Frederick James@_frederickjames
My app hit $850/m in 24 days.
This is my Apple Ads System:
1. Type: Apple Search Ads.
2. Bid Strategy: Manage Bids.
3. Starting daily budget > $20/day.
4. Default Max CPT ~$1.20 (will vary by niche).
5. Search Match = OFF.
6. Keywords = biggest competitor's name.
7. Keyword Type = [Strict].
8. Audience = Specific.
9. Device = iPhone only.
10. Customer types = New users.
11. Demographic = All (Unless F/M niche).
12. Ad Scheduling = OFF.
13. First: Ad Default.
14. Later: Custom Ads (copy competitors).
15. Split campaigns into territories.
• Tier 1: US only.
• Tier 2: UK, CA, CN, JP etc.
• Tier 3: ROW: TH, MX, PH etc.
19. Your Max Bid scales by Tier
• Tier 1: ~$1.20
• Tier 2: ~$0.90 etc
20. CPC should also scale by Tier.
21. Don’t sleep on Tier 3: has been good to me.
22. If risks verse, start with a low Max CPT Bid.
23. In general: see how the ad spends over 1-2 days.
24. Apple ads have a lot of lag in my experience.
25. If the ad doesn't spend after 1-2 days, increase it.
26. Don't jump straight to $4 per bid.
27. I did this at first and set ~$150 on fire.
28. You need to learn your niche’s average bids.
29. I have not localised pricing yet.
Notes.
This strategy works if your app is the same niche & has a similar aesthetic to a big competitor(s).
We let the competitor do the marketing, bringing users in from socials to the App Store. We then catch users as they're searching, we interest them with our app instead of theirs. This also relies on having cracked app page, so your design needs to be on point. Apple Ads seem to cost a bit more than other platforms. But keep in mind these users are warm leads, they already have intent, and are more likely to convert in my experience.
My Stats:
Total ad spend: $584
Total Revenue: $964
Profit (after apple tax & refunds): $235.
30% profit margin w/o counting renewals / LTV.
This includes the ~$150 I set on fire when I first started.
So, it's realistically closer to 35%+.
