Four weeks before
Keywords per country decided, listing written in every language you ship with a plain first paragraph that matches your website, screenshots captioned in six words or fewer because captions are indexed, a custom product page per keyword group linked to its terms, App Store Connect and Play Console connected to your analytics, RevenueCat or equivalent live for subscriptions, and delayed charging plus the 60 day recovery window switched on in Play Console.
Four weeks before launch: build the keyword plan per country, write every locale of the listing with a plain first paragraph matching our website, caption the first three screenshots per locale, build custom product pages per keyword group, and verify App Store Connect, Play Console and RevenueCat are connected read only. Tell me what is missing in one list.
Two weeks before
Ten hooks drafted from beta feedback, each carrying a TikTok search phrase, with the first three scheduled for launch week. A reply template for reviews written in your voice. The push prompt and the rating prompt placed after the first win in the app rather than at launch. A Monday report template with the five numbers you will watch. Pre registration on Google Play if the app is a game, since milestone rewards are part of it now.
Two weeks before launch: draft ten hooks from beta feedback with TikTok search phrases, schedule three for launch week, write the review reply tone from my three sample replies, confirm the push and rating prompts sit after the first win, and set up the Monday report with impressions, downloads, trials, day 7 retention and rating trend.
Launch week
Post a hook a day. Answer every review and comment the same day. Watch Google's users are saying summary appear once reviews accumulate and make sure the replies shape it. Touch nothing on the listing. Watch impressions per country and which custom product page gets organic traffic.
Launch week: one hook a day on TikTok, then Reels and Shorts. Every review and comment answered within hours. No listing changes. Daily: impressions per country and per custom product page. Flag any review theme that appears three times.
The first 14 days
Read day 1 and day 7 retention on day 8 and fix the biggest leak before spending anything on ads. On day 14 ship the first listing change alone, usually the title, and measure it against the category benchmark for another 14 days. Only when day 30 retention holds and trial to paid is known does the paid loop open, on your own keywords, at $20 a day.
Day 8: report day 1 and day 7 retention per cohort and the largest drop, with the fix drafted. Day 14: propose the single listing change with the best expected impact, ship it after my approval, and hold everything else for 14 days. Do not open any paid campaign until I confirm the payback window and the trial to paid rate.
- Keywords per country for the top five markets
- Title, subtitle, keyword field within limits
- First paragraph states what the app is, matching the website
- Long description on Play with the keyword plan
- First three screenshot captions say the outcome in six words or fewer
- Custom product page per keyword group, linked to its terms
- Every language written natively
- App Store Connect and Play Console connected
- Subscription events in RevenueCat
- Day 1, 7, 30 retention per cohort against benchmark
- One place for impressions, downloads, trials, paying
- Delayed charging and 60 day recovery on in Play Console
- Ten hooks drafted from beta feedback with search phrases
- Three posts scheduled for launch week
- Review reply tone written down
- Comment replies same day
- Trial to paid rate known
- Payback window set, usually 60 days
- Apple Ads on your own keywords first, custom product page per group
- Budget cap written down before the first campaign