Why Your ASA Conversion Rate is Tanking (And How to Fix It)

Your TTR looks healthy. Users are tapping your ads. But they’re not installing.

Low conversion rate is one of the most expensive problems in Apple Search Ads because you’re paying for the tap — the money is spent — but the install doesn’t follow. Every uninstalled tap is pure waste.

The good news: low CR has diagnosable causes. The bad news: the fix depends on correctly identifying which cause you’re dealing with.

What you’ll learn:

• CR benchmarks by campaign type so you know if you actually have a problem
• The TTR-CR relationship and what each combination diagnoses
• A 5-step framework to isolate the root cause
• Resolution paths by root cause with realistic timelines
• The one mistake teams make that turns a fixable CR problem into a structural one

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CR Benchmarks by Campaign Type

First, verify you actually have a problem. CR varies significantly by campaign type:

Campaign Type	Poor	OK	Good	Strong
Brand	< 45%	45-55%	55-65%	> 65%
Generic	< 35%	35-45%	45-55%	> 55%
Competitor	< 25%	25-35%	35-45%	> 45%
Discovery	< 20%	20-30%	30-40%	> 40%

If you’re in the “Poor” band, you have a problem worth diagnosing. If you’re in “OK” and want to improve, that’s optimization — a different mode requiring iteration rather than root cause investigation.

Important: Never compare CR across campaign types. Brand CR of 60% and Competitor CR of 30% can both be strong. The denominator is different because the user intent is different.

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The TTR-CR Relationship

TTR (Tap-Through Rate) and CR work together. Reading them together is what makes the diagnosis precise:

TTR	CR	Interpretation	Fix
High	High	Optimal. Ad attracts right users, product page closes.	Scale.
High	Low	Expectation mismatch. Ad overpromises; product page underdelivers.	Align CPP to keyword intent.
Low	High	Ad undersells. Fewer taps, but converters are qualified.	Improve creative to attract more volume.
Low	Low	Systemic problem with both creative and product page.	Audit both simultaneously.

The most expensive failure pattern is High TTR + Low CR. You’re paying for taps from users who arrive, feel misled by the gap between ad and product page, and leave. The ad is working to attract taps but the landing experience breaks the deal.

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The 5-Step Diagnostic Framework

Step 1: Verify the Scope

Ask: Is low CR affecting all keywords or specific segments? Is it declining or has it always been low?

• All keywords, consistently low: Product page or app-level issue — the problem is with what users find when they arrive, not how they’re being targeted.
• Specific ad groups, consistently low: Creative-to-landing mismatch — the keywords in those ad groups are attracting a different intent than the product page serves.
• Previously acceptable, recently declining: Something changed — in the app, the ratings, the competitive landscape, or the creative.

The scope tells you where to look. Don’t start fixing product pages when the problem is isolated to two ad groups.

Step 2: Check Creative-to-Landing Alignment

When users tap your ad, they see your product page. The question is whether what they see matches what the ad implied.

Check:

• Does your Custom Product Page match the intent of the keyword that triggered the ad?
• Would a user feel continuity or confusion between ad creative and landing page?
• Are you using Custom Product Pages at all, or sending all traffic to the default page?

The specific failure pattern to look for: A user searches “calorie counter” and your ad appears. They tap. Your default product page leads with screenshots of workout tracking. That user leaves. The creative-landing disconnect is the entire explanation for low CR in that ad group.

Fix: Create Custom Product Pages aligned to keyword theme groups. Each major intent cluster deserves its own CPP where the first screenshot directly addresses what that user searched for.

Step 3: Evaluate Your Product Page Independently

Sometimes the problem isn’t alignment. The product page itself is the bottleneck.

Audit it as if seeing it for the first time:

• Are screenshots compelling and immediately clear about value?
• What is your current star rating? Below 4.0 creates significant conversion headwind. Below 4.5 is friction even for motivated users.
• Are recent reviews visible and positive, or are negative reviews surfacing near the top?
• How large is the app download? Large downloads deter installs, especially on cellular.
• Is subscription pricing or IAP visible and does it create hesitation?

Specific checks:

• App rating below 4.0? Ninety percent of featured App Store apps maintain above 4.0. This is a real barrier, not a perception issue.
• Negative reviews from the past 30 days visible? Respond to them promptly — it signals active maintenance and often prompts users to update their review.
• Screenshots unchanged in 6+ months? Conventions in app screenshots evolve. What looked strong a year ago may look dated against current category competitors.

Step 4: Analyze Competitive Context

Are competitors simply doing better product page work? Users who tap your ad may also be opening competitor listings to compare.

Check:

• Pull the top 3-5 apps appearing for your target keywords
• Compare screenshots: clarity, first-impression value proposition, visual quality
• Compare star ratings
• Compare social proof volume (number of ratings, not just average)

The question isn’t whether to copy — it’s whether there’s a material gap that explains why users choose them after tapping you.

Fix: Don’t copy. Understand what’s working and differentiate on dimensions you can genuinely own.

Step 5: Investigate App-Level Factors

Sometimes CR drops because of changes that happened outside the ad account entirely:

• App binary size increased significantly
• Star rating declined after a bad release
• Subscription price increased
• Free trial period shortened or removed
• Recent bugs mentioned prominently in reviews
• iOS update created compatibility issues

Any of these creates a new barrier between the tap and the install. Marketing can’t fix product problems — but knowing that the cause is product-level stops you from wasting time optimizing the product page when the issue is the app itself.

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Root Cause Summary

Pattern	Most Likely Cause	Fix
High TTR + Low CR on specific ad groups	Creative misalignment	Create CPPs aligned to keyword intent
Low CR across all campaigns	Weak product page	Improve screenshots, address ratings
CR below category benchmarks consistently	Competitive disadvantage	Strengthen differentiation
CR declined after specific date	App-level change	Investigate what changed that day
CR declining gradually over months	Competitive landscape improving around you	Systematic product page refresh

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Resolution Timeline

Quick wins (implement within 48 hours):

• Reassign more relevant CPPs to underperforming ad groups
• Fix obviously mismatched creative-keyword pairings
• Respond to visible negative reviews to manage social proof perception

Medium-term (1-4 weeks):

• Create new CPPs for intent gaps
• Improve screenshot sequence and value proposition
• Implement review prompt strategy if rating is below 4.5

Long-term (ongoing):

• Product page A/B testing via Product Page Optimization
• Address underlying product or pricing issues
• Comprehensive creative refresh if category visual conventions have evolved

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The Mistake That Compounds Low CR

The one thing teams consistently get wrong: making multiple simultaneous changes when CR is low.

They update the CPP, change the metadata, and launch a new bid strategy all at once. CR improves (or doesn’t). They have no idea what worked. The next time CR drops, they’re back to square one.

Rule: Isolate changes. Fix one variable at a time and give it 7-14 days to register. This is slower in the short run but builds genuine understanding of your funnel that compounds over time.

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Low CR you can’t isolate after running the diagnostic? Book a free 30-minute session — I’ll review your account data and tell you exactly where the funnel is breaking.