Scaling your app

to 1 million users:
The ultimate guide
Part 1: App store optimization
and user acquisition
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 2

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................................... 3
App store optimization........................................................................................................................................................4
Paid campaigns.......................................................................................................................................................................4

Section 1: App store optimization.............................................................................................................5

How to build a rock-solid ASO strategy.................................................................................................................6
Use relevant keywords..................................................................................................................................................6
Optimize your title and description......................................................................................................................... 7
Incorporate attractive screenshots / in-app examples..................................................................................... 7
Use video............................................................................................................................................................................8
Test and optimize your creative assets...................................................................................................................9
iOS 15: Changes to ASO..............................................................................................................................................10
How to run a successful ongoing ASO program................................................................................................. 11
Improve your Net Promoter Score.......................................................................................................................... 11
Measure your success with KPIs that matter..................................................................................................... 12
Have realistic expectations of your ASO efforts............................................................................................... 14
Understand the connection between ASO and paid UA / app store advertising................................ 15

Section 2: Paid campaigns..............................................................................................................................17

Step 1: Self-service paid channels........................................................................................................................... 18
Step 2: Ad networks..................................................................................................................................................... 21
Set up budgets and A/B test.....................................................................................................................................22
Paid social........................................................................................................................................................................ 23
Step 3: Measuring your results................................................................................................................................ 24
Common paid advertising mistakes..................................................................................................................... 26

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................................27
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 3

Introduction
Growth is the primary mission of every app marketing team. Even the best app
can’t be properly appreciated (or monetized) without reaching the biggest possible
relevant audience. For marketers, scalability is synonymous with success.

But how do you get from your humble early days of 1,000 users or less to reach
1,000,000 users or more? It usually takes time and patience, but by investing
in proven best practices you can consistently and significantly expand the quantity
and quality of your user base.

While specific strategies vary depending on your vertical and target market, there
are several core app marketing methods that apply to any growth-seeking app marketer.
This guide will break down these methods and give you the complete step-by-step
outline to attract (and keep) high-value users.

In Part 1 of this guide, we focus on two main approaches: app store optimization (ASO)
and paid advertising campaigns.

These are the two most important channels to acquire new users for your app.
While we recommend starting with ASO, all the steps in this guide are flexible and
can be reordered based on your priorities.

If you have a larger budget, it may make sense to begin paid campaigns right away,
even as you hone your ASO. If your budget is smaller, you will get the most value
by starting with ASO. It’s up to your organization. Everything in this guide can help
your app’s growth at any stage.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 4

1 App store optimization

We say that ASO is a process, because it's an ongoing component of your UA strategy
rather than a one-off or one-time event. In the same way your SEO team works to drive
organic traffic to your website, your ASO efforts will drive organic app store traffic to your
app. The higher your app ranks when a potential user types in a relevant keyword, the
more likely it is to be seen and installed by the user.

In section one, we’ll look at what you can do to improve those app store rankings.

2 Paid campaigns

As competition for users has grown over the past decade, paid advertising campaigns
have become central to all UA efforts. Ad inventory is purchased through ad networks that
display your ads on the web, on social media platforms and/or within other apps. These ads
can be either targeted to specific user demographics or displayed contextually based on
the publication. You’ll learn more about paid campaigns in the second section below.

Scaling your app to 1m users: the ultimate guide – Part 2:

User retention, localization, and a bonus UA strategy

Attracting new users is the core to growth, but you’ve got to keep them as well! That’s why in
Part 2 of this guide, we’ll cover user retention, as well as localizing your app for international
audiences. We’ll also cover one of the hottest trends in mobile UA: influencer marketing.
If you’ve downloaded this guide, Part 2 will automatically be emailed to you, so stay tuned!
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 5

Section 1:

App store optimization

ASO is a fantastic first step when scaling your app because it’s affordable and delivers
quick wins. Your ASO strategy should primarily focus on the Apple App Store (iOS)
and Google Play Store (Android), because these two stores control over 95% of market
share outside of China. A good ASO strategy can boost your installs between 3-5% —
showing what an easy and effective way it is to make an impact.

