The NBA Finals never fail to captivate basketball fans and casual viewers alike with dramatic moments from tip-off to final buzzer. With excitement and interest in the 2024 championship series sure to reach a fever pitch, it will be the perfect opportunity for mobile apps to boost user acquisition through creative campaigns leveraging the unparalleled hype around the Finals.

The Finals transform the sports calendar, igniting passions from small-town gyms to massive watch parties worldwide. But it also presents massive implications for the mobile marketing industry. As fans analyze rosters, dissect matchups, and watch incredible performances, search terms like “nba”, “mavericks” and “celtics” see huge spikes. This surge of search interest provides a major opportunity for sports, entertainment, betting apps, and mobile games to engage these audiences.

In fact, the pervasive coverage of the NBA Finals has become one of the top events each year for driving downloads, engagement and in-app purchases across sports and entertainment apps. As Finals traffic grows, forward-thinking mobile marketers will capitalize on this moment with optimized search rankings, targeted paid campaigns, unique in-app events, and custom product page strategies.

In this post, we’ll examine NBA Finals mobile marketing strategies through the lenses of keyword trends, share of voice, and product page best practices. We aim to help apps maximize this once-a-year opportunity to acquire new users and revenue. So read on to see how one of the biggest tournaments in global sports can translate to peak performance on mobile.

Three-Pointers, Alleys, and Oops: Targeting the Right Keywords for Each Big Moment

Each year come mid-June, certain keywords will begin to rapidly rise as the NBA Finals grab national attention. Terms like “nba finals”, “boston celtics”, “celtics”, “dallas mavericks” and “mavericks” all experience a marked increase in searches.

As the Finals have started this June, search interest in terms related to the Celtics, Mavericks, and championship series itself are poised for a massive surge. Historical mobile search data shows clear spikes for keywords like “NBA” as over 10 million fans in the US alone seek information on schedules, rosters, odds, and more heading into each year’s marquee event.

Keyword Tracking – ASO Intelligence

Related to the 2024 contestants, interest in “Boston Celtics” and just “Celtics” jumps exponentially as the league’s most-winning franchise vies for its 18th banner. Meanwhile, searches for “Dallas Mavericks” and its abbreviated version “Mavericks” balloon as fans young and old unite to cheer on the underdog organization led by European superstar Luka Dončić.

With digital audiences intensely tracking every matchup and storyline, these team-specific keywords present a prime opportunity for mobile marketers to reach deeply engaged NBA fandom. Apps and games related to player stats, championship history, or fantasy/betting angles should focus ASO and ad campaigns on terms poised to see massive breakouts when the Finals tip-off arrives. Capitalizing on these predictable search surges will drive downloads and maximize in-app revenue throughout basketball’s biggest moment.

Balancing Organic and Paid Keyword Strategies for the Mavericks and Celtics

This year’s March Madness saw a clear divergence between the apps optimizing organic placement versus paid promotion surrounding basketball-related keywords.

For “NBA”, the official NBA: Live Games & Scores led the pack organically given its direct association. NBA 2K Mobile Basketball Games and NBA Live Mobile Basketball also ranked well organically. Meanwhile, an unrelated mobile game, Drift Max Pro Drift Racing, stood out in paid rankings by paid marketing efforts.

When fans searched “Boston Celtics” and “Celtics” the top organic performer was Boston Celtics’ official mobile app. Again, NBA: Live Games & Scores successfully ranked also for these keywords. In paid results, NewsBreak: Local News placed bets on basketball audiences, elevating their visibility.

Keyword Trends – ASO Intelligence

Looking at “Dallas Mavericks” and “Mavericks”, we again see the official mobile app of the merch ranked in the first place. Meanwhile, paid pushes from different sorts of apps cast a wider discovery net.

This case study offers lessons – to rise up in early June, balance organic keyword targeting with paid supplementing where strategic for broader exposure, and capture feverish fans.

More Than a Series: Crafting In-App Events to Expand Finals Fan Engagement

Mobile marketers took advantage of in-app event badges during the NBA Playoffs to engage eager basketball fans. These strategic activations yielded key metrics.

Bally Bet Sportsbook, Betway Casino & Sportsbook, ClutchBet Sportsbook, Digits: Sports News & Stats, and Flashscore Live scores utilized “Live Event” markers to highlight their live streaming of playoff matchups. Real-time viewing boosted stickiness.

In-App Events – App Intelligence

Bet On Sports, DraftKings Fantasy Sports, DraftKings Pick6 Fantasy Game, DraftKings Sportsbook & Casino, Fanatics Sportsbook & Casino, and Tipico Sportsbook Sports Bet all featured “Special Event” badges promoting playoff-themed promotions and challenges within relevant verticals of sports betting and fantasy. Perks like odds boosts kept communities immersed.

Meanwhile, the NBA – Live Games & Scores app itself optimized event notifications to showcase playoff narratives and milestones through “Premiere” spotlights of historic moments unfolding.

The use of strategically programmed in-app events effectively showcased timely offers and content tied to intense playoff action. Analytics revealed measurable spikes in repetitive user behavior seeking the thrill of competition throughout this period. Event-based strategies can drive annual spikes in user value.

Conclusion

As this analysis of mobile app performance during the NBA Finals 2024 illustrates, the postseason presents an invaluable annual opportunity for basketball, entertainment, and betting platforms to immerse avid fans and acquire new users through strategic marketing.

The insights demonstrate that well-optimized promotion techniques – like relevant keywords, targeted paid campaigns, in-app events, and tailored creative assets – have measurable power to heighten discoverability, trials and recurring user behaviors covering this pinnacle period of competition. The momentum generates enduring loyalty as platforms authentically partner every step of the playoff journey in ways that resonate.

If you want to step up your ASO game, schedule a demo now and get unlimited access to AI-powered organic mobile app growth tools!

The post From tip-off to buzzer beater: How to leverage NBA Finals 2024 hype for mobile UA appeared first on MobileAction.

