There are numerous strategies for promoting and acquiring users for your mobile app in today’s digital world. However, ASO (App Store Optimization) and paid acquisition are two of the most common and effective methods. Both of these strategies have distinct advantages and disadvantages, and selecting the best one for your app is dependent on a number of factors. In this blog post, we’ll look at ASO and paid acquisition in greater detail to help you decide which strategy is best for your app.
ASO (App Store Optimization)
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ASO is the process of improving your app’s visibility and ranking in search results by optimizing its listing on app stores (Google Play Store or Apple App Store). The goal of ASO is to increase the number of organic app downloads.
Pros:
- Free: ASO, as opposed to paid acquisition, is a free method of acquiring users.
- Long-term benefits: Because optimized listings continue to attract users over time, ASO can have long-term benefits for your app.
- Increased visibility: You can improve your app’s visibility in app store search results by optimizing its listing.
Cons:
- Time-consuming: Because ASO requires ongoing monitoring and optimization, it can be a time-consuming process.
- Limited reach: ASO’s reach is limited to app store search results, which may not be sufficient to attract a large number of users.
- Slow results: Because app store algorithms take time to recognize and rank optimizations, it may take some time for ASO efforts to produce noticeable results.
Paid Acquisition
Paid acquisition entails paying to promote your app via various channels such as social media ads, search engine ads, and influencer marketing. Paid acquisition’s goal is to drive targeted traffic to your app and convert it into users.
Pros:
- Targeted audience: Paid acquisition allows you to reach your ideal audience by targeting specific demographics, interests, and behaviors.
- Fast results: Unlike ASO, paid acquisition can produce results quickly, with traffic and downloads appearing almost immediately.
- Scalable: Depending on your budget and needs, paid acquisition can be easily scaled up or down.
Cons:
- Costly: Paid acquisition can be expensive, especially if you’re targeting a highly competitive audience or niche.
- Short-term benefits: Paid acquisition only provides short-term benefits, as once you stop paying for ads, the traffic and downloads will likely decrease.
- High competition: Paid acquisition can be highly competitive, with many apps vying for the same audience’s attention.
Performing Paid Acquisition
Paid acquisition is formed by selecting a user acquisition of a UA channel, paying promotion fees, and getting traffic to your app store page.
There are multiple UA channels, and each can have various specific approaches to forming a paid acquisition. There are a few popular UA channels which include the following,
- Ad Networks.
- Apple Search Ads.
- Social Media Platforms.
- Google Ads
Process of Combining the ASO and Paid Acquisition
It has already been accepted that ASO and Paid Acquisition will do extraordinary for your app growth. This is because ASO and paid acquisition work jointly. Merging the fundamentals of ASO and paid investment will undoubtedly lead to higher app visibility, conversion, and revenue. Here we explain a few basic steps to combine paid acquisition and ASO.
Step 1: Execute ASO
ASO is crucial for your marketing strategies, so execute it before starting a paid acquisition campaign. Conduct keyword research and use them in the app name, title, and description. Create an eye-catching app icon, screenshots, and videos to attract users. Develop a compelling and detailed description that highlights the app’s benefits. Analyze your competition and periodically evaluate your app to identify areas for improvement. Some channels, such as Apple Search Ads, use your app store metadata for their ads.
Step 2: Perform Paid Acquisition
The paid acquisition allows you to define your target audience and reach the right people at the right time. Different UA channels, such as Google Ads, Apple Search Ads, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and Tapjoy, offer various benefits for promoting your app. Each channel has its own advertising network and ad format. Using Instagram provides workable insights and exact targeting of possible users, while Twitter’s ads are purpose-based, and Tapjoy offers customization for mobile app ads. The key is to select the right UA channel and ad format that suits your app’s needs.
Step 3: Combining ASO and Paid Acquisition
You can run ASO and Paid Acquisition concurrently and analyze data to determine the best strategy for your app. Combining ASO and paid acquisition can assist you in determining the source of your traffic and determining which keywords to target. ASO can also assist you in determining the best marketing strategy to use in the paid acquisition, and vice versa. Analyzing the outcomes of both strategies can assist you in making data-driven decisions to improve the performance of your app.
Motives to Combine ASO and Paid Acquisition
Combining ASO and Paid Acquisition will get you success as quickly as possible. It is fantastic that ASO benefits from Paid Acquisition and that Paid Acquisition benefits from ASO. In other words, you can compensate for ASO limitations with paid acquisition and vice versa. We’re attempting to explain why we’re combining ASO and paid acquisition here.
- ASO focuses on app stores. A paid acquisition can also be used to reach users from other UA platforms.
- ASO will help you contact users organically, whereas paid acquisition reaches users through paid advertisements. Organic and paid acquisition both play important roles in the growth of your app.
- ASO serves as the foundation for your marketing strategies. The paid acquisition contributes to the success of your marketing efforts. ASO can only do so much, whereas paid acquisition can help your app rank higher. Using paid acquisition, you can receive more conversions, which app stores use to rank your app higher.
- Using both ASO and paid acquisition will provide you with ongoing traffic and user engagement.
Conclusion
ASO and paid acquisition are both effective methods for acquiring users for your app. While ASO is free and provides long-term benefits, it requires ongoing optimization and may not be enough to attract a large number of users. Paid acquisition, on the other hand, can produce fast results but can be costly and only provide short-term benefits. Ultimately, the right strategy for your app depends on your budget, goals, and competition. By considering these factors, you can determine which strategy is right for your app and make informed decisions about your user acquisition effort.
Our experts at Aoneapps will undoubtedly devise strategies that will put you on the path to success in a matter of a few short steps. Aoneapps is a leading user acquisition agency with the knowledge, technology, and expertise to help you achieve your goals.