Consider alternative app stores:

There are various other app stores on the market including Samsung Galaxy Store,
Amazon Appstore, and Huawei AppGallery. While these stores have fewer users,
the benefits include increased promotional opportunities, low cost or free listings,
and less competition — making it easier for you to stand out.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 6

Top 10 tips for ASO

Get to know your competition Design a unique and appealing icon

Find out what people are searching for Maximize use of videos and screenshots

Choose a clever name for your app Localize for all relevant markets

Stick to a solid set of keywords Drive traffic with outside promotion

Write a spot-on app description Update regularly

How to build a rock-solid ASO strategy

Use relevant keywords

Keywords are king when it comes to organic discovery in an app store. First, pinpoint
the keywords that potential users are searching for — these will likely be the keywords
that your competitors are also using. An ASO tool such as Appfollow, MobileAction,
or Apptweak can help you find relevant keywords for your app as well as see which
ones your competitors are using. These tools can also help you measure a lot of the
metrics we’ll discuss later.

You are limited to what you can include here so choose your keywords carefully —
discovering untapped keywords can give you a significant edge. Don’t repeat any
keywords you’ve previously used in your app name or in your subtitle as they will only
be considered once.

Also, consider including relevant long-tail keywords. These are longer, more specific
keyword phrases that have less volume but higher user intent. Although the volume
is lower, so is the competition, and the refined intent leads to higher conversion rates.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 7

Optimize your title and description

When it comes to metadata, optimizing your title is the most important step — doing
so can increase downloads by up to 15%. Your title should be as memorable as possible,
while incorporating your app’s name and the top keywords you identified in step one.
Plan to keep your title under 25 characters, as any more will be cut off when showing
up in App Store results.

For the description, write a concise and compelling paragraph and/or a list that focuses
on your app’s unique features. Think about what problem your app is solving, which of
its features users love, what makes your app unique, and then try to deliver all of that in
an easy-to-read way. Use bullet points or break up the text for people who are quickly
scanning. Feel free to include social proof, such as awards or quotes from publications
or happy users (but it’s best to include these toward the end).

Incorporate attractive screenshots/in-app examples

Mobile screens are a visual medium, so you’ll need to include some high-quality images
to engage potential users. Fewer than 2% of users tap the “Read More” button to read
your entire description, so your images are going to be your primary way to grab attention
and get installs. Beautiful, engaging visuals will give you a huge edge over competitors
and can increase download rates by 17-24%.

Use different colors and highlight visual features that set you apart. The majority of users
want to see quality screenshots that demonstrate how they can use your app and what
problems it solves. This is the time to flaunt all the hard work your team has put into
design, UI and UX, and killer features! Show, don’t tell.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 8

Use video

Why use a static card when you can use video instead? Oh, and did we mention that
adding a video to an app’s page can increase downloads by up to 35%? The vast majority
of app pages on both app stores now include video, so you’ll need video to have a good
chance of competing.

Create and add a short, sharp, visually appealing video that gives an optimal view of your
in-app experience. For an evergreen video (one that will stay continually relevant), avoid
highlighting specific events or any other dated content.

Eye-catching creatives are important for all verticals, but particularly in the highly
competitive gaming space. For games, it’s crucial to highlight actual gameplay rather
than flashy cutscenes or animations.

App previews

When creating videos for a listing in the Apple App Store, there are some additional
things to keep in mind. Videos on the App Store are called App Previews. Most of the
above tips apply to App Previews, but there are some differences to consider as Apple
has more stringent guidelines for videos.

Apple requires your App Preview to be between 15 and 30 seconds long, and they reject
videos with device images, device frames, and anything other than in-app footage.
With this in mind, you should record a separate video specifically for iOS devices. Use text
elements because videos on the App Store autoplay on mute. Also, keep in mind that
these videos can be shown inside your Apple Search Ads, which can help boost your paid
acquisition conversion rate as well.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 9

Test and optimize your creative assets

Congrats! By now you’ve created everything you need for your app product pages:
a memorable title, a keyword-focused description, images, and even a video.
But you’re not done yet.

Now is the time to test and iterate on each of these to maximize your conversion rate.
Both the Play Store and the App Store (beginning with iOS 15) give app marketers
some ability to A/B test their creatives.

