Flight control, fleet management, and mapping apps disappear into app store categories designed for hobbyists rather than enterprise buyers. We rebuild your listing, keyword strategy, and review pipeline around the way procurement teams and operations leads actually search. The result is a store presence that accurately reflects the platform you built.
The Challenge
Your app is miscategorized before anyone even searches
Apple and Google force every app into a fixed category, and that category rarely matches how a drone tech buyer actually searches. A fleet management app for utility inspection teams gets filed under Business or Productivity next to expense trackers, while the buyer is typing "drone fleet management" or "inspection data platform." The mismatch means the app never surfaces for the query the customer runs, and most drone tech teams never revisit category or keyword metadata after initial submission.
DJI and consumer drone apps dominate the keyword real estate
Search "drone app" in either store and the first page is DJI Fly, DJI GO, and a wall of hobbyist flight-log and photography apps with hundreds of thousands of ratings. A B2B fleet management or mapping app cannot win a head-on keyword fight against that install base with ASO alone. The strategy has to shift toward enterprise-specific terms – utility inspection software, construction site mapping, agronomy flight planning – where the competitive set is other B2B platforms, not DJI's consumer ecosystem.
Enterprise deployment leaves the public listing short on reviews
Many drone tech companies push their apps to field crews through MDM or private enterprise distribution, so the people using the app every day never touch the public listing. That leaves it with a handful of stale ratings while usage inside the actual customer base is strong. Review count and recency are ranking signals in both stores, so an app can be thriving in the field and still look abandoned to a prospect finding it through search.
No one can tell what the app really does
Flight control, fleet management, mapping and data processing, pilot certification and training – drone tech companies often bundle two or three of these into one app, or split them across apps with no clear naming convention. A prospect scanning search results has about five seconds to figure out if this is a camera utility, a GIS tool, or an operations platform, and most bounce before they do. The listing needs one primary job to be done, with everything else positioned as a supporting feature.
How We Can Help
We begin by assessing both store listings: category placement, keyword rankings for terms your real buyers use, screenshot and preview video performance, review volume, and an analysis of how your listing compares with DJI's consumer apps and the B2B platforms your prospects are also considering. Most drone tech apps were submitted once at launch and never revisited, so the assessment by itself typically uncovers mismatches that cost installs every day.
Next, we develop a keyword and category strategy based on how a Series A to Growth-stage buyer really searches – operations leads seeking fleet software, procurement teams evaluating inspection platforms, and safety officers researching certification tools. That vocabulary differs from the hobbyist terms most drone apps are indexed for, and getting it right is more like [growth strategy](/services/strategy/) work than following a technical checklist.
Execution includes the metadata each store ranks on – title, subtitle, keyword fields, description – rewritten around enterprise search terms rather than generic drone language. We also restructure the screenshot sequence and preview video direction so the opening three frames explain what the app does for a technical B2B buyer, instead of presenting a consumer highlight reel. That's [creative](/services/creative/) work focused on converting impressions into installs.
For apps delivered through MDM, we create a review generation workflow that bridges the gap between actual field usage and the public listing signal – in-app prompts timed around successful flights or completed inspections and aimed at users already receiving value. This is generally the biggest single lever for apps with strong adoption but a sparse public listing.
Everything connects back to [measurement](/services/measurement/): monitoring impressions, listing conversion rate, and category ranking from week to week, so app store visibility supports pipeline rather than remaining an isolated vanity metric.
When the listing exposes a genuine usability or feature gap in the field app, we report it to your team so [product](/services/product/) decisions reflect what buyers are actually requesting through reviews and search behavior.
What we deliver
- App store listing audit and competitive teardown against consumer drone apps and B2B platforms
- Keyword and category strategy mapped to enterprise buyer search behavior
- Rewritten metadata – title, subtitle, description, and keyword fields – for iOS and Android
- Screenshot and preview video direction built for a technical B2B audience
- Review generation workflow for MDM-deployed and enterprise-distributed users
Your app isn't being beaten by DJI on features; it's losing on category – fix where it appears before changing what it says.
Our Methodology
We operate ASO as a 90-day sprint rather than an indefinite retainer because the available levers are finite and results compound quickly after the right fixes go live. The first 30 days focus on assessment and rebuilding: correcting categories, mapping keywords, rewriting metadata, and setting new creative direction for screenshots and preview video, then shipping everything to both stores.
