Apple Search Ads (ASA) is one of the most efficient marketing channels for app marketers, and for a good reason. The App Store attracts users with high intent, meaning they're already interested in finding apps. That’s what makes ASA important—it connects apps directly with users who are searching for apps to download.
As you scale up your ASA efforts and start juggling more campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads, managing everything can get overwhelming. One way to simplify things is by using Campaign Management Platforms (CMPs) like Splitmetrics, MobileAction, or Astra by Redbox. These tools give you a faster interface to navigate through campaigns, make bulk changes easily, and even set up automations to save you time.
In this blog, we’re going to dive into a lesser-discussed aspect of ASA automations that, when done right, can seriously boost productivity for ASA managers, help you scale fast, and improve overall channel efficiency. The secret? Linking ASA alerts with Slack.
Many CMPs, like Splitmetrics, MobileAction, and Astra by Redbox, allow you to set up automated alerts directly to Slack. While there are endless alert ideas you can explore, the ones I’m about to share will help you quickly achieve:
Scalability
Efficiency
Performance Insights
Another added benefit of these alerts is that when you get notified on Slack, you can instantly download reports right there to analyze the data, or with just one click, you’re taken to the CMP dashboard with a filtered view—perfect for optimizing affected keywords on the spot.
But what do I really mean when I say you can achieve these three goals? Let me break it down for you:
For Scalability:
Discover new high-performing keywords
Flag campaigns that are limited by budget
For Efficiency:
Automatically pause underperforming discovery keywords
Flag keywords that exceed target cost per conversion
Highlight non-converting keywords
For Performance Insights:
Spot changes in brand demand
Track shifts in download-to-conversion percentage
Detect drops in impression share
Monitor increases in weekly spending
Identify changes in campaign cost
Now let me take you through how you can set this up using automations and Slack integration. You simply need to create new automations as instructed below and enable notifications via Slack. This setup should be available on most of the prominent Apple Search Ads CMPs.
For Scalability: allowing you to scale downloads volume.
Use case - Discovery of new keywords that drive performance
Rule Name: 🟢 <Selected Markets> - Probing - New Potential Keywords 🟢
Apply to: All Keywords in <Probing Campaign>
Action: Send notification only, once in 7 days
Conditions: Conversion (previous 30 days) > 2 AND Cost per Conversion (previous 30 days) < (your target Cost per Conversion)
Run frequency: Everyday at 9 am
Use case - Flag campaigns that are limited by budget
Rule Name: 🟢 Alert-Daily-Budget-Reached 🟢
Apply to: All campaigns
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: Spend (previous day) > 0.95 * Daily Budget
Run frequency: Everyday at 9 am
For Efficiency: actionable notifications leading to efficient spending.
Use case - Automatically pause poor performing probing keywords that don’t drive conversions
Rule Name: 🔴 <Selected Markets> - Probing - Pause Poor Keywords 🔴
Apply to: All Keywords in <Probing Campaign>
Action: Pause keyword & Send notification
Conditions: (Spend (previous 30 days) > (minimum amount you want to spending before pausing a KW) AND Conversion (previous 30 days) = 0) OR (Downloads (Click-Through) (previous 30 days) > 100 AND Conversion (previous 30 days) = 0) OR Avg CPA (Click-Through) (previous 30 days) > (your target CPA) OR (TTR (previous 30 days) < (your account’s average) AND Impressions (previous 30 days) > 500)
Run frequency: Everyday at 9 am
Use case - Flag keywords driving volume over target cost per conversion
Rule Name: 🔴 Alert - Keyword - Over Target Cost per Conversion 🔴
Apply to: All keywords
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: Cost per Conversion (previous 7 days) > (enter your target cost) AND Spend (previous 7 days) > £100
Run frequency: Every week on Monday at 9 AM
Use case - Flag keywords that exhaust budget but don’t drive conversions
Rule Name: 🔴 Alert - Keyword - Zero Conversions at £100 Spending 🔴
Apply to: All keywords
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: Conversion (previous 30 days) = 0 AND Spend (previous 30 days) > £100
Run frequency: Every week on Monday at 9 AM
Performance Insights: important alerts keep you up to date with performance shifts.
