Leading the list is Bumble, taking the first position with its solid performance across ASO, Apple Search Ads, and Ad Intel scores. Following closely is Tinder, which secured the second spot with its impressive ASO score and highlighted its strategic organic visibility. Pure Dating grabs third place, boasting the highest Apple Search Ads score, which is attributed to its targeted keyword bidding and innovative use of custom product pages. Meanwhile, Badoo takes the fourth spot as the highest Ad Intelligence score holder, demonstrating a keen eye for quality over quantity in their ad creatives.

Now, let’s delve into the main highlights, examining how these leading dating apps have managed to surpass their rivals.

Bumble

• Their ASO performance indicates a strong presence, ranking for over 53,000 keywords organically, with 41% of them landing in the top 30. Interestingly, they attract more than 60% of their organic downloads from competitor brand keywords, indicating a smart approach to acquiring users.

Keyword Intelligence of Bumble

• Regarding Apple Search Ads, they are actively bidding on 582 keywords, indicating a proactive strategy to increase visibility. They’ve also introduced 8 custom product pages over the year focused on competitor keywords, highlighting app features, and tapping into seasonal trends or social causes.

CPP by App – Bumble

• They have a very dynamic ad strategy, with over 300 creatives produced in the last month, 191 of which are currently live. They use live footage effectively, generating higher impressions than the category average. Their distribution strategy involves multiple ad networks and DSPs, and while image ads are their top choice, they also create playable formats, offering a unique and engaging approach.

Tinder

• They stand out as the highest ASO score holder in the list, organically ranking with over 60,000 keywords. Notably, they’ve capitalized on over 4,000 brand keywords, with 40 belonging to their own brand, showcasing a strategic emphasis on competitor brand keywords. Remarkably, Tinder drives over 99% of its organic downloads through its brand keywords, underscoring the formidable presence of its brand within the category.

Tinder organically ranked for 60,052 keywords, with 612 of them achieving the top position

• Tinder is active on over 800 keywords for their search result ads, targeting both their own and competitor brand keywords. This proactive approach to keyword targeting contributes to their visibility and user acquisition efforts.

PURE Dating

• PURE Dating stands out with its organic performance that positions, securing organic rankings for over 8,000 keywords. Over 60% of their organic downloads from two competitor brand keywords (tinder & hinge) showcasing effective targeting strategies.

The organic download history of PURE Dating

• They demonstrate a strong presence in Apple Search Ads, actively bidding on nearly 5,000 keywords, including their own brand, generic category keywords, and competitor brand terms. Additionally, they’ve leveraged custom product pages to enhance their paid user acquisition efforts, creating 12 variations tailored to their user base demographics. This combined approach earns PURE Dating the highest Apple Search Ads score in the list.

PURE Dating is currently bidding on over 4,900 keywords for their search result ads.

• In the past month, PURE Dating has produced 34 ad creatives, with 17 currently live across 4 main ad networks. Their ad visuals primarily feature screenshots from the app’s user interface, ensuring relevance and authenticity. While video ads are their top choice, they also incorporate image and banner ads, diversifying their ad format to reach their audience effectively.

Badoo

• Badoo currently ranks organically for over 27,000 keywords. While the majority of their organic downloads come from their own brand keyword, accounting for over 55%, they’ve also managed to secure 20% from a competitor’s brand keyword.

The organic download history of Badoo

• They adopt a unique approach to paid user acquisition. On Apple Search Ads, they focus on bidding for a select few keywords, notably avoiding their brand keywords and instead targeting generic keywords related to the app’s features, such as “meet,” “chat,” and “flirt.”
• Similarly, Badoo’s advertising strategy emphasizes quality over quantity. Despite having fewer ad creatives than the category average, consisting of video and banner formats, their ads significantly outperform others. This approach earns them the highest Ad Intelligence score in the list, highlighting the importance of strategic advertising tactics.

OkCupid

• They currently rank for over 20,000 keywords organically, with 70% of their organic downloads originating from competitor keywords, showcasing a strategic approach to user acquisition.

ASO Report of OkCupid

• OkCupid is actively bidding on more than 300 keywords, with over 35% achieving higher impressions than 10%. Moreover, they’ve implemented a custom product page strategy alongside their default page, resulting in increased impressions. These custom product pages have additional keywords, tailored visual assets, and messaging to enhance engagement.
• OkCupid distributes 17 ads across 4 ad networks, mainly in image format but also including video and banner ads. OkCupid effectively captures user attention and engagement by utilizing live footage in their ads, a common preference among dating apps.

Observations in the Dating App Landscape

Inclusivity and the rise of niche communities are two prominent trends shaping the dating app industry. Dating platforms are increasingly focused on creating inclusive environments that involve users from diverse backgrounds, including race, religion, and sexual orientation.

With the rise of targeted dating apps, a competitive landscape has emerged within the dating category. Understanding your target audience, analyzing competitor strategies, and deciding how to position your app in the market have become essential considerations for maintaining or establishing your presence.

Race and Ethnicity

As part of their commitment to inclusivity, dating apps prioritize representation and inclusiveness for users of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. By introducing features and functionalities that acknowledge and address the unique experiences of diverse communities, these platforms aim to create welcoming spaces where individuals feel valued and understood.

Identify your competitors that are aiming for the same target audience as you by using Keyword Analysis.

By leveraging MobileAction features such as Keyword Analysis, you can identify competitors targeting your selected keywords on both organic and paid sides. Additionally, utilizing the Creative Asset Hub enables you to compare and comprehend how your messaging and presentation stack up against others in the market.

Compare your visual assets to your competitors and understand their messaging strategies with Creative Asset Hub.

Religion

Religious diversity is another key focus area for dating apps striving to create inclusive environments. Platforms are adapting to accommodate users from various religious backgrounds and beliefs, offering features and tools that serve the specific needs and preferences of individuals seeking partners who share their religious values.

By creating spaces where individuals can connect with like-minded individuals within their faith community, dating apps facilitate meaningful connections and relationships.

Custom product pages targeted towards the term “christian mingle.”