The following 30 days focus on signal – launching the review generation workflow for enterprise-deployed users, monitoring how the new keyword set ranks, and refining metadata using actual impression data rather than assumptions. Drone tech search volume is narrow enough that directional changes generally appear within the first several ranking refreshes.
The last 30 days cover optimization and handoff: investing further in what works, removing what doesn't, and documenting the process so your team can manage it without keeping an agency involved.
Our Working Process
Days 1-30 cover the audit and rebuild. We collect your existing store analytics, conduct a competitive teardown of DJI's ecosystem and adjacent B2B drone platforms, finalize the keyword and category strategy, and launch new metadata and creative across both stores. Early in the process, you'll join a working session with your product and marketing leads because category decisions frequently affect how the app is positioned on your website as well.
Days 31-60 focus on signal and iteration. We launch the review generation workflow for MDM and enterprise-deployed users, monitor keyword rank and listing conversion each week, and revise metadata according to what is actually gaining traction.
Days 61-90 are dedicated to optimization and handoff. We finalize the keyword set and creative that perform best, then provide your team with a maintenance playbook. Our team generally consists of a strategist responsible for keyword and category work and a creative lead covering screenshots and video – usually two people rather than a large account team.
Most drone tech clients schedule one 90-day sprint for each major app release or platform expansion, followed by a lighter quarterly check-in schedule. Others continue the engagement if they're actively entering new verticals, because every expansion alters the keyword strategy.
- Improved keyword rankings against enterprise-specific search terms instead of generic drone and photography terms
- Higher review volume and more recent ratings on the public listing, closing the gap with actual field usage
- Category placement that matches how operations leads and procurement teams actually search
- Better store-listing conversion from impression to install among the technical B2B buyer segment
If your drone tech company needs aso leadership, we should talk.
Expand your marketing team output with our experts
Let us take a custom approach to your growth goals by assembling and leading the best-in-class marketing team to support your next stage.
Frequently asked questions
What distinguishes ASO for a drone tech app from ASO for a typical B2B SaaS app?
Drone tech apps occupy the same app store space as an enormous consumer category – DJI's own apps alongside hundreds of hobbyist flight-log and photography tools – competition a standard B2B SaaS app never faces. The keyword and category strategy must deliberately steer around that consumer traffic instead of attempting to outrank it. Your competitive teardown also needs a different approach: benchmarking against consumer drone apps as well as other B2B platforms appearing in those search results.
How do you approach keyword competition with DJI's consumer apps?
We don't attempt to beat DJI Fly or DJI GO for broad terms such as "drone app" – ASO can't win that battle. Instead, we shape the keyword strategy around enterprise-specific phrases connected to your real use case, such as utility inspection, construction site mapping, or agronomy flight planning, where you're competing with other B2B platforms rather than a consumer app with an enormous install base. In those searches, category and keyword field placement can genuinely shift rankings.
Is ASO still important when our field app is distributed through MDM rather than the public app store?
Yes, and it is frequently the highest-leverage element of the work. Your public listing remains what prospects discover during evaluation, even when current customers never visit it, and a sparse, outdated-looking listing can weaken trust during the sales cycle. We develop a review generation workflow specifically for MDM and enterprise-deployed users, allowing the public listing to represent actual field usage rather than staying stuck at launch-day figures.
How soon will we see changes in rankings or conversion?
We generally see directional changes in keyword rankings and impression data within 30 to 45 days after metadata and category updates go live because drone tech search volume is narrow enough for ranking refreshes to appear quickly. Gains in review volume and listing conversion typically accumulate throughout the full 90-day sprint as the review generation workflow gathers data. Reporting happens weekly, so you won't wait until day 90 to learn whether something is working.
Do you support both iOS and Google Play, or only one platform?
Both, and we approach them as distinct optimization challenges rather than copying one strategy across two stores. Apple and Google assign different weight to keyword fields, category signals, and review recency, while drone tech buyers favor different platforms depending on whether devices are company-issued or personal. If you're currently available in only one store, we'll identify whether expansion to the other should be prioritized based on where your buyers actually are.
How much does this cost, and how do you define the scope?
A typical 90-day ASO sprint for a drone tech app costs $8K-$15K per month, based on whether the app is available in one store or both and whether the review generation workflow requires custom in-app triggers or can rely on your existing notification system. Continued quarterly optimization after the first sprint is scoped separately at a lower price because it involves maintenance rather than a rebuild. After the initial audit call, we'll provide an exact figure once we understand the current condition of your listing.
