A 15% INCREASE IN APP DOWNLOADS THROUGH A UNIVERSAL APP CAMPAIGN

– 20 October 2022

Mobile apps provide brands with a direct marketing channel to reach their audience. More specifically, apps keep a business’ products and services just a few taps away and offer customers an instant point of contact. Despite these benefits, mobile user acquisition can get tough on the app market. 

This was a challenge our client – a major fashion retailer – had been facing too. They have an app that made shopping accessible to consumers and were looking to build more attention around their app and increase downloads. To accelerate this growth, the client turned to TMI for their app marketing strategies. The results, as shown in this case study, were nothing short of remarkable.

THE CHALLENGE

The client knew that there is a lot of competition in the mobile apps market for their vertical. They also understood that making one’s app stand out in the crowd and getting a lot of new users requires a well-thought-out marketing strategy.  

TMI was tasked with implementing App Install campaigns as well as an App Engagement campaign to ensure user retention. The overarching objective was to strengthen the client’s market share in the fashion space, get new customers on board, and maximise revenue through their app.

GOALS AND STRATEGY

We ran a Universal App Campaign (UAC)* for app installations and a UAC for engagement side-by-side to target the following outcomes:

*Universal App Campaign – An ad type in Google Ads that appear in the Search and Display network and on YouTube to drive app installs and/or drive in-app conversions. App ads are automated, using machine learning to optimise a campaign to show to the most relevant users.

  1. App campaigns for Installs – This campaign enables users to download an app directly from an ad with the primary goal of supercharging new app installs and acquiring new users. 
  2. App campaigns for engagement – This campaign type targets existing app users, engaging them with relevant ads across Google to encourage them to return to the app and take action.

RESULTS

UAC for Engagement

By mid-March 2022, we changed the bid strategy for the UAC for mobile app engagement from a target cost per in-app action to in-app action value with a target ROAS strategy. This was a significant move as over the three months, revenue increased by 14.72% while ROAS increased by 47.56%. Even though in-app actions decreased month-on-month, they were ultimately of higher value. 

Since the goal was to drive more in-app action value at a target ROAS, app downloads decreased. However, we still managed to generate a good amount of app installations at a cost per install that was 46.62% lower than the average benchmark for similar retail apps in South Africa.

UAC for App Installs

The KPI for the UAC for App Installs was to increase app installations at a CPA of R1.85. When we adjusted the bid strategy across the UAC for Engagement, the focus shifted to existing users. This allowed the UAC for App Installs to ramp up app downloads.

With the updated campaign strategy implemented in March 2022, app downloads increased by 15.58% month-on-month at a CPA of R1.84, which is 77% lower than the industry benchmark for similar retail apps in South Africa.

The key takeaway for us with this campaign was that sometimes success is about finding that one simple hack that can create massive growth for the client. In our case, we have learned that between app discovery and engagement, it’s important to maximise the synergies between the two campaign types.

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