We’ve written before about the importance of keeping up to date on industry trends to identify opportunities before they go mainstream. That way you can ride the wave of someone else’s news cycle. There’s also the benefit of seeing if there are other takeaways you can apply to your own UA strategy. One of the quickest ways to stay up to date is to look at MobileAction’s Keyword Trends view. Today we’ll take a quick look at the stories behind Undawn, Diablo IV, and EE35 Film Camera to highlight takeaways you can apply to your own UA strategy.

A look at the top keyword uptrends on the App Store in the US over the past month.
A look at the top keyword uptrends on the App Store in the US over the past month.

How Undawn Could Be Affecting Your ASO

In mid-June, Tencent launched its latest blockbuster, Undawn, via Level Infinite after using a beta and pre-launch registration rewards to build up steam prior to its official release. The zombie-filled open-world survival RPG also supports crossplay between mobile and PC and prominently features Will Smith in the game and in advertising. Whenever a game of this magnitude is released, it’s a good time to make sure your keyword strategy is up to date. This is especially true if you think there’s an overlap in either user interest or keywords associated with your own app.

It’s important to check how major releases might impact your keyword strategy.
It’s important to check how major releases might impact your keyword strategy.

It’s easier to gain the first-mover advantage when it comes to ASO opportunities vs. trying to move in after things are more established. It’ll be interesting to see how Undawn’s rankings for relevant keywords change over time, but that wasn’t the only new game to make it onto the keyword uptrends list.

Diablo IV Launch Highlights How Non-Mobile Games Still Impact ASO

The highly anticipated ARPG Diablo IV officially launched to console/PC on June 6th to great success. While Blizzard’s latest entry in the long-running franchise wasn’t released on mobile, the new game is still something marketers should use to their advantage when it comes to ASO.

The diablo 4 keyword had a steady rise in search score throughout May before achieving a larger jump during Diablo IV’s wide release.
The diablo 4 keyword had a steady rise in search score throughout May before achieving a larger jump during Diablo IV’s wide release.

As expected, the 2022 mobile game Diablo Immortal saw a bump in popularity, with general interest in Diablo building up to the release and Diablo Immortal being the convenient way to play the franchise on the go. Blizzard made updates made with advertising for Diablo Immortal and within the app that coincided with both the release of the Diablo IV and the one-year anniversary of Diablo Immortal.

Diablo Immortal made updates across their app description, icon, subtitle, and advertising in June to coincide with both its one-year anniversary and the launch of Diablo IV.
Diablo Immortal made updates across their app description, icon, subtitle, and advertising in June to coincide with both its one-year anniversary and the launch of Diablo IV.

In addition to the diablo 4 search term rising in popularity, it also brought a healthy number of organic downloads to the existing Diablo Immortal game. Even when a new release isn’t on mobile, there are still many changes to prepare for whether it’s something that impacts your app or a competitor’s.

Diablo Immortal received a healthy volume of downloads from the diablo 4 search term even three weeks after the Diablo IV release on console/PC.
Diablo Immortal received a healthy volume of downloads from the diablo 4 search term even three weeks after the Diablo IV release on console/PC.

Evident by its high chance score, there are opportunities for apps to climb the ranks for the keyword organically or to find other ways to capitalize on major events. Even Diablo Immortal itself only ranked #7.

Diablo Immortal ranked #7 for the diablo 4 keyword, highlighting ASO opportunities for both that game and its competitors.
Diablo Immortal ranked #7 for the diablo 4 keyword, highlighting ASO opportunities for both that game and its competitors.

Even when a major game launch isn’t on mobile, it’s still important to stay up to date on keyword trends if you want to remain ahead of the competition. Major events drive app store searches from consumers and it’s essential to strategize ahead of time and move quickly to take advantage of these ASO opportunities.

Retro Camera Throwbacks Showcase the Importance of Highlighting Relevant Features for ASO

Whether it’s TikTok or a Bustle article, all it takes is a little spark to get people excited about retro vibes. Mid-June saw a spike in searches for the ee35 film camera keyword along with the EE35 Film Camera app reaching the top of the paid download rankings. The app simulates a mechanical camera both in how you take photos and the filter applied to the photos (including a black and white mode). One must also “load the film” and look through the viewfinder in order to snap retro photos.

Keyword spikes for visual-adjustment themed apps.
Keyword spikes for visual-adjustment themed apps.

While this keyword applies to EE35 Film Camera, there’s another free camera app that’s also benefited from this surge. 1998 Cam – Vintage Camera actually ranked #1 for the keyword, showcasing the opportunities for other apps when you have similar features.

1998 Cam - Vintage Camera actually ranked #1 above EE35 Film Camera for the ee35 film camera keyword.
1998 Cam – Vintage Camera actually ranked #1 above EE35 Film Camera for the ee35 film camera keyword.

In fact, the ee35 film camera keyword drove the largest share of 1998 Cam – Vintage Camera’s downloads. This highlights the opportunities for apps when it comes to capitalizing on the success of another app with feature overlap, especially when one of the apps in this case can be downloaded for free.

The ee35 film camera keyword was responsible for the largest share of organic downloads for the 1998 Cam - Vintage Camera app.
The ee35 film camera keyword was responsible for the largest share of organic downloads for the 1998 Cam – Vintage Camera app.

Retro wasn’t the only image-centric vibe for the month. The ToonMe app had its own spike as people looked to make their images look more animated.

It’s important to find ways to stand out among other apps with similar features.
It’s important to find ways to stand out among other apps with similar features.

Seeing that there’s a rise in retro cameras and cartoon images is easy to do when you stay up to date on keyword trends. With that knowledge, there’s room for apps to add functionality that people are interested in, alert consumers that they already have these features at the point people are looking to download a new app, or shift around their keyword strategy to better position themselves in relevant search results.

Next Steps for Upleveling Your Own Marketing Strategy

Keeping up to date on keyword trends can help you learn a lot about what’s going on in the market and how to use that information to improve your own mobile UA strategy. Seeing the different ways in which Undawn, Diablo IV, and EE35 Film Camera impacted the market showcases many opportunities, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

MobileAction provides comprehensive app store marketing intelligence and seamless AI-powered Apple Search Ads campaign management. Backed by our vast dataset of 5+ million tracked keywords and a library of 70+ million ad creatives from 50+ ad networks, our solutions help you drive more downloads effectively. Maximize your app’s success and make data-driven decisions with the MobileAction platform.

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