The Play Store offers the most extensive capabilities, known as store listing experiments
in the Play Console. These allow you to test everything, including images, localized
descriptions, icons, and more. When it comes to testing your creative assets, a 90/10
split — sending 90% of traffic to your control page with 10% to the new variant you are
testing — is generally considered a best practice. By continually tweaking your creatives
and making data-driven decisions, you can better optimize your listings to improve
conversions. It’s also worth noting that what is successful on the Play Store may not
carry over 1:1 to the App Store. So, while testing in the Play Console can inform your
App Store creative, be sure to test for the App Store on its own as well (more on new
capabilities on App Store A/B testing below).
Scaling your app to 1m users: the ultimate guide – Part 1 10

iOS 15: Changes to ASO

Apple has shaken up the mobile marketing space a lot in the past year, but with the
release of iOS 15, they’ve added some new capabilities for UA and ASO in the App Store:

• Product page optimization (PPO) is a new feature for iOS 15 that allows marketers to
test product page creatives on the App Store with three different treatments (variations).
Marketers can A/B test icons, screenshots, app previews, and use App Analytics in
App Store Connect to view impressions, conversion rates, and improvements.

• In-app events (not to be confused with post-install user activity) are timely events within
apps, such as movie premieres, gaming competitions, or live-streamed experiences.
As of fall 2021, marketers are able to add event cards of in-app events to their product
pages, which can help keep your page fresh and timely and give a new opportunity to
attract potential users.

UA in Action: Evino
User growth isn’t only for new apps — it’s also key for existing businesses that want to
shift their focus to mobile while leveraging their current customer base.

Brazilian wine company Evino recognized the importance of ASO when they switched
their platform from web to mobile-first. Using their well-established email newsletter, they
could easily redirect iOS users onto their mobile app, bringing them directly to their wine
offers. The high user engagement and growing user base shot Evino to the eighth position
on Brazil’s Food & Drink list on the App Store. Additionally, this high-ranking position led
to steady, organic user acquisition growth.

Read more about Evino’s journey here

Scaling your app to 1m users: the ultimate guide – Part 1 11

How to run a successful ongoing ASO program

In the early days of app stores, most people discovered new apps via the search bar. While ranking in
these keyword searches was enough in the past, if you want your app to reach a million users today,
you’ll need to rank in Apple’s Top Paid Apps/Top Free Apps/Must Have Apps and Android’s Browse/
Categories/Editor’s Choice app sections in the app stores.

In order to rise through the ranks here, you’ll need to take your ASO beyond the basics. That includes
turning users into fans, maximizing your positive reviews, measuring and improving essential KPIs,
monitoring the competition, and integrating your ASO strategy with your paid campaigns.

Improve your Net Promoter Score

Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a measure of how many of your users are likely to recommend
your app to others. This is an important metric to consider if you want to climb the app stores’ ranks.
To calculate your score, first provide your users with a single question survey asking how likely they
are to recommend your app on a scale from 1 to 10.

Promoters: Passives: Detractors:

Ratings: 9 - 10 Ratings: 7- 8 Ratings: 6 or below
Users likely to Users satisfied with Users actively damaging
recommend your app. your service but not likely you via negative ratings
to refer you. and word-of-mouth.

Then, look at the responses and subtract your percentage of “promoters” from your percentage of
“detractors.” This will give you your app’s NPS. Your goal is to raise this by converting detractors into
promoters — this works twofold as it increases user loyalty while also boosting your app’s ranking on
the app stores. You can do this by following up on detractors, or “closing the loop,” by incorporating
their feedback and demonstrating dedication to improving your app.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 12

Measure your success with KPIs that matter

Measurement is critical to the success of any marketing strategy. As management

theorist Peter Drucker famously said, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,”
and this is especially true for mobile UA. Your ASO strategy will always require more
research, measurement, and refinement. The most important KPIs to look at are:

• Organic Conversion Rate:

This is the percentage of users who install your app after finding it on an app store.
Comparing your total conversions against your app category’s average performance
is an important way to gauge whether or not you’re headed in the right direction.
High conversion rates tell Apple and Google that customers are enjoying your app.
Apps with low or decreasing conversion rates will sink in app store rankings, as the
app stores do not want to offer their customers bad products.

