Universal App Campaigns

Universal App Campaigns (UAC’s) are a great way to get your app into the hands of paying users by advertising on some of Google’s largest ad networks such as search, display, YouTube, and the Google Play Store.

Google uses machine learning to do real time analysis on hundreds of millions of potential signal combinations and then show the most relevant ads to selected users to reduce the time you spend manually analysing your ads and to help you achieve the best possible conversion rates.

Here we look at some of the key components of a successful Google UAC.

What are Google Universal App Campaigns?

UAC’s are an automated ad type designed to streamline your ad process and generate an increase in app installs and in-app conversions. Using machine learning, UAC’s identify your best performing ads and place them in front of those users most likely to convert to paying customers.

Google claims UAC’s can increase ROI by 140% compared with their other app promotion products.

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How do Universal App Campaigns work?

Unlike traditional Google Ads campaigns, with UAC’s you no longer need to create individual ads for each platform. Instead you upload groups of images, videos or HTML5 assets along with different lines of text to form your own inventory. Google will then experiment with different combinations and using machine learning it will determine the most successful combinations of text and visual elements to create relevant ads to suit the layout and audience of the various channels.

Google also manages bidding and targeting to maximise results based on your available budget and the goals you set.

What do I still need to do manually?

You’ll need to set a daily budget and a target cost per install or per action. You’ll also select the target location and languages and upload four different lines of text, each up to a maximum of 25 characters. It’s important to remember that Google won’t translate your text, so you need to consider where your app is available and where you’re most likely to attract customers.

You choose whether to set your campaigns to target new users, meaning Google will adjust your bids and show ad elements according to what generates the most app downloads, or whether to maximise in-app actions. For this you tell Google which in-app action you want it to recognize as your UAC campaign goal and it automatically shows elements most likely to trigger that in-app event.

What are the benefits of UAC’s?

UAC’s allow you to understand users behavior and segment your marketing using machine-learned demographics to target users according to those behaviors, with some firms reporting a 50% increase in user activity and interaction following a well-constructed campaign.

Setting up a Google UAC campaign is a relatively straightforward experience and once it’s in place you can be confident that you have the might of Google’s tech bods fighting on your side in the digital marketing war. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to do. After all, your campaign will only be as good as the assets you give it to work with. Which means you need to be on the ball with the texts, images and videos you upload to give the campaign the best chance of success. You’ll need catchy headlines, striking images and videos that keep people watching.

So, it's important to spend time getting those elements right from the start. Only then can you trust the technology to serve you well. If you’re thinking you’d like to get up and running with a Google UAC but you’re not sure where to start or if you just need some support in selecting your assets and targets, get in touch. We’d love to help you save time and effort while maximising your ad investment.

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