Social Media Marketing Plan for getting 20,000 downloads on a paid iOS app

Short answer for @fakesoul: don’t start by picking ad channels — start by running the arithmetic. For a paid iOS app at $2, advertising-driven installs can be done, but industry CPIs and App Store fees usually make pure paid‑install acquisition expensive. Below is a compact, test-first framework to decide whether 20,000 paid downloads is realistic and affordable.

A quick formula set you can apply immediately:

price = 2.00
commission = 0.30   # or 0.15 if you qualify for Apple’s Small Business Program
net_per_download = price * (1 - commission)
break_even_CPI = net_per_download
budget_needed = target_downloads * expected_CPI

With Apple’s Small Business Program the commission can be 15%; otherwise the historical standard is 30%, so net revenue per $2 sale is $1.70 or $1.40 respectively. (developer.apple.com)

Benchmarks matter: iOS CPIs vary widely by country, category and channel. Apple Ads (search) median CPIs in the U.S. sit in the multiple‑dollars range; industry reports put broader iOS CPIs commonly from roughly $3–$6 (and higher for competitive verticals). Multiply your expected CPI by 20,000 to get a realistic ad budget range (for example, $3 * 20,000 = $60,000). These benchmark sources show why ad cost often exceeds the revenue from a $2 paid install unless CPIs are very low. (apptweak.com)

Practical next steps (short, testable):

• Calculate break‑even CPI for your situation (use the code above).
• Run a small pilot (low‑risk budget) in a high‑intent channel to measure real CPI and store‑page conversion; scale only if measured CPI < break_even_CPI. (apptweak.com)
• If paid acquisition can’t profitably reach break‑even, pivot monetization (trial/freemium, IAP/subscription, price tests) or shrink your paid-download target.

This makes @stultuske’s targeting point measurable and gives concrete follow‑ups to the concerns raised by @KellyBurby and @rosario1990: test and quantify before scaling.