Best Practices for Facebook App Install Ads This 2021

What are app install ads?

App install ads are advertisements that pop up outside of application marketplaces, enticing social media users to download your brand’s mobile app. They can be as simple as descriptive promotions, or as complex as playable ads that allow users to test your product before even downloading it.

Why use Facebook app install ads to promote your product?

Facebook has one of the largest user bases for social media on the internet. You could promote your product to billions of people when you make use of this expansive social media platform.

In the case of Shopee, they experienced a 77% increase in incremental application installs after making use of Facebook app install ads. Shopee also noted a 42% lower cost per install for that same campaign, because of the lower cost of advertising on the huge social media platform.

If you need to be convinced a bit more, here are three reasons why this tech giant’s performance-focused pay-per-click (PPC) advertising strategy is the best choice for your brand:

1. Streamlined downloads.

With Facebook marketing apps, you can send users straight to your download page right from the Facebook ad itself. Users can skip slow landing pages and download your application right away through Facebook app install ads. 

2. Client education.

This tech giant also commits to educating its clients. They provide educational courses and best practices for you to fully understand topics like installs, traffic objectives, and playable advertisements, so you can reach your fullest PPC management potential.

3. Data gathering and analysis.

When you install the Facebook app for ad management, you also gain access to data gathering and analysis tools for your campaigns. Improve your marketing by tracking your goals and measuring your performance, all within your advertising budget.

How to Run App Install Ads on Facebook

1. Implement proper tracking of Facebook App Install Ads.
2. Maximize your audience targeting.
3. Stand out with your creatives.
4. Choose your ad placements wisely.
5. Allocate and optimize your budget.
6. Analyze your data and results.

Convinced? If you’re looking to run your Facebook app install ads already, just remember the following: first, register your mobile application for Facebook ads. Then, implement your software development kit (SDK). Lastly, let Facebook assist you in targeting, optimizing, and measuring your ad’s install rate and conversions.

Ready to get started? Read on to learn more about the app install best practices this 2021!

1. Implement proper tracking of Facebook App Install Ads.

In preparation for your campaign, you need to know how to track your advertisements first. With Facebook, you can track a staggering number of user events when they interact with your ad and application. 

These include (but are not limited to): when the application is searched, viewed, launched, added to cart, added to a wishlist, purchased, rated, and many more.

Without these indicators, you won’t be able to gather data to measure your campaign’s success. Explore your app ad options and enable proper tracking of your advertisements so Facebook can automatically optimize them based on its collected data.

2.Maximize your audience targeting.

The next step on your Facebook ads checklist is to figure out your target audience. For any PPC management strategy, you need to know your target market to make the most out of your campaign budget. Luckily, this company allows you to target audiences with ease. 

Basic audience customization includes users’ age, location, and gender. However, you can specify your targeting with the following customizations, too:

A. Core Audience.

Do you want to target audiences based on their interests, religion, or occupation? Core Audience is an option that can help you do this by selecting audiences based on four main targeting types: location, demographics, interests, and behaviors. 

Facebook allows you to target core audiences by pulling data from the information users share on their profile including the behavior they exhibit online and offline. This data is then collated into categories that you can easily customize on your dashboard.

B. Custom Audience.

Are you looking to re-engage users who interacted with your brand but didn’t follow through with a purchase? With the Custom Audience option on the Facebook marketing app, you can target users by more than just their demographics.

You can use Custom Audience to reach new users who never interacted with your brand before. You can also use this option to reach users who previously engaged with your brand, but didn’t follow through with a conversion. 

Upload the details of your clients through the “website traffic” option so you can reach them with your advertisements. You can also use the “app activity” option to convert free trial users into paying customers by showing them more discount-focused advertising

C. Lookalike Audience.

This option works best when you already have an established user database to “copy.” Using the Lookalike Audience option, Facebook studies your current users’ interests and activities and shows your advertisements to new users who are similar to your current audience.

If, for example, you ran an ad campaign that your current Custom Audience liked, you can create a new Lookalike Audience to show your PPC strategy to more similar users.

3. Stand out with your creatives.

When creating a campaign, you need the right visuals and creatives to attract the right audiences. For Facebook mobile app install ads, the company has since removed its text overlay tool for its client advertisers. However, there are still a few other ways you can maximize your visuals like a pro:

A. Pick the right type of visual.

You can advertise with a single image, a single video, a “carousel” of photos or videos (where users can swipe between content on their own), and a slideshow of photos or videos. Whichever visual type you choose, just make sure they follow the best practices for visual content to make the most out of your campaign.