Hawley Shpiro, a respected figure in the mobile app industry, brings a wealth of experience and a deep passion for the dynamic role of apps in integrated media strategies after a decade with Skai and Unity. With her extensive industry knowledge and strategic approach to sales, Hawley is well-equipped to contribute to MobileAction’s ongoing growth and success.

Let’s hear from Hawley herself why she joined Team MobileAction:

Could you tell us about yourself a bit?

I am an American Israeli, born and raised in California. I moved to Tel Aviv in 2009, where I began my career in app marketing, drawn by Israel’s prominence as a startup nation and a tech hub. I’ve always loved this industry for its dynamism and the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds across leading app marketing brands and agencies. Having been in sales for 15 years, I have a deep passion for my work, the clients I serve, the companies I’ve represented, and the teams I’ve been part of. Over the last decade, I worked with two notable Apple Search Ads CMPs — Skai for nine years and Luna from Unity for one year. I was involved in the Adquant acquisition by Kenshoo (now Skai) in 2014, leading global sales and later taking on various regional roles within Skai. In 2018, I relocated back to the U.S. to build the apps revenue business for Skai in the Americas, where I lead Sales and established a strong partnership with Apple Search Ads team when the CMP program launched. My roles have spanned across sales and leadership, including AMER and EMEA sales strategist and building Skai’s apps business unit in the Americas from scratch. I wouldn’t change my job for anything. I have a true passion for software sales and the app ecosystem.

Why did you choose to join MobileAction?

MobileAction has been a familiar face for me, since being in the industry for a long time and I’ve always maintained a friendly relationship with its leadership through industry conferences.

I’ve always held the principle of representing companies whose products and visions resonate with me. And as soon as I lose faith in something, I can no longer sell. Realizing that my professional path at previous companies was diverging from my career goals, I decided it was time for a change.

I believe that timing is everything in life, it was the perfect time to make the next move for me. And the opportunity at MobileAction came at a perfect moment.

The first thing I asked about was the product. I was blown away with MobileAction’s Apple Search Ads platform as well as the data and market intelligence tools. I had never seen such an impressive platform with this level of advanced capabilities given that this would be my third Apple Search Ads CMP experience.

My discussions with the board confirmed our alignment in goals and vision for the future and that’s when I knew it was there I wanted to be.

Are there any market trends that catch your attention these days? How do UA managers in mobile space behave?

The evolution of consumer behavior, with a significant shift towards mobile app usage in the last five years, particularly post-COVID, is striking. This increase spans across various industries like gaming, delivery, retail, finance, and streaming. UA managers are increasingly focusing on optimizing key performance indicators like Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and are prioritizing lifetime value (LTV). They are among the most savvy in the industry, adept at leveraging data to understand app trends and consumer behavior, ensuring their strategies are data-driven and targeted.

One of the biggest stories over the last few years in the app world is the breakout growth story of Apple’s mobile user acquisition ad network Apple Search Ads. What are your thoughts on Apple Search Ads and it being a main media source for apps and/or brands?

Over my career, I’ve had the chance to work with numerous premium direct publishers and media channels, yet Apple Search Ads stands out distinctly. Brands and marketers are continuously exploring diverse media mixes and testing new channels, focusing ultimately on those that deliver the best ROI for further investment.

What sets Apple Search Ads apart from other media sources is its intent-driven nature. Users arrive at the App Store with specific search intents, making this channel especially potent for user acquisition. Savvy marketers and brands recognize the superior Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) offered by Apple Search Ads and are investing in it as a primary media channel. Through comprehensive testing with a Campaign Management Platform (CMP) like MobileAction and close collaboration with Apple Search Ads’ team, advertisers have seen significant decreases in Cost Per Install (CPI) and have been able to scale their user bases by two to ten times.

Effective management, optimization, and performance analysis are crucial across all media sources, not just Apple Search Ads. I am continually impressed by the substantial investments leading brands across sectors like QSRs, fintech, fantasy sports, and delivery apps are making in Apple Search Ads. Ultimately, those who recognize the strategic importance of an app-centric approach to user acquisition tend to invest the most.

There’s still vast potential with more traditional brands that are just beginning to realize the necessity of a solid app strategy in order to build their customer base with loyal users. Part of my role and passion is educating and guiding marketers on how to construct effective app strategies, leveraging tools like Apple Search Ads for growth and engagement.

How does MobileAction’s vision fit into all of this? Are there any complimentary products of MobileAction that could help app marketers to boost their ROAS on Apple Search Ads?

As a new member of MobileAction, I have to say this: There is no other tool in the market that can offer what MobileAction has built. We’re bringing a holistic user acquisition approach to the table, the platform integrates paid and organic user acquisition so well that it supercharges your app marketing efforts.

SearchAds.com’s Co-Pilot and Automations with their pre-designed templates are crucial for optimizing campaigns, offering features like automated bidding and in-depth analytics. These tools are integral to efficiently managing and enhancing large-scale advertising efforts. Additionally, our suite includes Search Ads Intelligence and Custom Product Pages Intelligence, designed to enable marketers to make data-driven decisions effectively.

Combining these with a detailed Ad Intelligence, advanced keyword optimization capabilities on ASO, and market trends, our holistic approach helps mobile apps substantially improve their campaign effectiveness and ROAS on Apple Search Ads and ASO strategies as well as nurtures them with extensive and secure data to help app marketers make informed decisions. This leverages our deep understanding of the app marketing landscape and our partnership with Apple Search Ads, ensuring optimal outcomes for our clients’ advertising strategies.

What does the future look like for the mobile app marketing ecosystem? Where do you see app marketers investing their performance budgets in the near future?

App marketers are continually exploring new channels for user acquisition. From my time at Unity, I’ve seen the potential of Connected TV (CTV), especially with platforms like Roku, which is a leader in the American streaming market and reaches over 80 million US households. CTV is not just the present but also the future of advertising, with significant investment already flowing in—emarketer reports that over $21 billion was spent on CTV in 2022, with a projected annual growth of 18%.

