--- static_export_time: "2026-07-30T17:45:00+00:00" title: "How SoundCloud Increased ROAS for non-branded keywords 190%" description: "AppTweak collaborated with SoundCloud's team and implemented a multi-step approach to scale SoundCloud's Apple Ads campaigns." url: "/en/case-studies/soundcloud-asa" locale: "en-US" image: "https://www.apptweak.com/img/2025/01/soundcloud-asa-cover.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=95" --- # How SoundCloud Increased ROAS for non-branded keywords by 190% Company: SoundCloud Industry: Music Streaming - ###### Get Started for Free Join the top mobile leaders using AppTweak [Start free trial](https://app.apptweak.com/accounts/new?locale=en) [Request a demo](/en/request-schedule-a-demo) - 3xbudget - 190%increase in ROAS on non-branded keywords [SoundCloud](https://soundcloud.com/) is the world’s largest music and audio platform. Since launching in 2008, SoundCloud has been differentiating itself thanks to its unique content and features, including the ability to share music and connect directly with artists, as well as unearth breakthrough tracks, raw demos, podcasts and more ## Challenge App Store Search accounts for 75% of all of SoundCloud’s downloads, making it by far their primary acquisition channel. But SoundCloud **struggled to effectively scale their Apple Ads campaigns,** with spending reaching only 56% of their daily budgets. ## Solution SoundCloud teamed up with AppTweak’s App Growth Consultants and Data Science team to optimize their Apple Ads campaigns. Over the course of one year, AppTweak has implemented a **multistep approach** to scale their Apple Ads campaigns (increase budget) while optimizing the campaign for return on ad spend (ROAS). ### Step 1: Optimize keyword discovery As a first step to reach full budget utilization, we identified we needed to help SoundCloud **find new keywords to bid on.** Using [**Atlas AI** ,](/en/why-apptweak/atlas) AppTweak’s own large language model, we **created our own discovery campaign** to find new relevant keywords for SoundCloud to appear on. _Thanks to Atlas AI we have a very good understanding of how the app stores group apps and keywords together. As a result we can with a very high accuracy identify thousands of keywords that are closely related to each other and specific apps._ Our approach: - we identified a number of strong performing keywords - we asked Atlas AI to create a cluster of thousands of keywords closely related to each of these keywords - we uploaded these keywords into one master discovery campaign on Apple Ads - we added these keywords as negative keywords to the original search match discovery campaign to avoid double-bidding Once we identified high-potential keywords via this discovery campaign, we made sure to **move these keywords** from the discovery campaign into general or performance campaigns so we could better **control bids and budgets** via the following simple rule: If Taps \> 20 → move to stable campaigns with bid = CR \* Target CPI and add as negative keyword to discovery campaign By moving keywords to performance campaigns with custom bids, we could increase the budget for those campaigns leading to a surge in impressions and downloads. To further optimize campaign performance, we implemented a set of automation rules to **optimize bids and cost-per-install (CPI):** - If impression share \> 90% and CPT \> xx, lower bid 10% - If CPI \> Target CPI, set new bid = Target CPI x CVR As a result, **we reached full budget utilization and doubled downloads while lowering CPI 23%** within the first 3 months. ### Step 2: Optimize for ROAS As we doubled downloads, SoundCloud was tempted to increase their budget. However, with more budget, the need to **optimize campaign performance towards high revenue downloads** grew. Therefore we integrated with SoundCloud’s MMP and built a LifeTime Value (LTV) model to be able to assign a value to custom events (Average Revenue per Event or ARPE) tracked via MMPs. ARPE = Total LTV / Event = Target CPE Similar to a Cost Per Install (CPI) optimization, we can optimize campaigns for any Cost Per Event (CPE) and Event Conversion Rate (ECVR): Bid = ECVR \* Target CPE When optimizing for ROAS and setting bids by Cost per Event (CPE), the difficulty is to identify which event to optimize towards. It’s important to identify a custom event with a high enough Event Conversion Rate (ECVR) so you can tie it back to keywords with enough confidence. After successfully implementing these optimizations, **ROAS increased 190% which allowed us to double the budget.** ### Step 3: Expand to new markets To be able to further expand the budget while maintaining current CPIs and maximize ROAS, the next step was to launch the campaign in new markets. After optimizing the campaign in the USA, we launched the campaign in: - Germany - The United Kingdom - Canada - France - Australia - Austria - Italy - Spain The choice for these markets was based on SoundCloud’s business requirements. But we also leveraged countries with similar languages (ex Australia vs USA or Austria vs Germany) to more quickly transfer previous wins to other countries. ## Results After collaborating for 1 year and implementing this multi-step approach, SoundCloud tripled their budget, increased downloads for non-branded keywords by 4 times, all while increasing ROAS on non-branded keywords 190%. ![](/img/2025/10/1736007876697.jpeg?auto=format%2Ccompress&w=200&h=200&fit=crop) Katrina Nguyen | Senior Manager, Performance Marketing > AppTweak’s team helped us improve, monitor, and measure our store performance. It has been a joy working with such a dynamic and dedicated team of professionals who always went the extra mile to make sure we hit our goals. ## More case studies - [ ### How SoundCloud decreased CPI by 39% with custom product pages Read the story ](/en/case-studies/soundcloud) - [ ### How Deezer used AppTweak’s API for its ASO reporting Read the story ](/en/case-studies/deezer-api) - [ ### How PrizePicks achieved a 71% lower CAC on Apple Ads ahead of Super Bowl LX Read the story ](/en/case-studies/prizepicks) - [ ### How King restored 100% of keyword installs by uniting ASO & Apple Ads Read the story ](/en/case-studies/king-aso-apple-ads) - [ ### How Bolt achieved +8.6% incremental installs with organic custom product pages Read the story ](/en/case-studies/bolt) - [ ### How Zupee grew organic downloads by 134% after rebuilding its ASO for free-to-play Read the story ](/en/case-studies/zupee) [See all case studies](/en/case-studies)