Apple Search Ads for COMFY: How to Increase App Downloads by 127% in the E-Commerce Sector During Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2023
Black Friday and Cyber Monday usually lead to numerous app downloads, both in the App Store and Google Play, for shopping purposes. The RadASO team has prepared a step-by-step guide, based on last year's case, on how to get benefits from holidays in 2023.
Service: Apple Search Ads
Sector: E-commerce (hardware and electronic store)
Team: Diana Dziubak (User Acquisition Specialist), Maxim Melnik (Team Lead), Daria Kovtun (Project Manager)
The Client
COMFY – is a leader in the retail market for hardware and electronics in the chain segment in Ukraine. The brand has its app in the Shopping category.
The Purpose
To increase the number of downloads in the App Store during Black Friday 2022 without a significant increase in their cost. The client also planned to buy the maximum number of views for relevant searches in the semantic core.
The Challenge
The growth of downloads without a significant price increase during a period of high demand and higher installation costs, for example, on Black Friday 2022.
The Solution
Step 1. Enabled brand protection in the Apple Search Ads (ASA) the week before Black Friday 2022 (from 18 to 28 November). The team used their own RadASO Tech Boosted Solution tool.
What is the "brand protection" in ASA?
During high demand, such as on the eve of Black Friday, the team enables brand protection. So, competitors cannot advertise on branded requests of a RadASO client, and the client collects all its traffic. The RadASO Tech Boosted tool can "protect the brand" or other searches in the semantic core.
In addition, every day RadASO Tech Boosted Solution automatically helps to avoid cannibalization (Find out more information in the article "The traffic cannibalization in ASO and Apple Search Ads") and saves the client’s budget.
The tool checks the client’s position in the App Store for each search in the semantic core of the app. If the app is on the 1st rate in the organic search (it can be chosen from any position – 2nd, 3rd, etc.), the RadASO Tech Boosted Solution pauses the AdGroup for this search automatically.
If it loses the first position in organic search, the tool automatically relaunches ads. In this way, the client does not pay for users that they would have received from the first position in the search results.
Step 2. Increased bids (CPT bid) for relevant searches. The available bids were no longer enough to cover the high percentage of views on the eve of Black Friday due to the increased market demand during this period. The team constantly monitored the situation and reacted promptly.
Step 3. Grouped searches: Our brand, Common term, Competitors brand, Relevant Competitors. We made a separate group with the brands of the most relevant competitors. It allowed us to regulate bids more flexibly and achieve effective results.
The Results
The team managed to increase the number of downloads in the COMFY app by 127% and to lessen the cost of one installation by 40.74% compared to the previous month. At the same time, the budget was increased by 33.96%. Thus, the percentage of expenses for branded search advertising was only 8.35% of the total budget.
Comparison of the results achieved in October and November 2022:
|
Group |
Spend, $ % |
Impressions % |
Taps % |
Installs % |
Installs/Impr October, % |
Installs/Impr November, % |
Installs/Impr % |
Avg CPT, $ % |
Avg CPA, $ % |
|
Competitor 1 |
42,98 |
83,11 |
63,3 |
50,48 |
3,74 |
3,08 |
-0,66 |
-12,2 |
-5,66 |
|
Common term |
3,26 |
-3,73 |
3,92 |
26,67 |
0,57 |
0,75 |
0,18 |
0 |
-18,8 |
|
Competitors brand |
120,26 |
59,82 |
47,02 |
0 |
0,49 |
0,31 |
-0,18 |
47,37 |
119,4 |
|
Data collection |
15,12 |
-0,55 |
0,36 |
73,33 |
0,5 |
0,86 |
0,36 |
13,73 |
-33,51 |
|
Competitor 2 |
0,27 |
13,2 |
8,47 |
10,11 |
1,12 |
1,09 |
-0,03 |
-6,56 |
-9,02 |
|
Competitor 3 |
21,51 |
-2,06 |
-6,67 |
-8,33 |
0,43 |
0,4 |
-0,03 |
32 |
32,95 |
|
Our brand |
3 575,62 |
3 646,79 |
3 544,9 |
3 553,66 |
37,61 |
36,68 |
-0,93 |
0 |
0 |
|
Competitor 4 |
-29,36 |
-35,77 |
-24,07 |
-33,7 |
0,61 |
0,63 |
0,02 |
-7,46 |
6,25 |
|
Relevant Competitors |
69,42 |
26,03 |
51,35 |
48,95 |
6,3 |
7,45 |
1,15 |
12,2 |
14,29 |
|
Competitor 5 |
32,21 |
17,63 |
57,48 |
53,16 |
1,71 |
2,23 |
0,51 |
-15,71 |
-13,77 |
|
Competitor 6 |
-9,31 |
9,42 |
22,92 |
17,89 |
5,3 |
5,71 |
0,41 |
-27,08 |
-23,44 |
|
Total |
33,96% |
13,44% |
87,29% |
127,08% |
1,36% |
2,73% |
1,37% |
-29,09% |
-40,74% |
Dictionary:
Spend – Ads budget (increased by 33.96% in November compared to October);
Impressions – number of views (increased by 13.44%);
Taps – number of taps (increased by 87.29%);
Installs –number of downloads (increased by 127.08%);
TTR – conversion from views to taps (up 1.74%);
CR – conversion from taps to downloads (increased by 10.78%);
Installs/Impr – conversion from impressions to downloads (up 1.37%);
Avg CPT – average price per tap (decreased by 29.09%);
Avg CPA – average download price (lessened by 40.74%).
General dynamics of costs and downloads by ASA:
Dynamics of ASA expenses and downloads without taking into account our brand campaign:
Dynamics of ASA expenses and downloads for the Comfy:
We tracked the percentage of views that we purchased for relevant searches and reacted quickly if we started to buy less:
The chart below shows the advertising budgets. In November, the advertising budget increased by 33.96% compared to October:
The split of advertising budgets by groups in November and October:
In November, the number of downloads increased by 127.08% compared to October:
Downloads split by groups for November and October:
In addition, in November, the company managed to reduce the cost of the downloads by 40.74% compared to October:
In November, we managed to reduce the cost of taps by 29.09% compared to October:
Conclusion
The growth in the market demand during this period is a natural phenomenon. However, you must be strategically prepared in advance (preferably a month before).
The team increased the number of installations during the Black Friday 2022 period without a significant increase in their cost. It happened due to the on-time optimization of the ASA campaigns, including the increase in bids, brand protection, and proper grouping of the searches.A strategic focus, work automation due to the RadASO Tech Boosted Solution, and well-coordinated work with the client were important aspects of the result’s achievement.
Testimonials
Daria Kovtun – Project Manager
This result was achieved due to the well-coordinated work of both teams. The established process of periodic efficiency analysis and approvals for budget reallocation and strengthening made it possible to react to market developments promptly.Investing in new types of marketing campaigns added value to the strategy of attracting extra traffic and increasing conversions. We believe in the success of further tests and will continue to make efforts to expand and achieve a larger market segment in this niche.
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