Solved: Landing Page vs App Store Link Advice Needed

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. I saw your post and it's a situation I see a lot with new app launches. It can be a real struggle to get those first downloads and figure out where your ad spend is best placed. I'm happy to give you some of my initial thoughts and guidance based on what you've described. Hopefully it gives you a bit of clarity.

Honestly, jumping into paid ads without a solid foundation is a surefire way to burn through cash with little to show for it. Your experience of getting clicks but no downloads is a classic symptom of a few underlying issues. Let's break it down.

You'll need a proper landing page, not just an App Store link...

First things first, that question about a landing page versus a direct App Store link. For a new app, I'd almost always argue for a landing page. Sending cold traffic directly to the App Store is a massive leap of faith for a user. They have no context, no trust in you yet, and are presented with a simple 'Get' button next to a few screenshots. It’s a big ask.

Your instinct is right: a landing page gives you the space for more context and a proper explination. It’s your digital storefront, your chance to actually *sell* the app before asking for the download. Think about it, you control the entire narrative. You can show off the app's best features with high-quality videos or interactive mockups, you can use persuasive copy to explain the problem it solves, and you can build trust with testimonials (even if you have to grab some from early beta testers to start with).

I remember one campaign where we worked with a B2B software client. We found that sending people straight to a signup form resulted in a terrible conversion rate. We built a simple one-page site that walked users through the problem, showed the software in action with a short video, and then presented the signup form. The cost per trial dropped significantly. It just works better.

Crucially, you mentioned "no SDK yet". This is probably the single biggest reason you are failing right now. Without the Facebook SDK (or an equivalent mobile measurement partner like AppsFlyer) installed in your app, the ad platform is flying blind. It can't see who actually installs the app after clicking. This means:

-> You have no idea which ads, audiences, or creatives are actually driving downloads.
-> You cannot optimise your campaigns for installs. The algorithm has no data to learn from, so it's just optimising for clicks, which as you've seen, don't equal downloads.

Getting that SDK installed is not optional, it's the absolute first step before you spend another dollar. Without it, your just gambling.

I'd say you need to fix your targeting and creative...

A $5 CPC on Instagram is really high and tells me your ads probably aren't resonating with the audience you're showing them to. This comes down to two things: targeting and creative.

When you're just starting out with a new account, you'll be relying on detailed targeting – interests, behaviours, and demographics. The trick is to be specific. If you have a fitness app, don't just target a broad interest like "Fitness". That's millions of people, most of whom won't care. Get more granular. Think about:
-> Who are your competitors? Target users of their apps.
-> What publications do your ideal users read? Target followers of those pages.
-> What equipment or brands do they use? Target interests related to those.

You want to find pockets of people who are much more likely to be interested in your specific solution. You have to build a profile of your ideal user and then find them on the platform. A broad approach rarely works on a small budget.

Then there's your creative. Is it just a static image? A boring screenshot? For apps, video is almost always better. You need to show the app in action. A simple screen recording showing the main user flow and highlighting the key benefit can work wonders. We've seen some SaaS clients get brilliant results with simple user-generated content (UGC) style videos – it feels more authentic and less like a slick corporate ad, which builds trust.

You need to test different things. Test a video vs. an image. Test different headlines. Test different 'hooks' in the first 3 seconds of your video. Your ad needs to stop someone scrolling and immediately communicate why they should care enough to click, let alone download.

You probably should get your head around the costs and budget...

Your question about budget is a good one. To be brutally honest, $20/day is not a budget for generating a steady stream of downloads. It's a budget for gathering data. At that level, you're just testing to see if your targeting and creative get any traction at all. Seeing zero downloads isn't a massive shock, especially with the tracking and landing page issues we've already discussed.

In our experience with app campaigns, a realistic cost per install (CPI) in developed countries can be anywhere from £2 to $7, sometimes more for niche B2B apps. We ran an app growth campaign that achieved over 45,000 signups at just under £2 per signup, but that was after extensive testing and optimisation. Another B2B software client saw a cost of $7 per trial using Meta ads. So if your CPI is, say, $5, you'd need to spend $500 to get 100 downloads. Your $20/day budget might only get you 4 downloads a day, *if* everything is perfectly optimised.

My advice on ramping up? Don't. Not yet. First, fix the foundations: install the SDK and build a simple, effective landing page. Then, run your ads at that $20/day level with the explicit goal of finding a winning combination of audience and creative. Once you find an ad set that is consistently delivering installs at a cost your comfortable with, then you can think about scaling.

And when you do scale, do it slowly. Don't just double the budget overnight. Increase it by maybe 20-30% every few days. This gives the algorithm time to adjust without sending it back into the 'learning phase', which can mess up performance. Paid advertising is a marathon, not a sprint.

This is the main advice I have for you:

Getting this stuff right involves a lot of moving parts. It's not just about turning on ads; it's a process of strategic testing, analysis, and continuous optimisation. To make it clearer, here's a summary of what I'd focus on.

As you can probably tell, driving app installs effectively is a specialist skill. It takes time, experience, and a rigorous testing methodology to get right. It's about building a system that consistently brings in new users at a profitable cost.

If you'd like to have a more detailed chat and get an expert eye on your project, we offer a free initial consultation. We can go through your app, your goals, and map out a proper strategy to get those first downloads and beyond. It might be helpful to have someone walk you through it.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh