Even after knowing about this, I still use mobile install ads. Not to drive traffic to a product page (which I actually think is a waste of time) but to actually attract downloads and boost my App Store presence. I know it's not the best form of advertising, but it's a quick way to boost installs over a short period of time.
You never can beat a good promotional review site advert tho! Seems to be the best way to get any real download numbers in less than a couple weeks.
@JDuaneJ
Buying Installs through ads I actually didn't test yet but I had another indie developer responding to the blog article - suggesting AdMob. He managed to increase installs by 30%.
Just warning you from Facebook Ads - > Likes.
They are fatal.
Yes you are correct, likes for a product page are pretty unreliable. I truly believe devs shouldn't waste their time creating a product page, but rather a company or personal dev page where they can make a home for all of their products. This way your presence is around you/company and you will be able track engagement better.
I've used Tapjoy in the past which was pretty successful, but my user cost was waaaaaaay too high to justify keeping the campaign open. So let's see, I went from Facebook to Tapjoy to Google Ads and finally ended up with just buying banner ads on popular review sites. Thats when I saw my downloads go from 20/week to 110/week.
Using Google Ads was VERY good at creating a buzz just before release and driving traffic to a particular site, but fails at conversion to actual installs. Just my opinion and experience.
It's all very true. My largest page - Santa's Present Drop on facebook, all came from advertising but trying to engage with them is all but impossible. From the 880+ likes, probably 20-30 actually engage.
More interesting was that when the game went on sale, I posted the useless links to Amazon and Google play and that received almost no engagement. I know from my time in the games industry that Likes do not equal sales and well aware of 'paid' Likes.
But due to how facebook now promotes your posts(as the guy explains in that video above), you are just shooting yourself in the foot.
using Google adwords/mob worked best and I saw an increase in sales of my app during the campaign I ran.
The only time facebook really works is when your page grows organically and then you can engage with your community.
If you are thinking of buying advertising on facebook - don't!
Like Balls? Then click here! We've 100 coming soon
Guys you can advertise an app per install and target IOS users or Android users depending on your campaign. You don't have to choose per like marketing. I think per app install is worth it for a free app to get your name out there if you get free ads from FB or have little funds.
I think the major problem with advertising with Facebook ads is the target audience for your site. You need to get Likes from people who are generally interested in your apps. For example, if we had a portal where Gamesalad developers liked each others pages, etc. These types of likes would be more likely to help the developer.
We did a little experiment with a "Get Fiquette" FaceBook Ad over the weekend. 2/3 of the likes look fake to me. We ended up paying around $0.40 per like, guess we will see tomorrow if we got any extra sales. Waste of time and money in my opinion.
interesting.... you need to think about what you want to achieve.
Use installs for free apps WITH in game advertising, so you make money from ad revenue
The idea of getting your name out there... well you might as well put a big poster in Times Sq or Piccaddily with your name on it, more people will notice it. I don't think people are interested in names or who you are (no offence), they are interested in how good and relevant your game is to them at that point in time.
Hey I am also interested in running the FB ads for boosting installs for my app and I have heard that fb ads are best for this purpose and one can see huge increase in installs in less time so I am just thinking to hire expert facebook ads services for that. Hoping that it would work.
Thanks for sharing this @BigDave
I also advertise on Facebook. I kind of worked out that likes from some countries are worthless but didn't know how damaging it could be to have too many un-engaged followers.
Maybe time to rethink my marketing strategy...
Advertising needs efforts as well as tested strategies. My friend's business suffered from a great downfall before she took help from facebook ads services few months back. Not only got good response from customers but also successful in gaining good ranking.
BigDave
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That's Crazy! Thanks for that
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Yea that was a good read and video.
Even after knowing about this, I still use mobile install ads. Not to drive traffic to a product page (which I actually think is a waste of time) but to actually attract downloads and boost my App Store presence. I know it's not the best form of advertising, but it's a quick way to boost installs over a short period of time.
You never can beat a good promotional review site advert tho! Seems to be the best way to get any real download numbers in less than a couple weeks.
Illustration Portfolio:: |
Our Christmas Wishes for iPad:: |
Astropak for iPhone,
Android
and Kindle Fire
^^
@JDuaneJ
Buying Installs through ads I actually didn't test yet but I had another indie developer responding to the blog article - suggesting AdMob. He managed to increase installs by 30%.