To target the appropriate audience and convert them into high-intent users, specialized apps such as those focusing on religion-based dating can utilize custom product pages for their search result ads, displaying precisely what users seek. “Christian Mingle” stands as a widely used and directly relevant search term within the dating market. With MobileAction’s CPP Intelligence, you gain access to a comprehensive list of apps targeting your desired search term, allowing you to analyze their creative arrangements for that keyword. This enables you to identify potential competitors and understand their targeting strategies.

To entice users to return to their apps, religion-oriented dating platforms can capitalize on special holidays and seasonal periods associated with the faith they originate from. By doing so, they can enhance their app’s credibility and tap into users’ desire to find matches who share similar values and priorities in life.

In-App Events created by InshAllah Muslim Dating app around religious holiday seasons of Islam.

Sexual Orientation and Identity

In response to the diverse spectrum of sexual orientations, dating apps are taking steps to ensure that all users feel welcome and represented. From inclusive profile options to tailored matchmaking algorithms, these platforms provide a safe and inclusive space for individuals to explore and express their sexuality.

By incorporating features to the diverse needs and preferences of users across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, dating apps empower individuals to find acceptance, connection, and love on their own terms.

Custom product pages created for keyword “gay” and “lesbian”

To enhance targeting efforts, dating apps catering to niche audiences can develop tailored product pages for keywords they believe their most interested users would utilize to discover their app. Terms such as “gay” and “lesbian,” which hold significant search scores among certain users, are strategically employed by queer dating apps in their custom product pages.

Valentine’s Day Trends: Insights and Expectations for the Mobile App Industry

Valentine’s Day has a strong impact on the mobile app industry. As observed, there’s a significant surge in search volume for keywords related to Valentine’s Day and romance in February.. This trend isn’t limited to dating apps; categories such as photo & video and entertainment also experience notable effects.

Around Valentine’s Day, we observe a notable increase in in-app events and promotional content. Dating apps facilitate connections, while photo & video apps offer tools for capturing and sharing cherished moments. Entertainment apps generate romantic playlists and movie selections, and gaming apps introduce special challenges for players to enjoy with their partners. This surge in activity not only addresses the season’s heightened popularity but also demonstrates app developers’ adaptability and creativity in meeting user expectations during key seasonal times like Valentine’s Day.

In-App Events around Valentine’s Day

As evident from last year’s trends, apps have effectively leveraged this seasonal opportunity, and it’s something we should anticipate seeing again this year.

Let’s take a look at their current initiatives for this year. Hily Dating App has already begun preparations for Valentine’s Day, setting up two in-app events centered around the occasion.

The full view of before, during, and after analysis of Hily Dating App’s In-App Events.

By leveraging Compass’ Impact feature, we can discern a significant surge in their organic visibility, signifying the successful implementation of these in-app events during this seasonal period. Additionally, once the in-app event expires, we can assess the event’s full impact on the app’s visibility throughout its entire duration and after February 14.

Wondering how your app measures up against competitors in the market? MobileAction provides a valuable resource for thorough competitor analysis, allowing you to effectively grasp market trends and refine your strategy. Schedule a demo with MobileAction today to gain additional insights and strengthen your position in the market.

Methodology

The ranking of top advertisers is determined by analyzing ASO Scores, Apple Search Ads Scores, and Ad Intelligence Scores obtained from MobileAction’s extensive dataset.

This in-depth analysis has been made possible through MobileAction’s offerings, including Apple Search Ads campaign management and comprehensive app store marketing intelligence. Our platform actively tracks over 5 million keywords, providing invaluable insights, and boasts a library of 69+ million ad creatives from 50+ ad networks globally. These impactful features strengthen our analyses by tapping into a wealth of data from diverse apps and creative strategies, ensuring a comprehensive and insightful examination of the advertising landscape within the dating app industry.

The post Top 10 Dating Apps on the USA App Store by User Acquisition Performance appeared first on MobileAction.

That’s where Apple Search Ads come to the rescue.

Apple Search Ads is an ad platform allowing app marketers and developers to bid on keywords and run ads directly in the App Store. It’s the most efficient way to get your app seen by people actively searching for apps like yours.

If you still do not know how or why Apple Search Ads is used, this article is for you.

What is Apple Search Ads?

As mentioned, Apple Search Ads is a user acquisition channel that connects app marketers and developers with potential users in the App Store.

With the new ad placements, Today tab and Product pages ads, Apple Search Ads now offers you four options to drive visibility and downloads in the App Store:

Search results ads

With an ad at the top of relevant search results, you can reach users when they search for a term. To match your ad with potential users’ search terms, you can choose your own keywords or use the ones Apple suggests. Matching is based on a direct signal of users’ search queries.

Search tab ads

With an ad appearing prominently at the top of the suggested apps list on the Search tab, you can reach users before they search for a term.

Today tab ads

You can reach users with outstanding ad creatives on the front page of the App Store. These ad creatives are based on a custom product page you set up in App Store Connect and must be approved before your Today tab ad can run.

Product pages ads

You can reach users while they browse apps on the product pages of relevant apps. When interested users scroll down to the bottom of relevant product pages, your ad appears at the top of the You Might Also Like list.

There are now four ways for app developers and advertisers who use/are planning to run ads on the App Store to promote their app. You should test these placement options and compare their performance to determine which ones work best for your app business.

Why should you be running Apple Search Ads?

600 million users visit the App Store each week. 65% of downloads on the App Store occur after a search, and 70% of the App Store visitors make a search to find an app. The average conversion rate is 50%.

What’s more, ASO and Apple Search Ads are interrelated. You can improve your organic performance with Apple Search Ads and reduce your costs in Apple Search Ads when you have higher organic rankings. It’s a win-win loop.

Here are some examples of how Apple Search Ads can help you:

• Kwalee doubled their monthly installs
• LITE Games acquired high-quality users & increases playtime by 80%+
• SplashLearn saw a 160% uplift in downloads in new markets
• Caret Games doubles their install volume

With the right expertise and platform, you can replicate these achievements and skyrocket your app growth. Sign up free to SearchAds.com and see the impact yourself!

