How to Structure Apple Search Ads Campaigns for Efficiency (2025)

Campaign structure is the foundation of ASA performance. Set it up correctly, and you can scale efficiently. Get it wrong, and you'll waste budget on keyword cannibalization, misaligned bidding, and impossible-to-optimize account sprawl.

The best-performing ASA accounts share a common architecture: campaigns organized by user intent, ad groups by keyword theme, and clear separation to enable intent-based bidding.

Here's the exact structure that works.

Why Campaign Structure Matters

In Apple Search Ads, every campaign, ad group, and keyword decision affects three things:

1. Bidding efficiency: Different keywords justify different bids. Brand terms warrant aggressive spending; discovery terms don't. Proper structure enables intent-based bidding.

2. Budget allocation: You want to allocate budget proportionally to performance. If brand and competitor keywords are mixed in one campaign, you can't easily shift spend toward the better performer.

3. Optimization speed: Clear structure makes it obvious what's working and what isn't. Messy accounts hide signal in noise.

A well-structured account lets you answer critical questions instantly:

• Which keyword theme drives the lowest CPA?
• Are competitor keywords worth the higher CPT?
• Should we shift budget from discovery to brand?

A poorly structured account requires manual data exports and custom reporting to answer these same questions.

The 4-Campaign Framework

The most effective ASA structure uses four core campaigns, each targeting a different user intent.

Campaign 1: Brand Defense

Purpose: Protect your brand searches from competitors

Keywords:

• Your app name (exact variations)
• Your company name
• Common misspellings (if meaningful search volume exists)

Example for "BudgetPro" app:

• [budgetpro]
• [budget pro]
• [budgetpro app]
• [budget pro tracker]

Match type: Exact match only

Budget allocation: 20-30% of total spend

Bidding strategy: Aggressive (these users are already looking for you)

Expected CPA: Lowest in your account (often 50-70% below category keywords)

Why this works: Brand searchers have the highest intent and conversion rates. If you don't bid on your own brand, competitors will, and you'll lose installs to users who were already seeking you out.

Campaign 2: Competitor Targeting

Purpose: Capture users searching for competitor apps

Keywords:

• Direct competitor app names
• Direct competitor company names
• Popular apps in adjacent categories

Example for a budget tracking app:

• [mint]
• [ynab]
• [pocketguard]
• [goodbudget]
• [everydollar]

Match type: Exact match only

Budget allocation: 20-30% of total spend

Bidding strategy: Moderate (expect higher CPTs and lower conversion rates than brand)

Expected CPA: 30-50% higher than brand, but still acceptable if target LTV supports it

Ad group organization:

• Direct Competitors: Apps with identical core function
• Adjacent Competitors: Apps in related categories (e.g., personal finance vs. budget tracking)

Why this works: Competitor keywords capture high-intent users. They're actively searching for a solution, and your ad gives them an alternative to consider. Conversion rates are lower than brand (users have existing preference), but volume is often higher.

Campaign 3: Category Keywords

Purpose: Reach users searching for your app's function, not a specific brand

Keywords:

• Generic function terms (e.g., "budget tracker," "expense manager")
• Use case keywords (e.g., "track spending," "manage finances")
• Feature-specific keywords (e.g., "bill reminder app")

Example for a budget tracking app:

• [budget tracker]
• [expense manager]
• [spending tracker]
• [personal finance app]
• [bill tracker]

Match type: Exact match (primary), broad match (secondary ad group for expansion)

Budget allocation: 30-40% of total spend

Bidding strategy: Moderate

Expected CPA: Medium (higher than brand, lower than discovery)

Ad group organization by theme:

• Core Function: budget tracker, expense manager
• Use Cases: track spending, manage bills
• Features: bill reminders, spending reports

Why this works: Category keywords represent the largest addressable volume. Users searching for "budget tracker" are solution-aware but brand-agnostic. Your conversion rate depends on how well your product page communicates value relative to competitors.

Campaign 4: Discovery

Purpose: Find new keyword opportunities and expand reach

Keywords:

• Broad match versions of all exact match keywords
• Search Match (no keywords, automated matching)

Match type: Broad match + Search Match

Budget allocation: 10-20% of total spend

Bidding strategy: Conservative (30-50% lower bids than exact match campaigns)

Expected CPA: Highest in your account (this is testing territory)

Ad group organization:

• Ad Group 1: Broad Match All Keywords — All keywords from Brand, Competitor, and Category campaigns, but set to broad match
• Ad Group 2: Search Match — No keywords, just Search Match enabled

Why this works: Discovery campaigns surface keywords you wouldn't find manually. The goal isn't immediate profitability—it's keyword discovery. High-performers get promoted to exact match campaigns; low-performers get added to your negative keyword list.

