If I told you there was a user acquisition channel that:
- had a CPI of less than $.05
- attracted the highest quality users
- and created a competitive advantage the longer an effort was made in this channel
.... it would be crazy to attempt to go after this channel with unrelated data, with tools that are not built for the job. What if your competitors have identified and invested in enterprise-quality App Store SEO tools and your team has not?
App Store Search is #1 in App Discovery....
It is estimated by several sources that search and browsing makes up at least 50% of mobile app downloads. Neither Apple or Google release this data, but various polls show mobile app discovery is still driven by searching the app stores.
For the best monetizing mobile apps, their LTV>CPI spread is large enough that almost every possible user acquisition channel from TV Ads to Outdoor advertising works for them. Looking at top grossing for today - 20 of the top 25 are Gaming Apps, with 3 of the other 5 subscription-based apps (Pandora, Spotify, Match, Zoosk). Your app is competing for paid users with these guys. But not likely competing with them in search results.
.....and #1 in Acquired User Quality
According to an Appsflyer study - the user acquisition channel with the highest user quality (measured by app opens) was search.
But popular ASO keyword tools use web data!
How is web search and mobile search different?
For starters - let's look at how people search the web versus how people search on a mobile device.
3 Types of Web
Search Queries
According to moz.com there are 3 different search queries users generally perform:
1. “Do” Transactional Queries- Action queries such as buy a plane ticket or listen to a song.
2. “Know” Information Queries- When a user seeks information, such as the name of a band or the best restaurant in the area.
3. “Go” Navigational Queries- Search queries that seek a particular online destination, such as Facebook or a homepage of a sports team.
A search with the Google Keyword Planner for "edit photos"
shows these results as being the most relevant:
1. “Do” Transactional Queries- “Edit photos” or “Edit photos online”
2. “Know” Information Queries- “How to edit photos”
3. “Go” Navigational Queries- “Program to edit photos”
Google Keyword Planner seems to confirm moz.com's framework for web search.
Mobile Search is 2-3 word Phrases about Features
According to data Gummicube has collected from mobile users since 2011, “80% of all search queries in the app store are 2-3 word phrases related to app features.” The balance is generally 1 word app/brand name searches.
- Features - "chat", "share photos", "learn a language"
- App/brand name - "Facebook", "Instagram", "Duolingo"
So how are users searching for mobile apps on their device? Using our software Datacube, the results for the same search term edit photos:
-
Feature Queries - “photo blender”, “photo editor”, “photo effects”, “add text”, “photo collage”, “add music”
-
Brand Queries - “camera 360”
Does your keyword tool use web data?
Does the ASO or keyword tool you use to target keywords, phrases and features provide volume estimates?
You can't optimize your mobile apps using bad data!
Can't optimize for maximum exposure in the app stores....
...to acquire valuable, relevant organic installs....
...trusting your efforts to tools that are designed using the wrong data.
If you are using any “ASO Tool” which relies on web based search data then you are using the wrong dataset.
Modern
Mobile App Store Optimization
Successful Mobile App Store Optimization relies on understanding user behavior when searching the app store. Web search and mobile search are not the same. Mobile search data from Gummicube is the most effective way to find relevant and trending keyword phrases. Search provides one of the most cost-effective user-acquisition channels available to mobile app marketers.