• Keyword Search Rankings:

How easy are you making it for your audience to discover your app? This shows
whether or not you’ve chosen beneficial keywords — the higher your keyword scores
in user searches the higher the chance of downloads. A good rule of thumb is to
keep the keyword you want to rank below 5% of the total number of words on the
page. For this, it’s vital that you A/B test, avoid keyword stuffing, and regularly
check the app stores’ autofill suggestions.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 13

• Visibility Score:
This metric shows how much potential traffic (impressions) your app has and whether
or not it’s achieving its potential. Your visibility score takes into account your keyword
performance, category ranking performance, and ratings/reviews. By measuring your
app’s visibility progression against your competitors and similar apps, you can start
understanding your app's ranking position and how to turn visibility into downloads.

• Download Velocity:
This is the number of installs your app gets within a given timeframe. The higher the
velocity, the higher your app will rank in the App Store or Play Store. This is why popular
apps that bring in a high volume of downloads each day are always featured
in the top charts.

• User Reviews:
User reviews and ratings play a big role in both your rankings and your conversion rates,
as app stores use them as a ranking signal for the app stores, and users factor them in
when considering downloading your app. To achieve positive user reviews, try including
in-app prompts or incentivizing users via email. Listen to any negative feedback to
improve your product, and if applicable, reach out to the user to correct the situation.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 14

Have realistic expectations of your ASO efforts

Similar to SEO, ASO is a powerful tool for lowering UA costs— and there are always
new opportunities to boost your ranking through keywords, screenshots, descriptions,
and icon optimization. A best practice is to create regular ASO reports to gain a greater
understanding of where your app is succeeding and where it’s failing.

If you’ve got the right ASO strategy, you can typically expect your installs to increase
between 1-3 months after implementation, and you should expect any organic growth
from your ASO efforts to be relative to your paid campaign efforts.

ASO is also something you must continually stay engaged in, particularly when it comes
to updating and refreshing the creative assets in your listings, such as the description and
visuals. Periodically add any new events, themes or trends relevant to your app. Like with
your website, you must keep both your copy and design up-to-date, or they can become
less effective with time.

Also, continue watching your competitors. Knowing the categories and keywords your
competitors' strategies focus on is crucial for your own ASO strategy. By analyzing
changes to your competitors’ and the impact that’s having, you can focus on ranking
new keywords before they do.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 15

Understand the connection between ASO

and paid UA / app store advertising

Google App Campaigns and Apple Search Ads (ASA) allow potential users to discover
your app when they’re on the respective app store via advertisements. For paid user
acquisition on these networks, it’s important to research, bid on the correct keywords
for your app, and drive conversions with compelling creatives.

We’ll go into more detail on paid campaigns in the next section, but before we do,
we just wanted to note that ASO and paid UA are connected and impact one another.
Your ASO and paid strategy should overlap, and paid ads should complement your
app store listing.

Also, keep in mind that even if your ASO is perfect and you rank first for your chosen
keyword, a paid ad can still take the top-ranked spot from you in an app store, with
your #1 organically ranked app displayed in the second position beneath the paid ad.
To prevent this and keep your app on top, you can run brand protection campaigns
to ensure that competitors aren’t able to eclipse your ASO efforts by outbidding you
on ASA or Google App Campaigns.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 16

Understanding organic uplift

Organic uplift is a number that represents the correlation between your app’s organic
and non-organic installs. It’s essentially a measurement of how many additional organic
users are likely to install your app as a result of paid activity.