How to Organize Ad Groups Within Campaigns

Ad groups sit between campaigns and keywords. They allow you to:

• Group related keywords
• Set different bids for keyword themes within a campaign
• Test different audience segments or creatives

Ad Group Best Practices

1. Organize by theme, not arbitrarily

• Good: "Expense Tracking," "Bill Management," "Budget Planning"
• Bad: "Ad Group 1," "Ad Group 2," "Test Group"

2. Keep ad groups focused

• 10-30 keywords per ad group is ideal
• Related keywords should share similar intent and expected performance

3. Use separate ad groups for match types

• Exact match and broad match should be in different ad groups
• This prevents broad match from consuming all impressions

4. Start simple

• One ad group per campaign is fine initially
• Add complexity (multiple ad groups) only when data justifies segmentation

Example: Category Campaign Ad Group Structure

Campaign: Category Keywords

Ad Group 1: Expense Tracking (Exact Match)

• Keywords: [expense tracker], [expense manager], [track expenses]
• Bid: $2.50
• Match type: Exact

Ad Group 2: Budget Planning (Exact Match)

• Keywords: [budget planner], [budget app], [monthly budget]
• Bid: $2.00
• Match type: Exact

Ad Group 3: Bill Management (Exact Match)

• Keywords: [bill tracker], [bill reminder], [manage bills]
• Bid: $1.75
• Match type: Exact

This structure lets you see which theme (Expense, Budget, Bill) drives the best CPA, then allocate more budget accordingly.

Preventing Keyword Cannibalization with Negative Keywords

Without negative keywords, the same search can trigger multiple campaigns, causing you to bid against yourself.

Example problem: You target [budget tracker] as exact match in your Category campaign and as broad match in your Discovery campaign. When a user searches "budget tracker," both campaigns compete in Apple's auction, inflating your CPT.

Solution: Add all exact match keywords from Brand, Competitor, and Category campaigns as negative exact match keywords in your Discovery campaign.

How to implement:

1. Export all keywords from Brand, Competitor, and Category campaigns
2. Add them to your Discovery campaign's negative keyword list as exact match: [keyword]
3. This prevents Discovery from bidding on terms you're already targeting with exact match

Result: No overlap, no internal competition, lower overall CPT.

Budget Allocation by Campaign Type

For a $5,000/month total budget, here's the recommended split:

Campaign	Budget	% of Total	Why
Brand	$1,500	30%	Highest ROI, defend against competitors
Competitor	$1,250	25%	High intent, meaningful volume
Category	$1,750	35%	Largest addressable market
Discovery	$500	10%	Testing and keyword discovery

Adjust based on performance:

• If Brand CPA is 50% below target, consider increasing to 35-40%
• If Competitor CPA exceeds target by 50%+, reduce to 15-20%
• Discovery should never exceed 20% until you've saturated exact match opportunities

Geographic Structuring: When to Separate by Region

As you scale, you may want to separate campaigns by geography.

When to split by geo:

• You're spending $20,000+/month across multiple regions
• CPA varies significantly by region (e.g., US vs. LATAM)
• You want different bids, budgets, or creative for each market

How to structure: Create parallel campaign sets for each major region:

US Campaigns:

• US - Brand
• US - Competitor
• US - Category
• US - Discovery

EU Campaigns:

• EU - Brand
• EU - Competitor
• EU - Category
• EU - Discovery

APAC Campaigns:

• APAC - Brand
• APAC - Competitor
• APAC - Category
• APAC - Discovery

Why: US typically has the highest CPTs ($2-$10) while LATAM and APAC are significantly cheaper ($0.50-$2). Running them together forces you to set bids that either overpay in cheap markets or underperform in expensive ones.

Advanced Structuring: Product Line Segmentation

If you have multiple apps or multiple value propositions within one app, you may create parallel campaign structures.

Example: Fitness app with two core features (Strength Training + Cardio)

Strength Training Campaigns:

• ST - Brand
• ST - Competitor
• ST - Category
• ST - Discovery

Cardio Campaigns:

• Cardio - Brand
• Cardio - Competitor
• Cardio - Category
• Cardio - Discovery

Each campaign structure targets keywords specific to that product line and drives users to a Custom Product Page tailored to that use case.

