How to Set Up Apple Search Ads Advanced (2025 Walkthrough)

Apple Search Ads Advanced is the most effective user acquisition channel for iOS apps when set up correctly. The platform consistently delivers conversion rates of 50-70%, with average tap-through rates of 11.4% in 2024.

But the initial setup determines whether you'll achieve these benchmarks or waste budget on irrelevant traffic.

This is a complete walkthrough for setting up ASA Advanced from scratch, including campaign structure, keyword research, bidding strategy, and conversion tracking.

Before You Start: Prerequisites

You'll need:

An Apple ID associated with your organization
App Store Connect access with Admin or Marketing role
A published app on the App Store (live, not in review)
Payment method (credit card or invoice billing for $10,000+ monthly spend)
Basic understanding of your app's value proposition and target audience

Optional but recommended:

Mobile measurement partner (MMP) like Adjust, AppsFlyer, or Singular for detailed attribution
ASO tool like Sensor Tower, AppTweak, or App Radar for keyword research
Target CPA or LTV data to inform bidding strategy

Step 1: Create Your Apple Search Ads Account

Go to searchads.apple.com
Click "Sign In" and use your Apple ID
Select "Advanced" (not Basic)
Connect to App Store Connect and select your app
Add payment method and billing information
Accept terms and conditions

This process takes about 15 minutes. If your account requires approval (common for new advertisers), expect 24-48 hours for verification.

Step 2: Set Up Conversion Tracking

Before launching campaigns, configure tracking to measure what matters.

Apple's Native Attribution

ASA provides built-in attribution for:

Taps
Installs
Redownloads
LAT-on users (limited data)

This is sufficient for basic CPA tracking but doesn't capture in-app events or LTV.

Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) Integration

For full-funnel tracking, integrate an MMP:

Recommended MMPs:

AppsFlyer
Adjust
Singular
Branch

What you'll track:

Install attribution
Post-install events (registration, subscription, purchase)
LTV by cohort
ROAS by keyword
Retention metrics

Setup typically takes 30-60 minutes and requires SDK integration if not already installed.

Step 3: Plan Your Campaign Structure

A well-organized account structure is critical for efficient management and optimization.

Recommended 4-Campaign Framework

1. Brand Campaign

Purpose: Defend your brand terms
Keywords: Your app name, company name, variations
Match type: Exact match only
Budget: 20-30% of total
CPA expectation: Lowest (these users are already looking for you)

2. Competitor Campaign

Purpose: Capture users searching for competitors
Keywords: Competitor app names, company names
Match type: Exact match only
Budget: 20-30% of total
CPA expectation: Medium (high intent, but harder to convert)

3. Category Campaign

Purpose: Reach users searching for your app's function
Keywords: Generic category terms (e.g., "budget tracker," "meditation app")
Match type: Exact match
Budget: 30-40% of total
CPA expectation: Medium-high

4. Discovery Campaign

Purpose: Find new keywords and test broader audiences
Keywords: Broad match versions of proven keywords + Search Match
Match type: Broad match + Search Match
Budget: 10-20% of total
CPA expectation: Highest (testing mode)

Why This Structure Works

This framework lets you:

Bid differently by user intent
Prevent keyword cannibalization
Identify which keyword themes drive performance
Scale winners and cut losers systematically

Step 4: Conduct Keyword Research

The average top-performing app targets 150-200 exact match keywords across all campaigns.

How to Find Keywords

1. Apple Search Ads Keyword Suggestions

During campaign setup, Apple suggests keywords based on your app metadata
These are a solid starting point but often miss competitors and long-tail terms

2. ASO Tools

Sensor Tower, AppTweak, App Radar provide:
- Search volume estimates
- Difficulty scores
- Competitor keyword analysis
- Trending terms

3. Competitor Research

Analyze top competitors' metadata
Review their App Store keyword rankings
Test searches your target users would perform

4. Your Own Metadata

Extract keywords from your app title, subtitle, and keyword field
These should already be in your ASA keyword list

Keyword Selection Criteria

Target keywords that meet all three:

Relevance: Directly describes your app's function or target user
Intent: Indicates the user is looking for a solution (not just browsing)
Volume: Has measurable search traffic (use ASO tools to confirm)

Avoid:

Overly broad terms with low conversion likelihood ("apps," "games")
Misspellings (Apple auto-corrects most searches)
Trademarked terms outside your niche (legal risk)

Recommended Starting Keyword Count

Brand campaign: 5-10 keywords
Competitor campaign: 15-30 keywords
Category campaign: 50-100 keywords
Discovery campaign: 50-100 keywords (broad match)

Step 5: Create Your First Campaign (Brand Defense)

Start with a brand campaign. It's the lowest-risk way to learn the platform while capturing high-intent users.