Organic installs Paid installs Organic uplift

Simply put, the more users that install your app for High visibility
any reason (including paid campaigns), the faster it
will move up the rankings. Higher visibility is likely
to provide your app with more downloads, which
in turn will give your app a higher ranking, creating
a virtuous cycle. That’s the beauty of a complete UA
strategy — growth in one causes growth in the other,
creating a feedback loop of even more growth. More downloads

Search Engine Optimization

Build backlinks and drive traffic to your app store page:
A backlink is a link to your listing, which is placed on a website (typically a blog). Backlinks
should not be placed randomly but instead on relevant pages where the link to your listing
makes sense and is useful. In addition to sending clicks to your listing, these links will also
aid in boosting your keyword rankings. The ASO tool you’ve chosen earlier in this guide
(such as Appfollow, MobileAction, or Apptweak) will be able to help you select keywords.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 17

Section 2:

Paid campaigns
The days of easy, quick, viral organic growth are over. While it certainly still does happen
for some apps, most apps invest heavily in paid campaigns in order to achieve higher
levels of growth. While you will see some initial success with organic, if you want to get
your app to a million users, your team will likely need to invest in paid campaigns as well.

In this section, we’ll go over the main options for UA managers to purchase ad
inventory, as well as how to measure your campaigns across channels to optimize
spending and performance.

Tip!
We’re focusing on UA as the key at this stage of your journey, but you’ll want to kick off
a retention strategy once you get a sense where your highest-quality users are coming
from. Getting to a million users isn’t just about how many users you gain, it’s about how
many you keep! You can read more about retention in Part 2 of this guide.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 18

Step 1: Self-service paid channels

Self-service paid channels allow advertisers to launch their own ads on major platforms,
usually with a variety targeting options. These are very convenient, giving advertisers more
control over ad sales and helping to maximize the effectiveness of campaigns. Because of
this, self-service paid channels are also great testing grounds for creatives and campaigns.

The most popular self-service paid channels are:

• Google App Campaigns:

Formerly known as Universal App Campaigns (UAC), Google App Campaigns can reach
users across Google’s app-exclusive networks — YouTube, the Google Play Store, Gmail,
and in-app. For Google App Campaigns, you can provide your own assets and creatives,
or Google can take the existing info from your Play Store listing. Google will also provide
you with a method to translate and localize your app’s listing.

Google App Campaigns are mostly automated campaigns that require limited manual
targeting and work — making them ideal for small or one-person UA teams or as a place
to start. Just identify the countries and demographics you want to target, upload
creatives, set your budgets, and you’re off to the races.

Users on both iOS and Android can be targeted, but more success will generally be
seen on Android given that it’s a native Google platform. This platform also gives clients
a fair amount of budget flexibility — you can take advantage of accelerated spending
or only pay for clicks attributed to click-based campaigns. This can be an extra benefit
as you’re essentially getting extra brand awareness and impressions for free.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 19

With Google App Campaigns pricing models, you can choose between install volume (CPI)
and in-app actions (CPA). Install volume is about bringing in as many new users as possible.

When optimizing for install volume, you should set a daily campaign budget that's
at least 50 times your target CPI to allow enough conversion data to be collected.

When choosing in-app actions, you’re searching for users that are likely to spend
in-app. For in-app actions, it’s recommended to set a budget that’s at least 10 times
your target CPA.

• Meta (Facebook):
Meta (formerly Facebook) ads run exclusively on Meta properties including platforms
such as Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, the Oculus app, and mobile apps belonging
to the Meta Audience Network. With Meta's Ads Manager, it's possible to target specific
demographics based on age, location, or any other metric that best captures your target
audience. Ads Manager ads offers the ability to run your ads with a daily budget or runtime
budget. A daily budget sets the amount you can spend per day, while a runtime budget
doesn't specify a daily amount and allows you to set a start and end date duration for your
ad group. This can help prevent you from going over your advertising budget.

Because, until recently, Facebook was a social media platform first and foremost, you
can expect lower conversions across Meta properties when compared to Google Ads.
However, paid campaigns on Meta can achieve more brand exposure and clicks for
lower costs.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 20

• Apple Search Ads (ASA):

Apple Search Ads is an ad platform that displays paid ads on the top search results in the
App Store. ASA allows marketers to significantly improve their visibility directly in App
Store results, which can be especially powerful when combined with a solid ASO strategy.

ASA works on a bidding system where marketers make bids for specific keywords and
the highest bidder gets their ad placed on the results page for the keyword (highlighted
in blue at the very top of the page). This is very similar to how Google Ads appear at the
top of Google searches, but in the App Store.