The post Apple Search Ads: What App Marketers and Developers Need to Know appeared first on MobileAction.

As of December 7, these features became available for the public. In this article, we compiled the official guidelines and specifications regarding iOS App Store A/B testing and Custom Product Pages. Let’s get started.

Product Page Optimization: Guidelines & Setup

As you know Product Page Optimization is the feature focused on organic traffic and it allows app marketers to do native A/B testing in the App Store. You can test your app icon, screenshots, and video previews and decide which one works better for your conversion rates.

So let’s start with how to create a test to adjust your iOS marketing strategy to the new era.    

1-Creating a Test

• First of all, you should go to App Store Connect and click on Product Page Optimization. It’s on the left sidebar under the features. 

• Once you do so, you will come across the page above. Here, you can start setting up your test from scratch or click on the “+” button to add new ones. 

• Then, the tab below will pop up. Here, you can define the reference name which will be later used to identify your test.

• Then you can choose the number of treatments. As you know, Product Page Optimization allows you to have up to 3 treatments per test in addition to your default product page

• You can also select the traffic portion you want to direct to treatments. For example, If you have two treatments and select %40 of traffic, %20 of traffic will be directed to each treatment while the remaining 60% will land on your default product page.

• As you know, localization is an important aspect of App Store Optimization. You can prefer to run the test for all the localizations that your app supports. Even though it is highly recommended to localize your product pages, you can exclude certain localization from your test if you wish. 

• You are almost ready to run your first test. The last thing you should do is to decide on how much improvement you want for your conversion. Then, you will see an estimated duration which refers to the necessary time for producing meaningful results depending on your conversion goal. The estimated duration won’t affect the test but keep in mind that the test will automatically stop after 90 days but you can also choose to stop it manually before it hits 90 days. Meaning that you might not get the desired results in this duration, so it’s better to be realistic with your goals. 

• Click on “Create Test” and you are good to go.

Now that you defined the framework of your A/B testing now let’s take a look at configuring test treatments. 

2-Configure Your Test Treatments 

Let’s start with the basics. 

The first thing you should know is that your test treatments must be approved. Meaning that you should submit the metadata for a review, but don’t worry, you don’t need a new version of your app. Moreover, if you are simply reordering the screenshots and video previews that are already approved, you don’t have to resubmit them. 

• By default, you will see copies of your original product page. You can prefer editing the app icon, screenshots, or video previews. Remember that limiting the number of variables you test at a time will allow you to better understand the reasons behind a potential conversion rate improvement.

• Your test treatments are named by default Treatment A, Treatment B, and Treatment C. However, you can rename them, which we highly recommend you do so as it will ease the process of monitoring.  

• Click on the App Icon tab to configure your App Icon. Remember, the app icon you want to use must be in your app binary for the current version of your app. This is due to the fact that users which installed your app through a treatment will keep seeing the same icon in their home page when using their devices.

• Select the treatment you want to edit, choose the app icon that is in your app binary, and click on change.

• By clicking on the device tabs, you can add screenshots and previews. If you don’t add screenshots and previews for that device size, the treatment will utilize the ones on your original product page.  

3- Monitoring Results

Now that you set up your first test, you can start monitoring your test results. 

In order to do that, simply go to App Analytics in App Store Connect. The data will be available the day after you start a test. By monitoring the results, you can see which treatment performs better and which performs worse. 

Your Default Product Page will be your baseline measure when the test starts running. For each treatment, you will be able to view Impressions, CVR, improvement over baseline and a confidence level. During testing, you will be able to set your baseline measure as any one of the treatments, giving you the ability to compare their performances against each other.

These new features in the App Store mean access to new marketing tools that can differentiate an app from the competition and optimize the top-of-funnel user experience. Ultimately, in the future we foresee Product Page ASO solidifying its position as a crucial lever for sophisticated marketers.

Launching Custom Product Pages

As said before, Product Page Optimization is for organic traffic. Custom Product Pages, on the other hand, is where the fun begins. For your paid-user acquisition and other channels, you can create up to 35 Custom Product Pages per app. 

It is the fun part because you can target different audiences with different sets of screenshots, previews, and promotional texts. And, thanks to their unique URLs, you can direct traffic to any marketing channel from email marketing, mobile ad networks, and more. Plus, Custom Product Pages are fully localizable. 

Moreover, Custom Product Pages will replace the creative sets. Meaning that their importance will skyrocket and it is only fair if you give the necessary care to CPPs, now.

What you can achieve with Custom Product Pages are limitless but first, let’s see how to create them. 

Creating Custom Product Pages

After you determine your iOS marketing strategy for a certain app of yours, go to App Store Connect. 

• From My Apps, choose your app. Then you should click on Custom Product Pages. It is on the left sidebar under features, and a few lines above the Product Page Optimization. 

• After you click on “Create Custom Product Page”, you can set a reference name. You can either start with a blank page or edit an existing product page. 

• Then simply click on the “Create” button and the unique URL for this Custom Product Page will automatically be generated.
• Then you can modify your creative assets or add new ones. 

Remember, it is all about the audience you target. 

For instance, assume that you are marketing for a sports app that provides news and updates for fans. You can utilize a popular team in a certain region to promote this app. Let’s say LA Lakers for Los Angeles(Sorry, Clippers fans). In this way, people will engage with your product page better and your conversion rates will increase.

Or let’s say you run an influencer campaign. To the users who land on your product page from this source, you can show customized promotional texts. 

Moreover, when CPP become available in Apple Search Ads, you can show specific visuals to users. As you know, people will find your app from different paid keywords in Apple Search Ads. For a multi-functional travel app, these keywords might be “plane ticket” or “hotel”. For these keywords that reflect different features, you should build suitable product pages that mirror these features. 

Custom Product Pages will enable you to focus your iOS marketing strategy on the audience you want to attract.

Submit your Custom Product Pages for Review

Now, that you set up your Custom Product Pages, you should submit them for review. 

Once you go to the Custom Product Page on App Store Connect, click on the page you want to submit for review. 

The Confirm Submission tab will display the app version that will be used for the review. Keep in mind that you cannot edit your screenshots, previews, and promotional text for Custom Product Pages during the review process. If you are really in a hurry and cannot wait to be reviewed, you can withdraw your submission. Then you can edit your items and resubmit. Therefore, your timing should be well enough to prevent these kinds of setbacks. 

Measure Your Success 

App Analytics allows you to see the performance of your Custom Product Pages. Under the Acquisition Tab, impressions, downloads, redownloads, and conversion rates will be displayed. In this way, you can determine the success of your campaign. Just like in Product Page Optimization, you can see the performance of your default product page and compare your results. 

Moreover, since it also gives retention data, you can find answers to questions like “Do users who download my app from a certain custom product page stay engaged longer or spend more on in-app purchases?”.  

In order to benefit the best from these features, you can schedule a demo with our experts and see how you can utilize our intelligence tools to build a better iOS marketing strategy.

The post Setup Guide for iOS 15: CPP & PPO appeared first on MobileAction.

Organic mobile user acquisition can be thought of in two steps. First, you have to be discovered by users and drive them to your app listing. Second, you should have a product page that convinces those users to download your app. 

Native A/B testing is nothing new for Google Play Store. However, iOS app marketers were handling it mostly with third-party tools. Later this fall, Apple will launch Product Page Optimization for improving organic conversions. With this new feature, we will be able to do native testing in the Apple App Store.

The elements such as app icons, app previews, and screenshots play a huge role in the user’s decision-making process. In this sense, it is crucial to find the best combination of them to increase conversion rates. 

So, let’s talk about how you should approach Product Page Optimization to get ready for the changes. 

Basics of iOS 15 Product Page Optimization  

Let’s begin by talking about what you can do with this new feature. 

First and foremost, Product Page Optimization is for organic traffic. Meaning that you are going to deal with users that find your app in the search results or by browsing through the app store. For paid traffic, Custom Product Pages will be used to present different assets to users depending on the user acquisition channel they came from.

So what creative elements can you test with Product Page Optimization? The new feature will allow you to test your app icon, screenshots, and video previews. However, you won’t be able to test other elements such as description or app title. 

You can have up to three variations of your product page. After running your tests, you can decide on the more effective product page and set it as default.  

How will Product Page Optimization Work?

With Product Page Optimization, you will be able to direct the organic traffic. What does this mean?

For instance, you can direct 70% of the organic traffic to the default product page and 10% to each variant. As mentioned above, you will have up to three variants. This way you will be able to monitor the performance metrics of each product page.

Assume that you want to test your app icon. Without changing the video previews and screenshots, you can implement a different app icon. In this way, you can monitor its performance. Or you can apply the same process for screenshots and video previews by maintaining the other two.

You should know that all the changes will go through the standard review process. Once they are approved, you can also control the amount of traffic for them. Or you can test variants for specific regions.

You may want to increase your conversion rates in Japan. So, you can form a product page specifically for Japan and test it only in Japan. In this way, your optimization efforts won’t get blurred and you can make better decisions. 

Obtaining Reliable Results with Product Page Optimization

If you don’t build a solid decision-making process for this feature, you might not be able to reap the benefits. What do we mean?

As humans, we tend to jump to conclusions or interpret results in a way that favors our cognitive processes. When working with data, it is essential to keep these biases at a minimum level.

There are a few practices you can follow in order to get healthier results from your A/B testing efforts.

Tips 

• Be Ready for the Changes:

Don’t wait for these changes to become available. Start building your strategy. Analyze the market. Form a hypothesis. Prepare your assets. Decide on your goals and expectations. 

Don’t get ready when the race has already started. Be ready to run. 

• Collect Sufficient Data:

Don’t stop testing until you trust the results. For instance, you run the test for a while and you see the results inclined to your expectations. If you stop the test when this happens, your data won’t be credible. As a result, when you apply the changes to your product page, you will not observe a significant difference. Apple will allow you to run tests for 90 days. Be sure to benefit from it. 

• Focus on your Hypothesis:

Don’t rush and don’t bombard the native testing.

Meaning that if you have an idea about your creative assets, take a deep breath and calm down. Don’t run tests on all of them at once. If you do not define the boundaries of your test clearly, it will not be possible to interpret the results accurately. Was the app icon that increased the conversion or was it the screenshots? 

• Localize your Creatives:

Don’t just translate. Localize.

Different regions have different cultures. What’s good for one region can be bad for another. Adapt your product page into those cultures. 

• Adjust your Variants Well:

Preparing tests is not easy work. 

You may fail to form variants that differ from others. As a result, you may not have a winning variant that you will direct the whole traffic to. 

None of us would want to spend that much time and face a negative outcome. However, without a solid strategy and resourceful teams, errors can easily occur.  

How It Will Improve Your Conversions

How important can the background color on your screenshot be? Can a tiny app icon impact your conversion rates?. When you think about mobile user acquisition, you always need to consider the volume of audience you are working with. 

If you take 2 strangers and ask them about their preferences, they might also think that these details will not have a major impact on your user acquisition strategy. But when you extend your data set to tens of thousands of people, it is possible to find consistent patterns across user behavior.

When users search for a keyword that your app gets listed, they will encounter your app icon probably prior to any other aspect of your product page. It might attract or push them away. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you create an app icon that is loved by users. And of course, the best way to do it is to run A/B tests. 

The next place that users will look is your screenshots and video previews. They want to get quick information about your app. What features does your app offer and how is the app display? If you fail to explain your features smoothly with your screenshots and video previews, you will miss out on fruitful users. 

So the best thing to do is to optimize them by considering their performance. How does the font on my screenshots impact conversions? Which background color on the app icon is more effective?  What is the optimal duration for app previews?

In short, you can improve the performance of your creative assets by better understanding consumer behavior. Once you understand your audience better, you can respond better to their demands.

Successful tests come with accurate insights. Schedule a demo now and see how our tools can help you get the most out of the new features of iOS 15 user acquisition.

The post iOS 15 Product Page Optimization: Boosting Organic Conversions appeared first on MobileAction.