Campaign Settings

Campaign Name: "Brand - [App Name]"
Ad Placement: Search results (start here; expand to other placements later)
Countries/Regions: Start with one primary market (usually US, UK, or your home market)
Budget: $500-$1,000/month to start
CPA Goal (optional): Set if you know your target CPA

Ad Group Settings

Ad Group Name: "Brand - Exact Match"
CPA Goal: If you set one at campaign level, it will inherit
Default Max CPT Bid: Start at $1.00-$2.00 (we'll refine this)
Audience: Leave broad initially (all users)

Add Keywords

Click "Add Keywords"
Enter your brand terms:
- [your app name]
- [your company name]
- [common variations]
Set match type to Exact Match (use brackets: [keyword])
Set individual bids (start with $1.00-$2.00 for brand terms)

Creative Assets

Default App Store Page: Your live product page
Custom Product Pages (optional): If you've created CPPs in App Store Connect, you can test them here

Launch Checklist

Before activating:

Conversion tracking is configured
Budget is set appropriately
Keywords are exact match
Bids are set (not using defaults)
Negative keywords list is ready (we'll add these in Step 7)

Click "Save and Activate Campaign."

Step 6: Create Remaining Campaigns

Repeat the campaign creation process for Competitor, Category, and Discovery campaigns.

Competitor Campaign Setup

30-60 competitor keywords (exact match)
Higher bids than brand ($2.00-$5.00) since these users have intent but not brand loyalty
Separate ad groups for direct competitors vs. adjacent category apps

Category Campaign Setup

50-100 category keywords (exact match)
Moderate bids ($1.50-$4.00)
Organize ad groups by theme (e.g., "Budget Tracking," "Expense Management," "Financial Planning")

Discovery Campaign Setup

This campaign has two ad groups:

Ad Group 1: Broad Match

Include all keywords from Brand, Competitor, and Category campaigns
Set match type to Broad Match (no brackets)
Lower bids ($0.75-$2.00)
This captures related searches

Ad Group 2: Search Match

No keywords entered
Enable Search Match toggle
Lower bids ($0.50-$1.50)
Apple automatically matches your ad to relevant searches

Budget Allocation

For a $5,000/month total budget:

Brand: $1,500 (30%)
Competitor: $1,250 (25%)
Category: $1,750 (35%)
Discovery: $500 (10%)

Adjust based on performance after 14 days.

Step 7: Add Negative Keywords

Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches, reducing wasted spend by 20-30% according to 2024-2025 benchmarks.

How to Add Negative Keywords

Navigate to campaign level
Click "Keywords" tab
Select "Negative Keywords"
Add as Exact Match (brackets)

What to Exclude

Common negative keywords for most apps:

[free] (if you're paid/subscription only)
[hack]
[cheat]
[mod]
[cracked]

Category-specific exclusions: If you're a meditation app, exclude:

[music] (if you're not a music app)
[sleep sounds] (if you don't offer this)

Competitive protection: Add competitors' names as negative keywords in your Discovery campaign to avoid overlap with your dedicated Competitor campaign.

Step 8: Configure Advanced Settings

Audience Targeting

Start broad, then refine based on data.

Initial approach:

All devices
All customer types (new users + existing users)
All demographics

After 30 days of data:

Segment by device if performance varies significantly (iPhone vs. iPad)
Exclude existing users if redownload rates are high
Refine demographics if specific age/gender segments underperform

Ad Schedule

Most apps should run 24/7 initially. After gathering data, you can:

Reduce bids during low-conversion hours
Increase bids during peak performance windows

Ad scheduling is available in campaign settings.

