Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps - Liftoff · 2019-03-29 · Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps |...

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Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps | Summer 2016 1 Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps INTERVIEWS WITH 10 LEADING MOBILE MARKETERS Summer 2016 Edition

Transcript of Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps - Liftoff · 2019-03-29 · Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps |...

Page 1: Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps - Liftoff · 2019-03-29 · Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps | Summer 2016 2 Summer 2016 Edition Growing a mobile business is no small feat, but

Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps | Summer 2016 1

Guide to MarketingNon-Gaming Apps

INTERVIEWS WITH 10 LEADING MOBILE MARKETERS

Summer 2016 Edition

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Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps | Summer 2016 2

Summer 2016 Edition

Growing a mobile business is no small feat, but for

marketers of non-gaming apps, it’s an even more

difficult task.

From acquiring mobile dating subscribers,

generating mobile purchases, engaging users

with entertainment apps, to driving finance app

subscriptions, non-gaming app marketers each face

a unique set of challenges in successfully growing

their mobile business.

This guide, comprised of interviews with ten expert

mobile marketers representing a wide range of

app categories - dating, shopping, finance, sports,

entertainment, and lifestyle - shares best practices

and tips for successfully growing a non-gaming

mobile app. Read on to find out how marketers

approach user acquisition and retention, as well

as how they diversify their channels to grow their

mobile business.

Visit heroes.liftoff.io

Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps

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Q&A with Vivian

Vivian Chang is the Senior Manager of

Acquisition Marketing at RetailMeNot in

Austin, TX. Her extensive background

in paid search marketing led Vivian to

dive into the rapidly evolving world of

mobile marketing where she’s proven

herself to be an expert in growing

mobile businesses.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

I have a search marketing background, so

I enjoy having hands-on optimization and

access to data to quickly evaluate perfor-

mance and run tests. Since the launch of

RetailMeNot’s iOS and Android apps in late

2012, I have been fortunate to have the op-

portunity to learn the industry while helping

to shape our mobile acquisition strategy.

Vivian ChangSenior Manager, Acquisition Marketing

RetailMeNot · Shopping

RetailMeNot is the world’s leading

marketplace for online coupons and

deals. Their mobile app enables con-

sumers across the globe save money

with hundreds of thousands of offers

from leading retailers like Amazon,

Macy’s, and Target.

· Founded in 2007

· Headquartered in Austin, TX

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What do you like most about mobile marketing?

I love that at its core, mobile marketing is fast-pa-

ced and presents the challenge of how to drive

response and awareness on a small screen size.

The industry has gotten much more complex

over the years, but also really interesting as

consumer behaviors shift and new marketing

channels develop. Increasingly, what used to be

siloed as mobile marketing is becoming synon-

ymous with marketing. Who would’ve thought

we’d find it normal to see celebrities in TV com-

mercials endorsing mobile games?

What is the biggest mistake you made as a

mobile marketer?

The mobile space can still be the Wild West

when it comes to prevalence of mobile fraud.

One of my biggest frustrations is the lack of

tools and how manual it is for marketers trying

to stay on top of it.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

Be data-oriented and have a clear view of

all your KPIs to measure success.

Get creative in the ad messaging/design,

and even the channels utilized.

Always be testing.

What does a quality mobile user look like to

you?

Qualitatively for RetailMeNot, the user is a

savvy shopper using our full suite of savings

tools and checks the app every time that

the user is shopping. We look at signals like

frequency of app launches and engagement

with multiple app events to help inform quality

through the metrics.

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

We see success leveraging push notifications

and email to deliver personalized content and

reinforcing the relevant deals content a user

can find in the app through social channels,

especially on Facebook. Of course, the other

key component is delivering a great user

experience in the app product itself. Ultimately

the best predictor of someone becoming an

engaged user is successfully saving money

and experiencing the ease and convenience

of the app first-hand.

What is the biggest challenge in marketing

RetailMeNot?

