Apple commercials: best marketing strategies to promote in App Store
Learn from Apple's advertising playbook to boost your app's growth in the App Store.
From iconic Apple commercials to modern advertising mastery: lessons for your app growth
From the groundbreaking Apple commercials of 1984 Super Bowl ad and "Crush" iPad to the iconic "Think Different" campaign, and now to the cutting-edge AI-powered iPhone 15, Apple has always been in a league of its own when it comes to marketing and has set the bar for innovative advertising.
As Apple's influence has grown, so has its user base, with active, highly engaged, profitable, and loyal iPhone users now surpassing 1.5 billion worldwide. Recognizing the potential of this vast ecosystem, Apple launched its own advertising platform, Apple Search Ads, offering mobile businesses a powerful tool to promote their products directly to this engaged audience.
At Asapty, we've closely studied Apple's marketing strategies while working extensively with Apple Search Ads. We've picked up some killer insights from Apple's playbook and tweaked them just for app advertising to give you some ideas on how to boost your app growth with Apple Search Ads.
What can be learned from Apple’s approach to advertise
Apple sticks to some key ideas that really work. We've picked out 6 of these ideas that you can use to boost your own mobile ads:
- Commitment to innovation and quality
- Clarity in advertising
- Understanding the target audience
- Tailoring messages to consumer needs
- Strategic product placement
Commitment to innovation and quality
Apple's marketing success stems from its ability to make innovation relevant to everyday life. Rather than focusing solely on technical specs, Apple showcases how its products seamlessly integrate into and enhance users' daily experiences. This approach, which we might call "Relevant Innovation," ensures that each new feature or product is presented not just as a technological advancement, but as a meaningful solution to real-world needs and desires.
Recommendations for Apple Search Ads strategy to stay committed to innovation and quality
If your app is relevant to the user’s search inquiry, the chances for being installed increase. Ad relevance in Apple Search Campaigns isn't just about connecting a big audience; it's about connecting with the most suitable potential users of your app. The relevance of your app does not only ensure you some installs but also determines the price of the bid and your acquisition costs.
To be successful with Apple Search Ads advertising you need to understand the mechanics behind the auction as it’s different in Apple Search Ads compared to many ad networks. Apple Search Ads algorithm is designed to show the users the most relevant content and thus keep the high relevancy of ad auction in general. If your app relevancy is low, you won’t get much of the ad impressions. The cost of impressions will also get higher.
But how to understand which search inquires would be most relevant and allow you to match the maximum number of users?
Pro tip from Asapty
Even a 10% increase in your app's relevancy can potentially scale your account by 4-6 times. To evaluate and track your relevance, use the Installs Per Mille (IPM) metric, which measures how often your app is installed after users view your ad.
Calculate IPM manually using the formula: IPM = 1000 * (installs / impressions). If you use Asapty for Apple Search Ads optimization, you can access this data automatically calculated across all account levels: campaign, ad group, keyword, and search term.
To boost your IPM, implement ad variations using custom product pages. At Asapty, we've seen impressive results with this strategy. For instance, our client Goat Chat AI app experienced a remarkable increase in average IPM, jumping from 70 to 120 in just four days after introducing custom product pages. This change not only improved their tap-through rate (TTR) and conversion rate but also amplified their overall traffic volume by 5X while reducing acquisition costs by 20%.
Clarity in Advertising
The latest Apple advertisement showcasing the new iPhone 16 features accompanied by Apple Intelligence, enhanced photo capabilities, “oops” damage protection and other updates, makes clear about the update and the benefits of the new device.
This is the first lesson to learn from Apple product advertisements - be clear and consistent about your product value. You should be able to put the value of your app in one or a couple of words that would fit in the search window. The question is - to find these keywords.
Apple's latest advertisement for the iPhone 16 is a masterclass in effective product marketing. The commercial seamlessly showcases the device's cutting-edge features, including enhanced AI capabilities (which Apple calls "Apple Intelligence"), advanced photographic functions, improved durability with "Oops" protection, and various other updates. The visual image is accompanied with very short notes on the screen pinpointing each feature. This is a lesson lesson we can learn from Apple's product advertisements: be clear and consistent about your product's value. In the realm of app marketing, particularly for Apple Search Ads, this principle is equally vital. You should be able to distill your app's core value into one or a few words that can fit comfortably in a search window. This concise value proposition becomes the foundation of your keyword strategy.
Discuss your account growth goals and KPIs with our expert team
Recommendations for Apple Search Ads strategy on improving clarity in advertising
Do comprehensive keyword research and use analytics to go for the right ones. At this stage, ensure you have gathered all possible keywords that could be relevant for your app, including all its features and capabilities.
Start with your app's core features. List out all the main functionalities and benefits of your app. Consider both primary and secondary features that users might search for and put them together as a list of keywords. Explore related searches. Use Apple's search suggestions and related search terms to expand your keyword list. These can often reveal valuable long-tail keywords. Add the keywords your direct competitors are targeting.
Once you've compiled a comprehensive list, it's time to refine your selection using analytics. Prioritize keywords with sufficient search volume to drive traffic. Then, ensure each keyword aligns closely with your app's functionality and user intent. Analyze competition, look for a balance between popular terms and those with less competition for better ad placement opportunities.
Pro tip from Asapty
Go further launching Discovery campaigns to find some extra keywords missed on the previous stage including typos, slang, secondary languages, etc. If you are an Asapty user, you can do all that with the help of Asapty’s Keyword Suggester, which will basically do all that job for you and providing detailed analytics as well as the translation enclosed.
