How premium transfer services increased installs by 416%

About the company

Partner launched premium transfer services in Bulgaria, catering to middle-class users who value comfort, privacy, and punctuality. 

Market strategy and positioning

With a high-end fleet, the company positions itself as a private hire transportation that meets the expectations of high-quality service, while remaining accessible and avoiding the luxury price bracket.

Partner offers services such as driving kids to school, airport transfers, and special weekend events. They target business professionals, tourists, business travelers, and locals who prefer high-end services.

The service covers needs unmet by other ride-hailing service providers, offering consistently comfortable and punctual transportation. 

• Key features of the partner’s service include:
• A fleet of premium company-owned vehicles
• A staff of hired and trained drivers
• An easy-to-use app with a pre-booking option

By controlling every aspect of the service, the company ensures that its demanding customers receive the ultimate quality and reliability.

Customer acquisition: in-house marketing team + Onde

The partner worked hard to attract early adopters — the first customers who help assess product-market fit and establish a sustainable business model.

Digital and influencer marketing were key components of their strategy to attract customers. Their marketing efforts included:

• Facebook Ads
• Google Ads
• App Store Optimization
• Influencer marketing
• Active Social Media presence

Partner delegated some of their marketing tasks to Onde, which is possible with Onde marketing services. As a result, the partner’s team managed collaboration with local influencers and entertainment venues and the Onde marketing team handled the digital marketing efforts. A dedicated team of professionals, including ASO specialists, digital marketers, designers, copywriters, and a project manager, worked together to drive the partner’s success.

Combination of PPC (pay-per-click) ads and App Store Optimization (ASO)

Note: App Store Optimization (ASO) is a tactic that improves an app's visibility in app stores like Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play and increases the app’s conversion rate. Paid user acquisition is the process of acquiring a new customer through a paid marketing channel, such as social media, search engines, email, or the web in general.

ASO

Onde ASO team analyzed the local market and competitors. The research included:

• competitors's keywords (both premium and regular taxi)
• metadata and the keywords used in it
• screenshots
• premium taxis in other locations 

Then they collected keywords, selected localizations, and prepared metadata. They also optimized the full description for Google Play, tested different screenshot versions, and tested the background color to determine which version brings more downloads.

ASO results

• The app's visibility on the App Store increased by 158% and by 1,700% on Google Play.

• The app's downloads on the App Store increased by 416% and by 255% on Google Play.
• The App Store category ranking increased from 385 to 21 (best result is 10) and was next to the popular competitor app
• The Google Play category ranking increased from 193 to 53 (best result is 22) 
• Some keyword positions had positive results and were in the top 5, top 10 with popular apps.

Pay-per-click ads

From March to April 2024, Onde marketing team ran an ad campaign for the partner using two of the most reliable platforms for paid user acquisition: Facebook Ads and Google Ads.

Creative strategy

Note:  Creative assets such as ad banners, videos, and text are crucial elements of any advertising campaign. These aren't just images or clips; they serve as a showcase for your service. You only have a few seconds to grab a user's attention and convince them to install your app. With the partner, it was essential to communicate what this company offers - a niche premium pre-booked service that works more as private transportation than a traditional taxi - to avoid attracting irrelevant traffic from users looking for standard ride-hailing or taxi services.

Key points of success

• Partner’s creative strategy was built on three key pillars:
• Minimalistic design: a clean, straightforward approach to visuals
• Relevant occasions: Showcasing specific scenarios like driving kids to school, special events, and daily rides — emphasizing that each ride is special.
• Concise messaging: a short, impactful message that clearly conveys the premium nature of the service.

PPC results

All three banners performed well, boosting downloads and visibility. The best result was made by ad video, which accounted for 70% of all new app downloads. Onde's partner has grown x2 month-over-month when the campaign took place.

Key points of success:

• Identifying a niche and the unmet needs of potential customers
• Clear market positioning and service-market-fit
• Marketing Strategy combining Digital marketing (PPC ads and ASO) and Influencer marketing