Because RetailMeNot is a marketplace for

digital savings, the goal is for users to engage

with the breadth of content we offer across

many retailers and brands. There isn’t one

user funnel; instead there are multiple app

actions and paths a user can take for their

shopping needs. This is a challenge when

marketing the app since the metrics are not as

“Be creative, but make data-driven decisions.”

Vivian Chang, RetailMeNot

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clear cut as something like “X cost per enga-

gement” for networks to optimize towards. It’s

an ongoing dialogue with the networks on the

quality of installs each is driving.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

I regularly read newsletters like MobileDevMo,

PocketGamer, and GamingInsiders as well as

keeping up with the Liftoff, adjust, and Apsalar

blogs. On top of that, I ask lots of questions

with my reps at the ad networks and tool pro-

viders I work with. They see across a broad

swatch of clients and industries, so talking

with them keeps me up on the latest trends

and helps me find technology to test. Finally, I

make an effort to build relationships with other

mobile marketers by attending conferences

and events. This is a constantly evolving in-

dustry and I find everyone more than happy to

share his or her experiences.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

It’s critical for RetailMeNot. As competition

on Facebook increases – especially with the

influx of brand dollars – costs continue rising

while volume declines. When RetailMeNot is

pushing for increased volume or lower acqui-

sition costs, having an established, strong

base of installs from various non-Facebook

sources allows me to maintain a balanced

portfolio.

How important are the holidays to your

business and what season is the biggest

time for you?

RetailMeNot facilitated $4.8 billion in global

sales in 2015, and is one of top 5 places users

start their shopping journeys so as you can

imagine, the holiday shopping season is our

biggest time of year. What’s interesting is that

every year the holiday shopping season beg-

ins earlier and earlier, and traditional in-store

shopping days like Black Friday drive tons of

mobile shoppers as well.

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Q&A with James

James Peng is the Head of Mobile App

Acquisition at the Match Group in San

Francisco, CA. His analytical and crea-

tive talents have helped James grow

the Match Group’s 45+ brands – inclu-

ding Match.com, Tinder, and OKCupid

– but his willingness to take risks and

be an early adopter of new techno-

logies has made him a true leader in

mobile marketing.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

After 4 years of investment banking and

private equity investing, I decided that I wan-

ted to get off of the beaten path of finance

and apply my skills in a completely different

way to a different industry. After a year of

networking, interviews, and soul searching,

I discovered that mobile marketing was the

James PengHead of Mobile App Acquisition

Match · Dating

The Match Group is the world’s lea-

ding provider of dating products, rede-

fining the way millions of people meet,

date and start relationships every day.

They offer products under nearly 50

brands, including Match.com, Tinder,

OKCupid, Meetic, and OurTime.

· Founded in 1995

· Headquartered in New York

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Good karma. Be generous and don’t be a

jerk. The industry is small and the people

you meet will be your de facto coworkers for

quite some time, whether you like it or not.

What do you think is the biggest miscon-

ception about your profession?

That mobile marketing is made up of people

with marketing experience and degrees. I

more often see people with technical expe-

rience and business majors in our industry.

With the number of moving elements around

campaign ROI and the breakneck pace of

change in the industry, there are definitely

advantages to having skills such as financial

modeling and database querying.

What does a quality mobile user look like to you?

A quality mobile user is one that that not only

drives economic value, but also community

value through deep interactions within the vir-

tual ecosystem. An engaged user that drives

compounded network value can easily be

worth several times more than a standalone

user. However, you’ll also need the ability to

measure and attribute this value accurately.

ideal mix of analysis, business development,

and creative thinking for me.

What do you like most about mobile marketing?

I love that mobile marketing is in its infancy and

evolving more rapidly than almost any other in-

dustry in the world. Because of these dynamics,

relationships are critical and it is imperative to

adapt quickly or be rendered irrelevant.

What is the biggest mistake you made as a

mobile marketer?

My biggest mistake was early on when I spent

my time testing as many channels as possible.

I could have used my funds and time more

wisely by conducting more diligence on top

channels and exchanging notes with other

industry professionals. Before you try the next

new solution or ad network because it sounds

interesting, I’d recommend polling peers and

understanding the investment thesis tho-

roughly prior to testing.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

The analytical horsepower to assess each

user as an ROI opportunity and to dynami-

cally optimize toward your goals.