You will only be able to target iOS users, making it more limited than comparable ad
networks by Google or Facebook. Also, costs can be higher, as iOS users are generally
more expensive to acquire, but they also typically spend more in-app.

As Apple uses information based on your app’s App Store metadata, it’s crucial to follow
the ASO tips mentioned above. It’s also important to continuously adjust your keyword
bids in accordance with your KPIs and strategy, and to counterbalance new competitors.

ASA can also be used to identify useful keywords to improve and provide organic uplift
to your organic ranking. For more on how to use Apple Search Ads, check out our blog
post on ASA best practices.

Build an app landing page

Having a great landing page is like having a great business card. The two most important
and noticeable links on the page should be the App Store and Google Play Store buttons.
As you scroll down, each panel should have a single call-to-action (CTA), which leads
directly back to the main CTA to download the app.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 21

Step 2: Ad networks

Ad networks are mediators that connect advertisers (demand) with publishers (supply).
Mobile ad networks can be divided into two categories: classic networks (AdMob,
ironSource, etc.) and social networks.

They offer a high volume of installs enabling apps to scale quickly, but they sometimes
come with the downside of delivering low LTV users or providing less than 100% visibility
on the source of installs. They can be a low-cost choice if you’re interested in high install
volumes and short-term gains such as signals to improve organic performance. If your goals
are linked to having a higher number of monthly-active-users (MAUs) and a sticky user
base, you’ll need to allocate more budget here.

There are hundreds of ad networks to choose from, which can be a bit overwhelming
at first glance. Aside from the big social networks, some of the most popular ad networks
in 2021 are AppLovin, Unity Ads, ironSource, AdColony, and Vungle. Each is known for
different specialties; for instance, AppLovin is known for playables and interactive ads,
while AdColony and ironSource are known for video ads.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 22

Set up budgets and A/B test

When purchasing ads through a network, you have the choice of four main cost models:
Cost Per Mille (CPM), Cost Per Click (CPC), Cost Per Action (CPA) and CPI (Cost
Per Install). You should choose your advertising model depending on the ad network,
the goals you’ve set, and your daily budget. It’s also vital to A/B test and reiterate on
your model. Ensure that your testing conditions are as similar as possible, with the only
exception being the variable you want to test. While advertisers bid on ad impressions,
you should be choosing the keywords that you want to show your creatives for.
Once you have this, you will then be competing with other advertisers. The one
who pays more wins, and their ad will be shown to the user.

Mobile A/B testing:

50% visitors A B 50% visitors

see variation A see variation B

15% 36%
conversions conversions
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 23

Paid social

These channels will help you increase brand awareness, page visits/impressions, and
ultimately installs — all of which are integral to retargeting. Paid social is a great way to learn
more about audiences relevant to your app. You can gather insights and metrics on cohorts
and user segments based on data received from each click that comes through a paid ad.
You should study the features offered by each network and choose those that will drive the
most relevant traffic at the best price.

Prepare creatives
Think about banner ads, videos, and interactive videos/playables. The conversion rate
of creatives always depends on quality and complexity. Banners show a low conversion
rate but are easy to create, whereas playable ads have the highest conversions but
require more effort. According to Tim Shepherd, creative director of playable ads at
Wooga, creating one playable ad may take 2-3 weeks and the work of two developers.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 24

Step 3: Measuring your results

In a nutshell, attribution is matching an install of an app to a specific engagement.

It identifies whether a user installs an app after seeing an ad and then tracks how that
user behaves after install.

Companies like Adjust, known as “mobile-measurement partners,” “attribution providers,”

or just simply as a provider of “measurement tools,” provide attribution services to advertisers
who do any kind of paid marketing for their apps. Our main job is to attribute a mobile app
install (as well as post-install events) to its source.

This is important once you start working with multiple ad networks and have data sets to
compare, as it allows marketers to discover where their users are coming from: Some installs
might come from video ads in an app, others from social media. It’s attribution that reveals
and records that information.

Engagement Install (app open)

INSTALL

GET
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 25

Measurement goes beyond just attributing an install, and it’s key throughout the entire
user journey. Visibility into how your users are behaving once they’re in your app is critical
to improving your app experience and identifying your highest-value users.

