A subscription utility app · B2C · guest's own app
Start from App Store search suggestions, then find the country where that search is popular
Became his first app that works, after 10 failed ones; exact revenue not stated
Workedasomarket-selectionvalidation
What they did
1) Search the US App Store (on a phone; the web doesn't show long-tail suggestions) for a topic you understand and can build for, e.g. 'calories'. 2) Note autosuggest long-tail terms; ignore new apps' names that appear there briefly. 3) Check whether other apps already own the keyword in title/subtitle, or whether it's a brand term. 4) If US popularity is low (e.g. 5) but Apple suggests it, assume it's searched elsewhere: find the top-ranking app for it and see where it gets its ratings/installs. 5) Deep research with Claude connected to Astro via MCP (his own skill): popularity and difficulty per country, related keywords, competitors per country; ASOMobile shows whether anyone bids on the keyword in Apple Search Ads. Many related keywords with demand is a good sign. Then build, with country-specific titles/subtitles mixing native and English keywords. Example: 'kanji' has popularity 7 in the US but 73 in Japan; 21 of 22 Japanese-learning keywords score better outside the US.
What happened
Led to his current app, which earns from organic plus profitable Apple Search Ads in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Japan
- Stage
- Pre-launch (idea selection, pre-build)
“So the strategy is is not necessarily the low, uh, popularity keyword in the US is not used in different countries, even if it's English.”
“So I found the as the top app and I have like looking for the app itself from the keyword, where is the app is getting more ratings, more installs, stuff like this.”
“I'm using Claude with MCP, with Astro, to do to run this research for me for all countries.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- 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
- Run a $2-per-install Apple ads campaign everywhere except the US to pick countries to translate forSaw sales from new markets; used spend by country to choose translations
- 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