We had a fulfilling chat with Martin Rusev, Product Marketing Manager at Gameloft, and discussed how app marketers can prepare for the upcoming changes.

As a Product Marketing Manager in the gaming industry, how do you think the upcoming changes will affect app marketers?

The changes will allow product marketers and mobile marketers to have a lot more possibilities when we want to adapt and optimize the product pages that we are taking care of on a daily basis. 

The key features that iOS15 brings to the table for me are obviously the custom product pages and the product page optimization (PPO). These are the things that would really allow us to optimize the flows when trying to reach our potential customers – I’m always calling them players being part of Gameloft. 

Of course, with every iOS update, there are many customer-facing changes that we also need to consider when working on our product and on the way we reach the consumers. For me, however, the custom product pages and product page optimization are the biggest changes that will affect our day-to-day work. Regarding the custom product pages, having up to 35 different pages and controlling what type of traffic goes there can give great benefits. It will also increase our workload a lot so this is where the first big challenge will arise. 

The Custom Product Pages will take a lot of planning and a lot of careful execution of the campaigns, I believe that on day 1 you shouldn’t immediately create 35 different variations and start sending traffic to each of them. If you don’t have a huge, huge, huge team dedicated to these tasks, you would not make the best out of them. You will be overwhelmed with information and you need to gradually scale your efforts. So, it would be better to start slowly and to expand on the successful efforts to build more and more pages. That way, we see what works the best for specific audiences and specific UA channels. 

Regarding the product page optimization, we have a good idea of what to expect since that’s not something new and not something that we have never seen or worked on before. If you have an app on the Play Store, you are most probably already doing this. I can say that it’s a feature we really missed having on iOS.

Having a control page versus treatments as they are called, it’s super useful. You can see where the organic traffic is converted better, which of the assets are having more impact, and exactly how much they are impacting the conversion rate – the main KPI when talking about store page optimization. I’m happy that only an icon change would require a new version to be submitted because otherwise, this just would not have worked if we had to make a new submission just to test a screenshot. My team would’ve killed me if that was the case.

How are you optimizing the creative sets currently? How do you think that process will change with iOS 15? 

We avoided using the learnings from the Play Store tests on iOS as we have seen many times how the audiences are different when compared. We all have friends who are iPhone users. We all have friends that have Androids. They are different people and it’s not a bad thing. We all have our personal preferences and we consume products and services in different ways. The same goes for mobile games and the way we look into their marketing assets.

There is no one size fits all system. We have seen it, tried it, and failed. We tried something that worked on the Play Store and it didn’t work on iOS. What we are doing instead is to work with third-party software to run tests on iOS to see how these app store pages would perform and after a detailed analysis, we optimize our real app store pages. I have always believed that you should not only optimize the creatives only, but you should focus on the player journeys. If you only focus on optimizing the store creatives which is just one step of the player’s journey you might break the whole thing. 

To elaborate on this, for me as a PMM in Gameloft, one of my main responsibilities is to constantly increase the conversion rate on the store pages by finding the right screenshots, icons and optimizing the metadata. I can always try to hyperbolize drastically what the game is all about and I’ll most probably do increase the store conversion rate, but afterward, these players will open the game and actually see it has nothing to do with what was promised to them. Then everyone responsible for having the people stick in-game will not be happy.

The same goes for the connection between UA managers who are taking care of the ads and the rest of the team. We recently worked on a store page test and we saw a big difference between the conversion rates from two ads – it’s all about what impression you leave on the consumers and whether or not the next step from their journeys would validate that impression, or completely ruin it.  

How do you think the in-app events feature to be launched with iOS 15 will affect the user engagement? What marketers should do to make the most out of it?

The in-app events are similar to product page optimization since they are not something new. We have worked with it before on the Play Store. Personally, I’m always happy to promote in-app events in the store. Also as a player myself, it is something that I have enjoyed seeing. I have personally returned to some games that I had churned from after seeing an event that looked interesting on the store page so I have high hopes for this – it’s another great way of communicating with your player base.

I believe that mid-core and casual games will benefit more from the in-app events being featured on the App Store. If their players have not been online for a couple of days and they opened the store, they might see something that resonates very well. An event image that works well will sparkle that interest in the players’ minds and they could potentially be reactivated. It’s trickier, however, when you want to measure the impact of this feature when talking about hardcore players who are usually always online and know the event calendar even better than the game team. 

It’s a great tool to keep your customers engaged, however, it shouldn’t be the only tool for that purpose. If the event is a key milestone for your game, raising awareness for it should also take place on social channels, as well as in-game. In addition, the communication about the event should not stop when it starts, especially if it’s a long one. Players will appreciate seeing their progression and their nicknames on a leaderboard if there is one. 

When promoting in-app events on the store for mobile games, marketing managers should also be very careful about what types of events are put out there and if they are accessible for all players, or not. There are many events that are either available only in a mid-to-end phase of a game, or new players might not have the chance at all to compete and win a prize out of them. The best type of event to be promoted, for me, is one that gives a fair shot at a prize to all players whether it’s with bracketed leaderboards, or simply a split between them by their in-game level. By doing this, all players who see the promoted event on the store and open the game will be engaged and eventually be happy with your game. 

How are you getting prepared for the upcoming changes? Do you have any recommendations for fellow PMMs in our community?

You need to have a very clear hypothesis of what you want to do. You must know your audience very well and plan your next moves.  

I’ll give you an example with Heroes of the Dark – the new mobile Strategy RPG game we’re working on. We’ve done our homework and we know what type of players to expect – we know that both Strategy and RPG fans will find a lot of in-game features to enjoy and will play the game for a long period of time.

Before iOS15 and the upcoming introduction of the Custom Product Pages, we were not able to show different content on the pages and we were supposed to win the hearts of all players with a single set of visuals and metadata. Now, things will be different – we can construct a detailed user journey that targets the fans of a specific game genre, or a specific in-game feature and showcase exactly these elements in the most prominent positions. Again, all this must be aligned with the creatives the UA teams are using and with the actual in-game features.  