Roku has been successful in partnering with top brands and is keen to expand into the app ecosystem to enhance performance marketing. I believe app marketers will increasingly invest in this channel due to its vast audience reach beyond traditional media. And, Roku’s introduction of Action Ads could be a game-changer for performance marketing for mobile apps. The current challenge is measuring CTV effectiveness, but Roku is collaborating with mobile measurement partners to devise creative solutions for this. I recommend that brands consider testing this channel, and I’m eager to help guide those interested in exploring CTV advertising. And, MobileAction is also working on integrating with additional channels to help marketers manage other sources in our platform, enhancing our tool’s versatility and effectiveness in multi-channel marketing strategies.

If you would like to chat with Hawley, feel free to email her at hawley@mobileaction.co

Interested in MobileAction’s app marketing solutions?

Here are some outcomes our clients have achieved:

• How Entain achieved a 49% CPA decrease in 3 months with Smart Bidding and ASO solutions
• IGG uplifted their installs by 15% and TTRs by 97%
• Vyro’s 40% ROAS jump and 150% Keyword Growth with MobileAction’s solutions

For more information or to see MobileAction’s intelligence, automations and expertise in action, schedule a demo now!

The post MobileAction welcomes mobile app industry veteran, Hawley Shpiro as Director of Global Sales & Strategic Partnerships appeared first on MobileAction.

After releasing your app, embracing it can take some time for your potential users. You must be patient at this phase and constantly monitor the marketplace and competition to make necessary improvements. Your app’s visibility plays a key role in boosting app downloads.

This blog will briefly introduce how to master visibility and take your downloads to a new level. You will realize that visibility is one of the cornerstones of having a high conversion rate with your app.

Downloads vs Visibility

There is a clear correlation between the download rates and the visibility of an app. A high visibility will lead to more downloads and vice versa.

Our dashboard shows an app’s visibility score under ASO Intelligence’s Visibility Report feature. This score simply indicates how visible your app is on the market. It scales from 0 to 100, with 0 being the lowest score and 100 being the highest possible score.

You can check one of our previous articles for more information about the relationship between visibility, downloads, and category rankings.

App Profile – App Intelligence

At the early stages of your app’s journey, potential users in app stores will have little knowledge about your app. To boost app downloads to the desired level, the first step you should take is to improve your visibility.

The increasing traffic will transform into downloads when your app is more visible. In the long run, high download numbers will help your app remain visible higher up the category rankings (having a high visibility score).

To learn more about how to improve your app visibility and downloads, you can also check this article.

Category Ranking History – App Intelligence

3 Important Steps to Maximum Downloads

As mentioned earlier, visibility is the key to higher downloads. Now, we will focus on boosting your app’s potential in a step-by-step approach to maximizing visibility and downloads.

• Value Proposition: You can try to make your app relevant in app stores through constant App Store Optimization (ASO) efforts. Still, your attempts would be short-lived at best without connecting with your potential users with a clear value proposition. As a first step, you must have an offering that acts as a painkiller or gain creator for your users.
• App Store Optimization (ASO): Investing in App Store Optimization is the next and possibly the most important step. Even though you have an incredible app that has the potential to be a category killer, you should support your app with a well-defined ASO strategy for the sake of higher visibility and downloads.
• Paid User Acquisition: In the long run, your app’s organic and inorganic downloads will work cohesively to maximize your downloads. Research indicates that a paid user acquisition campaign has the potential to boost your organic downloads up to 17x by improving your visibility. In other words, a paid ad campaign feeds your downloads by providing enhanced visibility.

Boost App Downloads: The Essential Checklist

On the way to skyrocketing your downloads, it can also be challenging to remain visible beside improving it in the first place.

• App Store Optimization (ASO): Again, update your keywords regularly (weekly or monthly), check your App Store’s page-views-to-downloads conversion rate, and improve it with constant monitoring, testing, and iteration sessions.
• Good Reviews & Ratings: Try to collect all 4 or 5-star reviews. Check the language of your reviews to see patterns of what your users like or dislike and make changes accordingly. Also, note that getting negative reviews and ratings is valuable insight to improve your app.
• High Category Rankings: If your app is not visible in the higher-ends of category rankings, it would be difficult to get app downloads. To choose the right category and subcategory for your app, check its relevancy, competition, and potential revenue.
• Localization: Check your international conversion rate to determine which markets will be the most profitable for you to enter and capture.
• Paid User Acquisition: Run additional paid ad campaigns based on the valuable insights from ASO about the marketplace and competition to boost app downloads and visibility further.

3 Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them

Improving your downloads is a shaky road, and you can make certain mistakes. We believe it is also worth mentioning some common mistakes and how to avoid them for your good.

• Lack of ASO: Some app developers forget the importance of ASO for long-term and stable success. As mentioned earlier, ASO can make a huge difference in your app’s visibility.
• Performance Issues: Another important aspect of an app’s visibility is consistency regarding glitches, bugs, and crashes. If your app is constantly crashing, this will inevitably hinder user satisfaction, leading to a lower visibility score. Based on ASO, constantly monitor your user reviews and improve your app’s performance.
• Lack of Industry Knowledge: Sometimes, developers lack enough knowledge of the mobile market and the specific standards for the category they are being ranked in. In today’s highly competitive and turbulent marketplace, making a good app isn’t enough anymore. Make sure to stay educated.

The Bottom Line

Visibility is the key to having higher downloads and vice versa. With its Keyword Intelligence feature, ASO Intelligence by MobileAction lets you get quick and accurate insights. Note that you can get assistance for a higher visibility score by trying various keywords depending on the competition and the marketplace.

Keyword Intelligence – ASO Intelligence

If you want to step up your ASO game, schedule a demo now and get unlimited access to AI-powered organic mobile app growth tools!

The post How to boost app downloads: Mastering visibility appeared first on MobileAction.

