Apple Search Ads & Custom Product Pages assets requirements
Apple Search Ads are an effective marketing tool to promote your app and increase the opportunity for installs directly through the Apple App Store itself. Each ad includes creative assets that work to improve engagement and visually showcase your app’s features and highlights. Let’s go through the different types of assets required for Apple Search Ads and how you can utilize Custom Product Pages to influence the performance of your campaigns.
Why you need to have good assets for Apple Search Ads
To make waves with your Apple Search Ads (ASA) campaign, you’ll want your app to stand out from its competitors and create opportunities for engagement with your audience.
It goes without saying that optimizing your ad is essential for making this happen, however, your creative assets also play an important role in supporting your goals.
For most ASA campaigns, Apple will automatically generate a series of assets for your ads that are made up of screenshots and preview videos that appear on your app’s product page. Therefore, it is important to have an optimized app store listing.
You will supply these assets when initially setting up your app store listing and as they will be the first visuals your audience will see of your app, you’ll want to choose them carefully and strategically! This is your opportunity to showcase the most compelling features of your app and give audiences a taste of user experience. Utilizing high-quality, on-brand assets can make all the difference to the performance of your ASA campaign and put you in good stead for increasing your conversions and installs.
Remember: App Store Optimization comes first, optimization of Apple Search Ads comes second. As Apple takes creative assets directly from your app store listing, make sure that they strongly represent the value of your app brand and highlight the functionality of the app.
Types of creative assets for Apple Search Ads
As mentioned above, ASA will generate creative assets for your ads from the screenshots and app previews that you use for your app’s organic store listing.
However, if you’re looking to make the most of Apple Search Ads Advanced, you can set up custom product pages for iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 or later for more options on your ads’ creative assets. This will give you greater flexibility beyond the essential screenshots and app previews provided for your product page and instead will allow you to create up to 35 variations per app. These variations can showcase a particular feature, content or characters while still aligning with existing messaging and branding, supporting more opportunities for customer acquisition. Moreover, using custom product pages allow you to customize the user journey, decrease CPI and increase Conversion Rates. You can also look at custom product pages as a specific landing page where users will land once they click on your ad.
With custom product pages, you can customize the three following assets:
- Screenshots
- App previews
- Promotional text
By creating more tailored and personalized assets, you have the potential to attract a wider or more specific demographic of audience that may find your custom product page more relevant and increase the possibility for conversions and installs.
Requirements for Custom Product Pages assets
As already highlighted, custom product pages allow you to create more variations of a series of assets that differ from those that appear on your default app store listing page. You can tailor these variations from a blank page set-up or from a copy of your default page. Each of these assets needs to meet the requirements set by Apple. Below are app preview and screenshots requirements for Apple Search Ads.
App preview requirements for Apple Search Ads
Here are details outlined for creating app previews.
| Context | Description |
| Maximum file size | 500MB |
| Minimum length | 15 Seconds |
| Maximum length | 30 Seconds |
| Default poster frame setting | 5 Seconds |
| Orientation | Portrait or Landscape |
| OS device capture and play | iOS 8 or later |
| Upload and playback on App Store Connect | Safari 8 and macOS 10.10 or later |
Also, remember that you can provide app preview in tH.264 and ProRes 422 (HQ only) formats, with the following video specifications.
| H.264 format | ProRes 422 (HQ only) format | |
| Target bit rate | 10-12 Mbps | VBR ~220 Mbps |
| Video characteristics | Progressive, up to High Profile Level 4.0 | Progressive, no external references |
| Max frame rate | 30 frames per second | 30 frames per second |
| Audio | StereoCodec: 256kbps AACSample Rate: 44.1kHz or 48kHzAll tracks should be enabledStereo configuration:1 track with 2-channel stereo (1st channel L and 2nd channel R)2 tracks with 1-channel stereo (1st track L and 2nd track R) | StereoCodec: PCM or 256kbps AACBit Depth (for PCM): 16-, 24-, or 32-bitSample Rate: 44.1 or 48kHzAll tracks should be enabledStereo configuration:1 track with 2-channel stereo (1st channel L and 2nd channel R)2 tracks with 1-channel stereo (1st track L and 2nd track R) |
| Supported extensions | .mov, .m4v, .mp4 | .mov |
Keep in mind the right resolution while creating app previews.
