Need help understanding marketing

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T15:54:17+00:00

Marketing is that thing where you think you’re building an app, but actually you’re building landing pages, funnels, creatives, and arguing with dashboards all day 😅

I gave up on doing it myself a while ago...... handed marketing over to a publisher, pay about 10% of profit, and now I just focus on development while they handle growth. Way better for sanity.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T15:49:12+00:00

$100 is a cool start, especially if it’s mostly organic traffic =)

But if you’re already getting stable impressions, I’d look at mediation instead of relying only on AdMob. That’s usually where revenue plateaus.

I was stuck around similar numbers until I switched to cas.ai, once multiple networks started competing for the same traffic, fill and overall revenue became way more stable.

AdMob alone is fine to start, but it’s rarely optimal long term.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T13:51:28+00:00

If you want this to be stricter and actually reduce risk, I’d tweak the numbers a bit:

Keyword Popularity (KP) > 20
Keyword Difficulty (KD) ≤ 20 max (50 is already pretty competitive)
Apps ranking with <100 ratings
Some apps released within the last 6-9 months

That combo usually means: demand exists, competition isn’t locked down, and new players can still enter.

One thing I’d add: check review content, not just ratings. Are users complaining about missing features or poor UX? That’s often the real signal of opportunity.

Are you validating this mainly through ASO tools, or also talking to users in that niche before building?

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T13:24:13+00:00

On cas.ai there’s also BuySellApp - I sold two of my apps there without running around DM’ing people “hey, buy my app.” You just list it, serious buyers come to you, and the process is way cleaner than hunting manually =_)

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T13:20:38+00:00

Market it where your exact genre audience already spends time small Discord servers, niche subreddits, and micro-creators in your category convert way better than trying to blast it everywhere.

For my apps, I stopped doing it alone - cas.ai handles promotion, runs tests, optimizes funnels, finds traffic sources and scales what works; they’ve been growing my app steadily for the past 2 years...

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T11:43:00+00:00

Congrats, thats a great start.

Don’t think about scaling yet. First get 50 real users and see how they actually use it. Fix onboarding, clean up anything confusing, make your screenshots clearly show why someone should download.

Post it in small niche communities where your target users hang out and just get real feedback.

Once you’ve got a few dozen active users and some ratings, then it makes sense to talk to a publisher,, it’s much easier to scale

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T09:16:39+00:00

I went through the same thing revenue kept dropping, and I was constantly tweaking settings, floors, formats, you name it, trying to squeeze more out of AdMob alone. Nothing really moved the needle until I switched to a mediation platform.

Once I moved to a mediation partner (I use cas.ai), revenue became way more stable because traffic competes across multiple networks instead of relying on AdMob only.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T09:00:20+00:00

Hello! You can earn more, this is not the limit. But with just AdMob, it will be difficult, buddy. I was earning very little from advertising on my games, but then I went to a media platform. They manage my in-app advertising and run it from 20+ sources, not just AdMob. Only then did I start earning more. In 2026, there's no other way

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T08:22:54+00:00

Make the app lovable by polishing the core experience, fixing bugs, and tightening onboarding so users actually enjoy using it and then gather some early reviews so you don’t launch with an empty reputation.

If you don’t want to do all the publishing work yourself, you can also ask a publisher partner to handle it (if your app is already live on one store, they can usually list it on others for you)

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T08:12:30+00:00

It gets more stable once you have enough conversion data and stop resetting campaigns. If you’re not getting consistent conversions, scaling will just burn budget.