As mentioned before, once the Custom Product Pages are rolled out it’s good to start slowly, let’s say with 5-6 pages instead of going all-in with 35 on day 1. It’s vital that you keep track of the pages, their localizations, and any details that notify the visitors of the latest update changes. There will be two big challenges – analyzing all the data and creation of the visual assets.

For both, it’s quite obvious why – the former requires a lot of time and a deep understanding of what converts better and what actually moves the needle on your page. For the latter, it will be a challenge if you go with huge changes on all screenshots, for example, since that would require a lot of planning, working, and coordinating with the assets creation teams. It could become overwhelming for smaller studios, but I believe it also opens the door for third-party companies that offer help and expertise with the visuals. 

In order not to burn out the artists, who are working on all assets, I believe they should be engaged and informed about the results of their work. I don’t think that they should simply produce more and more visuals without knowing about what worked well and what did not. Not only they’d be making more informed decisions when crafting your next creative, but they’d also be more motivated for it to succeed. 

All these changes will definitely increase our workload, but they will also give us many opportunities to increase our conversion rates and improve our players’ journeys. Eventually, if we manage to increase those rates even with a few percentages, it would be a job well done, knowing the volumes of visitors the app pages have on a daily basis.

We thank Martin Rusev for sharing his experiences with us and providing amazing insights for our community. There is no doubt that when these new features arrive later this year, there will be new opportunities as well as challenges for mobile industry professionals. Hopefully, the issues we discussed in this brainstorming session will help you to make the best out of this transition. 

About Martin Rusev

Martin Rusev has been working a PMM in Gameloft for more than 2 years in projects like Dungeon Hunter 5, War Planet Online and now he’s overseeing all marketing activities for the upcoming title Heroes of the Dark that was recently announced on Apple’s Keynote during the iPhone 13 presentation. His previous experience was in the iGaming world, but since mobiles games are his passion, joining Gameloft and entering the industry was a perfect fit.

The post Decoding iOS 15 User Acquisition with Gameloft – Interview appeared first on MobileAction.

After reading this article, you will hopefully be able to utilize this feature in the best way possible to increase mobile app engagement, retention, and awareness. 

What Are In-App Events

Earlier this year, Apple announced the launch of In-App Event Cards. With In-app Events, developers will be able to promote unique events for their app, ranging from in-game events, premieres, new content releases, or live stream experiences. This means we will have yet another channel to pull in engagement and additional users. 

According to Apple, In-app event cards will be seen in editorial spaces like personalized recommendations in the Today tab. It will also be seen in the Games tab, Apps tab, search results, and App product page. In-app event cards will have their own metadata, additionally to your app’s title, subtitle, and keyword list. On top of that, we will be able to review the progress of in-app event cards through App analytics. 

Let us delve further into what In-app event cards will mean for ASO experts and digital marketers further.

Metadata for In-App Events

As mentioned above, in-app event cards will have their own metadata, these will be;

• Event Name 
• Short Description
• Long Description

Currently, the details of how much of this data will be indexed are unknown to us. However, we believe that the Event Name and Short Description will certainly be indexed and be open to keyword optimization. App Store Optimization tools will help you to discover the most effective keywords to utilize in your In-App Event cards.  

Furthermore, all in-app event cards will have their own creatives. This enables us to draw attention to our desired apps. Therefore, it is essential to start creating new visuals for in-app event cards to utilize. As once iOS 15 launches, there will be many people who would want to publish their event cards. 

You might be thinking about whether or not investing time and effort into in-app event cards will be worth it. With iOS 15, Apple will be adding a widget to the top of the home screen. Their users will be able to see stories, collections, and in-app event cards. So there is no doubt that you can capture your user’s attention with this feature.

How iOS 15 will affect Mobile App Engagement with In-App Events

Apple will help app marketers to keep users active with In-App Events feature. This property will be worthy of your time than one might initially think. The sheer potential of mobile app engagement we might drive from these event cards is very exciting. However, let us also talk a bit about the technical expectations. 

First of all, Apple will allow you to have up to 5 event cards active at any given time. Yet, you will be able to have up to 10 approved event cards. All In-app event cards will go through Apple’s standard review process.

However, as Apple released these features “later this year”, with the launch of iOS 15, many app developers will want to get their event cards published as soon as possible. 

Also, developers will need to select a respective badge that best describes their event type these are;

• Challenge
• Live Event
• Major Update
• New Season
• Premiere
• Special Event

Once your Event card is live, users will be able to see this card in a few different places. First, as we mentioned, will be in the homepage widget that will be added. Users will be able to see who has already downloaded the app on the listing page. Also by users who are searching for the in-app event directly. 

Users will be able to see the product page alongside editorially curated selections and personalized recommendations on the Today, Games, and Apps tab. You will also be able to provide an event deep link that will direct users to a predetermined designation in your app. 

An in-app event will be able to stay live for 31 days. Promotion can be up to 14 days prior to the event start date. Apple also will have neat features where you will be able to set the priority of events.

The default settings will chronologically order your event. You will be able to select a cost to attend the event if an in-app purchase or subscription is required. Moreover, you will be able to select the event’s purpose from these options;

• Appropriate for all users
• Attract new users
• Keep Active Users Informed
• Bring Back Lapsed Users

Regardless of the selection, your in-app event card will be discoverable by all users.

Lastly, we will also be able to track the success of the new in-app event cards. App Analytics will allow us to track;

• Impressions
• Event Page views
• Engagement
• Conversion data 
• Users who opted in to be notified when the event starts

How To Prepare Your App Marketing Strategy to iOS 15

So what does this all mean? There are a couple of exciting factors to consider with In-app Event Cards. Digital marketing experts should know that the new metadata will be available and we will be utilizing new creatives.

The methods that In-app Event Cards will be displayed, like how users will be able to see them in their feed makes it a great feature to be used in our user acquisition and retention efforts. 

Our suggestion as MobileAction is to start preparing concept In-App event cards as soon as possible. By preparing written and visual content by gathering as much data as available. It is certain that with a great library of creatives you will have a competitive edge. 

Sign up for free to our Mobile App Intelligence platform and take your app to the moon in the new era of mobile user acquisition!

