How to optimize Google app user acquisition

Bidding on Firebase (FiB occasions) resulted in a median +13% improve in installs and a +20% improve in in-app occasions with no important change to value per conversion.

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Advertisers should perceive sources of discrepancies between SKAN knowledge and Google Adverts reporting, which can embrace views, web-to-app, cross-network attribution, attribution home windows, and reinstalls.

For iOS campaigns, advertisers ought to anticipate a minimum of a 5-day lag in app marketing campaign modeled conversions and will keep away from assessing efficiency within the first two weeks or earlier than the marketing campaign has generated a minimum of 100 conversions

All the perfect practices for optimizing Google App Promoting, based mostly on what’s working now for our shoppers

As cellular app advertisers regulate to an evolving advert ecosystem with the lack of IDFA and more and more automated media shopping for throughout networks, Shopper Acquisition brings you probably the most up-to-date suggestions for Google App UA Campaigns. As a Google App Most popular Inventive Companion Company, we’ve got market insights and artistic experience from managing over $3 billion in artistic and social advert spend for the world’s largest cellular apps and web-based efficiency advertisers.

Right here’s tips on how to higher perceive, measure, and optimize your Google App UA campaigns proper now.

Bidding on Firebase (FiB) occasions will increase efficiency

App campaigns bidding on FiB occasions carried out higher than app campaigns bidding on non-FiB occasions. Google stories that the median marketing campaign that switched to utilizing Google Analytics for Firebase conversions for bidding noticed a +13% improve in installs and a +20% improve in in-app occasions with no important change to value per conversion.

Understanding Google Adverts reporting vs. SKAN

Alter and Appsflyer dashboards now present Google SKAN knowledge. Beneath are the sources for widespread discrepancies between SKAN knowledge and Google Adverts reporting, together with views, web-to-app, cross-network attribution, attribution home windows, and reinstalls.

Understanding the iOS conversion lag

For iOS campaigns, advertisers ought to anticipate as much as 5 days for modeled conversions to look; SKAN conversions could take longer attributable to its 24-hour timer resetting each time a conversion is tracked, as much as 64 instances. Conversion lag is along with typical conversion delay.

Campaigns concentrating on deeper funnel occasions should account for conversion lag earlier than assessing efficiency; if conversions occur greater than every week after an advert is served, efficiency knowledge should replicate the longer window plus conversion delay, or attribution is misplaced.

If viewing marketing campaign efficiency each day, be sure you view conversion knowledge in a lookback window that features the lag and delay.
Efficiency fluctuation needs to be anticipated attributable to preliminary studying and subsequent optimization
Keep away from assessing marketing campaign efficiency within the first one to 2 weeks and earlier than the marketing campaign has generated a minimum of 100 conversions
Assess efficiency based mostly on if the marketing campaign is assembly its set tCPI/tCPA and each day finances on amonth-to-month common foundation

What’s working for us proper now

Together with the suggestions immediately from Google, our UA specialists are seeing:

Strongest efficiency from English language concentrating on Germany, UK, France, Canada & Netherlands
French and German language campaigns concentrating on tier 1 nations in Europe present promise
Key efficiency lever is the bid, adjusted periodically based mostly on 7D ROAS
Focusing on solely Android gadgets; iOS campaigns when examined in Q1 had low yields

For well timed ideas and traits, head over to September’s Scorching Ideas article to see what’s engaged on Fb, TikTok and Snap proper now.

The fundamentals of optimizing Google App Promoting campaigns

Right here’s a punch checklist of greatest practices for optimizing Google App Promoting, based mostly on what’s working now for our shoppers.

Use a goal CPA (tCPA). If you happen to haven’t examined this bidding technique but, begin now. We’ve discovered it to be a really environment friendly use of advert finances.
Use a goal return on advert spend (tROAS). This function isn’t out simply but, however it is going to be obtainable in June for App Campaigns on iOS and Android. As soon as it’s stay, you’ll be capable to, say, specify that you really want Google to seek out customers who will spend 3 times what it value you to amass them. What advertiser wouldn’t need to do this?
Set your each day finances caps a minimum of 50X goal of CPI or 10X of goal CPA.
Don’t change goal CPI/CPA bids greater than 20% in 24 hours till your marketing campaign is producing 20-30 focused in-app occasions per day.
Goal CPI campaigns’ bid ought to begin a minimum of $4-5, even when your CPI purpose is decrease.
Goal CPA campaigns’ bid ought to begin a minimum of 20-30% larger than the purpose.
Don’t wait till your app has launched to start out constructing your consumer base: Pre-launch campaigns can be found, they usually work.
Be beneficiant with artistic belongings. Google App Campaigns work greatest with a wide range of artistic – each artistic codecs and messaging approaches. The algorithm will work out tips on how to combine and match your photographs, textual content, and movies… however you’ve acquired to provide it sufficient belongings to seek out the best mixture.
At all times embrace video artistic. We’ve discovered that if a marketing campaign hasn’t been utilizing movies, including simply two movies to their artistic asset combine can improve the marketing campaign’s conversions by 25%. So sure, possibly movies are a bit dearer. Perhaps they do take a bit longer to create. However they punch above their weight with regards to ROAS. And apart from – in the event you don’t need to make movies, we will do it for you.
If you get your movies made, ensure that they’ll “flex,” as in that they’ll seem in numerous views and gadgets, and nonetheless look good.
Suppose past consumer acquisition. We’re seeing some very nice returns with retention campaigns. If you happen to do it proper, it completely pays to promote to all these individuals who downloaded your app however then both didn’t use it or by no means purchased from it. They’ve already performed the arduous a part of putting in the app – typically they only want slightly nudge to activate or to make their first buy.