Hi guys,
I just wanted to share some tips in how to get into paid marketing with you guys. I know budgets are typically low, so that's why I'm going to focus on cheap ways to do things. I know it's unlikely that any of us here click on online Ads, but I've been doing PPC for different companies (tech and non-tech) for over three years; you'd be surprised at how many people do actually click on these ads.
The first, but most important thing, is that you are going to want to make sure that you are measuring how your campaigns are working with Google Analytics; PPC and Display Marketing doesn't work for every type of app.
I'm gonna do a very brief summary of Google AdWords, but there's a lot more information online that really, I'm just summarising and repeating. If you want more details on how the AdWords system works, I recommend just doing a couple of Google Searches. If you know how AdWords work, feel free to scroll down to the bolded "now".
Google AdWords is where advertisers pay for Ads to appear on keywords. Billing works on a per click basis. That is, you are only charged when someone clicks on your ad. You ad could be shown a thousand times, but as long as it doesn't have anyone clicking on it, you won't be charged.
There are at most, ten positions your ads can appear in on the Google Search pages. Ideally, you want to be in positions 1-3.
You can set a bid for every keyword you put in. The highest bid wins, with very one important exception. So, let's say that Acme is paying $2.50 for the keyword "App", Tyrell Corp $1.00 and IndieDevRUs $0.50. When we look at pure amount paid, Acme's ad would be pos 1, Tyrell pos 2 and IndieDevRUs pos 3.
BUT! There is something called quality score as well. Quality score is a measure of how good your landing page is, how much it is related to your KW, and how related your ads are to the keyword. Acme's Ad is actually linking to their home page, with no mention of their App anywhere. Tyrell Corp is a bit better, and have linked to their app landing page, but they don't actually mention the keyword 'app' in their AdText. IndieDevRUs, however, have an amazing landing page, and have ad text all about apps. What now happens is this: IndieDevsRUs is at position 1, Tyrell Corp is at Pos 2, and Acme is at pos 3. Even better; IndieDevRUs is still only paying $0.50 per click, whereas Acme, even though they are at position 3, are paying $2.50 for that position.
(Again, this was somewhat simplified, feel free to ask me questions or to look up more info online)
Now, how can app developers reduce their costs? Well, first, focus on making sure that your landing page and Ads are optimized for this quality score; include your keywords in both places (without being spammy! Think of it like SEO), test ads until you find wording with good click through rates, etc.
One trick to get cheaper Ads is to also look into location targeting. So, in AdWords, I can actually set down to an area code/postcode level my location. City, however, is normally fine. Even if you aren't an app that offer local features, by targeting cities, you can get cheaper costs per clicks.
Also, mobile targeting: It is possible to only target mobiles, thus avoiding clicks from people at computers all together. I've been shocked at how many companies wanting to just get mobile users haven't found this option (it's under campaign settings)
Another area to look at is time scheduling: You can tell your ads to only run between certain hours, or even certain days. I'd recommend running a campaign for at least a week, and then taking a look at the data. Find the hours that give you the best conversions, or cheapest costs per clicks, and set your account to only show Ads during that time.
Also, when you sign up on AdWords, take a look online for any cupons or vouchers; quite often, Google will offer to match a certain amount of your budget; e.g. pay $25, and actually have $50 budget. This is perfect for testing the waters (again, AdWords PPC doesn't work for all apps!)
You will also want to experiment with how to get the best out of the visitors who land on your page. I've seen that not every user will actually go to the play store on a browser to download an app, but will instead only do it on their phones. For one company, I discovered that if we had an email sign up on a landing page when someone is visiting on a desktop computer, we could get people to download and use the app through email marketing. BUT! This is something to test. Another company I tried the same strategy for, and not only did we get no email subs, but the conversion rates for downloading the apps went down.
And in fact, this is one of the biggest pieces of advise I can give for paid ads. Test. Test. Test. Everything you do. Test it.
Edit: Thought of a couple of additional things: Vouchers and Mobile Targeting
Related
Sometimes I'll look through and see whats new, and I came accross something rather viral in my opinion, as its virtually spammed out due to its simplicity, when I'm simply looking for new apps.
