Athletes join a community.
Strava expands to new markets.

When launching Apple Search Ads, the Strava team focused on discovering relevant keywords by using Search Match and broad match. They gained insights into overall volume of relevant searches on the App Store and created separate campaigns by activity type (running, cycling, and swimming). The team used exact match for each campaign to focus on specific, relevant terms for each distinct athlete audience. 

“Apple Search Ads gives us transparency into what terms drive conversions and how different the audience for each athletic activity can be. With these insights, we are now able to think about our different types of customers at a keyword level,” shares Strava Growth Marketing’s Michael Nguyen. 

For example, the Strava team found that new users who searched for jogging tend to require more personalized motivation to upload their first activity. They often also tailored Strava’s  onboarding experience based on Apple Search Ads keywords.

As the Strava team enters new countries, Apple Search Ads also helps them decipher the volume of relevant searches by new market. For example, Strava can learn that certain geographic regions have a higher number of searches by cyclists versus swimmers. The app then invests in the keyword themes that will maximize growth in that new country for that audience of athletes.

“Apple Search Ads has become Strava’s most trusted, efficient method of expansion. Apple Search Ads helps us understand country and language nuances through the intent signals people send by searching on the App Store. It’s amazing because we can quickly learn, localize our strategy, and optimize our keywords,” says Nguyen.

To further maximize personal relevancy, the team at Strava created more ad variations with Creative Sets and the screenshots and previews from their App Store product page. Before Strava used Creative Sets, their approach had been to use generic creative to capture a broad audience. With Creative Sets, the team aligned creative to keyword themes and highlighted app features for each activity type. 

With Creative Sets focused on the running keyword theme, Strava can show prospective customers ad creative with messaging that highlights the app features most attractive to runners. “Creative Sets offers an ideal way to test imagery and messaging within those images to find the best performing creative based on user response. It allows us to speak to our users individually and ensure that each type of customer has a personal experience—from seeing our ad to uploading their first activity,” shares Nguyen.