A subscription mobile app · B2C · host's own app
Prove strangers will pay using ASO and Apple Search Ads before Meta
Host's standard process; no numbers given
Unknownvalidationasoapple-search-ads
What they did
Prove that strangers (not friends, family or yourself) pay, using cheaper pull channels first: ASO and Apple Search Ads, where people search and you pull them in. Track paid conversions after trials finish and compare revenue, then scale with Meta. Expect Meta (push, interrupting people) to convert lower. Exception: categories where search won't work, such as a new social network, go straight to Meta and accept a pricier test phase.
“I like to validate that my funnel works with ASO or Apple Ads. Why? Because it's a lot cheaper than spending a fortune on Meta.”
“So I like to start off with Apple Ads and ASO just to make sure it works. Now, you don't have to, this is just my process to make sure that the funnel is fully optimized.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Wait to run Meta ads until 5-10% of installs start a trialHost's agency rule of thumb; 30%+ trial-to-paid and ~2% install-to-paid also required
- Run Meta ads only once each install is worth at least $3Host's minimum; Meta installs are expensive
- Check that Meta's install and trial counts match App Store Connect before launching312 trials in App Store Connect vs 276 in Meta; close enough to launch
- Copy ideas from competitor ads that have run for months in Meta's Ad LibraryResearch step; no results reported
- Cal AI: Run a short ad with a one-line hook, the app in use, then the store linkAd has run about four months, which the host reads as a winner
- Test 3-5 very different ad ideas first, small tweaks laterHost's launch practice; no results reported
- Set Meta to find trial starts, and budget for 50 a week$1,000 at $2 installs gives ~35 trials, short of 50; ~$95 per subscriber
- Send each audience's ad to its own App Store page with matching screenshots
- Show Meta ad users a hard paywall during onboarding