Pride Month transforms community spirit, igniting passions from local gatherings to worldwide shows of support for LGBTQ+ rights. However, it also has massive implications for the mobile marketing industry. As supporters engage with information on local events, pride histories, and equality campaigns, search terms like “pride”, “pride month”, “lgbtq”, and “lgbtq+” see huge spikes. This surge of search interest presents a major opportunity for companies, advocacy organizations, and mobile games to connect with engaged audiences.

In fact, the pervasive Pride has become one of the top events each year for driving downloads, engagement, and in-app purchasing across related app categories. As month-long celebrations grow, savvy mobile marketers capitalize on the moment with optimized organic rankings, targeted paid campaigns, unique in-app events, and creative custom product pages.

In this post, we’ll take a deeper look at Pride Month mobile marketing strategies through the lens of organic and paid keyword trends, in-app events, and default and custom product pages best practices. Our goal is to help apps maximize this once-a-year window for acquiring new users and revenue. So read on to see how one of the biggest commemorations in social justice can translate to peak performance on mobile.

How Pride Month becomes the talk of the mobile app world

Each year, come mid-June, certain keywords see their search scores begin to rise as Pride Month captures global attention rapidly. Terms like “pride”, “pride month”, “lgbtq”, and “lgbtq+” all experience a marked increase in searches.

ASO Intelligence data shows that “pride” is searched at much higher rates during the opening weeks of June celebrations than during normal monthly volumes. This is understandable given the significance the month places on commemorating social progress.

Keyword Trends – ASO intelligence

Similarly, the all-encompassing term “lgbtq” peaks in searches as supporters seek local events, histories, and discussions around iconic displays of community and activism.

Interest is also strongly boosted for “pride month” itself as the movement’s premier commemorations bring diverse identities into the global spotlight.

What’s clear is all these keywords hit their apex points around the end of June as festivals and marches around the world energize communities. With demand so high, mobile marketers must optimize to answer searched questions and satisfy engaged audiences seeking to learn more during this meaningful time of celebration and advocacy.

Maximizing Visibility with Targeted Pride Keywords

Search by Keyword – SearchAds Intelligence

The dating app Taimi—LGBTQ+ Dating & Chat invested in over 1000 paid pride keywords. According to SearchAds Intelligence data, this effort led to a notable 47.2% impression share for searches related to these terms.

Similarly, the “HER: Lesbian & Queer LGBTQ Dating” app focused its marketing on 98 pride-themed keywords. This drove an impression share of 5.7% for searches containing these keywords in the Lifestyle category.

By delving into pride-related paid search terms, these apps raised their visibility and engaged sentiment-driven audiences. The data offers valuable perspectives on successfully utilizing niche keyword targeting around LGBTQ+ events and milestones to boost discoverability.

Beyond Hashtags: Leveraging In-App Events

Mobile marketers took advantage of in-app event badges during June to engage busy allies of the LGBTQ+ community. These strategic activations yielded key metrics.

TikTok, Pinterest, Tinder, and Feeld spotlighted “Special Event” markers for their Pride Month hashtags and curated galleries of progress. The sense of community drove significant interaction and time exploring shared experiences.

BIGO LIVE and HER highlighted “Live Event” badges for streamed Pride parades and virtual meetups. Custom events like speed dating kept audiences invested.

BLK and Chispa utilized “Major Update” notices to showcase custom profile options celebrating identities. The celebratory features boosted self-expression and discovery within inclusive spaces.

Strategically planned in-app events effectively showcased timely offers and content tied to global Pride commemorations. Analytics revealed measurable spikes in repetitive user behavior seeking an ongoing sense of belonging throughout June. Event-based strategies can become an annual rhythm for maximizing engagement among advocates year-round.

In-App Events – App Intelligence

Showcasing the Spirit of Pride – Default and Custom Product Pages

Custom and robust app product pages provide valuable opportunities for mobile marketers to stand out from competitors and match their messaging to key audiences. Well-optimized pages highlighting an app’s value proposition, unique features, engaging visuals, and authentic customer reviews help increase visibility and lower acquisition costs. This is because customized pages allow targeting niche search queries and community hashtags, showcasing custom copy and assets better suited for each meaningful promotion and moment.

CPP Intelligence

Our CPP intelligence shows one clear winner from a creative optimization standpoint: Taimi, an LGBTQ+ Dating and chat app, for last year’s Pride Month. By providing in-app previews in iPhone mockups, Taimi explained the main value of the application clearly and strongly with the captions they wrote at the top of each product page.

CPP Intelligence

This year, we can easily say that Taimi has leveled up his creative strategy and even surpassed last year’s creative success. In this product page design, where rainbow colors are preferred as the background color, we see the brand name and the main value offered by this brand on the first page. An image of a member of the LGBTQ+ community accompanies these texts. In the following product pages, other features of the Taimi app are introduced.

As another strong product page example, we can show the HER: Lesbian & Queer LGBTQ Dating application. Some pages from HER app’s product page are as follows:

CPP Intelligence

In sum, for mobile app marketers, utilizing the full capabilities of creativity to craft audience-focused, aesthetically pleasing product pages is a must for driving discovery, boosting conversion, sustaining retention, and growing an app’s community over time.

Conclusion

As this analysis has shown, Pride Month presents a tremendous annual opportunity for Entertainment, Lifestyle, and Social Networking apps to engage captive audiences and attract new users through optimized mobile marketing. The data demonstrates that organic and paid keywords, in-app events, and default and custom product page creatives all have the potential to significantly boost discoverability, downloads, and engagement during the LGBTQ+ community’s biggest festival.

If you want unlimited access to insights on organic and paid keywords, in-app events, and default and custom product page creatives, schedule a demo and take your app marketing to the next level!

The post Apps in action for Pride: Apps join the celebrations of the LGBTQ+ community appeared first on MobileAction.

What are the 4 ad placements of Apple Search Ads?

