Table of Contents
An ASO brief is the document that tells an agency what your app store listings need to achieve, what data it can see and who on your side does what. A good brief lets an agency answer one question quickly: does your store traffic support a real testing programme, or should the first months go into keywords and metadata? This guide covers what to send, how to split the work and what to add when a major product change means the listing needs a refresh. A copy-ready template sits at the end.
The Admiral Media ASO team reads briefs like this alongside paid user acquisition, CRO and creative work for more than 200 apps scaled. The briefs that lead to useful first calls carry store numbers, not adjectives.
Check your store traffic and set goals first
Before you write a word about creative, pull the last 90 days of store data from App Store Connect and Google Play Console. An agency needs five inputs to judge whether there is enough volume to test:
- Impressions by source: search, browse and referral, per market.
- Product page views: called store listing visitors on Google Play, per market.
- Conversion rate: installs divided by product page views on iOS. Google Play now reports click-through rate on unique clicks instead of the older conversion rate, according to Play Console Help, so send click-through rate and acquisitions for Android and flag that older baselines do not compare.
- Top keywords: the terms that bring the most search downloads, with their current rank.
- Current tests: what is running in Apple product page optimization or Google Play store listing experiments, and what past tests found.
Volume matters because native tests split your product page views between versions. Apple lets you test up to three treatments against your original product page, and a test runs for up to 90 days, as set out in Apple’s product page optimization documentation. If each version sees too few visits, a small change will not reach a clear result in that window. When traffic is low, a sound plan puts keywords and metadata first and tests bolder creative changes less often. The Admiral Media ASO team checks these numbers per market in the first weeks of an engagement for exactly this reason.
Then state goals in the same units as the data. “More downloads” is not a goal. “Lift iOS search downloads in Germany” or “raise product page conversion for traffic from Apple Ads” is. Add business context: monthly active users if you share them, the value of an install and which install source matters most. Finally, summarise review and support themes: what draws users in and what pushes them away. Those themes often become the first screenshot hypotheses.
A quick outside check helps before the first call. Run your listing through the ASO Checker to score title and subtitle use, screenshots, preview video, In-App Events and localization. For context, the State of App Store Listings 2026 study of 1,000 top free US App Store apps found that 41.8% use fewer than 22 of their 30 title characters and only 12.2% have an app preview video.
Split the work between the agency and your team
Most friction in ASO partnerships comes from unclear ownership, not from weak ideas. Settle it in the brief. A typical split gives the agency research, metadata, the creative testing plan and analysis, while your team keeps builds, uploads, approvals and the release schedule.
| Task | Agency | Your team |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword research and competitor review | Leads, per market and language | Shares product context and roadmap |
| Metadata: title, subtitle, keyword field, descriptions | Writes each change and explains why | Approves, then uploads or grants upload access |
| Store creative: icons, screenshots, preview video | Briefs, designs or reviews | Approves brand and legal points |
| Creative testing plan | Writes hypotheses and sizes each test to your traffic | Agrees the order of tests |
| Alternate app icons | Designs the variants | Builds them into the app binary |
| Releases | Times metadata updates to your releases | Owns the release schedule and app review |
| Analysis | Reads results by source and market, calls each test | Reviews and decides what ships |
The icon row matters. Apple requires every alternate icon in a test to be included in the binary of your published app, while tests without alternate icons can go to review independent of a new app version. If your developers ship every two weeks, the creative plan has to fit that calendar.
If you already have developers and designers, say so. The agency then delivers research, hypotheses, copy and design specs, and your team builds. If you need store creative produced too, state how many screenshot sets per quarter you expect. Spell out access as well: App Store Connect, Google Play Console and your MMP, each with a role you choose. An agency should ask to be added as a user and never ask for passwords.
At Admiral Media, one senior ASO specialist owns the work end to end, with weekly calls and a shared Slack channel, and nothing goes live without your approval. Because the same team runs paid user acquisition and the AI Creative Factory, store tests can feed paid campaigns directly. For ImmoScout24, a Custom Product Page for buyers on Apple Ads cut CPA from €2.41 to €1.36 over four weeks in August 2022, as published in the ImmoScout24 case study.
