1668 Adwords clicks, 5 app installs. Is Adwords broken?

[ian_cyw]

We've been running an Adwords campaign for our free iPhone app Stocks+ using Adwords banners on the display network.

On 1668 clicks, we have had only 5 installs, for a $19.05 cost per install.

Any thoughts on what might explain this? We have thought about the following:

- massive click fraud - inconsistencies between our banner and app. But we have tried to be honest about we are selling. - misclicks

Either way, this Adwords seems to be broken for driving app installs.

App link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stocks+-alerts-real-time-stock/id667161120?mt=8

Adwords stats: http://equitiva.com/downloads/Adwords2.png

Sample Banner: http://equitiva.com/downloads/ad.gif

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[onion2k]

443018 impressions with a click through of 0.37% leading to a 0.29% install conversion rate would be awful be most apps... but you're targeting a tiny niche market - "people with money to buy shares who want a 'free' app to track their portfolio" are going to be incredibly rare. People who bother to track their shares tend to own a lot of them, so a $20 app isn't a problem. Plus, iPhones come with a stock tracking app installed, albeit a bad one, so you've got to get past that too.

I'd hazard a guess that your banner ad is actually very good and is attracting lots of attention, but the product isn't something many people want, hence lots of clicks but few installs. Maybe CPC marketing was a poor choice.

[ian_cyw]

Thanks! Why though would people click on the ad which is clearly about stocks, if they don't want a stocks app?

It's difficult for me to understand this.

[paulradtke]

I can't give a profound ad-expert explanation, but when I land on an app, my decision to install it or not depends on the reviews/ratings. Your app has only 2 reviews visible (I can't confirm they are the only reviews) with 4 and 5 stars. Really not bad, but unless a review clearly says it's better than bloomberg, stockwatch and whatever, I would still classify your app as just another one. AND, this is also a big point, human inertia is also a factor, if somebody already use a stock app, the tendency is to stick with what they already know. But you're really on the right track, as you're getting their attention. Maybe you're just missing a deal-maker somewhere, an intangible...

[ian_cyw]

Hey Paul, thanks for the feedback!

Yeah, agree on the deal-maker. Maybe we can tweak the app copy to see if that improves the downloads.

Also, we have a lot of reviews (250+), but since we just updated the app, the ratings don't carry over.

[ian_cyw]

P.S. but even before this update, with 250+ ratings visible, there wasn't really a noticeable difference in installs.