AdMob Case Study: Flixster | MMA Global

AdMob Case Study: Flixster

June 24, 2010

Goal
Movies by Flixster is a comprehensive movie app for the iPhone or iPod touch with over 6 million downloads since release, making it consistently the highest ranked movie application in the App Store. Within the app, users can watch movie trailers, get showtimes, read reviews, view photos and connect with Facebook friends.

Flixster worked with AdMob to reinvigorate the Movies ranking by driving downloads to push the app back into the Top 50 overall free app list. This ranking allows users to discover the app from their mobile device, as well as in the App Store on a PC. Since most users discover apps while browsing on their device, top 50 ranking is critical for new user acquisition.

After this campaign, Flixster sustained ranking with ongoing advertising investment to take advantage of the organic download boost and easy discoverability of being in the Top 50 free app list.

Solution
Flixster focused advertising efforts on a Wednesday through Friday run to maximize their App Store ranking before the weekend, when use of a movie app is the highest. The text ads ran across AdMob’s network of more than 2,500 iPhone and iPod touch apps. Each ad led directly to the App Store download page, where users could download and use the app immediately.

They ran a variety of ad variations focused on specific movie titles, actors and actresses, as well as more general ad text around finding showtimes, trailers and other movie information. By trying different ad copy, they were able to see what type of message attracted the most user attention.

The campaign utilized AdMob’s Download Tracking to measure downloads generated as a result of each ad. This allowed them to optimize their campaign investment in flight, based on actual app downloads, not just impressions or  clicks.

Results
AdMob drove over 18,000 downloads during the 48 hours the campaign ran. At the start of the campaign, Movies was in position 51 in the Top overall free app list. Within 48 hours, Movies moved up 14 positions to number 37. By the following Monday, Movies ranked number 31.

Flixster continued to see the effects of the campaign after it ended with 25% more organic downloads daily. The overall cost per download exceeded targets and they were able to set a new daily traffic record in their new position.

With minimal continued daily investment, Movies held its position in the Top 20s - 30s overall and number 5 in the Entertainment category following the ranking push.

“We are extremely happy with the results of this campaign. We significantly improved our App Store rank and will do it again in the future.”
– Joe Greenstein, CEO of Flixster

View case study