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ASO — 10 Mar 2025
How to Start Apple Search Ads with the free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan
Gabriel Kuriata
Gabriel Kuriata 
SplitMetrics Acquire is a platform for managing and optimizing Apple Search Ads campaigns. Its AI-driven automation, optimization, analytical, and market intelligence features create an entire data-driven app growth ecosystem for the App Store.
SplitMetrics Acquire expands the advertising channel’s core functionality with its unique graphical user interface, automation features, and full-funnel performance analytics. The platform also offers insights into the mobile app market that may contribute to a profitable app growth strategy.
SplitMetrics Acquire has an entirely free version: the free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan. We’d recommend beginning your journey with our platform as soon as possible, even on Day 1 of using Apple Search Ads, to unlock faster and more profitable app growth on the App Store.
Read this article to learn how to start Apple Search Ads with the free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan and why it might be the best option for those discovering ads on the App Store.
There are many reasons to start your journey from an Apple Search Ads beginner to an expert with the free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan beginning Day 0:
The key benefit of using our platform to run Apple Search Ads campaigns is the ability to rely on full-funnel analytics for optimization. Track which keywords or ads are the most effective at generating revenue and include this data in your automated optimization to unlock faster and more profitable growth.
Continue reading to understand how all these features combined will help you succeed with Apple Search Ads.
SplitMetrics Acquire is an entire ecosystem that drives profitable app growth on the App Store. Naturally, as a management and automation platform for Apple Search Ads, it gives you access to all of its features, including:
SplitMetrics Acquire uses the Apple Search Ads Management API to connect with the advertising platform and allow full access to its functionality. Our AI-driven tech powers all additional features, allowing you to see more metrics and insights or customize your experience.
Here’s a brief and simplified overview of what’s available in the free and enterprise plans, just to give you an idea of how we expand on the default Apple Search Ads Advanced management and optimization.
The free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan offers:
The enterprise version of SplitMetrics Acquire goes even further, granting you access to artificial intelligence (AI) and customer support with an award-winning team. It provides extensive Market Intelligence features, automation, and ROAS-related analysis, allowing precise ROI evaluation. It offers all that’s available in the free Starter Plan, but more:
All these features are meant to help you make Apple Search Ads work and be profitable, and there’s much more to be discovered.
Getting started with the free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan is easy. The goal requires only three items on your checklist, one optional.
You need a live app or one available for pre-order on the App Store. Either way, you need a functioning product page setup in App Store Connect. Don’t worry too much about this step; many apps are reviewed within 48 hours.
To start the free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan, a working Apple Search Ads Account means:
With these steps done, the basic configuration of our platform is as easy as it can be. There’s only one step that is optional but highly recommended.
A mobile measurement partner (MMP), sometimes called a mobile measurement provider, is a service that collects, organizes, and analyzes campaign data from multiple sources and connects them with in-app events, most likely those leading to revenue, like in-app purchases, subscriptions, demo signups, or simply related to desirable engagement of any kind.
In the free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan, example goals can be: Trial, Subscription, Purchase, Engagement, or Game Event. Others can be configured too. It’s best to keep the name consistent with what you have in your mobile measurement partner’s system.
Apple Search Ads Advanced uses the Attribution API to connect campaign data to enable campaign data integration with mobile measurement partner systems.. This integration is necessary to track and optimize the performance for custom conversions or goals.
Although it’s possible to use Apple Search Ads and our platform without connecting an MMP, we highly recommend doing so. Optimizing your campaigns for custom, revenue-related goals unlocks the actual value of this advertising channel: the ability to connect your app with engaged users with high lifetime value (LTV). This integration will let you see the whole funnel with post-installation metrics. It’s also necessary to experience the full capabilities of our platform, utilizing revenue-related data for optimization and driving profits.
The free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan setup is straightforward and shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes. Should you decide to connect an MMP, you’ll proceed to define your goals or how much a single custom conversion should cost. We have enabled a friendly Quick Start checklist.
Now, you can start creating your Apple Search Ads campaign structure, launch your first ads, and optimize your campaigns.
Research App Store keywords for search results ads with our Keyword Discovery feature to quickly build a starting pool of keywords and create a campaign structure. Apple Search Ads discovery campaigns are essential for building a healthy keyword pool, but manual expansion, in the beginning, can enable a more impactful start.
We provide multiple angles for researching keywords and expanded metrics so you can start your campaigns with popular keywords that are also financially within your reach.
An account structure for search results ads in Apple Search Ads defines how campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads are organized. It’s a step taken immediately after assembling your first keyword pool through our Keyword Discovery feature or performed simultaneously.
Out Ads Manager and Keyword Discovery features will help you create a robust, expansive structure from scratch in minutes, efficiently creating new ads, ad groups, and campaigns in whichever way suits you.
With rule templates, you can easily set up automation to cover almost all activities related to Apple Search Ads Advanced management and optimization. This involves optimizing bids, moving keywords between campaigns, pausing and unpausing ads, and many more. These are only basic examples, as automation rules can be a clever way to establish a data-driven growth engine operating almost entirely on its own.
Preparing some automation rules should be one of the first things to do because configuring an automation rule encourages a measured, data-driven optimization approach, and you’re guaranteed the platform won’t miss a second to perform a necessary activity.
[tip] MMP Integration with our platform will open up even more opportunities for automation and optimization through our platform. Think how easier it will be to make Apple Search Ads profitable when a system can automatically boost a keyword that transforms each dollar spent into revenue!
Setting up automation rules is simplified through templates but is a pretty straightforward process anyway, requiring you to define the following:
Analyze your performance on our main Dashboard or the Ads Manager on any level you wish. We encourage you to visit Smart Suggestions for easy tips for tweaks, bid optimizations, keyword management, etc.
Taking advantage of our additional features may help reduce the learning curve of Apple Search Ads and help you make better decisions regarding performance optimization.
We focus on lmaking management as easy as possible, so you can shift your attention to what truly matters: making data-driven decisions for optimization and maximizing your profitability. The free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan gives you an extra layer of functionality on top of Apple Search Ads while costing you nothing.