Search result ads

You can reach customers through search results ads at the moment they are searching for apps to install. If a user searches on the App Store, your ad might show up at the beginning of their search results. This advertising strategy is highly targeted, engaging users who have actively picked up their device, launched the App Store, entered a search term into the search field, and executed a search. Reaching customers searching for a relevant term right at the moment they are looking to install.

Today tab ads

 When you launch the App Store, the Today tab is where customers start their journey. Consequently, advertising on the Today tab is beneficial for anyone looking to increase visibility by showcasing their app to as many visitors as possible. As you only pay when someone taps on your ad you can benefit from lots of free impressions for your app. This approach is especially powerful for boosting awareness around new content releases, special occasions, and seasonal campaigns.

Search tab ads

 Ads on the Search tab allow you to boost awareness and downloads by placing your app at the top of the suggested apps list. These ads reach users before they conduct specific searches, appearing prominently at the top of the suggested apps list on the Search tab. By appearing just before people search you can influence what they do next and potentially drive more searches of your brand.

Product page ads

Ads on product pages are displayed in the “You Might Also Like” section on the pages of other apps within the App Store. When setting up these ads, your ad can run across app categories, or you can refine the categories where it runs. This allows you to choose the where your ads will be shown, targeting categories or apps that align with your desired audience.

Why app marketers should consider a multi-placement ad strategy

We regard a multi-placement ad strategy as essential in 2024 for the following three reasons:

Increased visibility

Utilizing multi-placement ads expands your app’s visibility, introducing it to a wider audience. This strategy facilitates a broader awareness of your app, attracting users with different interests and building a diverse user base around it.

Increased scalability

Marketers are always looking for ways to expand their campaigns and while the volume of search terms on the App Store is vast, it’s important to look for opportunities outside of search results ads to scale that can support your search strategy. You might have built out your search strategy and are looking for new ways to grow, outside of adding new keywords. Exploring new ad placements can help boost visibility, potentially leading to more searches for your brand. It can also have an impact on your organic installs.

Increased efficiency

By strategically utilizing diverse ad placements and applying an effective approach, you can more efficiently direct users to your product page. Numerous marketers have noted lower CPAs and heightened brand recognition after launching multi-placement ads on Apple Search Ads. As you only pay for taps you are able to get lots of extra free impressions. By looking at a blended CPA across ad placements and monitoring the impact on organic you can see the significant impact of a multi placement approach.

Best practices on applying the multi-placement strategy

Our experts suggest these four tips for a successful strategy. They are based on their proven experiences in achieving good results.

1. First and foremost, ads in search results are essential to capture existing demand. Without them, you risk overlooking users searching for keywords tied to your app, potentially missing out on tapping into pre-existing market demand. Thus, incorporating search results ads is often a key strategy in any ad placement plan, aiming to attract users actively looking for what your app offers.
2. To enhance your search strategy further we recommend adding incremental budget to set up a Search tab campaign as your next step. When users navigate to the Search tab, it usually signifies a strong intention to find and download an app. Having your ads in both these placements, helps you capture the full spectrum of demand for your app, positioning it right where users are most likely to take action. This is a great place to start if you are testign out new ad placements for the first time or have a limited budget to test.
3. Pairing a strong search strategy with ads on the Today tab can significantly boost brand recognition. As the Today tab is what users first see upon opening the App Store, it offers prime visibility. Advertising here can increase your brand’s exposure and familiarity, which can sway users’ decisions in your favor when they come across your app in search results. From personal experience, one client saw a noticeable improvement in search ad performance and brand awareness after advertising on the Today tab, leading to overall positive outcomes.
4. Incorporating product page ads into your strategy offers additional advantages. These ads can place your app on the product pages of competitors or related apps, providing an opportunity for users to discover and learn more about your app. These users are still searching for information so it’s a great opportunity to connect with a highly engaged audience. This visibility, combined with the detailed information presented on various custom product pages, can positively affect users’ perceptions and encourage downloads.

Make the change with MobileAction and SearchAds.com

SearchAds.com, recognized as an Apple Search Ads Partner, provides a comprehensive campaign management platform designed to facilitate the automation, optimization, and monitoring of Apple Search Ads campaign data from one central location. The platform empowers professionals in user acquisition and app growth to manage all aspects of their Apple Search Ads campaigns. Its objective is to streamline the campaign management process, offering data-driven solutions that reduce the time and effort required by professionals in user acquisition and app growth.

Search Ads Intelligence by MobileAction offers comprehensive insights into  all four Apple Search Ads’ ad placements. It allows you to view the impression shares of your competitors or any app across all ad placements. Additionally, you can identify which apps dominate a particular ad placement or understand the level of competition within your category for that specific placement. To try Search Ads Intelligence and take a look at your competitors’ dominance in different ad placements, schedule a demo now with our experts.

The post Multi-placement ad strategy: Your go-to 2024 Apple Search Ads Approach appeared first on MobileAction.

For any mobile app developer, nothing is more discouraging than receiving a negative review for their hard work in the app stores. At first, it’s easy to ignore or dismiss such reviews, hoping you don’t accumulate too many. However, negative reviews present an opportunity that, if handled properly, can be turned into invaluable customer insights.

In this blog, we’ll share a step-by-step process for transforming negative app reviews into actionable feedback that results in a better product and stronger customer relationships. By learning to appreciate critical feedback, you’ll soon find that even one-star reviews can help guide your app development in the right direction.

Check out one of our previous articles to learn more about the impact of app ratings & reviews on App Store Optimization:

• App Reviews To-Do List: How to Improve App Ratings Organically
• From 0 to 10,000 Reviews: 7 Tips to Collect
In-App Feedback Like a Pro
• What Happened to the Robinhood’s Ratings?
• How Do App Reviews and Ratings Affect Your ASO Strategy? 

Introduction: Reasons for Negative App Reviews

You should be aware of some common reasons for receiving negative app reviews in order to fully utilize the opportunities provided by them.

