Checklist for setting up campaigns

Once you've created your campaign (whether as a unified performance campaign or via the Campaign Wizard), be sure to review its settings with this checklist prepared by Yandex Direct specialists.

Account structure for advertising an app

Details

Ads for mobile app and sites belonging to the same advertiser compete with each other for impressions. The auction is unique for each user, with the winner ad determined based on their potential to drive the desired conversion as set in the campaign strategy. Learn more about how auctions work.



Details

To train an automatic strategy effectively, a campaign needs to generate more than 70 conversions. If you split your campaigns, each one will collect less data, making it harder for the strategy to learn and optimize.

Details

The account structure usually depends on your business niche and advertising objectives. We recommend separating campaigns based on their purpose: engaging a new audience or working with existing app customers. This allows for more precise settings, helping you achieve your desired advertising KPIs. Your chosen scenario determines which ad placements, conversions, targeting types, and ad settings get selected.

To run ads, use the unified performance campaign. Choose your goal. Available settings for each scenario appear automatically.

Campaign structure

Details

For retargeting and promotion in the Yandex Advertising Network, it's best not to create too many different campaigns. This will help you consolidate more training data in a single strategy. For fine control over your targetings, use ad groups.

Campaign settings

  • Maximum clicks helps you get maximum ad clicks for a specified CPC or budget.

  • Maximum conversions helps you get maximum ad clicks for a specified average CPA, weekly budget, or budget for a custom period. You can also opt to pay only for app installs: this option is available only for Android campaigns with the Attract new users goal.

  • With the Maximum clicks with manual bids strategy, you can set bids for specific impression criteria in Search-only campaigns.

    Strategy-specific checklists:

    Maximum conversions with pay per click

    You can select app installs or in-app events as your goal. The strategy will drive relevant conversions based on your goal. The more conversions it generates, the more effective your campaign. The more conversions it generates, the more effective your campaign.

    If your current goal delivers a strong Bottom-of-Funnel conversion rate, you can optimize the strategy for a different goal further up the funnel.

    When your budget is too limited, your ad impressions decrease, restricting strategy learning and undermining performance.

      If you get fewer than 70 conversions per week:
    • To facilitate strategy learning, optimize your campaign for a different goal further up the funnel while continuing to track conversions for the key Bottom-of-Funnel action.
    • Combine multiple ad campaigns into one.

    Maximum conversions with pay per install (for Android)

    An insufficient budget lowers the number of ad impressions, making it difficult to train the strategy and reducing its effectiveness.

      If the number of conversions is lower, you can do the following:
    • Switch the campaign to a goal that is higher up the funnel for training purposes while continuing to track the conversion rate for the primary goal.
    • Combine several campaigns into one.

    Maximum clicks

    An insufficient budget lowers the number of ad impressions, making it difficult to train the strategy and reducing its effectiveness.

    Maximum clicks with manual bids for Yandex Search (available in unified performance campaigns only)

    An insufficient budget lowers the number of ad impressions, making it difficult to train the strategy and reducing its effectiveness.

    To see if your bid is set at the right level, analyze your campaign’s results in the Report Wizard:

    1. Look at your average ad position, average CPC, number of impressions, and number of clicks.
    2. Compare your campaign results to keyword data from Yandex Wordstat.
    3. Estimate the volume of traffic you’re acquiring.

Details

Apple's SKAdNetwork technology lets advertisers attribute app installs to specific ad campaigns while maintaining user privacy. Enable this option to get more detailed conversion statistics and better evaluate your ad performance.

Learn more about using SkadNetwork and recommendations for iOS.

Details

Limiting the impression schedule impacts the reach of your campaign, making it difficult to train a strategy and reducing its effectiveness.

For mobile app ads, it’s best to keep your campaigns running 24/7. The algorithms automatically distribute impressions based on the effectiveness of different display times.

Details

Use statistics-based bid adjustments to control target costs (per click, install, or in-app event) by audience (gender or age) or ad group.

Use negative bid adjustments to exclude irrelevant audiences. Use positive adjustments to boost KPIs for your target cross sections.

Details

To avoid limiting your impressions, do not use excessive negative keywords for the Yandex Advertising Network. For more details, see Negative keywords when serving ads in ad networks.

Details

Excluding too many sites can lead to:

  • Reduced ad impressions and strategy effectiveness.
  • Loss of additional audience reach.

Evaluate site performance over a long term.

Ensuring proper campaign optimization

Group settings

Region

Dimension

Details
  1. Define the audience segments that you plan to target with your ads.
  2. Gather relevant impression criteria for each segment: keywords, autotargeting categories, and retargeting lists. Within autotargeting categories, it’s best to start with targeted queries.
  3. Add unique ads for each segment of your target audience. To prevent overlap in ad impressions, avoid using identical ads across different groups. If you can’t create a unique ad for a given segment, combine your targetings within a single ad group. You can view detailed statistics in the Report Wizard.

Targeting

For more information on adding and combining targetings, see Step 2. Creating an ad group (for unified performance campaigns) and Creating ads in the Campaign Wizard.

Interests and habits

Interests
Organizations and places
Look-alike sites
Look-alike apps

Keywords

Category In Yandex Search In the Yandex Advertising Network
Branded
General recommendations
Category
Vendor

Autotargeting categories

Category Queries mentioning your brand Queries mentioning competitors' brands Queries that don’t mention your brand or competitors’ brands
Targeted
Broad
Narrow
Alternative
Related

Audience segments

Ad settings

Details

A deeplink is a required mobile measurement platform (MMP) parameter for ads in retargeting campaigns. It ensures that users who click your ad land directly on the specified section of the app.

Tracker settings for ads for mobile apps

On the mobile app side

On the tracker side

MMP settings for retargeting ads for mobile apps

To effectively target an existing audience with ads for mobile apps, configure your MMP and tracking links with deeplinks.

AppMetrica

Unified performance campaign Campaign Wizard


Before: myscheme://deeplink

After: myscheme://deeplink?click_id={click_id}&campaign_id={campaign_id}



Before: myscheme://deeplink

After: myscheme://deeplink?click_id={click_id}&campaign_id={campaign_id}

AppsFlyer

Unified performance campaign Campaign Wizard







Adjust

Unified performance campaign Campaign Wizard
  • Inactivity period — 0 days.
  • Reattribution window — 14 days.
  • Inactivity period — 0 days.
  • Reattribution window — 14 days.

For more details, see Retargeting & Audiences and Setting up a link in a mobile measurement platform (MMP).

Effectiveness analysis for ads for mobile apps

Cross section options for assessment

Cross section Analyzed parameter

Placement effectiveness, structure optimization.

Distribution of traffic between groups.

Quality and relevance of advertising materials.

Ability to split campaigns into separate campaigns for Yandex Search and the Yandex Advertising Network.



Effectiveness of added targetings and identification of growth points.

Relevance of queries to the ad and keyword relevance.



Traffic management using adjustments.

SKAdNetwork conversions are only available with a breakdown by campaign.