A health and fitness app · B2C · guest's recent acquisition
Target 24 more versions of the keyword you already rank #1 for, and cut Apple Ads
Unknownasoapple-search-ads
What they did
For a newly bought ~$500K/year app already #1 for its main keyword, exported keyword data and filtered by the main term: 24 variants with search volume >= 24 (analogy: green noise -> blue noise, purple noise). Keep adding them to the title/subtitle instead of diluting into unrelated terms (like 'Migraine Buddy: Track Headache' adding chronic pain, triggers). Cut Apple Ads from ~$10K to ~$5K/month to shift effort to ASO. Next: test Meta aimed at an older audience.
- Stage
- Exit (post-acquisition)
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
- Buy an app that ranks #1 but charges $2, then add a $60/year hard paywallRevenue up from $1-2K to $8-10K a month with the same downloads
- Remove the X from the paywall so users must start a trialTrial starts doubled from 6% to 13%; trial-to-paid unchanged; some one-star reviews
- Name your new app after a keyword with ~30 searches that nobody uses in their title#1 in week one, 100 downloads a day, $1,600 first month, ~$20K MRR years later
- Pick keywords where the top 3 apps have few reviews and lack the keyword in their titleUsed to launch and buy apps that reached #1; no pooled numbers
- Green Noise App: Name the app after the keyword and use the App Store autocomplete phrase as subtitleReached #1 for 'green noise'; still #3 with little upkeep
- Indie App Santa: Buy a profitable app with a 10-year loan and pay it back from the app's profitMoney back in 3-4 months on one purchase; example leaves ~$5K a month after loan payments
- Buy apps that already get organic downloads but earn too little or skip a channelBest buys fit this; one $18K purchase without it flopped
- Try Meta ads on a small organic app, including a hard paywallOnly ~$1 revenue per install; economics didn't work
- Send Meta sign-up, paywall-view and checkout events while still optimizing for purchasesGuest says the ad account got smarter; no numbers
- Show paid Instagram and Facebook users a paywall with no X; let organic users close itReported to perform a lot better; no numbers shared
- Switch from a closable paywall with no trial to a hard paywall with a free trialPerformed a little better; no numbers
- App Masters: Launch a good-enough app, and only finish it if downloads show upSpeaker's standing process; no numbers
- Rank for a niche keyword first, then climb to broader onesOutranked Canva on a keyword
- Build just the viral feature as a TestFlight and let creators film it