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This post was originally published on AppGrowing blog
Launching a new app always comes along with media buying, we need to do some research especially for apps not familiar with. How to market an app? Let’s take TikTok as a case study.
Step 1：Check App Basic Information
First, a landing page is where users download your app and it has a significant impact on conversion rate, so make sure it’s working well before promoting.
Secondly, to do full research on product information, not only will you have to check app screenshot keywords and descriptions, but also additional information, such as app size, installs， ratings， operation version, IAP at the bottom of the store page.
The last update and total installs indicate how long apps have been released while app size means how long apps take to download. Those are considered as key factors in bidding price. Meanwhile, different pricing models and IAP activities help determine ad objectives and ad creative strategy.
Last but certainly not least, language and applicable operating version help target language and location when we set up campaigns on Facebook and other platforms. It is an effective way to improve the conversion rate as it avoids targeting wrong users who have language barriers or low versions.
If you are a media buyer from an ad agency, make sure you are clear of offer information including target geos, budget, price per install from advertisers. Extract as much information as possible on the store page and craft your advertisements accordingly.
Step 2：Perform competitor analysis
Besides basic app information, we need to know the current market situation and product market ranking by using App Annie or Sensor Tower. Although some features are not for free, it would be enough for us to check app or competitors ranking on Top Apps and Top Charts.
Top-grossing is ranked according to the download and revenue. Top countries and regions usually mean apps have been advertised a lot.
TikTok, for example, ranks №1 in the social category among 146 countries, accounting for 3/4 of 233 countries in the world. Those data have shown TikTok has been advertising a lot and growing fast worldwide. A good media buyer should know whether apps are easy to promote and tailor advertising strategy by researching data ahead.
Suppose we need to advertise TikTok in the United States. Top Apps is a good place to find competitors. The products that rank nearby TikTok are good choices for advertisers to do some research since there are small differences between them.
Step 3：Spy Ad Creatives
Besides app basic information and competitor analysis, ad creatives are the key to advertising. We can spy ad creatives and descriptions of competitors on App Growing Global, a global mobile ad intelligence and analysis platform. For example, ad creatives of TikTok were promoting the video of earn a living and Christmas related videos these days.
TikTok has advertised globally so there are multilingual descriptions and most of them are brief. However, some ad creatives are without any descriptions since TikTok’s video ads are more appealing, and its a concise brand image.
App Growing Global can provide you with millions of mobile ads for reference, so you can list and sum up key information, creative angles from similar apps and create your own.
If you have no idea how to get started, check Top Apps and find your competitors. For example, when we need to promote TikTok in the United States, we found Tubi ranked №1 with 640 ads while TikTok ranked fifth with 492 ads. As such, we need to further dig out the ad strategy of Tubi.
The advertising trend of Tubi in Top Apps keeps strong in the last 90 days and there is a slight peak at the beginning and the end of a month.
Tubi promoted most ads on Admob and Youtube, followed by Instagram and Facebook. Most ads are videos. Ad creatives and descriptions of Tubi can be checked on Ad Creatives and Ad Descriptions .You can take it for reference and apply for TikTok ads.
What’s more, ranking trend, slightly different from App Annie, can be seen on the below page. App Annie shows the overall app information while App Growing Global displays advertising data such as an overview of regions and format etc.
App Growing Global keeps optimizing and upgrading the product. Recently, it released Top Pre-registration, Top Charts, App From China, and other features. These features provide you with various approaches to analyze market trends and learn about competitors.
Top Charts — — Combine advertising data with app store rankings
Top Pre-registration — — First-hand intelligence of pre-registration games
App From China — — Monitor ads of selected Chinese apps
Final thoughts
Media buyer is a data-driven job. Do enough research and perform competitor analysis before conducting your campaign. Don’t forget to use App Growing Global as an inspiration and go from there.