There are three main reasons for receiving negative app reviews from an unfavorable user experience.

• UI issues: In some cases, you may come up with an app that has the ultimate potential to connect with your user’s expectations. However, the problematic user interface may prevent your app from reaching its full potential. A weak UI will inevitably mean unsatisfied customers, mostly followed by negative app reviews.
• Glitches, bugs, crashes: Another important factor in an app’s success is consistency regarding glitches, bugs, and crashes. Once again, you may have the ultimate solution for your user’s needs in the form of an app with an impressive, user-friendly UI. Still, if your app is constantly crashing, this will inevitably hinder your user’s satisfaction with the app. If this is the case, expect negative app reviews!
• Lack of customer support: You will make a huge mistake if you think your relationship with your users ends after you convince them to download your app. This is just the beginning of your never-ending interaction with your customers. When there is a problem or situation the customer wishes to be vocal about, poor customer support can translate into negative app reviews.

Embracing Negative App Reviews: How Can They Be Useful

After you learn about the common reasons for negative app reviews, you should do your best to avoid them by constantly improving your app. However, you shouldn’t use your dedication or focus towards your app just because hearing about some unsatisfied customers. You should realize that negative app reviews are hidden gems!

First, you should know that negative app reviews are different from having a bad app. So, there is no need to panic.

All kinds of app reviews will be essential for constant improvement during your app’s lifecycle. While positive reviews will only show that you are on the right track, negative app reviews can guide you through areas for improvement.

In other words, a negative review is an organic opportunity to improve your app to satisfy your users. Rather than a source of demotivation, it is honest feedback based on user experience.

How to Handle a Negative Review

Now that you are confident you should not fear receiving a negative review, we will briefly mention how to deal with it.

With this step-by-step approach, you can learn much from a negative review and minimize your chance of receiving similar complaints in the long run.

Do Not Panic & Take Responsibility

As the blog mentions, negative app reviews should not shatter your dreams, so don’t panic.

After being cool with receiving lousy app reviews, you should be confident about taking full responsibility. In other words, embrace the user feedback without activating an aggressive defense mode.

Understand the Issue & Focus

The next step is understanding the complaint. The negative review is mainly caused by one of the three common reasons mentioned previously. Identify the core problem and focus on the heart of the matter.

Make Research & Solve the Problem

Now that you know the key problem causing negative app reviews, you should research to eliminate it. The length of this phase can change depending on the seriousness* of the issue.

Some UI-based negative app reviews can be more time-consuming than customer support-related problems. Do your research, learn how to improve, and iterate accordingly.

Keep Your Users Updated

After you make specific improvements based on negative app reviews, let your audience know about these new additions. Your users will be more than happy to realize that their feedback is being valued, so keep them updated.

Negative App Reviews: The Silver Lining

As an app publisher, try to imagine a life without feedback. You would be missing valuable, honest, and accurate feedback. With a step-by-step systematic process, you should handle a negative review.

Remember that some of the core reasons for negative app reviews, such as frequent crashes, can also negatively influence your category rankings directly and indirectly.

It is known that Google Play Store hesitates to rank apps with performance problems, even if they have favorable download rates. An app with poor UI or customer support will also have problems keeping and converting users.

Thanks to negative app reviews, you can learn how to improve your app and get better rankings organically. Therefore, it is safe to assume that a negative review is a silver lining!

The Bottom Line

We hope you enjoyed our blog about combating negative app reviews. As you can see, they can provide valuable feedback for your ASO strategy. With its Review Analysis feature, App Intelligence helps you to get quick and accurate insights.

To start leveraging App Intelligence, sign up for free, gain access to valuable insights, and unlock the power of leveraging users’ feedback.

The post How to turn negative app reviews into diamonds appeared first on MobileAction.

We are thrilled to reaffirm our SOC 2 Type 2 certification, an indicator of our steadfast commitment to security and transparency for our users since May 2022.

Now, let us provide a detailed overview of what this means and how we protect your information.

What is SOC 2?

A SOC 2 Type 2 report is a detailed evaluation of a company’s internal controls, focusing on how effectively it protects customer data. Organizations using cloud service providers rely on SOC 2 reports to evaluate and mitigate risks linked to third-party technology services. These assessments, conducted by independent auditors, cover key principles such as Security, Availability, Confidentiality, and Privacy.

SOC 2 is not legally required by any organization and provides an independent assessment of a company’s security and privacy control environment.

Why SOC 2 now

MobileAction has accompanied many apps as their mobile growth partner to enhance their visibility both organically and through paid campaigns with its intelligence, automations, and expertise.

Growth is crucial for the mobile app industry, and it must be achieved by prioritizing security and data protection, whether you’re a large enterprise or a solopreneur. Many remarkable marketers and community members built great apps, brought MobileAction into their companies, and received value from our solutions.

This SOC 2 report is for you. We want to showcase our security and privacy measures so you can easily share them and integrate MobileAction into your mobile growth journey. So, if you’ve wanted to use MobileAction at your company, now’s the ideal time for this validation.

What’s in the report?

This report verifies that MobileAction meets the highest security standards for protecting information. An independent auditor thoroughly examined and authored the report. It provides details about our:

• Robust authentication and restricted data access—We audit employee devices and limit customer data access to only those who need it.
• Ongoing monitoring and incident response—We continuously check compliance configurations and can rapidly address any problems.
• Employee security training—We conduct background checks before hiring and provide security education during onboarding and beyond.

The report confirms that MobileAction takes data protection seriously and implements industry best practices. Customers can feel confident their information is secure with us.

Ongoing efforts

SOC 2 compliance is a marathon for us, not a sprint. As MobileAction evolves, it’s important we remain adaptable. As we hire more people in specialized roles, the SOC 2 process will help us establish checkpoints and ensure security guides everything.

For current customers, contact your Account Executive or Customer Success Manager to receive the full SOC 2 report. If you’re considering MobileAction for your team or company, contact sales and mention your interest.

