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We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

andreaskambanis.com

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Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#111

Post by tehwebguy »

neom wrote: post #108
DangitBobby wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the author's assessment that only 1371 users were actually converted and they were charged inappropriately.

This complaint is tantamount to me saying: I spent $20,000 advertising my new cloud provider on twitter, 5000 people signed up for an account but only 5 of them ever logged in so only 5 converted. That isn't how it works. In google ads a conversion is clearly defined as the users clicks the link and then completed a second action (pre-register in this instance). When you create a campaign, you define the goal like th…

It's because Google clearly wants it to seem like pre-registration is actually pre-installing when in reality is closer to pre-nothing.

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#112

Post by tehwebguy »

andreaskam wrote: post #61
jb87 wrote: post #56

One point that people without app experience probably aren't considering - on iOS, having a large number of downloads (particularly in the first week after launch) can really boost your keyword rankings and ASO. Without this boost, climbing up the keyword rankings can be extremely difficult. Apple's pre-order feature does precisely what I'd expect - automatically downloading the app when it's available, which helps j…

haha it's been my pleasure being a guinea pig. Just wish I could of learned the same lesson for $5k instead of $20k.

One question I had when reading: Had you opted in to all of the appropriate settings so that your personal device should have automatically installed?

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#113

Post by danpalmer »

neom wrote: post #108
DangitBobby wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the author's assessment that only 1371 users were actually converted and they were charged inappropriately.

This complaint is tantamount to me saying: I spent $20,000 advertising my new cloud provider on twitter, 5000 people signed up for an account but only 5 of them ever logged in so only 5 converted. That isn't how it works. In google ads a conversion is clearly defined as the users clicks the link and then completed a second action (pre-register in this instance). When you create a campaign, you define the goal like th…

To take this even further, the install isn't what matters either, it's the user buying an in-app purchase, or it's the user still being subscribed 1 year later, or it's the user buying high margin merchandise after 3 years as a loyal customer...

Every part is a step in the funnel, and every step down the funnel is harder and slower to analyse. Ad marketplaces only have the data of the very first step most of the time.

Doing this analysis is The Job. That's all of what marketing (particularly digital marketing/PPC) is, and being good at this and building the loop is the difference between buying clicks from people who aren't actually that interested, and buying clicks from people who will pay for a product.

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#114

Post by CobrastanJorji »

sdflhasjd wrote: post #25
flokie wrote: post #16

It seems pretty clear that's what you get when you use the campaign? https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ... "After you make an app or game available for pre-registration, users can visit your store listing to learn about and pre-register for your new app or game. Then, when you publish your app or game later, all pre-registered users will receive a push notification from Google Play to instal…

Is sending someone a push notification really worth $1 though?

To the users who have actively indicated that they are interested in downloading your app, all at the same time on launch day, potentially putting you on some "most downloaded apps" leaderboards? Quite possibly, yes. It'd depend a lot on the app, though.

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#115

Post by onion2k »

minsc_and_boo wrote: post #60
andreaskam wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you look at the first screenshot in the article it shows what the pre-registration page looks like. It says: Perks of pre-registering - Automatic install Install automatically when it's available

>If you choose to make your app eligible for auto install, Play can deliver your app to users’ devices automatically on launch day (if they’ve opted in). It's up to the users.

"Would you like to install this meal prep app in a couple of months time?" is a question I cannot imagine anyone saying yes to. Why would you? There are apps available today...

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#117

Post by dougSF70 »

l5870uoo9y wrote: post #42

> MealPrepPro is built by a small indie dev team and $20k was a painful amount of money for us to waste. With pre-registration ads you're putting all your faith in Google that they'll deliver the conversions they're showing in the ads reports I am running a small independent startup myself where I count every nickel and dime. I tried Google Ads (there was an offer to spend $400 to get an additional $400). Besides a f…

I have spent a few $00 possible $000 on Google Ads and had nothing to show from it. Lots of traffic no sign ups. I then emailed a list and got a 4% conversion, so it isnt the product, it must be the targetting. As Bob Hoffman (a contrarian ad thinker) says do you want to die wasteful (spend $ on analogue advertising) or unknown (spend $ on line advertising)

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#118

Post by burnte »

l5870uoo9y wrote: post #42

> MealPrepPro is built by a small indie dev team and $20k was a painful amount of money for us to waste. With pre-registration ads you're putting all your faith in Google that they'll deliver the conversions they're showing in the ads reports I am running a small independent startup myself where I count every nickel and dime. I tried Google Ads (there was an offer to spend $400 to get an additional $400). Besides a f…

Their biggest problem was not doing research. Conversions are hard, usually a percent or two. But what is a conversion? It's getting a user to respond to your CTA. In this case, the CTA was to get people to see the ad and click through to a "preorder" page. They got what they bought. The problems were they expected a greater response, didn't know what they were getting into, and spend $$$ on ads before anyone could get the product. That was the real killer, that's why the money was wasted. They thought they were spending 20k for installs, they were actually spending 20k on were clicks to an app no one could get.

Don't spend money on preorders if you're not collecting payment data now and authorization to charge it later. Anything else isn't a preorder, it's a waste of time.

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#119

Post by rhuru »

I have built ad network tech from scratch and worked for several large networks.

Here is my tip. Always hire specialists to do these sort of ad campaigns for you. It is not something you can figure out easily and lessons here are expensive. OP learned some of the very basic principles of this industry for a price tag for $20K. I have seen people do even worse.

1. Whatever Ads are one of the options you have. Other options are paying users cash to install your app, billboards, tv ads, radio ads, asking teens to distribute app install stickers and what not. I would recommend trying the cheaper method first that do not change much with scale.

2. Ignore the network reported stats. What matters is your business. What is the true cost of acquiring a user that meets all you requirements ?(e.g. paying user) In OPs case this number could be in $00s now. Totally not worth it.

3. Learn that number with smaller spend. (Smaller spend = around $2K for Google)

4. Optimize on that number using different strategies.

Chances are that for most apps your cost to acquire a user would always be more than the revenue generated by that user. Making these ads always a losing proposition.

Then why do folks do it ?

* If you spend $0000000 at scale (like Uber, FB in early days) even though you are making a loss per user, the large number of users with network effects snowballs bringing organic growth. This is compounded if the app itself deals with real money (Uber ) or has deep network effects (Signal, Instagram, Snapchat) which bring in organic growht.

* A meal prep app is never going to be profitable in this manner.

If I was OP I would have probably tried to find all the instagram influencers who talk about meals and then emailed them about a partnership. Would have paid $500 or so to tier 2 influencers to make coiple of posts about the app.

Re: We spent $20k on Google Play pre-registration ads

#120

Post by rhuru »

rhuru wrote: post #119

I have built ad network tech from scratch and worked for several large networks. Here is my tip. Always hire specialists to do these sort of ad campaigns for you. It is not something you can figure out easily and lessons here are expensive. OP learned some of the very basic principles of this industry for a price tag for $20K. I have seen people do even worse. 1. Whatever Ads are one of the options you have. Other op…

On other than those $20K helped you get this post on the front page of HN. This is going ot add few hundred installs for your app. Note that you salvaged that damage already.
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