ASA-to-ASO Loop
The dominant 2026 strategy. Use Apple Search Ads as a paid lab to discover what real users search for, then promote winning keywords into your free organic metadata.
The loop
1. Run ASA Discovery → Search Match auto-targets queries 2. After 7-14 days, pull keywords with conversion rate > category avg 3. Promote top 5-10 converters to Title / Subtitle / Keyword field 4. Stronger metadata → better organic rank for those terms 5. Better organic rank → ASA wins more auctions at lower CPT 6. Lower blended CAC → reinvest, repeat
Setup (60-min first-time)
- Open free Apple Search Ads Advanced account at ads.apple.com (no minimum)
- Create Discovery campaign with
Search Matchenabled — Apple auto-discovers queries - Create parallel Brand campaign for your app name (cheap, defensive)
- Daily budget: $5-$10/day starter
- Max CPT bid: $0.40-$0.70 per keyword for indies
Cadence
- Weekly: review converters, prune losers
- Monthly: promote winners to organic title/subtitle/keywords
- Quarterly: full ASO refresh (run
aso-pass)
Pause test
If you're already #1-3 organically for a keyword, pause ASA spend on it for 2 weeks and watch organic volume. Often it rises to fill the gap — proving you're paying for installs you'd already get for free.
March 2026 expansion
Apple expanded ad slots from 1 to positions 2-5 in search results. More inventory = more opportunity, but also rising CPI as competition fills slots.
Reference
references/04-discovery-listing.md


