A newly launched app · B2C · host's own app
Run a $2-per-install Apple ads campaign everywhere except the US to pick countries to translate for
Saw sales from new markets; used spend by country to choose translations
Workedapple-search-adslocalizationmarket-selection
What they did
For a newly launched app: max-conversion Apple Ads campaign in every country except the US, CPA goal ~$2, ~$100/day budget (spent quickly). Broad, exact and automated ad groups. Read spend and impressions per country to see where the main keyword has search volume (no ASO tool covers it) and decide which localizations to do; checked RevenueCat for sales by country.
What happened
Sales appeared from markets outside the US; per-country spend/impressions guided localization
“we we did a max conversion campaign, and I did everything outside of the US, essentially.”
“all I was really looking at was the spend per country and the impressions per country to see where best to localize”
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- Start from App Store search suggestions, then find the country where that search is popularBecame his first app that works, after 10 failed ones; exact revenue not stated
- Run cheap, low-bid Apple search ads in every country to see which keywords and countries payFound the countries now driving ~350% average ROAS at $0.37 CPI
- Move winning countries into their own ad campaigns, raise bids, and keep the best runningTop campaigns return ~400% ROAS; US barely breaks even
- Translate the store page and app for the top 12 stores plus countries your research flagsAcross 10 apps, those without translations did ~50% worse
- Charge $5-7, and lower prices by country where competition is high
- Try TikTok and Facebook adsBad experience; only a small test, dropped for Apple search ads
- Build in Flutter, focus on iPhone, and also publish on Android with no adsAndroid brings ~10% of revenue with zero ads or effort
- Put single words separated by commas in the keyword field, not full phrasesSwitched a month ago to index more keywords; no results yet
- Give 2,000 free coins on first open, then offer to double them for watching a video adAd revenue rose every time the promo ran; most users watched
- Rank first for one uncrowded search term in a niche people really needClose to $10K revenue from a single keyword with popularity ~40