Luxus Designer Clock by St.Berlin
Seems to be a social experiment in pricing to see if people will notice the ridiculous upwards of €100! ($140 USD Currently). Google has a 24 hour refund system, but on the guy's website in his minimalistic FAQ section, I found this rather funny:
Problem: Payment authorized but then fails to download.
Answer: Please wait, google will contact you with seven days.
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While I realize this is the flipside of the lack of an approval system, poorly vialed attempts at fraud I would think would be something that should be investigated. It seems also to outline a problem in market browsing that should be easily fixable given Google is the king of search. Would be nice if I could simply omit apps that have 0 ratings, etc.
I'm sure somewhere, some poor sap is going to notice this way after the fact and it will be too late to get a refund.
I am willing to compile a standalone clock to anyone that provides the dial, hour and minute hand.
I too think that devs are ripping people off with the clocks thing.
Hi all,
As a new dev in the android ecosystem, I am looking for other devs feedback on the following.
I have an app with about a few thousands user base. Growing slightly, but also with a decreasing active ratio.
As my revenue is ads driven, I'd like to experiment a few tricks to encourage users to use the app more, without being too intrusive.
A few ideas:
- show a notification after a few days that the app hasn't been used, to encourage the user using it again.
- feature: user can share the app's install page with friends (stimulate organic growth), via a share intent.
-> Devs, any stories on trying something similar?
Any feedback appreciated.
I'm a new developer, old-time programmer. Put 2 apps out December 21, 2009 and I'm approaching a whopping 30 sales; be happy you have 1,000+ (or more)
Wish I could help with the question, but I'm not really sure how to expose apps to a wider audience. I've thought about porting to iPhone/iPad and Windows Mobile to expand my user base. But I'm still pretty new to Android development and want to get more into it before learning yet another programming language right now.
I've actually thought of going to local bars and trying to strike-up conversations with people using smartphones and showing them my apps. Maybe buy them a drink LOL.
I firmly believe that if you have a solid working app and one person uses it, they may tell 5 of their friends and maybe 2 of them will buy it and tell 5 more people of which 1 or 2 might but it. Pyramid type sales but it's slow moving.
What kind of bothers me is all the damn FREE apps out there; I think they should be segregated from the Google Market; I've yet to go to any type of Market and get something for free! LOL And I wonder about free apps sometimes. Take SMS pop-up or whatever it's called. It's a decent app...it's free. I saw it at "over 250,000 downloads". Well, why didn't they charge $1.00 or $0.50 for it (do the math, I'll take $125,000!!). Any possibility it's forwarding people's text messages? Just sayn'
adn37 said:
A few ideas:
- show a notification after a few days that the app hasn't been used, to encourage the user using it again.
- feature: user can share the app's install page with friends (stimulate organic growth), via a share intent.
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Your first option sounds REALLY annoying. Your second option sounds perfectly fine. See later on for further points on what might help.
Rootstonian said:
What kind of bothers me is all the damn FREE apps out there; I think they should be segregated from the Google Market; I've yet to go to any type of Market and get something for free! LOL And I wonder about free apps sometimes. Take SMS pop-up or whatever it's called. It's a decent app...it's free. I saw it at "over 250,000 downloads". Well, why didn't they charge $1.00 or $0.50 for it (do the math, I'll take $125,000!!). Any possibility it's forwarding people's text messages? Just sayn'
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Not everyone is in it for the money. Some people just maybe write something that is missing on the market but don't want to make money from it. It might be just their hobby. Not everyone needs to be capitalistic, trying to turn everything into revenue.
The Android market is a lot about freedom, and there is high competition between free and paid apps. If your sole intent is to make money on apps, you will probably better off trying to target iOS. The most recent news I have is that an average iOS user will spend 7 times as much money on apps than an Android user. I think this fact kind of speaks for itself.
However if you still want to stick by, here are a couple of things I would suggest:
Offer a (free) lite version of your application as this will give users the ability to see whether your app means business or not, and if they'll like it they might go further to go for the paid version.
Android market uses keyword searching (there's probably a better term), so make sure your description hits as many possible words that may be applicable to your product while not being too heavy to read.
Advertising... don't ask me where as I wouldn't be able to help much with that. But if you're in it to make money, you probably have a business model so you should have some capital too that you can put into advertising.