By connecting the dots between UA campaigns, users, and the actions, purchases, and
revenue of those users, you can focus your UA and retention efforts on user groups with
high LTV. When you can track and understand the value of a user, you can better calculate
your Return on Investment (ROI) and balance that with your overall growth goals.

UA in Action: Strava
Paid campaigns are an important aspect of the fitness app Strava’s marketing strategy.
Strava uses mostly self-attributed networks (large advertising networks like Meta)
for paid campaigns, which only provides minimal visibility into campaign performance.
Because of this, they really need to see exactly how well their paid campaigns are
measured in order to better understand their app’s user journey, post-install. Creating
an in-depth paid campaign strategy allows Strava to optimize their budget allocation
and pursue the high LTV users they ought to be going after.

Read more about Strava’s experience here

Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 26

Common paid advertising mistakes

With so many apps competing for users, you need to use a variety of marketing methods
to achieve better ROI and higher conversion rates. If you’re considering paid advertising,
here are some mistakes to avoid:

Expecting too much, too soon

Before launching your app, you should have realistic expectations for its performance
established during the testing period. When launching, remember it will typically
take 6-12 months to break even.

Not planning a budget

Make sure your budgets reflect this reality, with extra space in case conversions
are lower than initially expected.

Using the same creatives across specific regions

Your app’s potential users are most likely all around the globe, so your paid
advertising strategy needs to take this into consideration and test different
creatives for specific regions. Some countries in the APAC region such as Korea
and Japan have very specific ad types. Localizing everything by default doesn’t
guarantee a lift in sales; however, if you notice above average spending within
certain regions, consider localizing creatives. You should balance the size of
your target market and compare it with time invested. As with any creative and
marketing campaign, work smart — constantly test and iterate on ideas and
make small incremental changes as you see fit. Take it one step at a time.

Trying to do it all by yourself

Marketers in 2021 have the advantage of using tools and services to make their
lives much easier. Detriments to your campaign such as mobile ad fraud that
skew your figures and eat into your budget are difficult to track and prevent
without the assistance of dedicated services like Adjust's Fraud Prevention Suite.
Accurate insights into your paid advertising strategy are invaluable resources
going forward. That’s why building a good tech stack and getting granular data
on attribution, user journey, and conversion tracking from the very beginning
will help maximize your ROI.
Scaling your app to 1 million users: The ultimate guide – Part 1 27

Conclusion
Scaling your app from 1,000 to 1,000,000 users is no easy feat — we applaud you for
getting ready to take the journey! Just keep in mind that many apps have done it before,
and we’ve seen it happen again and again. The myriad approaches, channels and decisions
to make can seem overwhelming, especially in a competitive, fast-moving and ever-
changing industry. But if you focus on the fundamentals, you will move toward your goal.

As we discussed in this guide, a combination of ASO and paid acquisition is critical to

growing your user base. As you move forward in each, they will feed into each other and
create a self-reinforcing feedback loop of more visibility and more downloads. It’s up to you
to keep an eye on the competition, monitor the landscape, and quickly adapt as you grow.

A well-rounded marketing strategy will see users flowing in from multiple networks and
campaigns, which you can continue to scale and adjust as your user base grows. Mobile
measurement will help you attribute and analyze performance, ensuring your budget is
properly allocated to reward the most successful channels.

However, remember that gaining users is only one piece of the puzzle — you need to keep
them as well. In Part 2 of this guide, we will explore user retention and share top tips
on gaining new users with localization and influencer marketing. If you’ve downloaded
this guide, you will automatically receive Part 2. Otherwise, you can download it below
once it’s released. See you soon!
ABOUT ADJUS T

Adjust is the mobile marketing analytics platform trusted by growth-driven marketers

around the world, with solutions for measuring and optimizing campaigns and protecting
user data. Adjust powers thousands of apps with built-in intelligence and automation,
backed by responsive global customer support.

In 2021, Adjust was acquired by AppLovin, a leading marketing software company

providing developers with a powerful, integrated set of solutions to grow their mobile apps.

Learn more about Adjust at:

www.adjust.com adjust.com @adjustcom