Burst campaign: pros and cons of campaigns for mobile applications

A burst campaign is a technique widely used by mobile marketers to appear at the top of search results. Mobile marketers love burst campaigns. Indeed, when you have the necessary budget, it is a very practical technique. Requiring little effort yet generating a large number of downloads, it is a way of giving your mobile application greater visibility without complication. Naturally, the execution, cost, and impact vary from one burst campaign to another — as is the case with any marketing campaign, whether digital, print, or mobile. And behind this apparent simplicity and effectiveness lie a number of drawbacks. Today, therefore, we will detail the advantages and disadvantages of this advertising practice — or rather, the optimal conditions for using it, and the contexts in which it would be pointless to attempt it. The aim is to provide a neutral and as complete a picture as possible.

What is a burst campaign?

First of all, a definition is in order. In the world of communications, English terms are commonplace (we recently explained the concepts of marketplace and local content marketing). A few explanations are therefore always welcome. A burst campaign is a campaign that aims to propel your mobile application, for a given period, to the top of the rankings on an app store. The goal is to obtain as many paid installations as possible (generally of relatively limited quality) and thereby optimise your position in the search rankings. The aim is for users to then discover your application and download it organically, resulting in what are considered organic and qualitative downloads. Indeed, quality is not the primary objective of a burst campaign. What matters above all is quantity — because it is through volume that your application can rise in the stores and approach the top positions. Quality comes later, in the hope of attracting high-quality users thanks to the momentary visibility gained.

Each store has its own rules: iOS vs Android

It is well known that the App Store bases its ranking primarily on the number of downloads and installations of an application. It is therefore an app store of choice for a burst campaign. Conversely, rumour has it that Google Play's algorithm works differently. No one truly knows the inner workings of this algorithm, of course. But Google Play is said to base its ranking on actual usage, the quality of the application, its performance, its SEO, its reviews, and many other criteria. The volume and frequency of installations are therefore only one of around a hundred criteria, which reduces their importance and thus their impact on the ranking. Is it therefore impossible to gain visibility on Google Play through installations alone? Not necessarily. But the volume of installations required within a given timeframe to gain visibility is such that it is difficult to achieve within the scope of a burst campaign. The major difference between the App Store and Google Play is reflected in their chart update frequency. Google Play is relatively stable, compared to the App Store where featured applications change frequently. This is why burst campaigns are mainly used on iOS and rarely, if ever, on Google Play.

What to consider before launching a burst campaign

Why launch a burst campaign? The question may seem trivial and the answer obvious — but that is not necessarily the case. The first response that comes to mind is obviously "to climb the rankings and gather downloads". However, here are a few additional elements to take into account:

Your target audience

Is being at the top of the rankings truly a good thing for you? What will you gain from it? Or rather, what type of user are you targeting? With a burst campaign, the goal is to have your application discovered (and installed) by everyone. That means users of different ages, with varied demographics and interests. This is a good thing if your application is relevant to the broadest possible audience. However, if you are targeting a niche sector or a few specific segments, you may prefer to use your budget for a different communication action rather than a burst campaign. You will not be able to direct your burst campaign towards a specific target — not with a burst campaign as we describe here, at least. Furthermore, in such a case, a burst campaign could even backfire, as we will now explain…

The engagement rate

As a direct consequence of the previous point, when you launch a burst campaign and reach the top of the rankings, you will receive a large number of downloads. Indeed, many users download top-ranked applications precisely because they are top-ranked — if they are up there, they must be worth looking at. But if the application does not meet their needs, they will be disappointed and will not use it. Your engagement rate could then fall. And, ironically, this can damage your "normal" position in the rankings. Indeed, the usage rate of an application is now used by Apple to calculate its ranking. Furthermore, you also risk negative reviews from these dissatisfied users. In short, while a burst campaign may take you to the top of a store's rankings at a given moment, it can above all cause you to sink in the rankings afterwards if you are downloaded en masse by users who are not your target audience.

