How to switch solutions safely

When graduation makes sense#

Graduate an app from Basic to Advanced when installs flow steadily, when brand defence starts to matter, when keyword hypotheses exist, or when the $10,000 monthly ceiling begins to pinch. Basic teaches what the app can win; Advanced lets a skilled team win it deliberately across all four placements. Apple own solutions comparison frames the capability gap to cross. Revisit Basic versus Advanced with live numbers before deciding.

Do not graduate everything at once: move one or two earners first, prove the Advanced build outperforms, then roll the pattern across the portfolio. Graduation is a promotion earned by data, not a migration owed to ambition. Apps still finding product market fit should stay Basic until installs stabilise.

What transfers and what restarts#

Knowledge transfers, delivery restarts. Search term insight, converting themes, tap rates and payer patterns carry across in your notes and keyword lists; auction learning, pacing history and in flight optimisation do not, because the new campaigns start fresh. History in the old promotions remains readable for reporting, so year on year joins still work. Treat the switch as opening a second ledger informed by the first, not as converting the ledger in place.

Budgets and billing need explicit re planning: Basic monthly budgets and max CPI values do not map onto Advanced daily budgets and CPT bids automatically. Derive opening Advanced bids from Basic realised CPI divided by observed tap to install rates, then refine. Account structure gives the new campaigns their skeleton.

The graduation checklist#

Work in overlap, never in gaps. First, export Basic search term and performance reports as the keyword seed list. Second, build the Advanced structure paused: brand, category, competitor and discovery campaigns with harvested exact terms preloaded and negatives set. Third, set daily budgets near the Basic run rate translated through the 30.4 day maths, with bids from unit economics. Fourth, launch Advanced, then pause Basic only after Advanced clears its first clean week. Apple own Basic promotion help documents the Basic side of the handover.

Keep both visible in reporting during overlap with clear labels, so stakeholders never confuse doubled spend with doubled efficiency. Overlap of one to two weeks usually suffices; longer overlaps split learning without teaching more. Our first campaign walkthrough covers safe launch mechanics.

Simplifying back to Basic#

Movement runs both ways: an Advanced app that never earns its management overhead should simplify back to Basic deliberately. Candidates include long tail titles, sunset apps, and experiments where automation outperforms neglected manual control. Simplification follows the same overlap discipline in reverse: launch the Basic promotion, confirm install flow, then pause Advanced themes. There is no shame in the move; the shame lies in funding complexity that never repays itself.

Record the reason for every simplification so future teams do not re graduate on hope. Portfolio reviews should ask the question explicitly each quarter: which Advanced apps still earn their keep. Campaign groups make the underperformers visible at a glance.

Billing and history hygiene#

Confirm payment methods cover the new campaigns before launch, verify monthly envelopes reflect the combined overlap spend, and archive final Basic reports beside first Advanced reads for continuity. Keep old promotions paused rather than removed until the new setup has a full month of history; removed campaigns cannot be restored. Then close the loop in writing: what moved, when, why, and what the new targets are.

If the handover timing feels delicate, ask our team to supervise the switch; a supervised fortnight beats an unsupervised quarter.

Frequently asked questions#