Nadir Garouche (Senior Growth Manager at Tilting Point - F2P games) shares insights, considerations and techniques to increase organic installs on the Google Play Store and the App Store. Also shares an interesting case study on cannibalization.
When you have a game in soft launch create Apple Search Ads campaigns and use these keywords when you go live globally.
Prioritize the visual assets that are part of the first impression (icon, app trailer - and/or screenshots, first screenshot) because only 7-10% of App Store Browse/Search users actually visit the Product Page
Having a landscape video is now a must, even if your game plays in portrait mode because Apple also uses a landscape "featured widget" to display videos when people are browsing the store.
Frequently test your feature graphic to optimize it (can lead to +15-20% uplift). Talk to your UA team to see what's working on your channels and use that for your feature graphic.
It's recommended to have landscape screenshots on the Play Store, and at least 3 of them because the Play Store recommendation widgets either show video or screenshot(s). If you have 3 landscape screenshots then the widget shows a "screenshot rotation" therefore giving more exposure.
The pre-registration from Google Play is quite easy to implement and can deliver a tremendous amount of installs at launch.
For the same game:
- Pausing entirely UA (ASA: 50% / Facebook: 20% / Video Networks: 30%) on iOS for this case study led to a 5% decrease in organics and showed no sign of cannibalization.
- entirely UA (Google UAC: 90%, Facebook: 10%) on the Google Play Store led to an increase in organic installs of +42% which indicates cannibalization.
Cannibalization or not, if you don't buy the search spots on the stores, someone else will.
When you have a game in soft launch create Apple Search Ads campaigns and use these keywords when you go live globally.
Prioritize the visual assets that are part of the first impression (icon, app trailer - and/or screenshots, first screenshot) because only 7-10% of App Store Browse/Search users actually visit the Product Page
Having a landscape video is now a must, even if your game plays in portrait mode because Apple also uses a landscape "featured widget" to display videos when people are browsing the store.
Frequently test your feature graphic to optimize it (can lead to +15-20% uplift). Talk to your UA team to see what's working on your channels and use that for your feature graphic.
It's recommended to have landscape screenshots on the Play Store, and at least 3 of them because the Play Store recommendation widgets either show video or screenshot(s). If you have 3 landscape screenshots then the widget shows a "screenshot rotation" therefore giving more exposure.
The pre-registration from Google Play is quite easy to implement and can deliver a tremendous amount of installs at launch.
For the same game:
- Pausing entirely UA (ASA: 50% / Facebook: 20% / Video Networks: 30%) on iOS for this case study led to a 5% decrease in organics and showed no sign of cannibalization.
- entirely UA (Google UAC: 90%, Facebook: 10%) on the Google Play Store led to an increase in organic installs of +42% which indicates cannibalization.
Cannibalization or not, if you don't buy the search spots on the stores, someone else will.
When you have a game in soft launch create Apple Search Ads campaigns and use these keywords when you go live globally.
Prioritize the visual assets that are part of the first impression (icon, app trailer - and/or screenshots, first screenshot) because only 7-10% of App Store Browse/Search users actually visit the Product Page
Having a landscape video is now a must, even if your game plays in portrait mode because Apple also uses a landscape "featured widget" to display videos when people are browsing the store.
Frequently test your feature graphic to optimize it (can lead to +15-20% uplift). Talk to your UA team to see what's working on your channels and use that for your feature graphic.
It's recommended to have landscape screenshots on the Play Store, and at least 3 of them because the Play Store recommendation widgets either show video or screenshot(s). If you have 3 landscape screenshots then the widget shows a "screenshot rotation" therefore giving more exposure.
The pre-registration from Google Play is quite easy to implement and can deliver a tremendous amount of installs at launch.
For the same game:
- Pausing entirely UA (ASA: 50% / Facebook: 20% / Video Networks: 30%) on iOS for this case study led to a 5% decrease in organics and showed no sign of cannibalization.
- entirely UA (Google UAC: 90%, Facebook: 10%) on the Google Play Store led to an increase in organic installs of +42% which indicates cannibalization.
Cannibalization or not, if you don't buy the search spots on the stores, someone else will.
Notes for this resource are currently being transferred and will be available soon.
Finding the right keywords: best source for Tilting Point is using Apple Search Ads for keywords insights.
[💎@01:22] When you have a game in soft launch create Apple Search Ads campaigns and use these keywords when you go live globally.
[💎@01:50] Prioritize the visual assets that are part of the first impression (icon, app trailer - and/or screenshots, first screenshot) because only 7-10% of App Store Browse/Search users actually visit the Product Page
Landscape or portrait screenshots?
For games use landscape assets (especially video) because of how search results are presented (feed-like view).
[💎@02:50] Having a landscape video is now a must, even if your game plays in portrait mode because Apple also uses a landscape "featured widget" to display videos when people are browsing the store.
Ratings are displayed on every section where your app appears on the Play Store.
Having a 4+ star rating is a must and a requirement to get featured on the App Store.
There is a strong correlation between star ratings and conversion rate. Example of a game: from 3.9 to 4.5 star rating that brought a +33% uplift in install CVR.
