During Apple’s worldwide developer conference (WWDC) 2021 on June 7th, the main iOS 15 keynote announcement detailed several new capabilities to the App Store that will significantly amplify the power of mobile marketers’ App Store Optimization (ASO) efforts.
There are moments that redefine an industry as you know it. Apple’s announcement is just that. It’s a paradigm shift to the way we run ASO and UA.
This article below covers the new groundbreaking capabilities and the potential they have to elevate your marketing game and drive more paid and organic growth.
In 2015, we knew that developers and mobile growthers shouldn’t have to make decisions based on guesswork. For this reason, we decided to build Storemaven and commit ourselves to democratizing the expertise and science that drives App Store Optimization and Mobile Growth. We’ve been longing for this update, and they’re a direct reflection of what we believe in: An App Store that lets you define the right story for every audience, to maximize its full potential.
While we’re not suggesting the App Store will be ideal, we’re really excited to see a shift in the right direction starting with iOS 15, and even more thrilled to be rolling out enhanced solutions for you to succeed on this new journey.
First things first: Check our webinar on these new changes and opportunities – click here.
And take a look at our new product page – where you can join the waiting list for our Growth Intelligent Platform.
What are iOS 15’s new features for App Store Optimization (ASO)?
If there’s a single important takeaway from this launch – it’s this: Apple just split the App Store in two. An App Store for organic traffic and an App Store for paid traffic – unlocking the power of delivering different messages to different audiences.
To highlight the magnitude of the opportunity, our tests show that audiences can have vastly different conversion rates from 0.05% to 80% CVR, and furthermore, winning variations will likely vary by audience and acquisition channels.
Let’s dive in further.
iOS 15 New Feature #1: Product Page Optimization (PPO) – Your App Store for Organic Traffic
iOS 15’s Product Page Optimization will allow you to compare the performance of your default (control) App Store product page against three different treatments (variations). Apple makes it clear that the intention is for developers to use this new mechanism to optimize for Search and Browse traffic (aka “Organic”), while Paid UA (referral traffic) has a dedicated solution in Custom Product Pages (which we will discuss further below).
For our guide on iOS 15 Product Page Optimization.
In each PPO treatment, you’ll be able to choose a different icon, screenshots, and app preview video. All creative assets will need to go through the standard App Store review process before you can use them within the PPO test, but luckily it won’t require a new version release (with the exception of icon changes).
For each test, you will be able to decide the portion of traffic which should be allocated to each treatment. For example, 70% Control, 10% for each of the three treatments.
Once your iOS 15 A/B test is live, you’ll be able to monitor the performance of each treatment by examining impressions, installs, and the conversion rate of each App Store treatment. You’ll also be able to see the relative CVR performance for each treatment in comparison to the Control.
Each PPO test can run within a specific localization. Meaning, you can test specific treatments for specific countries.
iOS 15 New Feature #2: Custom Product Pages (CPP) – Your App Store for Paid UA
CPP is a breakthrough for App Store Optimization and Paid UA. It’s what we at Storemaven and our partners have literally been dreaming about. Finally, you have the potential to deliver an optimized and data-proofed experience to your paid audiences.
For our guide on Custom Product Pages.
With CPP, you will be able to create up to 35 custom product pages. In each, you can change anything from your app preview video, screenshots, and promotional text while the icon will remain consistent with your default product page. These 35 custom product pages will be accessible through a unique Apple App Store URL that you can drive specific audiences to.
Unlike the testing mechanism in PPO, Apple hasn’t enabled a mechanism for testing different Custom Product Pages, and finding the optimal Custom Product Page for your various audiences is now more important than ever.
UA leaders, let this sink in for a moment. For years you’ve been creating campaigns driving audiences with different intent to a single page. Now, there’s an opportunity to show the right message to the right audiences. It’s as if you and a friend stood in front of a shop, and the window display showed the relevant items for each of you.
Our data shows that a customized message on the App Store that matches the intent-driven by your ad, can potentially multiply your conversion rates.
For your app store optimization team to thrive in iOS 15, here are some of the biggest challenges you need to tackle:
1. Plan ahead for iOS 15’s release
A) Know your Audience and Test Goals
- Where is the biggest opportunity?
- Which organic audience should I optimize for?
- Do I optimize for funnels with low conversions? Or funnels driving major volume?
- Search and Browse funnels behave very differently.
B) Develop your Hypothesis
- What test should I run?
- How do I continuously develop strong hypotheses to prevent decay and diminishing returns?
- How do I prioritize the most impactful creative assets?
C) Plan your Creative Design Accordingly
- How do I translate hypotheses into converting designs?
- How do I run an operation that designs Product Page creatives at scale?
2. Operate your iOS 15 tests accordingly
A) Operate Custom Product Pages at Scale
- How do I test Custom Product Pages?
- How do I make sure Custom Product Pages continue to perform over time?
B) Allocate Traffic Accordingly
- What is the right allocation of traffic for each treatment?
- Should I be cautious with allocating too much traffic to new treatments?
C) Maintain Statistical Confidence
- How do I calculate statistical confidence?
- Can I maintain statistical validity when traffic distribution among the treatments is uneven?
- When should I conclude a test?
- Is this test progressing in the right direction? Is it risky to keep it open?
3. Understand how to Analyze your iOS 15 Test Results
A) Apply results
- Should I apply 100% of traffic to the best-performing variation?
- On the surface, this sounds simple, but I know from running tests with Google Experiments that results can fluctuate.
B) Collect Strategic Insights
- What should be my next test hypotheses?
- How do I collect insights on what design elements convert and understand patterns following a series of tests?
Our complete iOS 15 app store optimization guide details a full framework for creating, testing, and analyzing your product pages.
Storemaven’s Solution
Storemaven’s sandbox testing solution has always delivered a statistically validated approach for matching the right product page with your respective paid and organic audiences. And now, we’re excited to roll out new iOS 15 app A/B testing solutions built on top of the latest iOS 15 capabilities, and create a holistic testing solution from Concept Testing to Organic Product Page Optimization and Custom Product Page Optimization for Paid UA.
As always, we are committed to our vision of democratizing mobile growth expertise and we’re excited to play with our new iOS 15 tool box. We saw this coming and designed a platform to take care of all your needs to continue winning. It began rolling out and we’re inviting you to get early access.
