App promotion with AdWords: How to drive downloads

As part of our client success service, we partnered with Google to hold a series of webinars about app promotion. In these webinars, an expert from Google provides recommendations around how retailers can promote their apps.

According to research quoted by Google, 86% of time spent on mobile devices, is spent on apps. But only 34% of users download an app because they saw it on an app store homepage. So what techniques can retailers use to make sure that their app is seen and downloaded by the right consumer demographic? Our first webinar focused on answering this question. Here we’ve summarised some of the main tips for using Google AdWords to drive app downloads. For a more detailed breakdown, you can download our Guide to App Install Campaigns.

Using the Search Network

Search network campaigns allow you to promote your app in mobile search. It helps you to reach customers who are looking for apps similar to yours. Google AdWords features a tool that shows mobile keyword trends. Before deciding which keywords to use, check how popular they are by using this tool. It will also help you find out which related keywords are trending.

Insider tip from the Poq team: We recommend this campaign type. It is great because it targets customers who are already looking for apps, so therefore keen to download a new app. 

Using the In-App Display Network

Here you can advertise your app within other apps. You can use this to reach customers who are using apps that are similar to yours. This network encompasses 650 thousand apps, and an estimated 900 million unique users. You can run an image banner or a text banner. It was recommended to include the app rating, screen shots of the app, and a short but punchy description of the app.

Insider tip from the Poq team: This method is popular for gaming apps. It might be considered quite intrusive by your target demographic, especially if you are a premium or luxury retailer. If you decide to run these types of campaigns, make sure to target your ads stringently to your customer demographic.

Using YouTube

This is pretty cool, especially if you know the specific interests of your customers, or are targeting a certain customer demographic. After the video ad is played, a banner will stay at the bottom of the video, prompting the user to download. According to Google, this is a great way of driving app awareness amongst certain target demographics, especially because YouTube is the search network that is used the most, after Google.

Google recommend running multiple different campaigns and ads at the same time, so that the success of each can be compared. The campaigns that are performing better can then be improved, and the ones that are proving less successful can be discontinued or retargeted.