---
name: "asa-to-aso"
description: "Run the Apple Search Ads to ASO loop: paid Discovery campaign reveals converting queries, promote winners to organic Title/Subtitle/Keywords. Use when the user says 'ASA to ASO', 'Apple Search Ads strategy', 'paid to organic'."
---

# ASA-to-ASO Loop

The dominant 2026 strategy. Use Apple Search Ads as a paid lab to discover what real users search for, then promote winning keywords into your free organic metadata.

## The loop
```
1. Run ASA Discovery → Search Match auto-targets queries
2. After 7-14 days, pull keywords with conversion rate > category avg
3. Promote top 5-10 converters to Title / Subtitle / Keyword field
4. Stronger metadata → better organic rank for those terms
5. Better organic rank → ASA wins more auctions at lower CPT
6. Lower blended CAC → reinvest, repeat
```

## Setup (60-min first-time)
1. Open free **Apple Search Ads Advanced** account at ads.apple.com (no minimum)
2. Create **Discovery campaign** with `Search Match` enabled — Apple auto-discovers queries
3. Create parallel **Brand campaign** for your app name (cheap, defensive)
4. Daily budget: **$5-$10/day starter**
5. Max CPT bid: **$0.40-$0.70** per keyword for indies

## Cadence
- **Weekly**: review converters, prune losers
- **Monthly**: promote winners to organic title/subtitle/keywords
- **Quarterly**: full ASO refresh (run `aso-pass`)

## Pause test
If you're already #1-3 organically for a keyword, **pause ASA spend** on it for 2 weeks and watch organic volume. Often it rises to fill the gap — proving you're paying for installs you'd already get for free.

## March 2026 expansion
Apple expanded ad slots from 1 to positions 2-5 in search results. **More inventory = more opportunity**, but also rising CPI as competition fills slots.

## Reference
`references/04-discovery-listing.md`