The ability to think creatively about marke-

ting. CPIs are always increasing and that

shouldn’t surprise you. Be able to think

outside the box about ways to increase

your purchase power or better access your

target audience.

“Installs are easy. The real challenge is driving engagement and retention.”

James Peng, Match

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What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

Bringing a user into your app isn’t the hardest

part – you then have to engage and retain

them to drive value. I recommend understan-

ding what your CRM team is doing to boost

user value through unpaid means such as

optimizing push notifications and emails. If it

makes sense for your business model, you

may want to create custom offers to drive

greater activity from current users and bring

back lapsed users through re-engagement.

What is your biggest challenge in marketing

the Match Group?

The biggest challenge in marketing dating

apps is that the target audience (and target

intent) is specific, but the ability to target these

users through most traditional marketing chan-

nels is limited by the immaturity of the industry.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

I stay ahead of the curve by keeping a close

network of industry peers and continuous

conversations with my vendors and ad tech

partners. When possible, instead of waiting

for changes to happen, I try to be the one that

helps to define them for the first time. This

can be done through product discussions and

beta opportunities.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

This is usually one of the top things on my

mind. Even though Facebook is the no-brainer

channel to be on for obvious reasons, the

majority of mobile acquisition inventory exists

and will continue to exist outside of Facebook.

Levering yourself too much to Facebook not

only exposes you to unnecessary risk such as

isolated market fluctuations or major platform

changes, but it also stunts your future growth

when other channels advance. It takes upfront

investment to succeed on other channels,

especially for non-gaming apps, and you don’t

want to be left behind when that time comes.

How important are the holidays to your business

and what season is the biggest time for you?

For Match, the holidays are extremely im-

portant and are a huge volume and revenue

driver, but spring tends to be huge because of

Valentine’s Day and the influx of new devices

after the holiday season.

What do you see as the next big thing in

mobile marketing?

I think a major development is going to be

user-level targeting for traditional mobile

ad network traffic. Ad networks have been

lagging social and programmatic sources of

traffic up to now by focusing on where the

money has been, which has been gaming

advertisers. However, as eCommerce and

performance brands shift budgets towards

mobile apps, they will also demand precise

targeting around their key audiences.

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Q&A with Cole

Cole Mercer is the Director of Growth at

LifeLock in San Francisco. He specializes

in growing mobile apps using social

media, paid, and organic user acquisition

techniques. To Cole, marketing isn’t just

about finding new customers, it’s making

sure they’re happy customers for life.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

I was on the founding team of Lemon Wallet

and when we decided we would only offer

the product through mobile, we had no

choice but to learn what the app ecosystem

was all about.

What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

I love the opportunity to collaborate with

the product team. You can’t be successful

Cole MercerDirector of Growth

LifeLock · Lifestyle

LifeLock, Inc. is a leading provider

of proactive identity theft protection

services for consumers and consumer

risk management services for enterpri-

ses. LifeLock threat detection, proacti-

ve identity alerts, and comprehensive

remediation services help provide

peace of mind for consumers amid the

growing threat of identity theft.

· Founded in 2005

· Headquartered in Tempe, AZ

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marketing your app without full buy in from

your product team. Its all about fighting for

acquisition optimizations in the battle for

product roadmap priorities.

What is the biggest mistake you made as a

mobile marketer?

At Lemon, we bought a ton of incentivized

installs on Android right out of the gate and

Google made it clear that we had made a mis-

take because we were halted in the rankings

until we deleted the app and launched a fresh

version. Oops.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

Great partners. The space is evolving so

quickly that it is essential to engage with great

partners that live in the mobile universe and

aren’t only focused on one product.

What does a quality mobile user look like to you?

Someone who gives us productive feedback

on a channel where we can have a little back

and forth. I’m looking at you, ‘1-star App Store

reviewer!’

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

Clearly presenting the most simple use case

during the first user experience. There is usually

one very clear reason people come back to the

app, but sometimes they need to be reminded.