The post In-App Events For User Acquisition and Engagement appeared first on MobileAction.

In this article, we will focus on keyword optimization and show you the best practices for the iOS Keywords Field. 

The iOS Keywords Field

The iOS Keywords Field is one of the fundamental parts of your iOS App Store optimization efforts.

Getting the best of the 100 characters provided to you has a critical importance for the success of your app.

Why is Optimizing the iOS Keyword Field Important?

The core purpose is to increase app downloads in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace.

Your success is highly dependent on the playground you are provided, that is the App Stores. You should know the certain limitations, standards, and criteria of Apple’s App Store and act accordingly.

Even if we want to bombard the field with tons of keywords, unfortunately, there is a limit. Apple App Store limits the publishers with 100 characters at maximum. Therefore to maximize growth, we should spend these limited characters with vital care.  

The surprising thing about ASO is the fact that even though many people are aware of Apple’s guidelines, they do not exactly know how to behave accordingly. We will start off with the common mistakes so that you can avoid them.

The Common Mistakes about iOS App Store Keywords Field

Without having the essential knowledge, you can waste key opportunities and the potential of your app.

Let’s go through some common tendencies by publishers which turn out to be mistakes.

App name in App Store Keyword Field 

Probably the most common mistake by publishers is the tendency to add the App name in the keyword field provided by Apple. It is a waste of keyword limit as Apple already includes both the app name & publisher name in the keywords you rank for. Repeating the App Name doesn’t translate to higher iOS App Store rankings!

Stop Words

You may think that one long phrase is highly relevant for your app and may provide a high ranking. However, having stop words such as and, you, to, too, for, won’t contribute to your rankings. They will only take up your precious character limits. 

Not Using a Comma between Words 

Another common mistake is not separating long-tail keywords with a comma, restricting the combinations and the number of keywords they are being ranked for. Always remember that you will rank for the combinations of the keywords you include in your keyword field! 

Keywords in App Name

Apple’s algorithm gives the most weight to your App Title when indexing for keywords. Rather than using your most important keywords in the iOS Keywords field, you should use them in your App Name to maximize the possible impact on your ranking. 

Use of Space 

In the keyword field of your app, the use of space has no positive impact on your results. You will only end up wasting your – character limit and harm your ASO strategy.

Repeating and Ordering

Repeating the keywords in the keyword field and ordering them are also common mistakes. Not repeating keywords will end up fully utilizing the spot while ordering is completely irrelevant in terms of the impact on the ranking.  

Use of Singulars/Plurals 

Another common tendency is that people don’t add the plural version if they already have the singular. However, in reality, singulars and plurals have different results. Therefore, you should treat them as different keywords and choose the one that serves your best interest. 

How to optimize your iOS Keywords Field

Now, you have sufficient knowledge about the importance of optimizing the keyword field. We can answer the golden question of “How?”.

The first thing you should do is keyword research.

In order to find the most suitable keywords that have good search scores, you should go through a research process. Our Keyword Research and Keyword Spy tools might expedite your process. 

There are two key metrics for ASO: the Chance Score and the Search Score.

The Chance Score indicates the difficulty to rank on a certain keyword. A high chance score would mean that it is easier to compete on that keyword for ranking.

The Search Score indicates the popularity of a certain keyword. Scaled from 0 to 100, a high search score is very beneficial to target keywords that can address your app to a wider audience.  

Keyword Research

For instance, you have a puzzle game. When you search for “puzzle” using our Research Keyword tool, a list of related keywords will be presented for your app. 

In this list, you can also see the search scores, chance scores, and the number of apps competing for these keywords. Meaning that you can choose the best keywords for your iOS App Store optimization goals. 

One last aspect that you should consider is the length of the keyword. Since we are working on a limited field, it is important to find the balance between the length and quality of keywords.  

Your main focus, here in the Keywords field, should be all about creating keyword combinations.

This can be highly beneficial for optimizing your App Store Keywords and this time, you will determine your own limit.

Now let’s make things clear with an example:

Assuming that you have a tank battle game; you can type “tank, battle, war” in your keyword field. Apple will give you credit for;

Tank, Battle, Tank Battle, Battle Tank, War Tank, Battle War Tank, etc…

The Bottom Line

Your iOS Keywords field will boost your organic traffic if you give the necessary attention. 

This means that you should constantly monitor, test, and evaluate the performance of your keywords. Our App Store Optimization tools will equip you with a wealth of data that you can utilize to improve your mobile user acquisition strategies. 

Schedule a demo with our experts now to get the edge against your competitors.   

The post How to Optimize iOS Keywords Field appeared first on MobileAction.

In addition to the cool features in Apple devices, iOS 15 is perhaps one of the most significant software updates ever as it brings major changes to the App Store as well. 

Now,  app marketers all around the world are preparing themselves and their user acquisition strategies to make the most out of the new App Store. So how exactly will this update make the App Store a more customer-friendly marketplace?

Starting with iOS 14.5 and the App Tracking Transparency framework, Apple already gave users more control over their privacy preferences by adopting an opt-in methodology. 

Now with iOS 15, the users will be faced with a more consistent ad experience thanks to custom product pages. 

Let’s say you click on an ad and are transferred to the app listing page. With custom product pages, marketers and developers will be able to present different combinations of text and visuals to you depending on the source that you arrived from.

Imagine clicking on an ad that is about an app that has flight booking features. When you land on the listing page, instead of seeing irrelevant screenshots or previews about the other features of the app, you will be presented with different aspects of the feature that you were interested in.

To exemplify, you will be greeted by different features related to flight booking instead of hotel reservations. In other words, from the moment you touch on an ad, there will be a more consistent user experience until you finally decide to download it. This is not just beneficial for consumers but also for app marketers as well. 

With iOS 15, app marketers will be able to more effectively align their value propositions with different campaigns in order to increase conversions and ultimately, revenue. 

A New Approach to the Mobile App Industry

As you might know, the App Store is not the only place the rules are changing. Google Play will also introduce significant changes to its platform, until the end of 2021. 

While the app title character limit will be reduced to 30 instead of 50, a whole set of additional guidelines will be put in place in order to improve the user experience. No more emojis, irrelevant keywords (download, free, best), and more.

Screenshots, videos, and short descriptions will also meet new regulations to provide a better experience for users. In a way, it can be claimed that Google Play is also in the game for improving the marketplace to serve customers in a better, cleaner way.

As a multi-billion dollar industry, there is no doubt that the app business will continue evolving and improving to meet the needs of both customers and developers. We are truly excited for the future of user acquisition and can’t wait to see what kinds of creative strategies app marketers will come up with to adapt their methods to the new era of mobile user acquisition.

Meanwhile, if you want to discover the power of data for app growth, sign up to MobileAction for free and take your app marketing strategy to the next level!

The post iOS 15 & Customer Oriented App Marketing appeared first on MobileAction.

Discover the Top Advertisers of Search Ads

As you know, you could already see the paid keywords of an app or apps running ads for a specific keyword via Search by App and Search by Keyword tabs respectively. Now we have added another cool feature to browse the apps dealing with SearchAds: SearchAds Top Advertisers. With this new feature, you will be able to see the top apps running search ads and analyze the ASA strategy of each app.

Curious to know more about the penetration rates of Search Ads based on categories and countries? Read our analysis here.

SearchAds Visibility Scores are Live!

Just like the visibility score, we have for ASO, now you can also see the SearchAds visibility scores for all apps running search ads. Wondering how we come up with those scores? We simply find out the number of keywords an app is running ads and which are those specific keywords. Then, we combine them with the search volumes and the number of impressions. The results are put on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 indicating the highest visibility.

To exemplify the best use case of these scores, suppose you have an app in the Photo & Video category. Let’s be more specific and say that your app is mainly about editing videos. You’d like to find out which mobile app competitors are running search ads in the U.S. and the keywords that they have the highest impression share.

First, let’s take a look at SearchAds Top Advertisers page to see who is dominating the race.

The apps in the above screenshot are ordered based on their SearchAds visibility score. To get more insights about the strategies of these apps, you can check the table below this graph:

This table shows additional data such as the total paid keywords, category ranking, overall ranking, and category name for each app in the graph. Magisto Video Editor seems to be the most powerful competitor in SearchAds as it has a visibility score of 81, which can be considered quite good. 

There are actually more interesting insights in this table. For example, you see some apps that are running ads on more than 20K words but getting a lower score than Magisto. Were you thinking that the more keywords you run ads on, the better your score will be? Well… It turns out that quality beats quantity here It’s not the number of keywords but which keywords you choose is what makes the difference.

Since we mentioned “quality keywords”, let us give you a quick reminder: Without a proper ASO strategy and a high-quality keyword list, it would be too optimistic to expect good results from SearchAds. You always need to go back and take a look at the most download bringing keywords for organic search and build your ASA strategy accordingly. Remember that the ASO Report tool of MobileAction has been designed for you to spot those keywords easily.

Have no idea about it? Read our blog post to learn more about ASO Report.

As we found out that Magisto is the app to look into, let’s take a more detailed look at its keyword strategy. To navigate easily between tabs, just click on Magisto’s icon on the table or in the graph. It will directly take you to Search by App tab where Magisto is the selected app.

On the Search by App tab, you’ll see that Magisto runs ads in 37 countries and on more than 17K words! Should you examine each and every word? Not really… unless you’re very bored and have nothing to do for the next 10 years. Let’s just use the filters to find out quickly what you need: the highest performing keywords that you can use in your ASA strategy.

In the above screenshot, we set the impression share as “greater than 20” and the popularity as “greater than 50” to see the best keywords. We have also sorted the results based on the impression shares. If you click on “Track” for any keyword, you’ll see it on your Tracking List to use in your ASO strategy. 

Wish to use these keywords for ASA? The same dashboard is coming up to the SearchAds.com so you’ll be able to conduct the same analysis there and run ads on the keywords you like!

Magisto’s Keyword Strategy

Realized anything interesting above? Magisto seems to be applying a mixed strategy by putting its bets on both generic keywords such as “video editor” and brand keywords such as “alight motion”, a competitor of Magisto. Since Alight Motion has an Android app only, Magisto is leveraging Alight Motion’s absence in the App Store and benefits from its competitor’s brand recognition. It’s actually a great strategy because Alight Motion’s target audience would be very similar to Magisto’s. So Magisto would be targeting users who are looking for an app with similar features and therefore most likely to download its app as Alight Motion doesn’t exist in the App Store. Smart, eh?

Let’s check out another keyword on the list – say “instagram video downloader” and see who else is running ads on it:

As our summary board on Search by Keyword tab says, this keyword is targeted by 25 apps with a popularity score of 56. We sorted the apps from lowest impression to the highest. See the different categories? Just because a keyword is about video download doesn’t necessarily mean that only apps in the Photo & Video category should target it. The competition is much more fierce than that.

Lastly, let’s see another keyword for the brand name example, “splice”:

Splice has an iOS App unlike Alight Motion and is doing pretty well in the organic keyword rankings for its brand name. But, it turns out that things didn’t go well on the paid side. You know how it feels when you search your company’s name in Google but the competitor’s name comes first, right? Well… this must be kind of the same feeling So, seems like Splice needs to focus more on Search Ads to beat Magisto and get its crown back.

To sum up, you can find data in 3 different forms in SearchAds Intelligence:

• Search by App: To find Search Ads keywords of an app
• Search by Keyword: To find apps running ads for a particular keyword
• Search Ads Top Advertisers (new): To find the top Search Ads Advertisers

The new update will enable you to see the SearchAds visibility scores. So you’ll be able to decide which apps are more successful in their ASA strategy. You can also get great insights into all the aspects of Search Ads. And who knows? You may even find some useful keywords to target organically as well.

Can’t wait to try it? Go to SearchAds Intelligence feature and play around with it and let us know what you think in the comments.

Haven’t tried SearchAds Intelligence yet? Schedule a demo with us today!

The post [Product Update] SearchAds Visibility Scores & Top Advertisers are Live! appeared first on MobileAction.