| Device size or platform | Native resolutions | Accepted resolutions | App Preview source |
| 6.5 inch (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR) | 2688 x 1242 pixels (19.5:9 aspect ratio) | 886 x 1920 pixels (portrait)1920 x 886 pixels (landscape) | Upload 6.5-inch previews |
| 5.8 inch Super Retina Display (iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone XS, iPhone X) | 2436 x 1125 pixels (19.5:9 aspect ratio) | 886 x 1920 pixels (portrait)1920 x 886 pixels (landscape) | Default: scaled 6.5-inch previewsAlternative: upload 5.8-inch previews |
| 5.5 inch (iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus) | 2208 x 1242 pixels (Rendered Pixels)1920 x 1080 pixels (Physical Pixels)(16:9 aspect ratio) | 1080 x 1920 pixels (portrait)1920 x 1080 pixels (landscape) | Upload 5.5-inch previews |
| 4.7 inch (iPhone SE (3rd generation, 2nd generation), iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6) | 1334 x 750 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio) | 750 x 1334 pixels (portrait)1334 x 750 pixels (landscape) | Default: scaled 5.5-inch previewsAlternative: upload 4.7-inch previews |
| 4 inch (iPhone SE (1st generation)) | 1136 x 640 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio) | 1080 x 1920 pixels (portrait)1920 x 1080 pixels (landscape) | Default: scaled 5.5- or 4.7-inch previewsAlternative: upload 4-inch previews |
Screenshot requirements for Apple Search Ads
| Device size or platform | Screenshot size | Requirement | Screenshot source |
| 6.5 inch (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR) | 1284 x 2778 pixels (portrait)2778 x 1284 pixels (landscape)1242 x 2688 pixels (portrait)2688 x 1242 pixels (landscape) | Required if app runs on iPhone | Upload 6.5-inch screenshots |
| 5.8 inch (iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone XS, iPhone X) | 1170 x 2532 pixels (portrait)2532 x 1170 pixels (landscape)1125 x 2436 pixels (portrait)2436 x 1125 pixels (landscape)1080 x 2340 (portrait)2340 x 1080 (landscape) | Required if app runs on iPhone and 6.5 inch screenshots are not provided | Default: scaled 6.5-inch screenshotsAlternative: upload 5.8-inch screenshots |
| 5.5 inch (iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus) | 1242 x 2208 pixels (portrait)2208 x 1242 pixels (landscape) | Required if app runs on iPhone | Upload 5.5-inch screenshots |
| 4.7 inch (iPhone SE (3rd generation, 2nd generation), iPhone 8, iPhone 7, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6) | 750 x 1334 pixels (portrait)1334 x 750 pixels (landscape) | Required if app runs on iPhone and 5.5-inch screenshots are not provided | Default: scaled 5.5-inch screenshotsAlternative: upload 4.7-inch screenshots |
| 4 inch (iPhone SE (1st generation)) | 640 x 1096 pixels (portrait without status bar)640 x 1136 pixels (portrait with status bar)1136 x 600 pixels (landscape without status bar)1136 x 640 pixels (landscape with status bar) | Required if app runs on iPhone and 5.5- or 4.7-inch screenshots are not provided | Default: scaled 5.5- or 4.7-inch screenshotsAlternative: upload 4-inch screenshots |
| 3.5 inch (iPhone 4s) | 640 x 920 pixels (portrait without status bar)640 x 960 pixels (portrait with status bar)960 x 600 pixels (landscape (without status bar)960 x 640 pixels (landscape with status bar) | Required if app runs on iPhone and 5.5 inch iPhone screenshots are not provided | Default: scaled 5.5-, 4.7-, or 4-inch screenshotsAlternative: upload 3.5-inch screenshots |
How to improve the performance of creative assets in your Apple Ads
As your creative assets are a key factor in the overall performance of your ads, utilizing some best practice tips can increase your chances of meeting your intended goals. Here are some elements to bear in mind when putting together and choosing your assets:
Screenshots
When setting up your initial product page, you can choose up to 10 screenshots. Each one should highlight your app’s key features and benefits, showing users what your app is all about. However, the first 3 screenshots are the most crucial for success, as they appear directly in front of the user.
If your app also supports Dark Mode, it may also be worth adding a screenshot showcasing this. Also, showcase awards that your app has gained so far as it will help to establish trust. The more screenshots you provide on your product page, the more options there are available for your ads.
App previews
Similarly, you can upload up to three app previews to your product page, with each one giving you 30 seconds to sell your app’s experience and functionality to audiences. However, as app previews autoplay on mute, you want to make sure the first few seconds are really going to grab the attention of the audience!
Promotional text
Keep your promotional text updated with new and upcoming features on your app, the latest news and key benefits you want users to know.
Utilize Custom Product Pages
For more creative diversity, consider setting up custom product pages for the opportunity to add more asset variations and generate more unique and relevant ads for different audience groups. Also, don’t forget to align your custom product pages with the keywords you use in the ad groups.
Keep branding consistent
Always keep your assets in line with the overall branding of your app. Consistency will increase the quality of your ads and improve product recognition.
Summary
Your creative assets hold a lot of influence when it comes to the performance of your ads.
Ensuring your assets are high-quality, on-brand and as varied as possible will increase the chances of engagement and conversion.
Of course, as with all promotional activities, consistently reviewing performance and adapting your assets based on what the data is telling you will be essential for securing ongoing success.
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