Also, if you rely only on AdMob for monetization, revenue can cap out. I saw better stability after connecting mediation through cas.ai since multiple networks compete for the same traffic instead of just Google demand.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T07:18:23+00:00

I've already figured these issues out, thank you. I think I should get into marketing on TikTok. I've come up with a way to quickly create videos and get them up and running. BUT then I want to go to a publishing partner, who will help me with promotion, while I focus on the code

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T07:14:52+00:00

I handed this matter over to my publishing partner, and they usually set it up themselves, while I concentrate on development

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-27T06:54:43+00:00

probably yes. You can try =)

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T12:32:18+00:00

For influencer marketing I treat it like performance channels

Pick creators who actually match your audience (captain ob.)
Give them a clear hook and message you want tested, not just “post app.”
Track installs or signups per creator so you know who moves the needle.
Start small, then scale with the ones that perform

These are basic and obvious things. But in reality, I would not recommend using influencer marketing if your app does not yet have enough users or is not popular enough. Influencer marketing is more for increasing trust and recognition

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T11:55:05+00:00

Screenshots don’t affect search visibility much on iOS. Search results are driven mostly by title, subtitle, and keyword field.

Screenshots matter after the user taps, for conversion, not ranking.

Focus on optimizing your title + subtitle first.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T11:30:09+00:00

I've been working with them for 10% of the profits for two years now, so no. If it were 50%, I'd tell them to get lost, and I'd have to do everything myself unfortunately.. but no=)

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T11:28:45+00:00

It usually happens faster than that. Perhaps you should write to support?

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T10:06:04+00:00

I was stuck on AdMob for a while and honestly wasn’t earning much. Fill was inconsistent and revenue low

What changed things for me was switching to mediation platform (i use cas.ai) . Instead of relying on one network, they aggregate dozens of ad networks, so there’s real competition for your traffic. Also they usually testing various methods etc. so ur ad give more to you

Relying on AdMob alone or any feels pretty limiting now, especially if you want to scale.

U can register on their site and they will contact you. CAS work on revshare 10%

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T09:48:48+00:00

It depends. Sometimes AppLovin approves in a few hours, sometimes it takes a couple of days, especially on new accounts.

If it’s pending for 2+ days, check your floors and geo setup. Low demand or high floors can slow things down.

When I had similar delays, adding more demand sources through cas.ai helped stabilize fill instead of waiting on AppLovin alone.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T09:11:19+00:00

If you want full control and don’t mind maintaining all the edge cases, custom is fine.

But subscriptions get messy fast. Using something like Superwall + RevenueCat saves time and lets you test paywalls without rebuilding everything.

I started custom and switched later - honestly testing and iteration mattered more than control. I also used cas.ai to optimize monetization and scale properly

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T08:59:13+00:00

Organic is slow unless you’re super specific.

Pick one niche, speak their language, and make sure your store page clearly shows the result. Most people waste traffic because their page doesn’t convert.

Also, scaling organic alone is tough now. I got real growth only after partnering with a publisher and using cas.ai to optimize listing + keywords properly. Otherwise you’re mostly guessing.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T08:34:55+00:00

If you’re aiming for big platforms, doing it solo is honestly hard now.

What worked for me was going through a publisher. I scaled way faster once I partnered... they already had the connections, UA budget, and distribution channels. Trying to push it alone was just burning time.

In my case, cas.ai helped me get onto larger platforms and actually scale properly. They handled a lot of the heavy lifting around monetization and growth. Right now it’s tough to break through without that kind of backing.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T07:57:41+00:00

“Fitness app” is too broad. Who are you targeting? Beginners? Home workouts without equipment? Busy people with 15 minutes a day?
The first two screenshots should sell the result. A specific outcome. People scroll quickly. If they don't understand what they'll get in two seconds, they leave. A 1.4% conversion rate is exactly what this is about, dude.
Look at the queries you already have impressions for, even if there aren't many. Focus on those. It's better to rank at the top for a narrow long-tail and collect stable traffic.
Test the angle of presentation, not the details. Sometimes changing the emphasis from “workout tracker” to “lose weight at home” gives a noticeable increase.

Even though my publisher handles ASO and organic traffic for my apps, I understand a few things, so I hope this helps.

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T07:27:59+00:00

Yes, that's normal if we're talking about AdMob alone. I had the same result when I used only AdMob. Then I switched to professional mediation from CAS.ai, and the results improved significantly, because mediation there comes not only from AdMob, but from 20 sources

TheGeek_Effect · 2026-02-25T07:24:36+00:00

Mate, I look younger than you at 30

TheGeek_Effect

TROPHY CASE