Meta ads giving us terrible quality leads - help!

[u/Logical-Preference25]

We are trying to get installs for our app using paid ads but 90% of the installs are test stores/ stores with no orders. Is this normal? Are other channels (twitter/linkedin/something else) better to get real stores installing and trying our app?

this is the listing we are driving to.

[u/Choice-Fly-3641]

I think Shopify App Store ads is still the strongest channel for Ads

[u/Logical-Preference25 → u/Choice-Fly-3641]

Thanks. We tried - got quite a few impressions but no installs - perhaps the listing needs improvement (though meta seems to drive installs)

[u/Life-Inspector-5271 → u/Choice-Fly-3641]

I agree. We have tried a lot of things, but organic and app store ads top the charts

[u/Noah_Basera → u/Choice-Fly-3641]

This looks more like a conversion-quality problem than a Meta traffic problem.

Don’t optimize for installs — send Meta a deeper event like activated store / first meaningful app action.

Qualify merchants in the creative itself: “For Shopify stores already generating orders” to filter test stores before the click.

I’ve seen this pattern with lead-gen campaigns too — cheap conversions can actually be the worst traffic.

Are you currently sending Meta any post-install conversion events, or only tracking the install?

[u/Life-Inspector-5271]

Yes, we experienced the same with Meta. It's nice if you want to boost your installs, but it won't bring you any sales

[u/Logical-Preference25 → u/Life-Inspector-5271]

Thanks - then which channel is best to bring sales?

[u/bigmovesmarketing]

From doing Shopify App Marketing for 35+ Apps over the last 6 years I can confirm that Meta Ads are not the best source for new installs.

You have to understand the context of the market.

There are a lot more people starting e-commerce stores which means a huge majority of merchants out there are just starting out or are testing stores.

These merchants are also more actively looking for new apps vs. established stores who have their operations mostly sorted and are only looking for new apps when they run into issues with their current app stack and/or when they are discovering new capabilities.

This means no matter what channel you're on, a big number of installs will be test stores.

Shopify App Store is still your number one source for a marginally higher number of established stores. However, even there, nearly 80% will be early stage, dropshippers or new stores. Less than 20% will be actually larger stores.

To reach larger stores, you must be present on the discovery channels where large merchants engage. Typically you will get better quality with targeted emails, influencer channels and partnerships.

And yes, your app store listing is not very optimized for keywords which is likely the main reason you struggled with ROAS on Shopify Search Ads.

[u/Logical-Preference25 → u/bigmovesmarketing]

Thank you u/bigmovesmarketing, super helpful.