What to include when you ask for a listing refresh
A major product change, such as a new core feature, a redesign, new pricing or a rebrand, makes the old listing inaccurate. The same study found that 53.2% of top apps ship short or generic release notes, even though 88.3% updated in the last 30 days. Apps ship updates; the listing often does not follow. A refresh brief should cover:
- What changed and when: the release date, the features users will see first and anything removed.
- Who the new version is for: if the audience shifts, say which users the listing should stop attracting.
- Screens and assets: new interface captures, brand files and any screens that must not appear yet.
- Keywords to keep and drop: terms tied to old features may now bring the wrong installs.
- Markets and languages: which storefronts get the refresh first, and whether you need local keyword research. Direct translation misses how people search. NeuroNation’s Korean metadata was built from local research, and search downloads grew 93.10% (NeuroNation case study).
- The test you want: the new message against the old one, so you learn whether the change moved conversion.
- Limits: legal copy, claims you cannot make and store review rules that restrict wording.
Time the refresh with the release. Metadata changes usually take a few weeks to show in rankings, because the stores need to index them and collect traffic. Creative tests often need two to six weeks each. For Android specifics, see the Google Play ASO guide.
ASO brief template
Copy this into a document and fill in each prompt. Leave a field blank rather than guessing: the gaps tell the agency what to ask on the first call.
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| 1. App and markets | App Store and Google Play links. Priority countries and languages. Category and the apps you compete with in search. |
| 2. Goal | The one metric that matters most: search downloads, store conversion, or paid traffic that lands on store pages. Market and time frame. |
| 3. Traffic baseline, last 90 days | Impressions by source, product page views, iOS conversion rate, Google Play click-through rate and acquisitions, per market. |
| 4. Keywords | Terms that drive most search downloads, current ranks, and the terms you want to win. |
| 5. Tests so far | Running and past store tests: variant, traffic, run time and result. |
| 6. User feedback | Main themes from reviews and support: what brings users in, what pushes them away. |
| 7. Agency scope | Research, metadata, creative testing plan, analysis. Creative production yes or no, and how many sets per quarter. |
| 8. Your team | Who designs, who builds, who uploads, who approves, and your release schedule. |
| 9. Access | App Store Connect, Google Play Console, MMP and analytics, with the role for each. |
| 10. Product changes | Recent or planned releases, new features, pricing or rebrand the listing must show. |
| 11. Limits | Brand rules, legal copy, claims to avoid and audiences you do not want. |
| 12. Reporting | How often, which metrics and what counts as a result. |
For budget context, managed ASO at Admiral Media starts from €2,900 per month for one app on both stores in one market; ASO agency pricing explains what drives the cost. To compare partners, use the questions in how to choose an ASO agency with any agency, including us. Want a second view on your brief? Talk to our team. A senior strategist replies within one business day.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much store traffic does an app need for ASO A/B tests?
There is no fixed threshold. Native tests split product page views between versions, so what matters is how many views each version gets per market and how big a change you need to detect. Send impressions, page views and conversion rate per market in your brief. With low traffic, start with keywords and metadata and test bolder creative changes less often.
Should the agency or our developers upload metadata?
Either works if the brief says who does it. Many teams let the agency prepare every change while the in-house team approves and uploads it. Alternate app icons always need your developers, because Apple requires them in the app binary.
What should a listing refresh brief include after a major product change?
The release date, the features users will see first, who the new version is for, new screens and brand files, keywords to keep and drop, markets in scope and any legal limits. Ask for a test of the new message against the old one so you can see whether the change moved conversion.
Can an ASO agency work with our in-house designers?
Yes. State it in the brief. The agency can deliver hypotheses, copy and design specs while your designers produce the assets, or it can produce creative itself if you want that in scope.