More on our security and privacy commitment is available here. Please reach out to privacy@mobileaction.co with any questions. We’re always happy to provide more details about SOC 2 or anything else!

The post We’re SOC 2 Type 2 compliant — Here’s what that means for you appeared first on MobileAction.

While you may have developed a great app, small issues could hinder retention. A confusing headline, lack of instructions, or non-obvious buttons are examples. These minor elements surprisingly impact the user experience.

The good news is tweaks may be all that’s needed for users to love your app. Continuous testing is key.

Mobile A/B testing allows for quantifying the user experience through in-app variations. It allows you to test different elements to see what users prefer.

Often, user feedback alone isn’t enough. Proactive testing reveals what’s working and what’s not. Tools like these provide actionable insights.

How Mobile A/B Testing Works:

• Integrate a testing SDK
• Design your test
• Visually edit elements in the dashboard
• Analyze results to iterate improvements

While many options exist, consider the following:

• Pricing fits your budget
• Features support your testing needs
• Response time for any support issues

Selecting the optimal A/B testing software for your app can be challenging with the many choices on the market. That’s why we have assembled the 12 best A/B testing tools to help you discover the ideal platform to meet your testing needs and uncover greater insights.

Top 16 A/B Testing Tools for Mobile Apps

Firebase

Firebase, Google’s app development platform, furnishes developers with various instruments and services, including backend management, performance monitoring, and A/B testing. Through Google Optimize, Firebase A/B Testing provides robust A/B test and feature controls. As a Google offering, it integrates flawlessly with other tools like Google Analytics to enable effortless data sourcing and campaign analysis. App makers can capitalize on this consolidated platform to carry out critical tests and augment optimization.

Optimizely

Optimizely furnishes an all-encompassing A/B testing solution enabling A/B and multivariate trials on websites and mobile apps. Developers can construct diverse tests and phased rollouts to augment optimization. The robust platform equips full-stack, cross-channel experimentation, immediate app updates, and risk mitigation for mobile and web. By unearthing Optimizely’s versatile A/B testing capabilities, teams can unlock impactful insights and enhance user experiences.

Apptimize

Apptimize furnishes an all-encompassing A/B testing solution, enabling A/B tests and staged releases across apps, mobile web, web, and OTT. Developers can create omnichannel user groups and manage cross-platform testing through a unified dashboard. By harnessing Apptimize’s robust experimentation and phased rollout functionalities, teams can optimize experiences across channels. This versatile tool empowers impactful testing insights and streamlined feature launches.

UXCam

UXCam furnishes extensive event analytics and enables granular inspection of user experiences. The dashboard facilitates tagging sessions, filtering for frustrations like rage taps, visualizing unresponsive areas via heatmaps, tracking funnel dropoffs, and manually reviewing journeys. By uncovering UXCam’s robust analytics and session replay, teams can gain actionable insights into optimizing mobile experiences.

VWO

VWO furnishes a robust A/B testing platform empowering businesses to optimize conversion rates through A/B tests and multivariate trials. The intuitive editor streamlines creating variations while the analytics engine tracks quantitative and qualitative insights. For mobile apps, VWO facilitates iterative testing of UI, UX, and backend algorithm variations pre and post-launch to expand usage and retention. With heat mapping and session replays via VWO Insights, app makers can identify frustrations and uncover impactful enhancements. Whether optimizing mobile or web, VWO enables data-driven A/B test, UX improvements, and maximized ROI.

Hotjar

Hotjar equips teams with multifaceted qualitative data to optimize digital experiences, including heatmaps, session replays, and surveys. While immensely popular for web analysis, Hotjar does not support mobile apps. However, by integrating Hotjar with A/B tests, product teams gain robust qualitative insights into user motivations and frustrations. This facilitates a holistic understanding of preferences to drive impactful optimizations influencing user behavior. Overall, Hotjar empowers data-informed design choices for maximized digital experience and conversion improvements.

Crazy Egg

Like Hotjar, Crazy Egg equips teams with pivotal data like heatmaps and session replays to optimize digital experiences. Crazy Egg also facilitates built-in A/B testing to iteratively improve engagement and conversions. As a trusted tool with vast usage, Crazy Egg empowers product teams to identify what captivates users versus what causes friction. By tracking user interactions and testing page variations, teams can make data-driven decisions to optimize websites for improved performance. Though focused on the web, Crazy Egg delivers robust A/B testing and analytics to uncover impactful enhancements.

AB Tasty

AB Tasty equips mobile teams with versatile optimization tools spanning analytics, testing, personalization, and feature management. Developers can divide users into segments and customize experiences for each cohort. By A/B testing with features pre-launch, app makers can implement enhancements smoothly. Overall, AB Tasty enables data-driven optimization across the user journey to boost mobile app engagement, conversion, and retention.

Adobe Target

Adobe Target serves as a robust optimization solution through capabilities like A/B testing, multivariate testing, and personalization for mobile apps. By seamlessly integrating with Adobe Analytics and Adobe Audience Manager, app teams can leverage rich user data to inform optimization decisions.

Target enables granular customization of in-app experiences based on user behaviors, characteristics, and real-time actions. For example, teams can test different onboarding flows or tailor the homepage to user cohorts. This personalized, data-driven approach unlocks higher engagement, conversion rates, and retention. With Target’s A/B test and personalization power, app makers can refine experiences to delight users and achieve key business goals.

Leanplum

Leanplum by Clevertap excels in cross-channel optimization, from testing to retention. The intuitive editor simplifies A/B testing mobile apps, while robust analytics detail funnel, cohort, and revenue impacts. By personalizing in-app experiences based on user actions, Leanplum unlocks seamless, tailored journeys that boost engagement and loyalty. This end-to-end A/B test and personalization platform empowers teams to optimize the complete mobile lifecycle.

