How LunarLinc Went From Zero App Downloads to 50K+
A solo developer had built a friendship app and was posting about it on YouTube and Instagram. After months of effort: 12 subscribers and no downloads. Today the app has 50K+ downloads on Google Play, and the developer has kept us on for nearly three years.
A good app, and nobody downloading it
LunarLinc matches people on shared interests rather than swipes. It was built by one developer, who did what most founders do first: post about it on YouTube and Instagram and hope it spreads.
When he came to us in November 2023, that effort had produced 12 YouTube subscribers and no app downloads. He did not need a 40-page strategy. He needed installs at a cost a self-funded app could keep paying, month after month.
We tested 200 ads over the engagement. 113 videos drove 41,420 installs; 83 image ads drove 468. One video on its own drove more than 9,000 installs, so the budget follows the creative that wins rather than being split evenly.
Three stages, run for the long haul
A self-funded app does not need every channel. It needs one channel that works, fed with fresh creative, and the discipline to keep the cost per install steady as it scales.
Produced a steady stream of short video ads around the moment people feel the app's promise: finding someone who shares your interests. New videos go in as older ones tire.
Video became the engine of the account: 99% of paid installs, and the best single ad delivered more than 9,000 of them.
Ran Meta app-install campaigns on Android, starting where installs were affordable enough to build volume, and moved budget weekly toward the ads that were winning.
Our campaigns delivered 41,888 installs, and the cost per install stayed inside the same narrow band every month for the last 13 months.
Worked on the Google Play listing creative so the people our ads sent to the store saw the same promise they had clicked on.
The app passed 50K+ downloads on Google Play, ads and organic together.
Before and after
| What we measured | Before | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Google Play downloads | 0 | 50K+ |
| Installs from our ad campaigns | 0 | 41,888 |
| Share of paid installs from video | No ads running | 99% |
| Cost per install, last 13 months | No ads running | Inside the same narrow band every month |
| Client relationship | New | Nearly 3 years and counting |
Window: November 2023 to 25 September 2026. Installs from our ads are Meta-attributed app installs from the client's own ad account. Downloads are the public Google Play count.
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