Acquisition & Engagement

Hitching A Ride With Paid Installs

Becky Doles

Remember the story about the tortoise and the hare? The hare speeds off, gaining a quick lead, but eventually peters out while the tortoise finishes and wins the race. In the world of app marketing, ASO could be thought of as the tortoise: it might take more time, but it gets you to your goal faster while paid installs are unsustainable and will fizzle out. A smart marketer places their bets on long term success.

Now imagine that the tortoise was cunning enough to hitch a ride on the hare’s back until it got tired, and then finish the race from there. That’d be the best of both worlds, right? Well that’s exactly what happens when you strategically implement a paid strategy into your larger, more sustainable ASO strategy.

A Beneficial Friendship

One of the major differences between web and app marketing is the harmonious relationship between paid and organic marketing channels. On the web, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns do not help your organic visibility. However, in the app world, pay-per-install (PPI) campaigns can boost your organic search ranking and improve your ASO.

Hitching a Ride

Although the exact algorithm is not released by Apple or Google, we know that total downloads, download velocity, and ratings are important factors that influence your rank. Paid installs can increase both your total downloads and your download velocity. This means that not only will your app be visible through your paid channels, but it’s ranking will also increase in the Top Charts and for the keywords you have chosen.

This is where ASO comes into play. The paid installs have improved your rankings, but you need your organic measures in place to take full advantage of the increased ranking. Are your screenshots optimized? Is your description the best it can be? Are you sure you are targeting the best keywords? Your ASO tactics will lead to more downloads, again increasing your download velocity.

The Virtuous Cycle

The initial boost from paid installs increases your downloads and download velocity which improves your ranking, then your ASO measures then go into effect, further increasing your downloads and download velocity, which again increases your ranking. It creates a virtuous cycle which, like the tortoise, is sustainable. Would you eventually get to your goal without a paid strategy? Yes. But if you can pay a few bucks to catch a ride with the hare, why not speed up the process a bit?

Author
Becky Doles

Becky is the Senior Content Marketing Manager at TUNE. Before TUNE, she led a variety of marketing and communications projects at San Francisco startups. Becky received her bachelor's degree in English from Wake Forest University. After living nearly a decade in San Francisco and Seattle, she has returned to her home of Charleston, SC, where you can find her enjoying the sun and salt water with her family.

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