2021 is almost over. You tried several ways to increase your download volumes. You tested keywords for App Store Optimization, ran thousands of ad creatives for paid user acquisition, and more. Now, It is time to review our mobile app user acquisition strategies and prepare for the new year.
If you did not run Apple Search Ads in 2021, you don’t have to beat your chest immediately. A whole new year in front of you, and tremendous opportunities for mobile growth in the App Store are just a few clicks away.
So why exactly is Apple Search Ads a must for user acquisition in the App Store? Let’s get started.
1- Adoption Rate is High
Apple Search Ads became the fastest-growing ad network of 2021 according to the report by Singular. This data alone demonstrates that there is an increase in the interest in Apple Search Ads among app marketers. We can find further evidence for this argument by checking the most successful apps in the App Store.
Number of Apps Running Apple Search Ads in the Top 10
Above we see the use of Apple Search Ads among top apps from different categories in October 2021. The adoption rate for Apple Search Ads seems to be around 70% amongst top-performing apps. As of now, more apps are running Apple Search Ads than not.
As SearchAds.com, we helped our partners to scale their Apple Search Ads campaigns by allowing them to discover the most profitable keywords and automate their bids to maximize their ROAS depending on their KPIs. This resulted in an impressive increase in ad spend through our platform.
Rappi, the leading on-demand grocery app in Latin America, safely scaled their spend by 168% with a 58% uplift in incremental installs in a month. With effective Apple Search Ads optimization, you can also reach such impressive results.
All in all, the ad traffic through SearchAds.com more than doubled in less than a year. In some categories, this traffic increase was even more significant, reaching 3x for finance and travel apps, 9x for Food & Drink Apps, and more.
What’s more interesting is that as the rankings go up, so does the percentage of apps that are running Apple Search Ads.
Number of Apps Running Apple Search Ads in the Top 5
We see a discernible increase in the use of Apple Search Ads when we focus on the top 5. It appears that running Apple Search Ads is a must if you want to lead your category. Travel apps also present an interesting case. The leading five of the top ten most downloaded travel apps use Apple Search Ads, while the bottom half doesn’t.
2- Reach High-Quality Users
A high-quality user is someone who is genuinely interested in your app and has the potential to generate a serious amount of revenue by using your app for a long time. Apple Search Ads allows app marketers to reach high-quality users thanks to its ad placement. Moreover, Apple Search Ads shines as the #1 platform in the Appsflyer Retention Index. So, how does Apple Search Ads make this possible?
It shows your ad at the top of the search results to the users who are searching for an app with an intention of downloading.
The numbers also confirm the effectiveness of Apple Search Ads. Since 70% of the users search for their next app and 65% of app downloads happen after a search, the ad placement is crucial in the success of Apple Search Ads.
With a more focused way of advertising, Apple Search Ads can connect your app with users at the right time, just when they are searching for you.
3- Enjoy Keyword Level Data & Personalized Ads
Let’s dive a little deeper into the subject of how Apple Search Ads operates.
Apple Search Ads search results campaigns work through keywords. You bid on keywords that are relevant to your app and if you win the auction, your ad will be shown at the top for that keyword. This is useful for two reasons:
- It allows you to reach high-quality users.
- You can measure the performance of your campaigns through keywords.
You know how the first one works so let’s move directly on to the second.
The beauty of the keyword-level data is that it allows you to optimize your user acquisition funnel. How many impressions do your keywords take? What are the click-through and install rates? And if you manage your campaigns through SearchAds.com, you can even see your ROAS for specific keywords, providing insights that you can utilize in each one of your app marketing efforts.
Another benefit of Apple Search Ads is that you can pick your own audience. You can choose which gender, age range, or location to which your ads are shown. In this way, you can refine your target audience, and obtain better results by reaching the highest quality users. Similarly, these insights can also be used to improve your other app marketing strategies such as creative advertising.
4- Combine with ASO to Maximize Visibility in the Search Results
It is easy to break a chopstick but they become unbreakable when we put all of them together. All of your mobile app user acquisition efforts complement each other and Apple Search Ads is no exception.
Apple Search Ads possesses the best attributes of both paid and organic growth. While ads are presented to users with high intent, which is also the goal of ASO, Apple Search Ads also allows marketers to scale their campaigns and extend their reach. In order to maintain an optimal user experience, they’re putting a lot of weight on the relevancy of your app to the keywords. This way users are not served irrelevant ads which would be detrimental for both advertisers and customers.
The algorithm decides how relevant your ad is to the keyword you are bidding on. An important factor in this calculation is your organic rankings. So the higher the organic ranking, the higher the possibility of winning the auctions.
Moreover, this process also means that you can win the auction with a lesser bid if your relevance factor is stronger than your competitors. Therefore when combined with a solid ASO strategy, Apple Search Ads will help maximize your visibility and growth in the search results.
Additionally, by utilizing Discovery Campaigns and Creative Sets, you can also enhance your ASO and ad creative strategy with Apple Search Ads. Include well-performing keywords and creative assets in your product page to enhance your organic traffic and download volume.
It Gets Better…
Building an effective Apple Search Ads strategy is much more simple when you have the right toolkit.
Through SearchAds.com, not only can you find the most profitable keywords to include in your campaign through advanced competitor insights but you can also enjoy smart automation rules and run your ads on autopilot.
This way, you can focus on scaling your campaigns and improving your user acquisition strategy while your automation rules run the ship. You can also tailor your dashboard according to your KPIs and business goals in order to make monitoring and optimization as effortless as possible.
Schedule a demo with our experts today and fuel your mobile growth in the App Store.