Use case - Change in brand demand
Rule 1 Name: 🟢 Alert-Brand Keyword-Demand Increased by 10%+ 🟢
Apply to: Keywords in <Selected Campaigns>
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: Impression Share (15 days ago to 1 day ago, total 14 days) in 81% - 100% AND Impressions (previous 7 days) > 1.1 * Impressions (15 days ago to 8 days ago, total 7 days)
Run frequency: Everyday at 9 am
Rule 2 Name: 🔴 Alert-Brand Keyword-Demand Fell by 10%+ 🔴
Apply to: Keywords in <Selected Campaigns>
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: Impression Share (15 days ago to 1 day ago, total 14 days) in 81% - 100% AND Impressions (previous 7 days) < 0.9 * Impressions (15 days ago to 8 days ago, total 7 days)
Run frequency: Everyday at 9 am
Note: This rule isn’t perfect, but here’s how it works: if your impression share stays within a fixed range while keyword impressions fluctuate, it signals a change in demand. This is especially helpful if you're investing heavily in brand defence, as shifts in demand can quickly impact your budget. These alerts will help you adjust your budget to stay on top of changes.
Use case - Change in download to conversion %
Rule 1 Name: 🟢 Alert - Campaign - DL to Conversion - Increased by 5%+ 🟢
Apply to: (Selected Campaigns)
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: DL to Conversion (previous 7 days) > 1.05 * DL to Conversion (15 days ago to 8 days ago, total 7 days)
Run frequency: Everyday at 9 am
Rule 2 Name: 🔴 Alert - Campaign - DL to Conversion - Decreased by 5%+ 🔴
Apply to: (Selected Campaigns)
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: DL to Conversion (previous 7 days) < 0.95 * DL to Conversion (15 days ago to 8 days ago, total 7 days)
Run frequency: Everyday at 9 am
Note: Sometimes, when in-app conversions drop, it could be because of a lower download-to-conversion rate (CVR). Many factors can influence this. These alerts will track shifts in your download-to-conversion rate and help you spot any red flags related to in-app purchase behavior.
Use case - Drop in impression share on important keywords
Rule Name: 🔴 Alert - Keyword - Impression Share - Under 80% 🔴
Apply to: (Selected Keywords)
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: Impression Share (previous day) < 80%
Run frequency: Every day at 9 AM
Note: If your impression share on important keywords drops, this alert will help you quickly optimize bids, stay ahead of the competition, and prevent volume loss.
Use case - Increase in weekly spending
Rule Name: 🔴 Alert-Campaign-Weekly Spending Increased by 10%+ 🔴
Apply to: All campaigns
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: Spend (previous 7 days) > 1.1 * Spend (15 days ago to 8 days ago, total 7 days) AND Spend (previous 7 days) > £100
Run frequency: Every day at 9 AM
Use case - Change in campaign cost
Rule Name: 🔴 Alert-Campaign-Cost-Increased 🔴
Apply to: All campaigns
Action: Send notification only
Conditions: CPT (previous 3 days) > 1.2 * CPT (17 days ago to 3 days ago, total 14 days) AND Spend (previous 7 days) > £50
Run frequency: Every 2 days at 9 AM
Note: It’s crucial to set up these last two notifications, as they’ll keep you informed if your spending spikes due to higher download volume or if your keyword CPTs are rising.
These automated alerts have saved me countless hours when it comes to optimizing ASA. Hopefully, once you set them up, you'll find you no longer need to optimize ASA on a daily basis. Don’t be afraid to tweak the automations based on your specific goals—what works best may vary depending on your needs.
If you have any thoughts on this blog, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or drop a comment below!
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