Google App campaign, formerly popular as Universal app campaigns or UAC, is a full-fledged paid ads channel by Google Ads. It helps app publishers push their mobile apps to the target audiences inorganically by running contextual ads on Google’s inventory.
You need to understand how the Google app campaign works to grow your app and market it to the right target audience. This article will give you an insight into everything related to Google app campaigns so that you can use them efficiently to improve your app ranking and get more downloads.
Understanding Google App Campaigns & How It Works?
The Google app campaign was launched in 2015. The idea behind it was to make the marketing of apps more accessible for publishers. Google App campaigns optimize your ad delivery to get your app in front of people most likely to install it.
Google app campaigns work on all of Google’s platforms including, Search, Display, YouTube, and the Google Play Store. The ads are served to users based on their interactions with Google products.
Google App campaigns work differently than other available Google Ads campaigns. To begin with, Google needs only your essential details, including a budget, starting bids, geo-targeting(if any), and the ad assets like images, video, text, and HTML5.
Once you provide all these details, Google will create relevant advertisements by matching and mixing your ad assets. The best part is that you don’t need to provide keywords because the core algorithm relies on Google Play search terms. These Google Play search terms are relevant to the app’s category.
Although it’s best to ensure that your provided test assets for Google app campaigns should include keywords as they will influence the search patterns on Google Play.
Types of Google App Campaigns
1. App Install Campaign:
The main objective of this campaign is to increase app installs. It is an excellent option for new apps as it doesn’t require conversion data. The working of this campaign is similar to that of a search campaign. Google relies on your provided text, images, and videos to create ads that are served on Google’s ad platforms.
2. App Engagement Campaigns:
The objective of this campaign is to increase app engagement. It is an excellent option for apps with a good number of installs and conversion data. For this campaign, you need to provide conversion data along with the text, images, and videos.
3. App Pre-Registration Campaigns:
The objective of this campaign is to increase app pre-registrations. It is an excellent option for apps not yet launched but taking pre-registrations. For this campaign, you must provide a promotional image and the pre-registration URL.
How Does Conversion Tracking for App Campaigns Help You Gain Visibility?
Conversion tracking is a key metric that helps you measure the success of your app campaigns. It gives you insights into how many people saw your ad and took the desired action.
There are two types of conversions that you can track for your app campaigns — in-app conversions and engagement conversions.
In-app conversion tracking lets you track when a user completes a specific action in your app, such as making a purchase or subscribing to a service.
Engagement conversion tracking lets you track when a user completes an action that keeps them engaged with your app, such as opening the app or completing a level in a game.
To set up conversion tracking for your app campaigns, you need to add the Google Play Services SDK to your app. Once you’ve added the SDK, you can create conversion actions in the Google Play Console.
Conversion tracking for app campaigns helps marketers gain visibility in multiple ways.
- It helps you track the audience who saw your ad and then took the desired action.
- It helps you track the number of users who saw your ad and then installed your app. This metric is known as the install rate.
- Third, it helps you track the people who saw your ad and then engaged with your app.
- Finally, it helps you track the number of people who saw your ad and then pre-registered for your app. This metric is known as the pre-registration rate.
Types of Ad Formats & Assets That Google App Campaigns Offers
Google App Campaigns offers a variety of ad formats and assets that you can use to create your ad campaigns:
1. Text (headline & description):
The text is the most important part of your ad asset as it is what will be shown to users when they see your ad. Below are the guidelines for the text format:
- You can have up to 5 headlines in the text ad format, and the limit is 30 characters for each headline
- The maximum limit for adding descriptions is 5, and the limit is 90 characters for each description
2. Images:
Images are important assets that help your ad stand out among your competitors. These images also come with certain guidelines like:
- For images of 1:1 ratio, you can have up to 20 images in different orientations and the image size of either 200×200 or 1200×1200
- You need to have at least one image of a 1.91:1 ratio with dimensions of either 600×314 or 1200×628
- Your campaign should have had an image of a 4:5 ratio with dimensions of 320×400 or 1200×1500
3. Videos:
Videos are a great way to showcase your app in an engaging and visually appealing way. The video assets have the following guidelines:
- You can have up to 20 square videos, and they can be of different orientations
- Your ad campaign must have at least one portrait video
- Also, you need to have at least one landscape video
- All the videos must be hosted on YouTube to be used in the Google App Campaign
4. HTML5
HTML5 asset is required only for a specific type of ad format, and below are some guidelines for the same:
- The landscape interstitial should be 480×320.
- The portrait interstitial should be 320×480.
- You must upload HTML5 as .zip with a maximum size of 1MB and no more than 40 attached files.
Best Practices to Follow with Google App Campaigns
Here are a few best practices to be followed while running a Google App campaign:
- Your campaign’s creatives should be aligned with the app’s brand style guidelines. It ensures that your ad campaigns maintain the same look and feel as your app
- Your ad creatives should be aligned with your campaign goal. For example, if your campaign is for app installs, the CTA should also be around app install
- Upload as many high-quality creative assets as possible. It will increase the chances of your ad being shown more often and to more people
- Keep monitoring your asset’s performance. It will help you identify which assets are performing well and which need improvement
Take Advantage of Google App Campaign With AppBroda!
Google App Campaign is a powerful tool that can help you boost your app’s visibility and downloads. Get in touch with our team to learn how we can help you take advantage of Google App Campaigns. Our experts will work with you to create the most effective and ROI-driven campaigns that meet your specific goals.
