Why blending brand & non-brand CPA can be misleading—and how to level up both via incrementality
Harnessing the full potential of your Apple Search Ads budget means confronting the deceptive nature of a single composite cost per acquisition (CPA). Additionally, the allure of an attractive brand campaign CPA can be misleading and fail to convey the true value of advertising initiatives. By understanding and applying the concept of incrementality, you can both avoid the blended CPA trap and move beyond surface-level metrics to optimize ROI on your Apple Search Ads campaigns. The key is to factor in incremental lift—the percentage of conversions directly attributable to your marketing efforts—within both brand and non-brand campaigns. This enables a fair comparison that reflects the actual cost of acquiring new users. Ignoring incrementality can lead to skewed budget allocation, potentially favoring brand campaigns that seem cost-effective but lack substantial impact. Embracing incrementality empowers you to make informed decisions, ensuring that ad spend for your app drives genuine growth while protecting your brand. Let’s unpack all of this in more detail.
Examining Incrementality
Although executive leadership might wield a single, aggregated CPA to evaluate how well agencies or user acquisition (UA) managers are doing by their brands in Apple Search Ads, this metric is incapable of revealing the true performance of marketing initiatives. Case in point: When it comes to the dynamic world of app UA, the key to success lies in comprehending and applying the foundational principle of incrementality—a crucial nuance obscured within the morass of a blended CPA. Understanding incrementality leads you to unearth the true impact of marketing by distinguishing between conversions that occur independently of paid advertising (organic conversions) and those that result directly from advertising initiatives. Accurately determining the incremental value of various advertising efforts and how they work together gives a measurable view into the multifaceted journeys app customers traverse along the way to actioning desired conversions.
Understanding incrementality leads you to unearth the true impact of marketing by distinguishing between conversions that occur independently of paid advertising (organic conversions) and those that result directly from advertising initiatives.
Mastering incrementality is key in guiding strategic decisions, and particularly relevant when considering brand vs. non-brand campaigns—where the apparent relative effectiveness of each can be misleading. Acquisition managers may find themselves gravitating toward the alluringly low CPA of brand campaigns. The logic appears sound: Brand terms attract users actively seeking your app, leading to seemingly effortless conversions. Should you then shift your entire budget toward your brand campaigns? A cursory look at your CPAs may tell you yes. But the answer is a resounding no.
Incorporating meaningful incrementality insights into your ASA campaigns assures that your advertising dollars drive real, sustainable growth for your business.
Strategic Incrementality: Strategy Game App Example
Let’s take a look at how this works through a fictional case study. We’ll shine a spotlight on the actions of a user acquisition (UA) team of a strategy game app called Ember Fizz. Ember Fizz is captivating the gaming community with its cutting-edge graphics, rich backstory, and innovative fusion of virtual cards and combat. The UA team has an array of possible tactics they might deploy to leverage this momentum. Initially, the enthusiastic team considers going all in on its game title by allocating the entire budget into ASA campaigns around the brand keyword Ember Fizz, endeavoring that everyone looking for the game will easily find it. They eventually settle on a multipronged approach, launching a campaign that puts significant spend behind the title keyword to draw players to the app, while also bidding on a variety of terms like strategy game, fantasy game, and immersive gameplay in the hope that potential players happen to stumble upon the game.
$7.50
Non-Brand CPA
(Incrementality: High)
The team finds that non-brand keywords such as strategy game are indeed effecting a number of conversions. Although these campaigns are coming in at a relatively high CPA of $7.50, they demonstrate that such terms are able to catch the attention of those browsing the App Store unaware of the game. A number of gamers discover Ember Fizz via the non-brand search results and decide to give it a go even though this was not the title they were specifically looking for. These customers did not previously know of the game’s existence—now they do.
On the other hand, the Ember Fizz brand campaigns are performing remarkably well, leveraging gaming community buzz. The UA team trumpets an alluringly low CPA of $2.50—a seeming marketing triumph. However, in reality, fans who are inputting Ember Fizz are already familiar with the game, eager to play, explicitly searching for it, almost certain to reach the App Store listing on their own, and inclined to download without additional prompting. The conversion rate attributed to the Ember Fizz brand campaign is quite impressive. But although CPA reads nice and low, incrementality is also low. The team is harvesting users who are already interested, thus paying for organic traffic that would have otherwise been free. In this light, the wisdom of further significant spend on the brand term is questionable.
$2.50
Brand CPA
(Incrementality: Low)
Recalibrating Brand CPA: Estimating Incremental Lift
Now, an agency may interpret the app’s results as an overall “average” $5.00 CPA, demand markedly more cost-effective yields based on gamer community acclaim, and charge the team with improving performance. How can the UA team hone their strategy around lowering this $5.00 CPA? If they don’t understand the difference in incrementality among their various campaigns, working with a blended CPA will prove a fool’s errand. Comparing the respective CPAs of Ember Fizz vs. non-brand keywords like strategy game without accounting for the incremental difference is like comparing apples and oranges. While the non-brand terms’ CPA appears much higher—which may discourage the company from further such investment—the lift in conversions may more than offset the cost.
