Pre-Registration Campaigns

Campaigns that collect committed sign-ups for an app before its public launch date, so installs land the moment it goes live.

You set up a pre-registration listing on Google Play or the Apple App Store, then drive traffic to it before the app ships. Users tap once to register, and on launch day the store auto-installs or prompts them, converting stored intent into a burst of day-one downloads. On Google there is a dedicated App campaign for pre-registration (Android) that optimizes toward these sign-ups. That launch-day spike is what feeds the store's ranking algorithms and buys you early chart momentum.

Imagine a publisher teasing a new card game six weeks out. They run pre-registration ads, bank forty thousand sign-ups, and offer a reward for registering. On release day those sign-ups fire as installs inside a few hours, the concentrated volume pushes the game up the category charts, and the organic tail rides that visibility.

A sign-up is not a retained user. Pre-registration inflates day-one installs, but many of those people forgot they registered, so day-seven retention on that cohort can crater. Teams celebrate the launch spike, then wonder why the curve falls off a cliff the next week.

Registrations buy you a launch day, not a user base.