Getting an email address doesn’t hurt either.

What is your biggest challenge in marketing

LifeLock?

We sell a premium product in a category with

growing awareness, so there is often a lot

of research and consideration that goes into

choosing LifeLock. Making sure our message

is consistent across all of our ad sizes, videos,

landing pages, stores, etc. as to not confuse

a prospect no matter where they are in the

funnel is the key to turning that casual installer

into a LifeLock customer for life.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

I surround myself with people a lot smarter

than myself, namely partners like Liftoff.

Unpaid plug.

How important are the holidays to your

business and what season is the biggest

time for you?

The holidays are important because people

realize that they are often sharing a lot more

personally identifiable information with retai-

lers during this time. However, the real boost

in awareness and consideration happens

when people realize that their data has been

compromised because of a data breach.

These breach events are terrible, but inevita-

ble, and LifeLock can help so we make sure

our message is front and center after these

events occur.

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Q&A with Elsa

Elsa Hou is the Senior Director of

Marketing at Activehours in Palo Alto,

CA. Her holistic approach to mobile

marketing and focus on retaining va-

luable app users for the long haul has

helped Elsa successfully quickly grow

and monetize multiple mobile apps

over the course of her career.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

I previously worked in ad tech focusing on

desktop display advertising. As the industry

transitioned to mobile, I saw an opportunity

to advance my career and get in at the fore-

front of the movement and made the switch

from desktop to mobile marketing.

Elsa Hou Senior Director, Marketing

Activehours · Finance

Activehours was born from the simple

idea that no one should have to wait

weeks to get their pay when they’ve

already earned it. Avoid overdraft fees

and pay bills on time with Activehours.

· Founded in 2012

· Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA

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What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

I like how innovative mobile marketing is.

There are a seemingly endless number of ad

formats and placements to experiment with.

The ecosystem is evolving rapidly so there

are constantly new things to learn and try out.

I enjoy the challenge of staying on top of the

latest and greatest ways to grow mobile apps.

What is the biggest mistake you’ve made as

a mobile marketer?

My biggest mistake is getting comfortable with

my current marketing programs. Even if my

campaigns are performing well, there’s always

opportunity to push the envelope and do

better. In this fast-moving industry there’s no

room for complacency!

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

As a mobile marketer, you need to capture

a prospective customer’s attention, clearly

communicate your products unique selling

points, evaluate the performance of various

campaigns and quickly react to changes in

performance. To do this effectively, you need

to be creative, analytical, and nimble.

What does a quality mobile user look like to

Activehours?

A quality user for us is someone who con-

sistently uses the app over a long period of

time. Retention is extremely important for

Activehours and we put a premium on driving

users who exhibit a high lifetime value.

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

Since our product is a new concept, our

customers often do heavy research on

Activehours before signing up, so social proof

through news articles and app store reviews

has been important. We also have support

functionality throughout the sign-up process,

so anytime someone has a question it can be

quickly addressed.

What is your biggest challenge in marketing

Activehours?

My biggest challenge has been to quickly find

new channels to scale marketing efficiently.

Often when you test a new channel, you need

to iterate on creative, targeting and place-

ments before you are able to hit your KPI’s

and that requires a significant investment in

time and money.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

I stay ahead of changes in technology by

regularly reading publications and keeping

up to date with my peers in the industry.

“Success is often born from a willingness to try new things.”

Elsa Hou, Activehours

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Attending industry events and talking with

other mobile marketers is a great way to keep

up with the latest trends and build your profes-

sional network.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

Facebook offers enormous scale and targe-

ting abilities for mobile marketers, but your

campaigns can quickly be affected by chan-

ges within the marketplace or the platform. It’s

important to have diversification within your

marketing mix for the times when something

unexpected happens. Additionally, if you

are too comfortable with marketing only on

Facebook you are susceptible to missing

other opportunities that may actually yield

better results.

How important are the holidays to your

business and what season is the biggest

time for you?

Our product is relevant throughout the year,

so we don’t see really massive changes

throughout the seasons outside of media

costs.

