Universal App Campaigns

Google’s Universal App campaigns are a unique channel to acquire users at scale. I’ve been running with UACs since 2017 and have worked closely with Google’s App Marketing team regarding feedback, campaign performance, and best practices.

Responsibilities:

  • Draft marketing text copy

  • Compile creative assets from YouTube and library

  • Segment by region

  • Allocate budget effectively

  • Manage budget increases through lifecycle

  • For iOS & Android apps

What Are UACs?

Universal App Campaigns rely on Google’s marketing engine to drive app installs and action by delivering a mixture of text copy and ad creatives on a number of different platforms.

UAC Product Types

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*UAC for Installs - The most effective campaign type when the main goal is reach. These campaigns find the cheapest users across Google’s networks, but they do not consider any down funnel metrics.

*UAC for Installs Advanced - Can be effective campaign when the primary goal remains reach but when user engagement is a secondary goal.

*UAC for Actions - The preferred campaign type when user engagement and revenue are primary goals. Allows you to bid on a cost-per-action model, where the campaign targets users likely to perform key in-app actions.

*As described by Google

UAC- Scope.png

Campaign Performance

For tracking, we’ve integrated with Google Firebase to measure attribution.

Results

UAC Actions can be precarious

I’ve managed multiple UAC Action campaigns and most of the time I see mixed results.

Google’s engine takes time and budget to learn which users perform what “action”.

For apps that offer a free trial period, it may take the duration of that trial for Google to recognize the “conversion” event. This, more often than not, will end up costing more money and more time for Google to understand user behavior.

In my experience, the key to succeeding with UAC Actions is defining an event that you know will more than likely lead to a conversion.

UAC Installs

For brand awareness and shotgunning Google’s learning machine, UAC Installs are the best way to go.

If you’re launching a new app and want to gain user insights, this is a great route to capture a decent amount of users within a short amount of time.

Initially the quality of users might be low, but over time I’ve found that Google’s engine learns to find high quality users at scale and in different regions.

Example Campaign

 
Universal App Campaigns.jpg
 

UAC Best Practices

Events: Choose an event that best matches your KPIs (Revenue vs Retention). Campaign should get a minimum of 10 daily in-app conversions - Recommended is 30-40+ actions/day

Bid: Because you’re bidding at a cost per in-app action, bid at higher than what is coming through.

Budget: Minimum daily budget is at least 10x the CPA bid.

Creatives: All asset types and best performing ads should be used.

Monitoring: Avoid making changes within the first 7 days. Any changes to bid or budget should be within 20% per day.