After you gathered the initial search term list, go down to analytics. We recommend taking these metrics into consideration:
- Organic Search shows you the top-5 apps getting the most organic impressions for a certain search term or keyword. If you see your competitors among these 5 apps, you’d probably consider this keyword to be relevant for your app as well.
- Organic Position will show you which positions you get while searched organically by certain keyword.
- Share of voice will tell the distribution of the market with your top 5 competitors by number of ad impressions received. If the competition is too tough, you should probably take this keyword out of your ad campaign
Understanding target audience
Apple product ads articulate pretty clearly to the audience they are targeting. Among the Apple best ads are those targeting some certain local audience, like Apple debuts 'Daughter', a 'Shot on iPhone' short film celebrating Chinese New Year in 2011. When you know exactly who you're talking to, you're already halfway to nailing your promotion.
Recommendations for Apple Search Ads strategy to understand the target audience
Instead of competing in highly competitive and expensive markets like the US, consider targeting niche markets and smaller countries. If your app isn’t location-dependent, you can expand its reach from Costa Rica to China with ease.
Conduct thorough keyword research for each target country. Even in seemingly similar markets with shared language and cultural contexts, such as El Salvador and Guatemala, local variations like slang can lead to different keyword trends.
Pro tip from Asapty
Estimate the cost range for your app category. The Apple Search Ads auction considers the average profitability across the app category. If you have substantial historical data, you can roughly estimate the potential cost range for your Apple Search Ads campaigns. In the absence of such data, you can utilize analytical services to estimate costs by analyzing your competitors' profitability.
In addition to average category costs, we believe Apple's auction also takes into account the profitability of individual keywords. At Asapty, through our daily work with Apple Search Ads optimization, we've observed that keywords containing "free" often cost less. We've also noticed that within a category, the cost per install can vary by as much as 30-50% between different keywords. This variation probably occurs because Apple's pricing algorithm is designed to balance prices for high-value keywords.
Tailoring message to consumer needs
Apple has a vast audience. One of Apple’s primary target audience segments comprises tech enthusiasts and early adopters. In a number of Apple ad campaigns, we could see how the technical top-notch innovative features were brought to the upfront.
Apple's "Think Different" campaign, launched in 1997, was a game-changer. It showed off products with the big thinkers like Einstein and Gandhi. But this campaign wasn't just about famous faces. It was Apple's way of saying, "We're the go-to company for innovation”. This clever move not only revived the brand but also firmly planted Apple at the forefront of the tech world and drove the attention of those who keep an eye on innovations and technology.
Just like Apple, your mobile app can have a variable audience. You can significantly improve your conversions by tailoring your ad and product offer showing your best selected features to each audience segment in particular.
Recommendations for Apple Search Ads strategy on tailoring your message to consumer needs
Design some really good creatives and talk to different audiences using custom product pages. You can run multiple ad variations showing different combinations of app features and trying different search terms to find the best match: audience - product offer - keyword.
Pro tip from Asapty
In Asapty, you can initiate and manage the process of new keyword testing along with custom product pages simultaneously. In Asapty’s Keyword Suggester, run the process of keyword research. Once all relevant keyword are collected, you can configure your future campaigns and connect your custom product pages. After launch, you will see the performance of each campaign and then choose the most successful combination.
Strategic product placement
Across the course of years, Apple tried different product placement strategies moving successfully from Movies to TV Shows/Web Series. A TV show or a web series has an ensemble cast, two or three leading characters own Apple products in the show.
Applying this principle to your App Store advertising, instead of investing all your budget in Search Results exclusively, you can also try running ads across other placements. As of today, App Store provides four different placements:
- Search results
- Today tab
- Search tab
- Product pages
Recommendations for Apple Search Ads on strategic product placement
Try expanding your activity across Today and Search Tab. With the Today Tab, developers can showcase their apps right next to the daily editorial content curated by the App Store team. Today Tab ads leverage users’ search and download histories, making them an ideal choice for engaging both new and returning users. This is a good place to run brand, discovery, and retargeting campaigns, ensuring your app stands out.
The Search Tab ads appear right in front of user even before he starts searching which gives an opportunity to get extra impressions and retarget the users who already saw your ad in Search Ads results. Search Tab ads target users who frequently search for apps in your category. These users may have already downloaded similar apps and are seeking enhanced experiences. By positioning your app in front of this high-intent audience, you can potentially increase your conversions by nearly 20%.
In addition to these placements, your app can also get into “You might also like” section at the bottom of the individual app product pages. With the "You Might Also Like" section, developers are now able to promote their apps at the bottom of other apps' pages.
Bottom line
Apple’s marketing tricks are gold for app developers aiming to shine in Apple Search Ads. By nailing relevance, clarity, and knowing your audience, you can seriously boost your app’s visibility and performance in the App Store. Use tools like custom product pages, deep keyword research, and smart placements across App Store tabs to connect with the right users and get the most bang for your buck.
Remember, winning at Apple Search Ads isn’t just about outbidding others; it’s about crafting a compelling, relevant offer that clicks with your audience. By embracing Apple’s innovation, quality, and clear communication in your app marketing, you can make your app more relevant, improve your Installs Per Mille (IPM), and potentially grow your account by 4-6 times with just a 10% bump in relevancy. The secret to success in the App Store? Keep an eye on the latest apple ads and keep tweaking your strategy based on performance data and stay tuned to what your users need.