That's about all I guess.
@Rootstonian
I have apps on the market, and in the last 3 months have made over $1k off ads in my free version, while only making about $250 off of the full paid version.
Very good responses there This forum does have some very intelligent people on it!
I'm anti-adware unfortunately. If that hurts my sales, then so be it; I can live with that. I won't allow ads in my apps.
As far as free versions, I would have to write "crippled" versions of the programs to limit full functionality. Well, not going to do that either. And to be honest, who can't afford $1.00?
Actually, the 15 minute return policy has hurt me I think. Some apps just can't be reviewed in 15 minutes, to wit, my current (almost done) Spam Text Blocker. There is no way someone can evaluate that in 15 minutes, so I have to code some type of limit on how many rows can go into the spam database.
Anyways, I'm way off topic (as usual) and being negative which is usually something I don't do. And I must remember, my stuff has only been out ONE month.
I do use a Macbook Pro, and I have downloaded the iPhone SDK; maybe I should take a break from Android OS and port a couple of apps to iOS and see what they do.
P.S. A smart man doesn't limit his options. How does the apps with ads stuff work?
Just apply to admob, its easy. They give nicely detailed usage statistics too
hi all,
Thanks for the feedback.
On "tell a friend about this app" feature:
Your second option sounds perfectly fine. See later on for further points on what might help.
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I'll just stick with that, then. Any idea what's best to link to? A blog? Android market?
I'm still looking for an app that does it in a nice way, as a case study.
I'm a new developer, old-time programmer. Put 2 apps out December 21, 2009 and I'm approaching a whopping 30 sales; be happy you have 1,000+ (or more)
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I feel you. Unfortunately, this is all about execution and idea potential. As coders, we are often thinking about code quality, this is only the 1st step.
On ads: at the end of the day, it might be a hobby to design apps, but fun decreases when it comes down to fixing bugs for the sake of it. Ihmo, a slight revenue is good, as it encourages devs to keep up enhancing their apps.
I'm anti-adware unfortunately. ... And to be honest, who can't afford $1.00?
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I'm not a big fan of ads neither. It's all about culture. On Android, people are reticent to pay.
Good points and well said Adn
I actually got into this starting with Google Market apps, but my true goal is to get into corporate mobile development. I feel this is a technology barely in it's infancy. Just as almost all business' needed a web page, I think the same will hold true for a mobile app.
I just put in my resume to a company looking for an iPhone developer (1 year contract), but they also wanted to talk to Android developers too (wish me luck LOL).
Now, I'm on the fence as to what platform to go with. I think with the iPhone AND iPad, that iOS is the way to go with regards to corporate coding; so I'm going to head in that direction for now.
Hellos!
I am currently developing my first game, in which I am planning to include ads via AdMob.
From what I've read, it seems like AdMob/Google are quite strict on "clicking your own ads" and they simply just disable your account. Therefore, as recommended, I've added my device as a 'test' device.
My question is, if I give my app to one or two friends for some beta testing, and they click on the ads, will that be counted as "false impressions"?
Not sure if AdMob checks the clicks based on device/account association, or if it is based on the number of different sources of clicks. If it is the former, then should be ok. However, if it is the latter, then having only one or two friends with the beta apk might be problematic?
Anyone know how it works?
Thanks in advance!
pyko
pyko, don't worry it isn't as strict as they're telling. We're always clicking on our test ads to ensure the integration works as expected. And we don't setup our devices as test devices. BTW, if you want to maximize your monetization with ads I recommend checking out AdFlake. It enables you to integrate lots of ad networks in a single app. And you can even change the allocation after you've deployed your app. Plus, we've got house ads (great for cross promotion) , custom events, analytics and more.
Hi dutty,
Thanks for the reply
Yep, I've got test ads set up and feel safe clicking on them. What I'm concerned about is non-test ads... will a small number of people (ie. my beta testers) clicking on them raise a red flag?
edit: delete dup... xda playing up a bit for me
Hi, I know this is going to sound like a spammy ad, especially since it is my first post, but I just want to advise you to check out different ad formats than banners. They are considered kinda dead now. People have learned to ignore them (i know i have). The CTR on banners is very low, there are new formats like app lists, interstitials, and panel ads that boast a much higher CTR - 5-12% they claim.