Amplitude

Amplitude provides a versatile data analytics platform empowering product optimization through A/B test, feature management, and analysis. App teams can conduct A/B testing on UI, UX, algorithms, and recommendations utilizing sequential testing and T-tests. Robust data pipelines integrate, unify, and manage information from various sources. By leveraging Amplitude’s experimentation and analytics capabilities, mobile product managers gain data-driven insights to iterate experiences and maximize outcomes.

Taplytics

Taplytics provides a robust experimentation platform for mobile apps and the web, enabling A/B tests, feature rollouts, and client/server-side testing. The code library and visual editor simplify creating and deploying mobile tests and personalization. Statistical models like Z-Score and T-Test evaluate results. By leveraging Taplytics’ versatile testing and analytics capabilities, teams gain agility to optimize experiences, features, and outcomes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, selecting the right mobile A/B testing tool is critical to driving effective app store optimization. The tools reviewed here give developers the infrastructure needed to continuously test different elements of the user experience and gain valuable insights into what resonates most with their audience.

Areas like onboarding, navigation, monetization, and more can be refined over time based on robust testing data, leading to higher user retention, satisfaction, and loyalty. A better user experience will directly impact visible app store optimization factors like average star ratings and reviews, and overall app visibility. Leveraging a quality solution’s A/B testing and analytics capabilities ultimately allows us to implement ongoing optimizations that strengthen both the app itself and our marketing strategy. To learn more about how MobileAction experts can help, schedule a free demo now!

The post 12 best A/B Testing tools for mobile apps in 2024 appeared first on MobileAction.

Using MobileAction’s Impact tool, we aim to examine the before-and-after analysis of Star Wars Day on various aspects of app marketing. From gaming apps tapping into the galactic excitement to shopping platforms offering themed promotions, this analysis will highlight how leveraging this cultural phenomenon can improve your app marketing strategy and drive user engagement.

Capturing galactic excitement with in-app events

In-app events are a strategic and effective tool during seasonal periods, fostering audience connection and driving traffic to product pages, ultimately boosting app downloads.

For Star Wars Day, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes exemplified this approach by launching an in-app event to celebrate the occasion. Initiating the event just before the season, they kept it live for a week, successfully enhancing user engagement, popularity, and conversion rates.

Impact overview of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes listing all user acquisition aimed activities during the week of Star Wars Day.

The 3 in-app events are live on May 2nd.

Using Impact’s user-friendly interface, once you’ve selected the start date for your in-app event, you can view all events live on that day, with their specific start and end dates alongside other activities. After choosing to analyze the in-app event, you can observe changes in key metrics before and after it goes live.

The In-App Event created by Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is dedicated to Star Wars Day.

On May 2nd, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes had three in-app events, with one standing out due to its compelling title and creative approach. While it’s expected that they created an event specifically for Star Wars Day, few apps have made this strategic choice, effectively leveraging the power of in-app events to drive engagement.

The before-during-after analysis of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes for the selected in-app event.

After selecting the in-app event to analyze, a graphical representation clearly explains the event’s impact on various metrics. With Impact, we assessed changes in category rankings, downloads, and app-generated revenue before, during, and after the event.

Following the launch of the in-app event, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes saw a significant rise in its gaming category ranking from 181 to 26. Downloads doubled, and revenue quadrupled. While other factors may have contributed to this growth, the in-app event undoubtedly played a crucial role in achieving these impressive results.

This outcome highlights the value of in-app events, particularly during seasonal periods, when a well-crafted, relevant campaign can resonate with your audience and drive significant engagement.

Navigating the hype with paid campaigns

Another effective strategy to boost visibility, particularly during seasonal periods, is paid campaigns. Since most downloads come from App Store search results, incorporating paid keywords in your search result ads can significantly increase downloads. This approach enhances rankings for specific search terms, ensuring that your app appears earlier in results when users search for terms related to the seasonal event, in this case, Star Wars Day.

Star Wars: Hunters provides an excellent example of leveraging seasonal events with strategic keyword selection in search result ads.

Impact overview of Star Wars: Hunters listed all user acquisition-oriented activities during the week of Star Wars Day.

In the days before Star Wars Day, the marketing team expanded their paid keyword pool with multiple themed keywords, ensuring that they would rank higher in relevant search results. They maximized their app’s visibility by carefully curating this keyword list and optimizing for terms that fans were likely to search for on that particular day.

The added search result ads keywords.

They expanded their paid keyword pool with multiple Star Wars-themed keywords, incorporating both generic terms and competitor brand keywords to maximize visibility. This strategic selection led to an increase in impression shares, with over 70% growth for some newly added terms. Star Wars: Hunters began ranking for new keywords, effectively enhancing their presence and capturing a wider audience searching for Star Wars-related content.

The before-during-after analysis of Star Wars: Hunters for the search result ads terms added.

To evaluate the impact of this strategic move, we utilized MobileAction’s Impact tool for a comprehensive before-and-after analysis. Adding these new keywords to their paid keyword pool increased their organic visibility score by up to 7 points and achieved a 7x increase in downloads. While other practices may have contributed to this substantial growth, their SearchAds visibility score also rose 7 points, indicating that their Apple Search Ads strategy played a significant role in this success.

Embracing Impact for seasonal success

In-app events and paid campaigns present powerful opportunities to boost visibility and user engagement, especially during seasonal periods. As seen with Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and Star Wars: Hunters, a well-timed and strategically executed campaign can have a substantial impact on an app’s category rankings, downloads, and revenue. By carefully curating your marketing strategy with relevant in-app promotions and targeted paid keyword pools, your app can ride the wave of popular events, capturing the attention of a wider audience.

To unlock the potential of this approach, MobileAction’s Impact tool offers comprehensive insights, allowing you to measure and analyze the before-and-after effects of your seasonal marketing activities.

If you’re ready to utilize this power for your app marketing strategy, schedule a demo now to explore how MobileAction can help you refine your campaigns, capitalize on seasonal trends, and achieve remarkable growth.

The post May the 4th be with you: Star Wars Day’s Impact on app marketing appeared first on MobileAction.