Timing

Is this the optimal time to launch a burst campaign? As a costly exercise, a burst campaign is not something you carry out every two weeks — and there are reasons beyond budget that prevent this. Marketers therefore tend to combine their burst campaign with other communications activities: press relations, promotions, and so on. A burst campaign is generally one part of a much broader marketing plan.

Product quality

Is your application ready for a burst campaign? When you run a burst campaign, you are placing your application in front of everyone. This makes it vulnerable in the sense that users have not asked for or sought out your application — it "presents itself" on their screen. You must therefore very quickly prove its value and quality. Users are generally unforgiving and impatient. The application must therefore contain no bugs or major issues. This is obviously true of any communications campaign. But whereas you can, to a certain extent, monitor and control these risks in other types of campaign — and stop or cancel the promotion of your product if necessary — this is not possible here. Once the burst campaign is live, the ball is in the users' court. There is nothing more you can do. And if any problem at all appears within your application, you will have to contend with a large number of dissatisfied users.

Your ASO (App Store Optimisation) ranking

Much like SEO (web search engine optimisation), ASO involves taking care of several elements relating to your application and its presentation in the store in order to optimise its visibility and its position in the overall ranking. Your current ASO is important in a burst campaign. Clearly, if your ASO is excellent and you are already near the top of the rankings, you do not need such a marketing action. But if that is not the case, your ASO can limit the impact of your burst campaign. The weaker and lower your ranking, the more budget you will need to invest to reach the desired position. Similarly, the larger the target store, the greater the volume of installations required to climb the rankings. You therefore need to take your ranking, existing reviews, and their quality into account. For an optimal burst campaign, the launch should take place when your current position and review count are sufficient. Also ensure that your star rating ratio is stable — so that, in the event of negative feedback following the campaign for whatever reason, it will not drag down your overall rating (which is calculated based on both positive and negative reviews received).

Server stability

If your application relies in some way on a server, is it stable enough to handle a large number of simultaneous downloads? A burst campaign could expose the limits of your servers. It typically generates tens of thousands of downloads within a matter of hours. If your servers cannot handle this, things can get complicated very quickly. Make sure you will not encounter any issues on that front before attempting a burst campaign.

A recovery update

If you have done everything you can but the burst campaign still produces negative reviews and a drop in the rankings, you can release a new version. This application update will have the sole purpose of starting fresh, with a clean rating. On iTunes, for example, the overall rating for the "current version" is displayed prominently, hiding the overall rating for "all versions". The rating for the new version begins to show once you have at least 7 reviews for that version. Users will then see this rating by default. If you need to recover from a burst campaign that has gone wrong, every minute counts. You will therefore want to release a new version as quickly as possible to minimise the negative impact on your application. When considering launching a burst campaign, make sure you already have a plan B ready in reserve.

The advantages and goals of a burst campaign

Despite all the points listed above, this type of campaign has its place and value in certain contexts. Here is what you stand to gain from a well-managed burst campaign:

• Top ranking: A burst campaign on iOS, if well executed, can take you to the number one position in the overall store ranking — and in just a few hours.
• Number of installations: You can achieve tens of thousands of new paid installations with an additional, similar, or greater number of organic installations.
• CPI: Funding a burst campaign can be based on a regular CPI (Cost Per Install) or a fixed cost (depending on the scenario).
• Sustained presence: Once at the top of the rankings, you can expect to stay there for at least one day, or even two, with a gradual decline thereafter. You can try to maintain this position through parallel actions: press relations, advertising, and so on.
• Overall uplift: You can expect a general rise in your overall activity and online presence (press coverage, buzz, user feedback across communications channels, etc.)

The right context for launching a burst campaign

In short, there are several optimal conditions for a successful burst campaign, as we have seen. To summarise, the best time to resort to this type of campaign is when:

• You have the budget for it (don't spend everything on the burst campaign)
• Your application appeals to a broad target audience
• Your application is of sufficient quality, and so are your servers
• The timing is right and you can combine this campaign with other communications activities
• Your ASO ranking is satisfactory
• You have a plan B already prepared and ready to deploy, in case anything goes wrong.

Translated from Appgo2market