Travelers make smarter vacation plans.
ixigo optimizes efficiency.

The ixigo team invested in search results campaigns to scale reach to as many travelers looking for similar apps as possible. They separated Apple Ads campaigns by keyword theme, investing heavily in high-performing brand keywords. This strategy helped maximize impression share for those search terms and capture strong intent while also protecting their brand leadership by staying ahead of the competition. “One key factor of our Apple Ads success is maintaining high share of voice for brand and more general travel-related keywords that perform well for us,” says ixigo Group VP of Growth Marketing Manan Bajoria. “To maintain 90 percent impression share, we bid more aggressively on these keywords, especially leading up to key seasonal moments when we’ll allocate more overall budget and increase cost-per-tap bidding.” The team actively monitored search volume trends and analyzed campaign performance to optimize bidding and improve cost-per-install as well as return on ad spend (ROAS).

To reach the broadest-possible audience and further expand brand visibility, the ixigo team complemented their search results campaigns with ads on the Search tab. This additional placement helped influence the consideration phase of potential travelers. “Search tab campaigns helped increase brand awareness and reach new audiences in an efficient way,” says Bajoria. “Always-on search results campaigns combined with ads on the Search tab are critical to ensuring high share of voice and top-of-mind awareness for our brand.” Leading up to seasonal travel peaks around holidays across India, the team boosted bids on brand, generic, and seasonal keywords to capture increased demand on the App Store. Search tab ads were another way to stay top of mind during critical travel and vacation seasons. “With this additional ad placement, we saw a stable cost-per-acquisition with additional downloads during a key seasonal period,” says Bajoria.

To optimize performance and better engage different audiences, the team at ixigo improved creative relevancy with ad variations based on custom product pages set up in App Store Connect. The visuals and messaging of each custom page aligned with the needs of different travelers.

For example, one custom page featuring hotel imagery aligned with keywords related to “hotels,” while another spotlighted flight times and prices for people searching for local airlines. When potential customers tapped any of these ad variations, they landed on a custom product page that matched the ad creative — creating a seamless experience. During major holidays across India like Diwali and Christmas, the team would start increasing bids on seasonal keywords and align these terms with tailored product pages highlighting relevant messages. “With multiple lines of businesses, we have to ensure that our ads communicate the right offering at the right moment to our customers,” says Bajoria. “By aligning creative with the search term, we improved conversion rates and cost efficiency.”