We are starting a game development and so far I pretty much sure we are going to use this platform:
www.appflood.com?site=21155
Yeah, I'm not expecting to get a massive income via ads... it's more so just to see how much it will get
Much prefer to keep the app "clean" than to add full-screen ads, which in my opinion is very intrusive and annoying.
You will be fine with that, don't worry. However, from the cases of people who lost their 500$ and didn't receive a single piece of explanation from Google, I wonder: "should I always depend on Admob?".
So I decide to combine several Ad networks. It works. And I realize something about Admob:
Pros: It is reliable and has huge users database. Admob is backed by Google - a prestigious corporation who tracks every steps of anyone who use its service.
Cons:
- Its eCPM is low (I don't know exactly why but everytime I try another Ad network, they outperform Admob in terms of eCPM. I guess that Admob know it has advantages over competitors when it comes to reputation and users database, so It charge advertisers and publishers more)
- Its ban users more frequently. (Some of my friends' accounts got banned because Google thinks they was cheating, while infact he didn't. It was very difficult for him to reach Google support to recover his accounts).
after combining Admob and with Airpush, Leadbolt, StartApp, ChartBoost, I end up with Adsota - a lesser known ad network. Adsota is an has much higher eCPM, 100% fill-rate, variousa ads format, and swift payment. You can find it by googling "ads.appota".
Best of luck, mate!
I've just published my game to Google Play Store and was thinking of purchasing some advertising or pay per install ads. Anyone has any experience using Facebook ads, Admob, appbrain or other ad networks? What would you recommend. I do not have a large budget, for a start I am planning to spend around USD100.
Digitally said:
I've just published my game to Google Play Store and was thinking of purchasing some advertising or pay per install ads. Anyone has any experience using Facebook ads, Admob, appbrain or other ad networks? What would you recommend. I do not have a large budget, for a start I am planning to spend around USD100.
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No experience with ads yet. I was recommended Facebook Lookalike Audience but we'll continue on our own up until 10k users. My fear would be to get a mass of users and disappoint them. Growing 100 at a time provides a good feedback loop to improve the app. Might use the Lookalike Audience then! Good luck!
Digitally said:
I've just published my game to Google Play Store and was thinking of purchasing some advertising or pay per install ads. Anyone has any experience using Facebook ads, Admob, appbrain or other ad networks? What would you recommend. I do not have a large budget, for a start I am planning to spend around USD100.
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I am also interested in this topic. I have a free app with a paid (no ads) counterpart. I was considering using any of the services that charge per install (CPI) on the paid app. If the cost per install is lower than 70% of the price of your app, then that investment would be risk-free.
Has anyone tried something like that? Would you recommend any service in particular? (Ideally, the ones that do not require SDKs to be added to the app, I don't want to add crapware to my app).
Digitally said:
I've just published my game to Google Play Store and was thinking of purchasing some advertising or pay per install ads. Anyone has any experience using Facebook ads, Admob, appbrain or other ad networks? What would you recommend. I do not have a large budget, for a start I am planning to spend around USD100.
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The budget normally starts from $10000. I don't think $100 generates significant data and downloads to help you make further decisions considering that average CPI is about $1.
Reply From A Guy That Knows The Data
Digitally said:
I've just published my game to Google Play Store and was thinking of purchasing some advertising or pay per install ads. Anyone has any experience using Facebook ads, Admob, appbrain or other ad networks? What would you recommend. I do not have a large budget, for a start I am planning to spend around USD100.
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Click to collapse
Great question! While I cannot, and will not give you numbers or estimates in any shape or form, I can give you broad and general advice.
First off, I'll explain my background in a bit more detail. I worked in advertising sales for years at the top companies, and then moved into the mobile app space (I am also a secret coder by night.) I then spent two years working in the mobile app data space - providing performance data in the form of estimates for downloads/revenue. Our job was to sell our vast data sets (on every mobile app and publisher - ranked and un-ranked) which were centered around accurate estimates for downloads/revenue for any given app in every category/subcat, and country for iOS and GP. We worked with mid-market and top publishers to help them forecast how many installs they would need to purchase to reach top rank, how many organic installs they would receive at that rank, and how many installs they would have to purchase on an ongoing basis to maintain that rank.
