Content is a mood. Ads are a machine.

For years my only growth plan was content. Wake up, think of a hook, shoot it, post it, hope the algorithm likes it. When a reel flopped, I got zero users that day. Growth depended on whether I felt creative.

So I tried a Google App campaign for the MagicSlides Android app. The first version barely ran. One fix later, it did this:

3 impressions on day 1 (₹100/day budget)

81 installs the day after the fix

My Google Ads dashboard: 81 installs for $5.04 in one day.

You put money in, users come out. That is the whole point. This guide is every screen I clicked, plus the one rule that made the difference.

Budget = 50× your target CPI.

Target cost per install (tCPI) is what you tell Google you want to pay per install. If your daily budget is less than about 50 times that, Google barely shows your ad. It needs room to test and learn.

daily budget ≥ 50 × tCPI Google says this in a small yellow box you will probably scroll past.

$0.03 $1.20 (₹100) Below 50× ($1.50). 3 impressions, $0 spent.

$0.04 $2.00 Exactly 50×. The minimum that works.

$0.15 $5.00 Plenty of room. 81 installs at $0.06.

The warning: “increase your budget to at least 50x your target cost-per-install.”

Budget raised to 50× and the warning is gone.

Notice: I set the tCPI at $0.15 and paid only $0.06. tCPI is a ceiling, not a price. A slightly higher target gets you into more auctions, and you often pay less than it.

Pick the right campaign.

Google Ads → + Create → Campaign. Your app needs to be live on the Play Store first.

Objective: App promotion

Not Sales, not Website traffic. App promotion is the one that optimises for installs.

Campaign type: App

One campaign runs on Search, Play, YouTube, Discover and Display. You don’t pick placements, Google does.

Subtype: App installs

“App engagement” needs 50K installs first. Start with installs and pick your platform (Android for me).

Find your app

Paste your package name (mine is com.indianappguy.magicslides) and pick it from the list.

Who sees it, and what it says.

Location: one country

Not “All countries”. I picked India, where installs are cheapest and my users already are.

Language: English

Match the language of your app and your ad text. Leave view-through conversions on.

5 headlines (30 chars)

Say what the app does in plain words. Mine: “AI Presentation Maker”, “Type One Line, Get a Deck”, “Free AI Slide Generator”.

Descriptions (90 chars)

One outcome per line: “Type a topic and get a full presentation in seconds.” Images and videos are optional. Google pulls them from your Play listing.

Bidding, budget, publish.

Focus: Install volume

Track installs with the Google Play conversion Google creates for you. Users: All users.

Tick “target cost per install”

Start near Google’s benchmark for your country ($0.04 for India). If nothing serves in 24–48 hours, raise it.

Budget: 50× the tCPI

$0.04 tCPI → at least $2/day. If the yellow warning shows, the budget is too low. Fix it here, not later.

Review → Publish

The “audience signal” warning is optional. Publish. Make sure your account has funds, or it won’t serve.

The first 3 days.

Status “Eligible (Learning)”. This is normal for the first days.

Where you change the tCPI later: Campaign → Settings → Bidding.

0–20 impressions after 24 h Check budget ≥ 50× tCPI. Then raise the tCPI (I went $0.03 → $0.15).

“Prepaid funds are low” Add funds. In India, 18% GST comes out of the prepaid balance.

Ad strength “Poor” Add images and a short video. Most traffic goes to Display (97% for me).

Installs coming in Don’t scale yet. Check sign-ups first (next page).

I set this whole campaign up with Claude in Chrome while I watched. Paste this into Claude with Google Ads open:

# Claude in Chrome, on ads.google.com
Create a Google App campaign for my Android app <package name>.
Objective App promotion, subtype App installs, location India, English.
Write 5 headlines (≤30 chars) + 5 descriptions (≤90) from my Play listing.
Focus Install volume, target CPI $0.04, daily budget $2
(keep budget ≥ 50× tCPI). Stop at Review and show me before Publish.

An install is not a user.

This part isn’t solved yet for me. 81 people installed. Almost none of them signed up, because my app opened on a sign-in screen before showing anything. Getting cheap installs was the hard part. Here’s what to set up so you can see the rest.

Link Google Play to Google Ads

Google Ads → Tools → Data manager → Google Play → Link, then approve it in Play Console. Now Ads can see what happens after the install.

Add an in-app purchase conversion

Goals → Conversions → New → App → Google Play → In-app purchases. Make it primary. Now you see revenue (ROAS) per rupee spent, not just installs.

Fix the first screen before you scale

Show what the app does before asking for an email. I wrote the full fix up in my free onboarding guide: sanskartiwari.io/library/guides/app-onboarding

Then switch the bidding

After about a week of data, change focus from Install volume to in-app actions (sign-up or purchase). Google then looks for people who use the app, not people who just tap Install.

• App live on Play Store
• One country, one language
• 5 headlines, 5 descriptions
• tCPI near the benchmark
• Budget ≥ 50× tCPI
• Funds in the account
• Play ↔ Ads linked
• Purchase conversion added