When this makes sense:

• Monthly spend exceeds $20,000
• Product lines have distinct audiences and value propositions
• You have Custom Product Pages for each segment

When to avoid:

• Monthly spend under $10,000 (adds complexity without sufficient data)
• Product lines overlap significantly in keywords and audience

Common Campaign Structure Mistakes

1. One campaign with all keywords

Problem: You can't bid differently by intent. Brand, competitor, and category keywords all get the same bid, leading to either overspending on low-intent terms or underbidding on high-intent ones.

Fix: Separate into at least Brand, Category, and Discovery campaigns.

2. Too many single-keyword ad groups

Problem: Account sprawl. Managing 50 ad groups with 1 keyword each is inefficient.

Fix: Group related keywords into themed ad groups (10-30 keywords per group).

3. Not using negative keywords

Problem: Discovery campaigns bid on the same terms as exact match campaigns, inflating CPTs.

Fix: Add all exact match keywords as negative keywords in Discovery.

4. Mixing match types in one ad group

Problem: Broad match keywords consume most impressions, leaving exact match keywords with insufficient data.

Fix: Separate exact and broad match into different ad groups or campaigns.

5. Creating campaigns before gathering data

Problem: Premature segmentation (e.g., splitting by device or demographic) before knowing if performance differs.

Fix: Start with the 4-campaign framework. Segment further only when data shows meaningful performance variance.

Your First 60 Days: Structural Evolution

Days 1-14: Launch with 2 Campaigns

• Brand campaign (5-10 keywords)
• Category campaign (30-50 keywords)

Why: Simplicity. Gather baseline data on core keywords.

Days 15-30: Add Discovery

• Discovery campaign (Search Match + broad match)

Why: Start surfacing new keyword opportunities.

Days 31-60: Add Competitor (if applicable)

• Competitor campaign (20-40 competitor keywords)

Why: Expand reach to competitor searchers.

Month 3+: Optimize and Scale

• Refine ad group segmentation within campaigns
• Consider geographic splits if spending $20,000+/month
• Test Custom Product Pages for different keyword themes

Campaign Structure Checklist

Before launching, confirm:

• Campaigns are organized by user intent (Brand, Competitor, Category, Discovery)
• Each campaign has a clear purpose and distinct keyword set
• Match types are separated (exact vs. broad vs. Search Match)
• Negative keywords prevent overlap between campaigns
• Budget allocation reflects expected ROI (most to Brand/Category, least to Discovery)
• Bidding strategy is tiered by intent (aggressive on brand, conservative on discovery)

Performance Benchmarks by Campaign Type (2025)

Campaign	Avg TTR	Avg CVR	Relative CPA	Budget %
Brand	15-25%	70-80%	Lowest (baseline)	20-30%
Competitor	10-15%	60-70%	+30-50%	20-30%
Category	8-12%	55-65%	+20-40%	30-40%
Discovery	6-10%	50-60%	+40-60%	10-20%

Source: SplitMetrics Apple Ads Benchmarks 2025, AppTweak

FAQs

What is the best Apple Search Ads campaign structure?

The most effective structure uses four campaign types: Brand (defend your brand terms), Competitor (target competitor names), Category (generic function keywords), and Discovery (broad match + Search Match for keyword discovery). This allows intent-based bidding and prevents keyword cannibalization.

How many campaigns should I run in Apple Search Ads?

Start with 2-4 campaigns: Brand and Category at minimum, then add Competitor and Discovery as you scale. Most mature accounts run 4-8 campaigns, often splitting by geography or product line as volume grows.

Should I create separate campaigns for each keyword?

No. Group related keywords into themed ad groups within broader campaigns. For example, all competitor keywords go in one Competitor campaign, organized into ad groups by competitor type (direct vs. adjacent). Single-keyword ad groups are only warranted for very high-volume brand terms.

How do I prevent keyword overlap between campaigns?

Use exact match negative keywords in your Discovery campaign for every keyword you're targeting in Brand, Competitor, and Category campaigns. This prevents your campaigns from competing against each other in the same auction.

Should I split campaigns by country?

Only if you're spending $20,000+/month across multiple regions and CPA varies significantly by geography. US campaigns typically warrant separation due to higher CPTs, while LATAM/APAC can often be grouped. Don't split prematurely—start with one global campaign structure, then segment based on data.

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Campaign structure is not about complexity. It's about creating clear boundaries that enable intent-based bidding, prevent internal competition, and make optimization decisions obvious. Start with the 4-campaign framework, then refine based on performance data.