B. Make use of A/B testing when you can.

A/B testing allows you to test two versions of an ad to see which one performs better. Facebook has its own tools that allow you to conduct this type of testing, and it also lets you create up to six single image advertisements using the same image, at the cost of one ad. This will help you perform A/B testing on these smaller campaigns for your future reference.

C. Grab attention with a compelling headline.

Headlines should grab a user’s attention right off the bat. Short and concise, your headline should at least convince users to keep looking at your app install ad for more information.

D. Write a good caption.

A good caption tells your audiences what the benefits of your brand are, and why you’re the best brand in the business, too. Captions should encapsulate your application’s most meaningful features in the fewest words possible.

E. Your image copy is everything.

Like what was mentioned before, the text overlay tool was removed just this year. However, you still need to create a concise copy for your ad. Your headline should only have 25 characters, while the body should only have 90 characters. You also have access to 11 different call-to-action buttons you can use depending on your brand’s needs.

In lieu of these points, bear in mind that Facebook uses certain metrics to measure ad relevance score. This is very helpful if you’re looking for ways to improve the quality and performance of your ads on the platform.

4. Choose your ad placements wisely.

In 2020, Facebook rolled out new ad placements for all your performance-focused PPC advertising needs. Your ad can now appear in various places on its affiliated applications and its audience network for the widest reach possible.

If you pick the Automatic Placement option for your ad, then the company will choose where to show your ad. But you can still choose where to show your ad using the “edit placement” option. Here are the places your ad can show up from Facebook’s affiliated applications:

• Facebook. Your advertisement will be placed on users’ news feeds and stories, for them to check out when they scroll through.
• Messenger. Your advertisement can turn up as either a banner ad on the Messenger home page or as an in-context ad when they’re messaging your business.
• Instagram. Similar to Facebook, your advertisement can turn up on targeted users’ Instagram feeds and stories.
• Audience Network. Your ad can even appear on non-social media platforms too since mobile app install ads can be shown on third-party applications, websites, searches, and socials affiliated with the Facebook group of companies.

5. Allocate and optimize your budget.

For mobile app install ads, you can pay per link click, per install, per engagement, or per 10-second video view. Facebook lets you choose how much you want to pay per click, install, engagement, or video view, depending on user behavior. You have two bid options for your mobile app install ad:

• Lowest Cost. Brands with lower budgets should go for this choice. In this bid option, you have the opportunity to set a “bid cap,” or the maximum amount you can pay per click, install, engagement or view. This way, your advertisement will only be shown to users who are within the bid cap.
• Target Cost. With this option, your ad is automatically assigned to an average bidding value. Though usually more expensive, this option allows your ad to get displayed to a more ideal audience that’s more likely to complete a conversion, i.e. download and pay for your product.

6. Analyze your data and results.

You tracked your advertisements, targeted the best audiences, developed the best creatives, placing your ads on the best platforms, and budgeted everything wisely. The last thing you need to check off your ad optimization checklist is to analyze all your data.

What worked? What didn’t work? What can you improve? These are the basic questions you need to ask yourself as a digital marketer to succeed in the highly competitive world of pay-per-click advertising.

The great thing about Facebook is that it tracks all your data, from when you launch your campaign to when it ends, to help you in this analysis stage. When you install the Facebook app for your advertising needs, you give your brand’s mobile application the best chance at online success.

Key Takeaways

With the way everyone and everything has gone online in 2020, your brand has a lot of competition for online success. Your mobile application needs the best practices possible and the best performance-focused PPC agency out there to garner that online success for your brand. 

Facebook is one of the best places to put your mobile app install ads up if you want successful conversions for your brand. Never forget these core points when you start planning out your brand’s new PPC strategy:

• Track your Facebook app install ads properly so you can analyze and improve them in the long run.
• The right audience is out there. You just need to broaden your reach, or in some cases, be more specific on who receives your ads.
• Get creative! There are lots of ways you can advertise your brand through visuals.
• Your ad can turn up in so many more places than you realized.
• Your budget isn't a dealbreaker. Just make sure to optimize it to help you get effective conversions for your brand.

If you still need help in strategizing your next digital marketing campaign, feel free to message us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn for more advice.