[💎@05:33] Frequently test your feature graphic to optimize it (can lead to +15-20% uplift). Talk to your UA team to see what's working on your channels and use that for your feature graphic.
[💎@06:35] It's recommended to have landscape screenshots on the Play Store, and at least 3 of them because the Play Store recommendation widgets either show video or screenshot(s). If you have 3 landscape screenshots then the widget shows a "screenshot rotation" therefore giving more exposure.
[💎@07:39] The pre-registration from Google Play is quite easy to implement and can deliver a tremendous amount of installs at launch.
[💎@08:09] For the same game:
- Pausing entirely UA (ASA: 50% / Facebook: 20% / Video Networks: 30%) on iOS for this case study led to a 5% decrease in organics and showed no sign of cannibalization.
- entirely UA (Google UAC: 90%, Facebook: 10%) on the Google Play Store led to an increase in organic installs of +42% which indicates cannibalization.
On Apple Search Ads, 98% of impressions are now served via your image ad (no more text ads). Google is also testing large ad formats.
[💎@08:09] Cannibalization or not, if you don't buy the search spots on the stores, someone else will.
Finding the right keywords: best source for Tilting Point is using Apple Search Ads for keywords insights.
[💎@01:22] When you have a game in soft launch create Apple Search Ads campaigns and use these keywords when you go live globally.
[💎@01:50] Prioritize the visual assets that are part of the first impression (icon, app trailer - and/or screenshots, first screenshot) because only 7-10% of App Store Browse/Search users actually visit the Product Page
Landscape or portrait screenshots?
For games use landscape assets (especially video) because of how search results are presented (feed-like view).
[💎@02:50] Having a landscape video is now a must, even if your game plays in portrait mode because Apple also uses a landscape "featured widget" to display videos when people are browsing the store.
Ratings are displayed on every section where your app appears on the Play Store.
Having a 4+ star rating is a must and a requirement to get featured on the App Store.
There is a strong correlation between star ratings and conversion rate. Example of a game: from 3.9 to 4.5 star rating that brought a +33% uplift in install CVR.
[💎@05:33] Frequently test your feature graphic to optimize it (can lead to +15-20% uplift). Talk to your UA team to see what's working on your channels and use that for your feature graphic.
[💎@06:35] It's recommended to have landscape screenshots on the Play Store, and at least 3 of them because the Play Store recommendation widgets either show video or screenshot(s). If you have 3 landscape screenshots then the widget shows a "screenshot rotation" therefore giving more exposure.
[💎@07:39] The pre-registration from Google Play is quite easy to implement and can deliver a tremendous amount of installs at launch.
[💎@08:09] For the same game:
- Pausing entirely UA (ASA: 50% / Facebook: 20% / Video Networks: 30%) on iOS for this case study led to a 5% decrease in organics and showed no sign of cannibalization.
- entirely UA (Google UAC: 90%, Facebook: 10%) on the Google Play Store led to an increase in organic installs of +42% which indicates cannibalization.
On Apple Search Ads, 98% of impressions are now served via your image ad (no more text ads). Google is also testing large ad formats.
[💎@08:09] Cannibalization or not, if you don't buy the search spots on the stores, someone else will.
Finding the right keywords: best source for Tilting Point is using Apple Search Ads for keywords insights.
[💎@01:22] When you have a game in soft launch create Apple Search Ads campaigns and use these keywords when you go live globally.
[💎@01:50] Prioritize the visual assets that are part of the first impression (icon, app trailer - and/or screenshots, first screenshot) because only 7-10% of App Store Browse/Search users actually visit the Product Page
Landscape or portrait screenshots?
For games use landscape assets (especially video) because of how search results are presented (feed-like view).
[💎@02:50] Having a landscape video is now a must, even if your game plays in portrait mode because Apple also uses a landscape "featured widget" to display videos when people are browsing the store.
Ratings are displayed on every section where your app appears on the Play Store.
Having a 4+ star rating is a must and a requirement to get featured on the App Store.
There is a strong correlation between star ratings and conversion rate. Example of a game: from 3.9 to 4.5 star rating that brought a +33% uplift in install CVR.
[💎@05:33] Frequently test your feature graphic to optimize it (can lead to +15-20% uplift). Talk to your UA team to see what's working on your channels and use that for your feature graphic.
[💎@06:35] It's recommended to have landscape screenshots on the Play Store, and at least 3 of them because the Play Store recommendation widgets either show video or screenshot(s). If you have 3 landscape screenshots then the widget shows a "screenshot rotation" therefore giving more exposure.
[💎@07:39] The pre-registration from Google Play is quite easy to implement and can deliver a tremendous amount of installs at launch.
[💎@08:09] For the same game:
- Pausing entirely UA (ASA: 50% / Facebook: 20% / Video Networks: 30%) on iOS for this case study led to a 5% decrease in organics and showed no sign of cannibalization.
- entirely UA (Google UAC: 90%, Facebook: 10%) on the Google Play Store led to an increase in organic installs of +42% which indicates cannibalization.
On Apple Search Ads, 98% of impressions are now served via your image ad (no more text ads). Google is also testing large ad formats.
[💎@08:09] Cannibalization or not, if you don't buy the search spots on the stores, someone else will.