Based on my experiences, truth be told, most publishers that are actual companies (not small indie or single shop guys)....they are buying downloads. This is not to say that strong marketing campaigns don't come with this (PR, promotions, social media, viral, cross-promotional ads to existing user base, etc.), but in some way or another, most of them will be buying ads. Here is the caveat - it is not a simple process, at all. They have analysts that know exactly how much money they make off of one download....for instance...they know that for every download on xyz game, they make $2.30, and their CPI is $1.95, thus, their actual net rev is $.35 per install. However, this is all also centered around growth potential as well...so in many cases, they need to hit the top ranks for organic growth to generate higher profit margins, so they need accurate forecasting of exactly/roughly how many installs it's going to take to get there...and if they come up short, they don't make top charts and they either have to spend more money to climb up...or they're out of budget and they've lost $$$. Basically, if you want to buy ads...you need to set realistic goals, and understand what the value of your user is...from a financial standpoint. You must know your numbers cold before even considering putting a budget towards ads.
That being said, there are a ton of ways to buy ads out there, as I'm sure you and everyone knows. However, if you do get around to doing some solid analysis on what your users are worth, and want to run some testing with a low budget...nothing to break the bank...I would A) Go with a reputable company, even if the CPI/CPA is higher than you'd like....because you want to avoid fraudulent DL's....many ad networks will turn a blind eye to this for obvious financial reasons, and B) Try Facebook....honestly, I've spoken to many smaller developers that find a fair CPI/CPA, with pretty good ROI and retention.
Hope this helps - KNOW YOUR NUMBERS AND ALWAYS LOOK TO THE DATA
~Geo_Mojito
Some interesting data we are gathering at Thalamus.co, where we have the average CPI rates & Install Volumes of each network broken out by genre/platform/country. There are also contacts and minimum spends so should give you a good sense of what's out there.
A $100 budget is not too large, so it'd be hard to give you a definitive answer as to which network has basically no minimums (unless you want to work with a mobile self-serve DSP like PocketMath). Facebook would be a good place to start, although prices are at a premium due to high demand. I'd suggest really going all in on free methods like PR, reaching out to Bloggers, ASO, Social Fan Pages, Organic/Viral Installs, and Partnerships first.
My experience:
1) Social Networks advertising. I promoted it personally, it was tooooo long and without big results.
2) Youtube videos. Not bad, but you have to attract users to watch your videos and invite their friends to install your app.
3) Buying the marketing services in agencies. I have experience with several agencies, but App-Reviews has the best, I think.
4) Use different tools for advertising. I used AdMob, it had some success...
Digitally said:
I've just published my game to Google Play Store and was thinking of purchasing some advertising or pay per install ads. Anyone has any experience using Facebook ads, Admob, appbrain or other ad networks? What would you recommend. I do not have a large budget, for a start I am planning to spend around USD100.
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After advertising services you can try some low budget app promotion services too. My personal choice is AppRankPRO . why is because it gives the proof of each and every install of the genuine real user and free keyword analysis services too. I think you can have a look at AppRankPRO
Let's say if you a small budget, $100 to be exact to promote your new android game. How would you use the budget?
It really depends on the app you have, and what you want to achieve with this.
- you could directly contact people with Instagram or Facebook accounts or Youtube channels related to your niche and ask to write about your app to their audience
- If you want some initial push and user base you could try non-incentivised CPI campaign from AppBrain - you could probably get ~300 - 400 users from tier 1 and tier 2 countries
- you could check out fiverr gigs, but you might not get any downloads this way (or you can get a lot of them probably, if you find the right deal)
- you could contact app review sites and ask for reviews, as most of them will ask for money
Buy a media contact database for one month, and then pitch as many journalists as possible to cover your app.
That's really not too much to do any paid means. If you were to do paid methods, I would probably do a burst of incent, to climb the charts and hopefully get some additional organic installs. Otherwise, with a budget that low, I'd focus on PR, Bloggers, Social Fan Pages, ASO, Organic Sharing/Inviting, etc..