Custom Product Pages (CPPs)

If you've created CPPs in App Store Connect:

Test different messaging for different keyword themes
Assign brand-focused CPPs to brand campaigns
Test benefit-driven CPPs for category campaigns

CPPs can lift conversion rates by 5.9-8.6% on average.

Step 9: Set Up Reporting and Monitoring

Key Metrics to Track

Daily:

Spend vs. budget
CPA vs. target
Major shifts in volume

Weekly:

TTR by campaign
CVR by campaign
Top-performing keywords
Search Match terms to promote

Monthly:

ROAS by campaign
LTV by cohort (if tracked via MMP)
Budget reallocation opportunities

Recommended Tools

Apple Search Ads dashboard: Native reporting (limited)
Third-party platforms: SearchAds HQ, SplitMetrics, RedBox (enhanced reporting and automation)
MMP dashboards: AppsFlyer, Adjust for post-install tracking

Step 10: Launch and Initial Optimization (First 14 Days)

Week 1: Observation

Let campaigns run without major changes
Gather baseline data
Confirm tracking is working
Monitor for any overspend or technical issues

Week 2: First Optimizations

Bid adjustments:

Increase bids on keywords with TTR > 15% and CVR > 60%
Decrease bids on keywords with TTR < 5% or CVR < 40%

Keyword refinement:

Pause keywords with 0 impressions after 7 days
Add negative keywords for irrelevant Search Match terms
Promote high-performing Search Match terms to exact match campaigns

Budget reallocation:

Shift budget toward campaigns hitting CPA goals
Reduce budget for campaigns significantly over target

Common Setup Mistakes to Avoid

1. Starting with Broad Match everywhere

Start with exact match to gather clean data, then expand to broad match

2. Setting bids too low

You need impressions to gather data; underbidding yields no signal

3. Running without negative keywords

You'll waste 20-30% of budget on irrelevant traffic

4. Not separating campaigns by intent

Lumping brand, competitor, and category keywords into one campaign makes optimization impossible

5. Expecting immediate profitability

Most campaigns require $5,000-$10,000 in spend to optimize effectively

6. Over-optimizing in the first week

Statistical significance requires at least 7-14 days of data

Your First 30-Day Roadmap

Days 1-7: Launch, observe, confirm tracking Days 8-14: First optimization pass (bids, negative keywords) Days 15-21: Keyword expansion, audience refinement Days 22-30: Budget reallocation, scale winners

By day 30, you should have clear signal on:

Which campaign types drive the lowest CPA
Your top 20 keywords by volume and efficiency
Whether ASA can profitably scale for your app

Benchmarks to Target (2025)

Metric	Target	Top Performers
TTR	8-12%	15%+
CVR	50-65%	70%+
CPT	Varies by category	$0.50-$5.00 (most categories)
CPA	1.5-3x your LTV-30	< 1.5x LTV-30

Source: SplitMetrics Apple Ads Benchmarks 2025, AppTweak

FAQs

How long does it take to set up Apple Search Ads Advanced?

Initial account setup takes 30-60 minutes. A complete campaign structure with proper keyword research, audience targeting, and ad group organization takes 2-4 hours for your first launch.

What's the minimum budget for Apple Search Ads Advanced?

There's no minimum, but most apps need $5,000-$10,000 in total spend to gather sufficient performance data for meaningful optimization. Starting with $1,000-$2,000/month is reasonable for testing.

Do I need an agency to run Apple Search Ads Advanced?

No. ASA Advanced is manageable in-house if you have 10-20 hours per month for setup and optimization. Agencies make sense if you're spending $20,000+/month or lack internal UA expertise.

How long until I see results?

You'll see installs within hours of launching. Meaningful optimization insights require 7-14 days. Profitability typically emerges after 30-60 days of iteration.

Should I run all four campaign types from day one?

Start with Brand and one other campaign (Category or Competitor). Add Discovery after 14 days once you have baseline performance data. This approach reduces complexity and focuses budget on proven strategies first.

Apple Search Ads Advanced rewards structure and discipline. Set it up correctly from the start, and you'll have a scalable, profitable acquisition channel within 30-60 days.