rate (CTR) and keyword relevance.

Google receives these signals that indicate your app’s relevance for keywords, which will impact your organic ranking for them. As Google’s machine learning strategically improves upon its ad delivery your app is increasingly likely to be shown to users with intent. This compounds the boost in performance, as more users with intent will tap and install your app thus signaling that you are relevant for these terms once again.

Overall

When choosing a paid marketing channel there are many avenues to choose from, including Apple Search Ads that appear across the iOS App Store and Google Ads that show up on Google websites across the internet. These two marketing channels are essential for sustained growth and will often place your ad in front of users who are likely to convert.

Increasing downloads from traffic sources like Apple Search Ads and Google Ads also improves organic search performance by helping with category ranking and keyword indexation. Positive click through rates from Apple Search Ads additionally improves your app’s organic ranking for keywords. This leads to an overall lower cost for user acquisition as your app gains traction in organic channels.

Want to learn more about App Store Optimization? Contact Gummicube and we’ll help get your strategy started.

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