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Q&A with Gary

Gary Ma is a Mobile Marketing

Manager at FanDuel in New York. His

finance background shaped him into

an analytics-driven marketer who puts

a premium on driving post-install user

engagement rather than just genera-

ting new installs.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

I stumbled into it when looking for a mar-

keting job. But I quickly realized the mobile

advertising industry was going to be massive

and felt like there would be exciting opportu-

nities for me if I continued in the field.

What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

I like that we’re still in the early stages of mo-

bile marketing and there’s a lot of innovation

Gary Ma Mobile Marketing Manager

FanDuel · Sports

FanDuel, launched in July 2009, is the

leader in the daily fantasy sports in-

dustry. Offering fantasy sport contests

for NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, FanDuel

pays out millions of dollars to winners

every week.

· Founded in 2009

· Headquartered in New York

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occurring. Given the high adoption and usage

of smartphones, it’s the present and foreseea-

ble future of where marketing budgets will go.

What is the biggest mistake you’ve made as

a mobile marketer?

The biggest mistake I made was early in my

career, when I mainly focused on optimizing

for a low CPI and didn’t understand how im-

portant post-install engagement is to grow a

mobile company.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

Curiosity. Although certain advertising prin-

ciples like storytelling and the ability to put

together strong ad creative, you should have

a desire to constantly learn the industry. Since

mobile marketing is a relatively new aspect

of the digital advertising ecosystem, we’re

writing the book on what it takes to succeed

as we go.

What does a quality mobile user look like to you?

At FanDuel, a quality mobile user is someone

who installs the app, deposits money and

enters into our daily fantasy contests.

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

A well-planned and helpful user onboarding

process combined with thoughtful push and

in-app notifications goes a long way toward

creating more engaged users.

What is the biggest challenge you face in

marketing FanDuel?

The biggest challenge is ensuring strong geo

blocking in certain states due to the ongoing

legal challenges facing the daily fantasy

sports industry. It would be a poor experience

if a user downloads our app from an ad only

to learn during the registration process they’re

blocked from playing.

How do you stay ahead of changes in mobi-

le technology?

I frequently read popular tech blogs to keep

track of emerging trends in the industry. At the

rate this space is innovating, it’s easy to get left

behind if you don’t stay on top of tech news.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

It’s very important because there are still a

lot of people who aren’t on Facebook (or

Instagram). As such, you need to diversify and

reach those potential users in other apps.

Other things to consider are how busy the

News Feed has become and the occasional

spikes in Facebook user acquisition costs due

to branding/awareness-focused marketers.

How important are the holidays to your

business and what season is the biggest

growth period for FanDuel?

Holidays aren’t as important because FanDuel

is a sports-based business. However, our

busiest growth period is during the fall when

football season begins.

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Q&A with Sami

Sami is the Senior Director of

Marketing at Acorns in Newport Beach,

CA. Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug

at a young age, Sami quickly realized

that the success of his app was directly

tied to marketing and vowed to beco-

me a mobile marketing expert.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

When I was 22, I started a photo sharing

app, but spent way too much time working

on development and not enough on marke-

ting. It was the failure of my first start up that

inspired me to never fail at marketing an app

ever again.

Sami KhanSenior Director of Marketing

Acorns · Finance

Acorns is the largest and fastest

growing investment app that allows

people to round up their daily pur-

chases and automatically Invest the

Change® into a commission-free diver-

sified portfolio of index funds offered

by the world’s top asset managers.

· Founded in 2012

· Headquarted in Newport Beach, CA

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What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

The instant feedback. The quick learning.

The fast thinking. It’s almost addictive, wat-

ching the data pour in and trying to figure

out how to make that next click even more

valuable.

What is the biggest mistake you made as a

mobile marketer?

The biggest mistake is thinking your hunch is

the only path to success or thinking a single

feature will make something viral. Until you

have the data, a hunch is more like a shot in

the dark, hopefully in the right direction.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

Without a doubt, to be able to think outside

the box. Digital marketing is, in many ways, the

wild west. No one knows where the next hit

will be, so you have to keep trying, iterating

everywhere you can. Acorns is a new app

of it’s kind; it allows anyone to start saving

and investing. Potential users not only had to

understand the magic of our app, but actually

download and use it.

