Students learn efficiently.
Socratic AI expands into
global markets.

To drive acquisition in new markets, the Socratic AI team focused on search results campaigns with Apple Ads during the early phase of their app launch. When their app business was getting started, they first expanded into the U.S. market. To capture the high demand from local users, they leveraged brand and category campaigns. They also created a discovery campaign leveraging Search Match to discover new relevant keywords and broad match keywords to further capitalize on high search volume. “When we promoted our app in a new and unfamiliar market, Search Match’s automatic keyword expansion helped us leverage local popular trends to drive rapid acquisition,” says Socratic AI COO Huayi Ji.

To improve conversion efficiency, the Socratic AI team regularly monitored campaign performance and actively adjusted keywords and bidding strategies. For example, they set competitive max CPT bids for high-performing keywords, particularly popular industry-related terms like “AI study helper” and “free study app”, and optimized bids for low-potential keywords. They also removed CPA caps to enable exposure for more keywords, helping them uncover previously overlooked high-value terms and reach more App Store users.

“Apple Ads campaigns are far more convenient than other media channels. It’s enough to simply add keywords at first. And Apple Ads provided keyword and bidding suggestions, which helped us optimize our campaigns in new markets,” says Ji. “In fact, after a year of running Apple Ads campaigns in the U.S., our app downloads increased by 200 percent, cost per acquisition (CPA) decreased by 30 percent, and sales revenue also increased.”

After a period of running Apple Ads campaigns in new markets, the Socratic AI team adjusted and optimized their strategy in line with specific market characteristics to drive ongoing app growth. From early campaigns, the team learned that app quality is highly important to users in North America. Therefore, they constantly iterated on app features while rolling out corresponding marketing campaigns. For example, during major feature updates, they used themed app titles and descriptions in their search results brand ads, and updated app metadata to present people with a full screen of feature updates when searching for Socratic AI brand keywords. By setting their campaign audience type to “Reach All Eligible Users”, they were able to engage new users as well as existing and returning users, improving the app’s retention rate. “Search results brand ads gave us cost-effective brand exposure opportunities. And by aligning these ads with our product page shown in App Store organic search results, students and parents could understand at a glance our product’s core features and advantages,” says Ji.

The Socratic AI team also leveraged campaign insights to guide optimizations in areas like app features. By leveraging Search Match and customized keyword recommendations in Apple Ads, they discovered high-quality keywords that met the needs of local users. And they used this information to adjust product features and app metadata, leading to more exposure and download volume. “With Apple Ads, we improved our App Store ranking in North America and boosted our awareness and user base. Our success in North America even had a positive impact on our app's performance in Europe, driving a 20 percent increase in organic downloads,” says Ji.

To capitalize on major seasonal demand peaks in local markets, the Socratic AI team allocated more budget and actively adjusted their keyword and bidding strategies. For example, during back-to-school season and exam months in the U.S., they increased bids for seasonal keywords like “study app” and “exam help,” resulting in a 40 percent increase in installs. “During high-demand seasons in local markets, we increased our budget and bids for popular industry-related keywords to convert new users and attract past customers to redownload our app,” says Ji.

The Socratic AI app was first released in an English-language version, and the team consequently decided to first develop its business in major English-speaking countries like the U.S., U.K., and Canada. After establishing a stable user base in these markets, they targeted non-English-speaking markets like France, Italy and the UAE, localizing the app and conducting preliminary testing using Apple Ads.

The team considered differences in user demand the biggest challenge of expanding into new markets. Therefore, they leveraged Apple Ads for insights into user preferences, as well as to assess the effectiveness of their product features in the local market. Specifically, they conducted a localized campaign based on high-performing keywords in markets like the U.S., and then leveraged performance data to adjust their ad strategy and product features before scaling up campaigns in other channels. By using this strategy and after a year of running campaigns in France and Italy, Socratic AI saw app downloads increase by 220 percent and 180 percent, respectively.

“Advertising on the App Store was always our first choice for app promotion in new markets, and it continues to account for the majority of our marketing budget,” says Ji. “Customer acquisition was consistently higher quality with better retention rates and higher in-app purchase rates compared to other channels. We only scale to other channels after seeing satisfactory testing results on this platform first. The market insights we obtained from Apple Ads was immensely helpful in planning subsequent multi-channel marketing strategies.” After a year of running campaigns, Socratic AI saw a 260 percent increase in overall app downloads and a 120 percent increase in ROAS across all markets.