Just warning you from Facebook Ads - > Likes.
They are fatal.
My Apps
https://itunes.apple.com/de/artist/david-zobrist/id733552276
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=David+Zobrist&hl=de
Yes you are correct, likes for a product page are pretty unreliable. I truly believe devs shouldn't waste their time creating a product page, but rather a company or personal dev page where they can make a home for all of their products. This way your presence is around you/company and you will be able track engagement better.
I've used Tapjoy in the past which was pretty successful, but my user cost was waaaaaaay too high to justify keeping the campaign open. So let's see, I went from Facebook to Tapjoy to Google Ads and finally ended up with just buying banner ads on popular review sites. Thats when I saw my downloads go from 20/week to 110/week.
Using Google Ads was VERY good at creating a buzz just before release and driving traffic to a particular site, but fails at conversion to actual installs. Just my opinion and experience.
Illustration Portfolio:: |
Our Christmas Wishes for iPad:: |
Astropak for iPhone,
Android
and Kindle Fire
@JDuaneJ
Thanks man, good info!
My Apps
https://itunes.apple.com/de/artist/david-zobrist/id733552276
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=David+Zobrist&hl=de
Thumbs up!
I am of the (old fashioned) opinion that people that 'like' something should genuinely 'like' something.
Glad that you've exposed this particular 'marketing' scheme as the scam that it is.
QS =D
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
It's all very true. My largest page - Santa's Present Drop on facebook, all came from advertising but trying to engage with them is all but impossible. From the 880+ likes, probably 20-30 actually engage.
More interesting was that when the game went on sale, I posted the useless links to Amazon and Google play and that received almost no engagement. I know from my time in the games industry that Likes do not equal sales and well aware of 'paid' Likes.
But due to how facebook now promotes your posts(as the guy explains in that video above), you are just shooting yourself in the foot.
using Google adwords/mob worked best and I saw an increase in sales of my app during the campaign I ran.
The only time facebook really works is when your page grows organically and then you can engage with your community.
If you are thinking of buying advertising on facebook - don't!
Like Balls? Then click here! We've 100 coming soon
Great video in your link. I'd considered Facebook ads... not anymore!
Well with my website I recieved $50 free Facebook ads and $100 google ads. So I'll still try it out.
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Guys you can advertise an app per install and target IOS users or Android users depending on your campaign. You don't have to choose per like marketing. I think per app install is worth it for a free app to get your name out there if you get free ads from FB or have little funds.
Free Mini Games and Demo Templates
I think the major problem with advertising with Facebook ads is the target audience for your site. You need to get Likes from people who are generally interested in your apps. For example, if we had a portal where Gamesalad developers liked each others pages, etc. These types of likes would be more likely to help the developer.
But this is probably true of all social media sites and apps.
wow, thanks for posting. I always suspected problems with Facebook advertising. This is just wrong.........
We did a little experiment with a "Get Fiquette" FaceBook Ad over the weekend. 2/3 of the likes look fake to me. We ended up paying around $0.40 per like, guess we will see tomorrow if we got any extra sales. Waste of time and money in my opinion.
interesting.... you need to think about what you want to achieve.
Use installs for free apps WITH in game advertising, so you make money from ad revenue
The idea of getting your name out there... well you might as well put a big poster in Times Sq or Piccaddily with your name on it, more people will notice it. I don't think people are interested in names or who you are (no offence), they are interested in how good and relevant your game is to them at that point in time.
2:15 am rant over!
Hey I am also interested in running the FB ads for boosting installs for my app and I have heard that fb ads are best for this purpose and one can see huge increase in installs in less time so I am just thinking to hire expert facebook ads services for that. Hoping that it would work.
Thanks for sharing this @BigDave
I also advertise on Facebook. I kind of worked out that likes from some countries are worthless but didn't know how damaging it could be to have too many un-engaged followers.
Maybe time to rethink my marketing strategy...
Advertising needs efforts as well as tested strategies. My friend's business suffered from a great downfall before she took help from facebook ads services few months back. Not only got good response from customers but also successful in gaining good ranking.
It really depends on what is your marketing goal in a certain app.
I think Facebook is more on awareness and gaining Likes in Facebook Page.
If I want my mobile game app to get more install, I rather use Mobile App Installs of Adwords. Why Adwords?
Hope this helps you.