6 Reasons Why You Should Use Both ASO and ASM?
In fact, the answer to this question is, relatively, very easy to make it clear. Let’s pull time back to the PC era: will you give up SEO when you can use SEM as a lazy-mode? The best practice is probably combine them together. Remember, 1+1 > 2 always works in these cases.
Here are some reasons why you should consider using both of them:
1.Leverage ASM to increase exposure and downloads
Most people will just see no more than 7 lines of texts at a glance, that’s why sometimes we don’t see a particular app in the result lists. Therefore, use both ASO and ASM will increase the chance for your app(s) to be seen, noticed and downloaded.
In this process, ASO serves better for the branding works, because users give a little bit more trust to the natural search result, when comparing with the Search Ads.
On the other hand, an extra exposure from ASM provides another opportunity, as your Ads will be shown at the very top of the list, if it’s highly relative to the users’ searching, there is a great chance that it gets installed.
2.ASO reaches places that ASM doesn’t
There are also some places that ASM is not covering:
a.Lower versions of iOS.
By far, the Apple Store Search Ads only display on iOS 10, the previous versions have no Ads yet in the Apple Store. Per a report from Apple, about 70% devices are updated to the newest version, (Nov. 2016), and more and more devices are joining. However, there will be also some devices that're running under the previous versions.
b.After 6 searches.
In the purpose of improving user experience, Apple Store will stop displaying Search Ads after 6 times, for the same keyword. That's why ASO is still important to give your apps enough awareness.
c.Users under 13-year-old.
According to Apple’s policy, the Apple Store Search Ads are hidden to users less than 13 years old, the age info is collected from the user profile. This will affect significantly on some categories, such as Education or Children.
Under the above circumstances, ASO is almost a necessity for an Apple Store marketer.
3.It costs less when use both
All we care about is the ROI, right? According to insight data from ASM Radar, the investments on ASM will actually reduce the whole cost, because it saves you lots of time, and will increase installs in a settled period of time.
For instance, a total amount of 10k installation is achievable buy using ASO solely, but it may take too long. Meantime, if Search Ads Campaigns are deployed, you may only need 1/2 – 1/4 time to get to the target, this is how ASM saves.
ASM (Apple Store Search Marketing) is a supplementary, yet powerful way to help you get more by doing less.
4. ASM helps make your business data driven
One of the significant advantages of ASM is that, you can find enormous data in the dashboard, know clearly which keywords are better than others. It’s even possible to discover user actions after the installation, such as keep using, make payments, etc.
This will not only help you make your Apple Store Search Ads perform better, but also offers a reasonable way to optimize your ASO strategies. So, why not?
5. Broaden your keywords scale and explode
As mentioned above, you know which keywords are more accurate & effective for your apps, you can now use them in your ASO practice. But, don’t stop here, because you can dig much deeper.
By using the Search Match and Broad Match function, lots of related keywords will appear in the result page. Filter them carefully, definitely there will be quite a few suitable keywords for you, use them for both your Main Keywords and Long Tail Keywords.
6. Smarter strategies based on competition
Once you collect enough Main Keywords and Long Tail Keywords, it’s time to decide how to optimize them:
- For Main Keywords that’s too fierce to rank in top 10, just add them into your ASM Campaign list, make sure it appears on the first screen after a user searches;
- For Long Tail Keywords that are [high volume + high price], use them in your ASO processes, place in your title and description. As they are all Long Tail Keywords, there is a chance you’ll rank higher than your competitors, while they use Main Keywords only;
- For Long Tail Keywords that are [high volume + low price], don’t hesitate, just start your campaigns with them, it will give a good result, or it is nearly free, as they are really cheap.
In a word, use both ASO and ASM simultaneously and properly, will help you rank higher in the natural searching result, have more exposures, and most important, get more installations.