Recognizing the need to drive meaningful growth, the Ember Fizz team must parse and fine-tune relative incremental lift—the share of conversions solely attributable to specific marketing initiatives—of all campaigns. A campaign management platform can help precisely determine this. While getting set up, in lieu of exact data, the concept can be put to work to provide a more realistic comparison between “real” or effective brand CPA and non-brand CPA. This is done by estimating the share of conversions directly attributable to advertising efforts:
Adjusted Brand CPA = Brand CPA / Incrementality (%)*
*Search Ads Maven recommends an estimated incrementality figure of between 5% and 25%, biasing to the lower end for stronger brands.
Incorporating incrementality into the equation recalibrates brand CPA to reflect its true value. Let’s say the Ember Fizz team estimates that 17% of brand-campaign conversions are incremental. With brand CPA of $2.50 and 17% incrementality, adjusted brand CPA becomes $14.70. Comparing this recalibrated metric to their non-brand CPA—a more on-point assessment of the true value of brand performance—is an “aha moment” for the team.
Allocating ad dollars where they achieve the greatest measure of outcomes that otherwise wouldn’t have been attained without ad spend is the most efficient strategy. So let’s see what happens when the team taps into a real-time, data-driven campaign management tool such as Search Ads Maven by Kochava. First off, they immediately learn more about the nature of their brand and non-brand CPA actuals:
| Campaign | ASA CPA | INCREMENTALITY | TRUE CPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | $2.50 | 20% | $12.50 |
| Non-brand | $7.50 | 65% | $11.54 |
Although brand spend has impressed company leadership with its apparent high performance, non-brand spend proves more valuable, as it actually costs 7.7% less per actual incremental new user. Because a smaller percentage of these gamers purchased, non-brand CPA seems much higher—but so is its incrementality. The company’s non-brand spend is working to bring in new players, thus has marked incremental value.
Driving Growth via Incrementality
Deploying Search Ads Maven by Kochava to better dial in spend, the team refocuses around the single effective CPA deemed necessary for success. As the way to achieve this is by optimizing incrementality of all campaigns, they translate this into brand and non-brand CPA targets to guide their bid updates. The team devises rules for shifting budget between brand and non-brand terms as the effective CPA for each changes. Automation enables the team to set and apply these rules effortlessly.
Capitalizing on the insights gained, the Ember Fizz team is able to glean true incremental monetization for their spend and appraise all keywords’ post-install revenue and player engagement. They can now direct spend both to protect their Ember Fizz brand keyword while driving the richest incremental conversions—those that add abundant new active users to their game. By leveraging real-time data, adjusting bidding strategies, and implementing automation, the Ember Fizz team optimizes campaigns predicated on incrementality. Automation frees up the team to fully leverage data findings, optimize ad creatives, and monitor competitor insights. They are elated by the increase in new user acquisition and overall revenue. Ember Fizz now enjoys a meteoric future and is well on its way to becoming a worldwide blockbuster.
The Sweet Spot: Incremental Growth + Brand Protection = Spend Efficiency
Lessons from the Ember Fizz case exemplify the importance of evaluating campaigns by incremental value rather than upfront costs. However, you do not want to neglect brand campaigns entirely. Although they may not prove significantly incremental, they certainly are for your competitors if you’re completely absent from the bidding floor. Users searching for your brand expect to find your app easily, and you want to ensure that it appears first rather than a competitor’s. If your brand is well-known and competitors are likely to target your brand terms, you need to invest in those keywords to maintain your share of voice and protect your user base. This is crucial for protecting your brand and maintaining visibility.
Incorporating the concept of incrementality is the key to balancing brand protection with a focus on driving new growth. By understanding the true incremental value of your brand campaigns, you can allocate your budget more efficiently, shifting optimal resources toward non-brand campaigns that attract new users who may have otherwise missed your app. This strategic approach ensures that you are both safeguarding your brand’s presence and actively expanding your user base. It’s a balancing act, but one that is essential for long-term, sustainable success on Apple Search Ads.
Lean Into Automation to Optimize Your Marketing Strategy
Finding this sweet spot by yourself, even with a fluent understanding of how that dynamic balance works, is a serious challenge. You can attempt to optimize your ASA campaigns manually, but market dynamics simply change too quickly for sustained success.
Fortified with cutting-edge tools such as Search Ads Maven by Kochava and its support team, you can deftly navigate the maze of app marketing. By automating the management of bids and keywords, you ensure that all campaign components are truly pulling their weight and can make informed decisions that drive genuine growth for your app. Incorporating incrementality into your success equation enables you to strategically nurture your brand’s expansion and deliver the results that truly matter to your business. Bottom line: It’s more powerful to automate your bids and budgets so you can focus on strategy!
Embrace the power of incrementality and watch your brand thrive in the competitive app marketplace. Take the first step toward a more informed marketing game plan and unlock the potential for true incremental gains. Are you looking to uncover the true impact of your ad campaigns and make every dollar you spend level up your brand’s performance? Contact us to learn how our tools can provide you with the insights you need to optimize your campaigns for true incremental mastery.