There are some classic pairings where each half makes the other better: peanut butter and jelly, bread and butter, cookies and milk. The same applies to App Store Optimization (ASO) and paid marketing. When you only have one, you are missing its other half that makes it even better.

App Store Optimization covers every element that contributes to your organic search rankings, visibility, downloads, and conversion rate. ASO, when done correctly, can help your app rank in search results, where 70% of an app’s installs originate from. This includes testing and making changes to:

  • App title
  • Subtitle (iOS only)
  • Keywords (iOS only)
  • Short description (Google Play only)
  • Full description
  • App icon
  • Screenshots
  • Preview video
  • Poster frame (iOS only)
  • Feature graphic (Google Play only)

Let’s consider two different app promotion strategies.

Focus only on App Store Optimization without any paid marketing. Our organic listing will be optimized fully, and we have targeted our core terms correctly, but the algorithms are taking longer to index our updates for keyword rankings, and it is difficult to break into high-ranking positions.

Focus only on paid marketing without any App Store Optimization. Our paid campaigns are fully optimized and drive traffic. However, the Apple Ads campaign has minimal impressions for some terms after increasing bids, and the conversion rate to install for other terms is low compared to industry standards, which is increasing our cost per install.

Both of these strategies are viable and can be effective in their own ways, but what happens when we combine them?

Like cookies and milk, App Store Optimization and paid marketing are good on their own, but they are better together.

A unified App Store Optimization and paid marketing strategy will improve performance for not just installs, but also organic keyword targeting, conversion across channels, and campaign efficiency.

How do Apple Ads work?

Apple Ads is a paid channel where you can bid on key placements within the iOS App Store. Apple will take your bid into account along with other factors such as historical bids, relevance, tap-through-rate, conversion rate, and competitor bids in order to determine who wins the auction and placement.

One advantage of Apple Ads is the users. You already know the users intend to download an app by nature of exploring the store, so Apple Ads just helps you get in front of the right user.

There are four placement types which each requires a unique strategy and approach to maximize performance:

  • Search Results let you reach users at the top of relevant search results when they search for something specific.
  • Today Tab lets you reach people on the front page of the App Store, where users start their visit.
  • Search Tab lets you reach users at the top of the suggested apps list on the Search tab before they search for something specific.
  • While browsing, Product Page lets you reach people as they browse apps on pages across the App Store.

The Search Results campaign has the most direct impact on ASO, as this traffic can be directly tied back to a search query. Apple will take the clicks and installs from Apple Ads into account for organic keyword rankings. This means that additional volume from Apple Ads Search Results campaigns can help ASO updates index faster for keywords and improve ranking potential for targeted terms.

How do Google Ads work?

Google Ads is an algorithmic pay-per-click (PPC) acquisition channel where you can run app campaigns across Google’s inventory of placements, including:

  • Within the Google Play Store
  • Google Search
  • Display Network (Gmail, within other apps, or on mobile websites of news sites, blogs, and other sites across the Internet)
  • YouTube

The Play Store placement has the most direct impact on ASO, similar to the Apple Ads Search Result campaign, as it can be directly related to a user’s search query. However, Google Ads differs from Apple Ads because you cannot select where the ads are placed. This is automatically determined by the algorithm based on factors such as bid, assets, historical performance, campaign goals, etc.

How paid marketing helps ASO

Although paid marketing helps with ASO, each channel and placement has a different impact and can vary based on the app’s vertical and size.

Apple Ads

Search result placements drive additional clicks and installs, which helps signal Apple to support organic rankings and keyword indexation. The impact of this will vary depending on the app size. If a new app starts running Search Results campaigns, they will likely see larger increases and improvements in rankings compared to an established app with organic rankings running at the same ad spend.

Auto placements, including the Today tab, product page, and search tab, will help support overall volume and awareness, but will not have keyword ranking support because they cannot be tied back to a search query.

Google Ads

Play Store placements will also support keyword indexation and organic rankings by driving clicks and installs on specific search queries.

Other placements, including Google Search, Display Network, and YouTube, will support install volume and awareness outside of the Play Store but will not have keyword ranking support because they cannot be tied back to a search.

How ASO helps paid marketing

Paid drives users to the store listing/product page, meaning your ASO assets will impact their final decision to download or not. Higher converting ASO assets and screenshots will not only help your organic performance, but will also decrease paid costs and make your campaign more cost-efficient.

Apple Ads directly pulls ASO assets, including the icon, title, and subtitle, into all ad placements. Search result campaigns will also utilize the first three screenshots or the preview video and the first two screenshots as default creatives. Apple Ads also determines paid relevance from the organic metadata, meaning your ASO will impact paid impressions.

Google Ads utilizes ASO metadata and creative assets alongside other ad elements to generate various ad combinations.

Overall, any changes made to organic assets can have a direct impact on paid campaign performance, and the strategy should be united across both.

How app store custom page work

Imagine you are working at a food stand and different customers order a hot dog, hamburger, and ice cream. Would you show them the salad bar? You could show them the salad bar, but they will likely leave and buy food somewhere else.

If you drive all paid traffic to the same main store listing, you may end up with a salad bar situation, losing customers. iOS custom product pages and Google Play custom store listings are your solution to ensure users see and get what they want from your listing.

iOS custom product pages are additional versions of your product page where you can present unique versions of your screenshots, promotional text and/or app preview videos without impacting the main evergreen page. Google Play custom store listings have a similar functionality, with the additional ability to customize the app name, icon, and descriptions.

These separate landing pages help optimize your app’s last touchpoint before the user decides to install. Custom pages can be displayed for specific keywords, ad campaigns, or external marketing efforts, directing users to a designated URL.

Custom pages can be created for Apple Ads and Google Ads to match the theme of the ad group. For example, a retail app could set up a custom page with shoe-related screenshots and run it in the Apple Ads shoe ad group. This would change the ad placement creatives for any keywords in the shoe ad group. Consistent visuals and messaging between the paid campaigns and custom pages can support conversion performance.

The custom page by search term is most useful for ASO because different pages can be created for each theme of terms. But this is not a free-for-all where developers can add in any term they wish:

  • Apple will only allow targeting for terms and phrases in the keyword bank.
  • Google will allow targeting for terms listed in the console.

It is essential to have a unified ASO and paid strategy because elements overlap and impact each other. If the iOS keyword bank were only focused on terms for Apple Ads, for example, this might not provide the terms necessary for the ASO custom page by search term targeting.

Final thoughts

There are many options when it comes to promoting your app. Should you focus on App Store Optimization, paid social channels, ad networks, influencer marketing, or another form of marketing?

As a foundation, you should start with ASO because it impacts the listing where all users will land, and having an effective page will support all future marketing. Then give your ASO and organic rankings a boost with Apple Ads or Google Ads campaigns. Over time, both your ASO and paid ads will see better results from each other – just like milk and cookies.

Let’s chat

If you’re ready to explore how ASO and paid can fit into your growth strategy, consider leveraging expert guidance and ASO services. Together, we can help your app maximize performance for both organic and paid marketing with a unified strategy catered to your app.