App marketing is the most important stage present after the application release not depending on the niche you work with. Within all the efforts done in marketing of mobile applications keyword promotion is the right way to increase the app visibility and the number of organic users from the search, as the traffic received should be not only from the paid sources.
In this article we would like to show a study case about keyword promotion and results received from this way of marketing on AppStore, as during last months we observe the constant growth of iOS applications.
As you know, keyword promotion is the way of marketing when the application is downloaded after keyword search on the store and using this method the app gets higher positions in the search list leading to the increase of the organic traffic. In general, keyword promotion may and even should be applied to any app category aiming the global market, so let’s quickly discuss the peculiarirties and strategies used for Apple store.
- First of all, it is needed to remember that Apple algorithm works pretty fast and after ASO is done, the first indexed keywords appear within 1-2 days. So actually that’s a chance to get the ranks fast and efficiently, that’s why try to follow all the ranks changes after text metadata update. Once the first keywords appear to be ranked, use keyword installs to keep the ranks. Of course, if we talk about newly released application, it is recommended to use low volumes, like 5-10 installs daily per keyword. In such a way it is possible to fix the position in top 100-top 50 so to use higher volumes further already to get top of the list.
- Do not hesitate to promote the keywords of low and middle popularity, as even such requests at top ranks may bring organic traffic. Here the advantage is that it is not necessary to spend high budget for such keywords promotion, but there is the possibility to get top positions within several days due to the fact that Apple algorithm updates the ranks fast.
- Remember that AppStore differs comparing to Google Play so the strategy for keyword promotion differs as well. In general, there is no need to use long campaigns lasting for 7-10 days, in most cases it will be completely enough to add installs within 2-3 days to observe the first results. This gives the flexibility in keyword promotion as it is possible to understand at once if the used volumes are enough to boost the rank.
- If we already talk about the volumes, it is important to mention that usually for Apple higher daily volumes per keyword are needed, but still do not try to add a lot of keyword installs at once. Try to “warm up” the keyword and add low volumes at the beginning until the ranks are not in the top 20.
- At the same time it is necessary to remember that Apple may proceed with the keyword pessimization if to use too high volumes. That’s why we usually recommend to start with the low volumes especially if the ranks are low. To avoid the possiimization (the decrease in rank instead of the increase) plan your strategy and go step-by-step.
At this stage let’s proceed with some example of how keyword installs may influence the ranks the app has for the keywords in different countries.
The first example of the keyword we worked with was “photo editor” and the region the app was promoted in was AU. As you may see, the campaign lasted for 3 days only without spreading the installs for 7-10 days as we usually do for Google Play. The number of downloads used each day is the same without increases as for AppStore this strategy is completely enough to get the result. The starting rank was 101 and the final result we received for now is top 5. The volumes used each day was 50 installs. Pay attention that at the beginning of campaign we may observe the slight decrease in ranks. Such situation is quite naturally and considered as the reaction of the algorithm when the promotion is started.
The next example of iOS keyword promotion is already for more difficult region – the US. As you may know, this country is considered to be the most competitive for both stores as most developers would like to get the traffic from the United States due to the higher paying capacity of users. The keyword we worked with was “body editor” for the same application. We started the promotion rank 34 and used 60 installs daily during 3 days. As we already observed on the second day of the campaign this amount was completely enough to provide the rank increase so we decided to keep the campaign and do not edit the used volumes so to see the final position the strategy might bring. As the result, app occupied top 8 in several days after all the installs were delivered. Checking both example you may observe that Apple updates the ranks pretty fast and already within the campaign it is possible to see the first results.
The final example for the same app is as well for the US as the main aim of our client was to increase the visibility mainly in this region due to the fact we mentioned previously. The keyword we worked with is already more difficult is to check the estimated traffic and SAP, it was “photo edit”. The starting position of the app was already in top 20 so we decided to use volumes closer to 100 installs daily per keyword so to test it out and check if the keyword would react. We went the same strategy with 3 days of promotion and the equal volumes daily using 90 keyword download for each day. The starting rank was 19 and as a result we achieved top 1 already the next day after the promotion was completed.
As you may see the keyword promotion on AppStore can provide really successful results and the increase may be observed within pretty short period of time due to the fact that Apple algorithm reacts to promotion within several days (quite the same situation as with the indexation process after texts update). Using the strategies we mentioned above as well as paying attention to all the peculiarities your application can considerably improve its visibility and presence on the store attracting more and more of organic traffic from the search. Do not hesitate to contact our support team or your personal manager, we will help to make your app successful!
