Combining ASO and Paid UA for a Successful App Launch

When launching a brand new app within the Shops or opening a brand new geographic location, the primary purpose for app builders is to extend visibility to drive extra downloads (and in the end, income). Many app builders erroneously imagine that both investing in paid consumer acquisition or app retailer optimization alone might be sufficient to drive the correct amount of customers, therefore long-term development.

Strategizing concurrently ASO and paid media shopping for campaigns might be difficult resulting in totally different departments’ goals and alignment instructions. At REPLUG, we’ve been evangelizing a full-funnel app advertising and marketing technique for some time now. We imagine that app development is a coordinated effort that begins from the primary impression and goes all the way down to the final in-app exercise that drives income.

Full-funnel advertising and marketing technique: A profitable technique

Merely put, an automobile can’t perform properly when one of many key parts of its engine doesn’t work. In the identical method, when app development, we have to take into account all of the related parts of its technique to make sure long-term success. At REPLUG, we use our Progress Rocket Mannequin to determine key development areas in a cellular app technique primarily based on the goals we’re given by our companions.

A full-funnel advertising and marketing technique permits a corporation to visualize and deal with every stage of the consumer conversion funnel, tweaking the fitting knobs to realize the specified outcomes.

When trying on the conversion funnel, the three primary phases to contemplate are:

• Consciousness – Pushed by a mix of paid efficiency advertising and marketing and app retailer optimization
• Consideration – Primarily pushed by the Retailer Itemizing design and relevancy to consumer analysis, in addition to the primary in-app interactions (UX/UI)
• Conversion – A mixture of optimization of paid consumer acquisition actions in addition to retention technique (m-CRM)

App lauch in a brand new market

Launching a brand new cellular app in a brand new geographic location must comply with particular steps to maximise the affect of our advertising and marketing actions. The primary steps to contemplate are:

• Market analysis – Is our app assembly the wants of the native market?
• Create consumer personas – Who’s our ideally suited buyer?
• Conduct a aggressive evaluation – Who’re our rivals, and the way do they place themselves?

These easy but essential questions are essential to figuring out the success of an app launch technique. Most frequently than not, cellular entrepreneurs ignore the truth that an app doing nice in a particular market, just isn’t all the time acquired in the identical method in one other one (cultural variations, channels attain, totally different rivals, and so forth…).

A profitable cellular app launch with tailored actions

On the finish of final 12 months, our crew received approached by a cellular app growth studio with many profitable apps. Amongst these, there’s a emblem maker utility, which was already dwell on iOS with over 5 million lively downloads.

Contemplating the huge success of the app on the App Retailer, the crew wished to realize comparable success on the Google Play Retailer. They requested us to design a method that would come with App Retailer Optimization and Paid Efficiency actions for his or her just lately launched Android app.

Why combining ASO and Paid UA is an effective development technique

Combining an natural and paid technique is essential in growing a long-lasting loyal buyer base. With ASO, customers will rapidly discover our app within the Shops via natural searches, in addition to convert higher, because of a transparent visible and textual communication technique. On the identical time, we have to coordinate our message and paid technique to what the customers will discover on the Retailer Pages. ASO and Paid UA work collectively, mixing each actions are important to drive installs and develop the app presence.

Step 1: Begin with ASO

Step one our crew took was to overview their Google Play Retailer Web page and optimize it to maximise visibility for long-tail key phrases in addition to low-hanging fruits that rivals weren’t but grabbing. The crew targeted on an in-depth competitor evaluation, figuring out customers’ ache factors and aligning the optimization technique that might make the app stand out from the competitors. (Learn extra about our App Retailer Optimization method.)

The optimization led to an instantaneous uplift in total visibility, one thing that was then backed up by paid consumer acquisition.

The optimization was timed properly and aligned with the upcoming Christmas season. As a matter of truth, it took roughly 2 weeks for the adjustments to be digested by the algorithm to point out the large soar in visibility.

Step 2: Again up the natural efforts with paid actions

As quickly because the optimization was launched within the Retailer, our paid UA crew began with campaigns on two primary channels: Google and Fb. On account of the truth that we have been focusing on completely Android customers, and we wished to drive a better variety of installs to maneuver the needle additionally within the class rank, the crew allotted many of the price range to Google.

Contemplating the seasonality, the crew additionally quickly realized that the competitors on Fb would hinder our technique to drive a excessive variety of installs, as a result of increased CPM.

From the start, we observed that Google App Campaigns have been performing significantly higher than the Fb ones, and because of this, the crew determined to carry out just a few exams to attempt to decrease the CPIs. We examined Lookalike Viewers segmentation to determine comparable customers to our current viewers. Via totally different testing, we observed {that a} broader viewers really led to a pointy lower in CPI and engagement within the app.

Step 3: Analyse the affect

The subsequent step is to know what has been the affect of the mixed actions, not solely within the quick time period but in addition in the long run. By understanding the impact of every exercise, we will then additionally higher assess what future actions we need to implement in our development technique.

On this particular case, the mixture of ASO and Paid UA led to a rise in natural visibility for a number of key search phrases, growing the natural installs. On prime of that, we noticed an enchancment within the class rating (each free and grossing) which lasted for an extended time period, leading to optimistic income development.

When trying on the visibility development of the chosen key phrases in our optimization technique, the App Retailer Optimization affect was clear.

By trying on the mixed impact from an natural installs perspective, it was additionally potential to see how each ASO and Paid UA actions generated worth for the app additionally within the 2 months following the actions.

Final however not least, when analysing the class rank affect, we observed how the paid consumer acquisition actions had an instantaneous affect on the free class rank – citing the app within the ranks and giving it extra visibility.

Nonetheless, a very powerful affect maybe, that the mixture of ASO and Paid Consumer Acquisition technique led to was the long-lasting grossing class rank, which lasted properly past our development technique, displaying how the income affect has been optimistic.

ASO and Paid UA – A profitable development technique

Combining ASO and Paid UA is a vital step in delivering long-lasting worth for any app developer and firm attempting to grasp the app development recreation. On this particular case, we have been in a position to present how each natural and paid actions for an outlined time period, if performed properly and with a transparent goal in thoughts, might result in constant development in income.

It’s essential to keep in mind that neither ASO nor Paid UA is a stand-alone exercise, and they need to all the time be considered together with one another. On one hand, a well-executed App Retailer Optimization technique can assist us enhance conversion fee, drive down prices of acquisition, and, finally, additionally create an extended affect on the income our app generates. With Paid consumer acquisition actions, however, we will again up our natural optimization, to facilitate discovery and conversion.

In a digital world the place it has turn into more and more troublesome to attribute paid channels worth, advertising and marketing groups and corporations want to begin approaching app development with a holistic mindset, combining extra actions, and aligning goals in the direction of a novel purpose.