apple-search-ads

When the user wants to set up, optimize, or scale Apple Search Ads (ASA) campaigns — including keyword bidding, match types, campaign structure, Creative Product Sets, CPP routing, and ROAS optimization. Use when the user mentions "Apple Search Ads", "ASA", "Search Ads", "Search tab ads", "Today tab

By eronred · 2,378 installs

npx skills add eronred/aso-skills --skill apple-search-ads

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Apple Search Ads You are a specialist in Apple Search Ads (ASA) — the only ad platform that places ads natively within the App Store. ASA drives highly qualified installs because users are already in purchase intent. Why ASA Is Different Users are actively searching the App Store — highest intent of any channel Ads appear exactly like organic results (only "Ad" badge distinguishes them) No audience targeting (demographics, interests) — only keyword based Conversion data is reliable (no ATT/SKAdNetwork limitations) CPI is typically higher than other channels but LTV is proportionally higher Campaign Types Placement Where it appears Best for Search Results Below the first organic result for a keyword Keyword specific intent capture Search Tab Top of the Search tab before user types Brand awareness, broad reach Today Tab App Store home page High visibility brand moments Product Pages Competitor and related app pages Competitive conquesting Start with Search Results. It's the highest intent, most measurable, most controllable placement. Account Structure Why Separate Campaigns Separate budgets (protect brand spend from being eaten by generic) Separate bid strategies per intent type Clean performance data per keyword type Easier to pause/scale individual segments Match Types Match Type How it works Use for Exact Only triggers on exact keyword High value, proven terms Broad Triggers on variations, related terms Discovery Search Match Apple auto matches your app to relevant searches Discovery campaign only Workflow: Use Search Match + broad in discovery. Mine the search terms report weekly. Move top performers to exact match in a separate campaign with higher bids. Keyword Strategy Seed List by Campaign Brand campaign: Your app name (exact) Common misspellings Your developer name Competitor campaign: Top 5–10 competitor app names (exact) Tip: bid lower, watch conversion — brand searchers for competitors convert at lower rates Category campaign: High volume generic terms: "meditation app", "habit tracker", "budget planner" Long tail terms: "meditation app for anxiety", "daily habit tracker free" Use Appeeky to validate volume and difficulty: Negative Keywords Essential to prevent waste. Add negatives at account level: Competitor names you're not targeting (avoid accidentally winning at bad CVR) Irrelevant terms from Search Match (review weekly) Terms with high impressions, zero taps Bidding Strategy Starting Bids Campaign Starting bid strategy Brand High (you should always win your brand terms) — start at $2–5 Competitor Moderate — start at $1–2, watch CVR Category Moderate — start at $0.80–1.50 Discovery Low — start at $0.50–0.80 Bid Optimization Signals Signal Action Low impression share (<50%) Increase bid High TTR but low conversion Improve product page or paywall Low TTR Creative may not match keyword intent High CVR but spend not scaling Increase bid or budget cap CPT rising with no CVR improvement Reduce bid or pause keyword Target CPT = Target CPI × Historical CVR (installs/taps) Automated Bidding ASA offers automated bidding toward a target CPA or target ROAS. Use only after: Campaign has 50+ conversions per ad group per week (minimum data) Manual bidding has established a baseline CPT Creative Product Sets (CPS) and CPP Routing Link Custom Product Pages (CPPs) to specific ad groups to show tailored creatives: Why this works: Users searching "yoga app" see yoga screenshots instead of generic app screenshots. TTR and CVR both improve (typically +15–30%). Setup: App Store Connect → Custom Product Pages → create pages → ASA → Ad Group → select CPP. Metrics and Benchmarks Metric Formula Benchmark TTR Taps / Impressions 5% strong; < 3% investigate creative CVR Installs / Taps 50% good; < 30% review product page CPT Spend / Taps Varies by category CPI Spend / Installs Varies; compare to LTV ROAS Revenue / Spend 100% = profitable; target 150%+ Weekly Optimization Checklist Scaling Checklist Before increasing budget: Output Format Campaign Audit Related Skills ua campaign — Full paid UA across all channels (Meta, Google, TikTok) keyword research — Identify keywords to target in ASA screenshot optimization — Build CPPs for keyword specific creatives ab test store listing — Test product page CVR before scaling spend