Native tools vs. third-party tools, how to choose the best platform for A/B testing app store assets? Luckily for mobile marketers, there are options when it comes to A/B testing app store assets. Both Apple and Google offer native A/B testing tools, that integrate seamlessly within their respective ecosystems. However, third-party testing tools also provide compelling features to help enhance your ASO strategy. For mobile marketers well-versed in A/B testing, understanding the nuances between these options is key to extracting the most useful data and making informed decisions. Let’s dive into the main differences and how to choose the right tool for your needs.
Setup
Apple App Store product page optimization
Product page optimization is directly integrated with App Store Connect, ensuring a smooth setup and management process. This integration allows you to test different app icons, screenshots, and app preview videos without needing additional configurations. The A/B test is run on visitors to the app store listing regardless of where the user comes from initally.
Google Play Store store listing experiments
Google’s tool, embedded within the Google Play Console, facilitates the testing of listing elements such as icons, screenshots, descriptions, and feature graphics. The audience for the test is visitors to the store page, exactly like with tests on the Apple App Store.
Third-party tools
Third-party tools, such as Geeklab, are hosted outside of the app stores. While third-party tools might require more setup, they offer the flexibility to test across multiple platforms and channels beyond the app stores. A broader scope can be advantageous for marketers looking to optimize not only ASO but also other marketing touchpoints. Traffic to the test page, a look-alike page of the App Store or Play Store, is directed with the help of a paid ad campaign. The ad campaign can be set up on any ad network that supports the redirection to an external URL.
Testing capabilities
Apple
Apple product page optimization allows for the testing of the following elements:
- Icon
- Screenshots
- App preview video
Google store listing experiments allows for the testing of the following elements:
- Icon
- Description
- Screenshots
- Long Description
- Short Description
- App Preview Video
Geeklab
For optimizing existing store page assets, Geeklab allows for the testing of the following elements:
- Icon
- Title
- Ratings
- Description
- Screenshots
- Long Description
- Short Description
- App Preview Video
In addition to this, Geeklab also provides the possibility to create look-alike product pages from scratch for concept tests.
Insights
Native tools
Both Apple and Google show the impact on conversion rate as the key finding of tests. This is useful to know as it is the main reason to conduct tests. But it is not the only motivation to test. Google store listing experiments allow tests for custom store listings, which helps analyze insights in different markets. The biggest caveat with the native tools, however, is the lack of extensive user behavior data and the ability to analyze why a variant performs better.
The native tools only provide quantitative data, without the possibility to survey your audience further. This is not a necessity when trying to optimize creatives, but if you want to dive deeper into your audience a third-party tool helps.
Third-party tools
While third-party tools also provide the impact on CVR, most importantly they provide broader data about the audience. Custom reporting capabilities allow for deeper analysis of insights, enabling the fine-tuning of strategies based on comprehensive data. This means that you are able to analyze why a certain creative is more appealing and further iterate on what should be tested next. When combined with surveys, tests can reveal a lot more about the players. Strategically formulated questions will shed light into many blindspots. This is especially useful in concept validation tests.
In addition to this, third-party tools enable testing even before the app or game is launched on the app store. This is the biggest difference between the tools. For concept validation, third-party tools can give unmatched insights into whether a game has market potential, what kind of choices should be made in terms of development, and how to build your game or app for your audience.
Conclusion on native tools vs. third-party tools
This duel has no clear winner. Both native and third-party A/B testing tools have their strengths. The right choice depends on your specific needs, the complexity of your ASO strategy, and the level of insight you require to make data-driven decisions. The most important thing is to keep testing and keep optimizing to support growth.
Here’s more on the topic, 5 key metrics you are missing out on when testing only on native tools.
