How Contextual Mobile Ads Boost iOS 15 App Store Installs

This post was written in collaboration with our friends Storemaven, which specializes in ASO and mobile growth.

Mobile practitioners used to give their keys to networks to find users for them, and it was an easy trade that made sense when IDFA was part of the game. And then it was taken away, deprecated, and the keys given to MMPs and the networks are once again in your hands. You need to take responsibility. You need to better understand your users, know how to segment them and know who they are, why they came and what needs to be done to make them stay.

Sorry for this basic description of the new reality, but it’s very simple: You now have full control of understanding your users and growing your business.

In this article, a collaboration between YellowHEAD and Storemaven, we’re going to discuss how context will take center stage in your mobile marketing activities, looking towards the new features Apple is planning to release with newer iOS 15 versions.

We’ll touch on ad creatives, how to build a great contextual ad, and discuss Custom Product Pages, the anticipated feature Apple released in December 2021. Let’s begin.

App Store Product Pages

How Contextual Marketing Works with (Custom) Product Pages

In the mobile marketing world, a (paid) user journey to install goes through two major phases: the ad creative and then the App Store Product Page.

When thinking about contextual marketing and App Store product pages there is one major question to ask yourself:

When a user in a certain state of mind and in a specific context sees and taps on my ad, which  creatives and messaging will maximize the probability that users will install?

Let’s unpack that a bit.

When thinking about state of mind and context, you need to think first about what the user was doing when they saw your ad and what it tells you about that person.

For the purpose of this article, let’s assume you are marketing a rich, social casino game that involves a few different game mechanics. Players can play a slot machine, win coins that they use in order to build a village, can sometimes win at the slot machine the chance to attack another player’s village, or steal their coins, and can also collect cards over time that gives them more in-game awards.

Although this is an elaborate example (yes, I’m thinking about Coin Master) chances are your game or app has different features, and different game mechanics that would appeal to different users.

GameRefinery published a short guide to what motivates different players to play games. Let’s take a look at that real quick: