Ace your 2021 App Install Campaign

It’s no secret that App Installs are BIG business! With an estimated 250 million daily app downloads each year, more and more players are entering the market and the competition for visibility is at an all-time high. 

So, what do you need to know to break through the noise and advertise your app to the fullest online? We’re going to take you through the ins and outs of App Install Traffic, including…

Which App Install verticals convert the most.

Which ad formats are the best to grow App Install traffic.

What payout models bring the best results.

App Install campaign setup tips for 2021 and beyond. 

Which app install verticals perform the best?

To answer this accurately, we will need to unpack a little. The “best” verticals are those that bring in the highest amounts of traffic, resulting in the most installations (or trials), depending on how the app is run. 

Not all traffic is the same and the quality of the installs plays a big role. There’s no point paying for traffic that drops off when it’s time to move from trial to conversion, so you’ll need to keep your eye on the most converting sources/zones right from the start. 

2021s most promising vertical would have to be VPN and Utility Apps, (like site cleaners and antivirus software). A globally recognized and much-needed service in all major sectors and even more so today, with so many people working from home. 

Some of our top clients are VPN App providers. So, we make sure we’re always adding new features, and trying new approaches to convert better than ever on App Install traffic. 

What payout models can I run on Adcash?

For a third-party advertiser, the best payout model would be CPM and CPA Target. You can bring a lot of installs using CPM but you’ll need to spend some budget and optimize along the way. 

CPM was specifically designed to bring in the most traffic possible. I.e the highest volumes go to the advertiser who pays the most.  

CPA Target Bidding was introduced for advertisers to save and spread their budget whilst still being able to test different countries and generate the best returns. The advertiser sets a target and the model is designed to deliver a lower acquisition for the specific target. 

Keep in mind, it usually takes 2 or 3 days for a campaign to have found the converting sources to deliver conversions according to the chosen target. So the CPA Target will test the traffic on multiple different sources (according to budget) so that it can bring you more installs and optimize your spending. 

Lastly, if you are an app developer/studio and would like to look at a direct CPI collaboration, we are happy to take a look at your campaign and see if it’s eligible for this payout model. Reach out to us anytime for a free consultation, right here.

Any app install campaign setup tips?

When you’re first starting out, don’t target too many regions. Pick the countries your offer is most geared to and leverage those that you expect the best returns to come from. Keep in mind that sometimes some apps have different pricing in certain countries. At times,  Tier 1 regions are more likely to pay the higher subscription price. Countries like the UK, United States, Germany, France, or Canada. However, you can always generate nice returns from  Tier 2/3 countries (South Africa, Brazil, India, Albania, etc). Just make sure the installation/subscription in that region justifies your ad spend and what you stand to make.

Also, make sure to divide and separate your countries when setting up your campaign, because it will be easier to optimize later. So, when you’ve locked down the countries you want to target, generate 5 separate campaigns targeted to each country individually. 

The Adcash platform also allows you to place different payouts for different countries and regions within the same campaign. If you’re testing the water, $100 a day is a solid budget to start off with.

Also, don’t forget to add the browser type and operating system (OS) in your filtering dropdown, to directly target the traffic your app supports. 

And, lastly, If you’re not too concerned about adult traffic, you can activate this option (which is by default turned off when you log into the panel) Our primary niche is mainstream traffic, but in certain Geos, we have adult sources on demand. It’s affordable, it converts and it brings in good results (#justsaying).

What’s the best time of day to run a campaign?

As a general guideline, look for those times of day when people are most relaxed. Around lunchtime during the week as well as evenings and late nights when people are actively browsing the web. Make sure these time zones fall in line with the countries you’re targeting. 

Monday’s traffic is different from Sundays and vice versa. So, try running a user behavior test, taking note of the hours your offer performs the best. In time, you’ll be able to apply hourly targeting to get the best possible results from your incoming traffic. 

What are the best ad formats for app install traffic?

When it comes to App Installs, our pick would be Pop-Under. The format is effective, affordable, efficient, and brings in great conversions. They are hard to ignore, and this is a good thing! 

App installs are a huge market and the competition for exposure is fierce. It pays to rise above the noise and be a little more aggressive to maximize your chances of converting. While Push Notifications and Interstitials may also work, when it comes to App Installs, Pop-Unders carry the highest conversion volumes of almost any country. 

My personal observation is that Native Ads don’t really convert on App Install traffic. 

Should I run traffic to the store or use a pre-lander?

If you’re going to use a pre-lander, your design needs to be top-notch. If you’re just starting out and don’t have the existing creatives/designs at your disposal, then it would most likely make more sense to send traffic directly to the app store. As always, AB testing different outcomes gives you the best analytics to go on. Also, If you’re still beta testing your app and it’s a little buggy, a pre-lander will act as a nice buffer between user and product.

Can you help me with the creatives?

Being a DSP, we don’t keep the tools to generate your campaign creatives on the spot. But, our team has seen thousands of top-performing app install campaigns and would be glad to give their take on how best to generate and optimize your creatives. Reach out to a Campaign Manager right here for a quick chat.

What’s the best way to A/B test your campaign creatives?

The key is to know which campaign creatives bring in the best returns, but you also don’t need to go from zero to 100 in terms of how drastically you change your outgoing campaigns. When it comes to testing, keep your changes subtle. Add or subtract small touches, like the color of the CTA button, the wording of some specific sentences, the font color, etc. Try running your two separate creatives over the course of a week and see which gets the better clickthrough. 

From there take what converted best and optimize it even more. Maybe some words could be emphasized? Maybe the CTA button is too small? Maybe the background is too dark?  

Once you understand how the campaign is working you can start to refine your optimization tactics and AB test what is working the best. From there you can start to filter and track more accurately.

What’s the best way to optimize on the DSP Platform?

This would come back to the payout model again. If you’re running on CPM, the best would be to optimize on the source ids (zone ids) of the particular site. If you run for one week you will already have the breakdown of which sources are bringing you the most installs. Then you’ll be able to see which installs converted into sales. 

Some sources/zones bring in a lot of installations and very few sales. Cut the zones that aren’t bringing you high-quality converting traffic and use that space to investigate some new ones. Also, select the filtering option to “not add new sources” and test the existing pool of publishers you have to see which are generating the best returns. Kick out the ones that did not bring quality installs, test again, and repeat the process.  

Remember to also filter for top converting hours of the day, and always be cutting the websites that bring “empty” installations whilst never converting into sales.

Any final thoughts?

Ask the right questions and discuss your expectations with your Advertiser Manager and/or support team. Come in with a lower budget during your testing phase. Once you’ve gathered the best possible data on what converts and what doesnt, you’ll be in the position to take on a little more skin in the game. 

As always, best of luck on the journey ahead. Reach out to us any time and feel free to leave a comment in the box below. We’ll make sure we get back to you as soon as possible. 

Bye for now.