Using Google Ads to Promote Your iOS & Android Apps (2024)

If you want to promote your product, you advertise it. The same goes for your app also.

To make money, you need more than just an excellent app. Your app must be recognizable by the target audience, and people need to be able to download and use it.

In this article, we will help you understand how app marketing with Google Ads can help you reach out to your target users’ iPhones or smartphones and encourage the customers to use them.

Power of Google Ads App Campaigns

If you have an iOS or Android app that you want to promote, could Google Ads app campaigns help?

Do they really have that much power when it comes to driving brand awareness and installs?

The answer is yes. Google Ads’ Universal App Campaigns (UACs) were launched in 2015, and since then, they have enabled us to take advantage of the growing app market in iOS and Android.

Additionally, Google Ads has many tools inside to help you optimize your campaigns.

The Basics of Google Ads App Campaigns

Google Ads app campaigns aim to drive both app installations and in-app conversions through automated campaign types.

As far as placement is concerned, app campaigns offer users the opportunity to be found across Google Search, Google Display, YouTube, and Google Play.

Once you submit your android or iOS app for the Google Ads app campaign, Google Ads automatically optimizes your app for the network. As time passes, Google Ads is able to determine which visual combinations are most effective for promoting your app and prioritizes those combinations for promotion.

Google Ads App Campaign Objectives

The objective for your app campaign will determine how Google Ads will handle bidding and audience targeting. In order to choose an objective for your app campaign, you have two options:

• Cost per install (CPI):  If you select this option, Google Ads will drive as many installations as possible within your budget constraints. Your bid should equal the amount you are willing to pay per install.
• Cost per action (CPA):  This option allows Google Ads to target people who are most likely to perform valuable (revenue-generating) in-app actions within the constraints of your budget to drive as many installs as possible. You’ll need to set up conversion tracking in Google Ads on your campaign objective so that you can collect data on users who perform in-app conversion actions. If you choose this campaign objective, you’ll need to determine how much you’re willing to pay for each conversion action.

How to Create a Google Ads App Campaign to Promote Your Apps?

For your first Google Ads app campaign, sign in to Google Ads.

You can select Campaigns from the left-hand menu on the left-hand side. Simply click the plus (+) button to add a new campaign, and then select the App option on the far right.

After selecting your app’s platform (Android or iOS), enter its name and choose it from Google Ads’ list.

Your app campaign’s name is now finalized, and it’s time to submit your ad copy. You will need four independent lines of text that can be configured in any order.

To accommodate smaller device screens, each of these lines should be 25 characters or shorter, and at least one should be 20 characters or shorter.

It’s now time to submit your visual assets. You can submit up to 20 visual assets. Keep in mind that Google Ads will test different combinations of your visual assets and copy to figure out what works best. You can submit three types of visual assets:

• Images (.jpg, .png, gif)
• YouTube videos
• HTML5

When you do not have any visual assets to upload, Google Ads will automatically select some visual assets from your app and use them to promote your app.

Once that’s done, specify what languages and geographical areas you’d like to target. Unlike physical businesses, mobile apps do not have a geographic limit.

The majority of your app’s users probably will come from all kinds of different cultures. So make sure to put some thought into your location constraints. You can now optimize your campaign for Install Volume or In-App Actions.

Finally, set your bid, click Save & Continue, and you are ready to go.

Conversion Tracking for App Campaigns

Google Ads needs to keep track of the conversion data of your current users who generate revenue to drive as many app installations from valuable prospects as possible.

Google Ads uses a rich database created by tracking the actions users take within your app according to your in-app action goals.

Tracking ROI and App Downloads

Using Google Ads app campaigns for your app is one of the best ways to promote it.

Digital Ads that run through Google’s promotion engine provide a way of tracking downloads of your app without integrating with any other tools.

It’s necessary to keep track of the number of downloads you have acquired from app promotion as the success of these ad campaigns is measured in terms of cost-per-install.

Increase Bid to Budget Ratios

Target CPA (tCPA) is a smart bidding strategy that allows you to maintain your set cost-per-acquisition while getting as many conversions as possible. Google Ads uses Google’s advanced machine to automatically optimize your bids. Furthermore, you can tailor your bids by using auction-time bidding.

Setting Up Bid to Budget Ratios

When running tCPA bidding campaigns, 10X is the minimum that you should aim for so that you can ramp up your campaigns quickly.

However, for these types of campaigns, 20X will show greater performance. It’s possible to cluster your budgets into one single campaign when you’re not able to increase the daily budget.

It’s always best to set your tCPA campaign bids between 20-30% higher than your ultimate goal.

Alternatively, if you are running a CPI (cost-per-install) campaign, you can set your budget caps at 50X the target to your CPI, which means bids are starting around $4-$5. This applies to CPI campaigns that have lower CPI goals.

Conclusion

With Google Ads, you can quickly reach a larger audience and get more installations and downloads of your app. App development agencies and developers should invest in Google Ads to promote their Apps better.

This is due to the wide range of reach Google Ads provides through its platforms and their search engine. However, it requires sustained investment to see the desired result.

If you need any help with your Google ads management, contact me and I’ ll be happy to help you:)