Help Your App Stand Out with Great Creative Assets
What is a creative asset?
How do App campaigns from Google Ads use my assets?
How can I make a successful asset?
Picture DogDwelling, a new mobile app that rates available apartments and houses based on how dog-friendly they are.
Dana, the brains behind the app, thinks DogDwelling has 4 features people will love: It provides maps of local dog parks, measures the distance to pet stores, ranks buildings’ outdoor spaces, and knows how many dog walkers work nearby.
Dana’s not sure which feature will really connect with her audience, so she’s made separate promotional material for each one.
But she’s wondering which will appeal to her potential users.
If you’re trying to market your app successfully, data can be a huge help. That’s why some marketers use App campaigns from Google Ads.
App campaigns analyze the data that people choose to share with Google when using their phones – app downloads, searches, video views, website visits, etc. – to figure out what matters to individuals. It’s a process called “machine learning.”
With machine learning, App campaigns can deliver ads for Android or iOS apps that appeal to individual users. This can help you create successful marketing for your app across Google properties like YouTube or Search.
App campaigns might be powerful, but they can’t do all the work on their own. You need to provide the raw materials they can use to create ads for your app.
Often referred to as creative assets or marketing assets, these are the visuals and words (AKA copy) you make to show off your product. An App campaign can combine assets into ads to find what drives downloads, in-app purchases, or other goals.
Then, the campaign can serve these ads to the people who are most likely to care about them. So the more customized the assets are to your users and features, the better the ads tend to perform.
LISTEN UP
Creative assets usually fall into 3 categories: text, images, and video.
But just uploading some random words and pictures to your App campaign isn’t enough. If you want to see success, it’s important to follow the best practices for creating each type of asset.
Strong text assets can be crucial to successful App campaigns. They’re easy to place around the web and can communicate a clear, direct message.
They are typically 1 line of copy used in ads across the Google Search Network, Gmail, YouTube, Google Play, and on websites and apps on the Google Display Network. App campaigns can also combine text and images in ad placements.
Though each individual asset is only 1 line, some ad placements have room for more than 1 text asset. Fortunately, App campaigns can mix and match your assets in any order within the ad to find what combination works best.
App campaigns can help your copy show up in many places. So your text assets need to promote exactly what you want users to know about your product.
Start by having separate text assets for each of your app’s unique selling points. Remember how Dana at DogDwelling thought her app had 4 key features? She can make separate text assets for each benefit and see which message works.
You’ll also want your text to match how familiar people are with your app. Consider 3 stages: making people aware of your app, driving people who are considering your app to become active users, and getting people to complete a purchase.
To drive awareness, spell out what your app does or use your tagline to introduce your app. For consideration, encourage engagement – like having people follow you on social media. You can also include info on offers related to your app.
To get customers to make a purchase, try creating copy focused on your app’s key benefits and what separates it from its competition. You can also write about how easy it is to complete a purchase or about any time-sensitive deals or sales.
Different ad placements can have different character counts. So if you’re creating a few text assets to market a single benefit, vary the amount of copy you use. That way, the campaign will have an asset that fits within the limit.
REMEMBER
It’s important to seem professional, so be sure to use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Also, follow the editorial guidelines on the Google Ads Support Page. It’s no fun to spend time creating text assets that get rejected for having too many exclamation points.
You can also create video assets. These can help you tell a great story about your app in YouTube pre-rolls and on other websites and apps that partner with Google.
Since your video needs to grab users right away, make the first few seconds unique and interesting. And when you post the video on YouTube (a requirement for adding it to your App campaign), choose a thumbnail that excites users.
It’s also important that your audience understands what you want them to do when they finish watching. So consider writing your call to action on the screen in text to make your message extra clear.
Some ad placements might require that videos be a certain length, like 15 seconds or 30 seconds. So, if possible, create video assets of different lengths.
Lastly, try to make vertical and horizontal versions of your videos. That way, the App campaign can match how people hold their devices.
TIP
Don’t have any video assets? The App campaign can create a video ad for you automatically using image and text assets you’ve uploaded as well as other assets from your app’s store listing page.
Lastly, there are image assets. These can communicate a lot about your app with just a glance, so it’s important that they tell the right story.
Keep the design simple. As with text assets, images that focus on 1 feature of the app work best. Try to avoid using any copy in the image – but if you have to, make sure it’s large enough to be seen on a mobile device held at arm’s length.
Whenever possible, use images from the app itself. That way, people feel like they know your product before they even download it. Make sure to use high resolution images, so they appear sharp no matter where they’re placed.
Try and include images in a few different display sizes. The most common dimensions are listed on the App campaign support page. The App campaign can pick the best option to help you reach your campaign goals.
DO THIS NOW
To succeed with an App campaign, your assets need to sell what’s valuable about your app to an audience that cares about it. So let’s look at what information you know about your audience and your app.
If you’re participating in the course, go to the next section to access your self assessment.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
There are 3 types of assets used in App campaigns: text, video, and images.
Each text and image asset should focus on just 1 feature of your app to avoid confusing your audience.
It's important to create separate assets to drive awareness, consideration, and purchase among your audience.