What does a quality mobile user look like to

you?

I think the industry as a whole can agree that

stickiness is the ultimate goal. A user that

keeps coming back is better than just another

number in your download count.

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

I believe you’ve got to set the expectation of

what the app will do as clearly as possible.

Don’t mislead with a vision of a promise land

that doesn’t represent your app. Again, the

sticky user is the one we want, so how can we

get that particular user in the app? Be honest,

let the creative and placement help convince

the user that this is the right app for them.

What is your biggest challenge marketing

your app?

For Acorns, it’s all about getting people to be

patient and understanding about investing.

For many, it’s their first time into the world of

investing. Mobile apps by nature tend to be

perceived as something short term, but the

commitments we want our users to make can

make a lifelong impact.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

I’m always reading mobile marketing blogs

and newsletters to learn from others in the

industry. I also make it a point to attend events

“My previous failures fuel my desire for success on mobile.”

Sami Khan, Acorns

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and conferences with other mobile marketers

to get their take on trends in technology.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

As a marketer, I don’t think you ever want all

your eggs in one basket. You become de-

pendent on that channel and your entire paid

growth trajectory is based on the pricing of

that channel. What if it gets more expensive in

3 months? Can you sustain growth? It’s always

good to diversify.

How important are the holidays to your

business and what season is the biggest

time for you?

New years resolutions are the best time for

any wellness app. In many ways, Acorns is

a wellness app; we are redefining financial

wellness. We want all Americans to become

more financially fit.

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Q&A with Alessandra

Alessandra Sales is the Director of

Marketing at Smule in San Francisco.

Her focus on gaining a deep unders-

tanding of her users helps her develop

the right message for her audience

and provide an awesome experience

that leads to loyal customers.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

When I first moved to the US, I started wor-

king at Nextag, a shopping comparison site,

to help them launch their marketing presen-

ce in Southern Europe. Nextag was limited

only to desktop search at the time. In early

2010 I moved to Zoosk, where our marketing

efforts spanned across both mobile and

desktop.

Alessandra SalesDirector of Marketing

Smule · Music

Smule is a developer of interactive

sonic applications for mobile devices,

including Sing! Karaoke, Magic Piano,

AutoRap, which are among the top 15

most downloaded music apps.

· Founded in 2008

· Headquartered in San Francisco

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What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

The great thing about mobile marketing is

how dynamic it can be. New products and

apps are being released every month, perfor-

mance numbers change everyday, and you

always need to be on your toes. It gives me

adrenaline and I love it!

What is the biggest mistake you made as a

mobile marketer?

Early on, I used to optimize for good perfor-

mance/ROI without considering the ramifi-

cations of where we were advertising and

what message we were sending about our

company. Spending millions of dollars on

advertising means that millions of people are

seeing your ads. It is important to establish

your brand and messaging in this type of mass

exposure. Giving off a poor brand image early

on could not only stunt your future growth

efforts, but could also be an irreversible

mistake.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

A positive attitude goes a long way in this

industry. You are going to run into many

daily challenges and issues, so it is easy to

be overwhelmed with stress. Focus on long

term, high-level goals. What makes mobile

marketing so engaging is that it also requires

a blend of critical thinking, creativity and

dedication.

What does a quality mobile user look like to

you?

At Smule, a quality user is not necessarily

someone who becomes a paying subscriber.

We also highly value engaged users who play

or sing songs at a high frequency, and users

who are socially engaged with our community.

We discovered that content+social=retention

and this also improves our revenue per user

overtime.

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

Above all, you should figure out and unders-

tand your audience. The other important part

is to offer a smooth and clear first time user

experience. Once you can segment your

users, you have the ability to offer a more

personalized app experience, which typically

leads to better retention. For Smule, social

features are a strong driver of engagement/

retention. We have found that users who feel

a sense of belonging ( joined a community,

sang a lot of duets) tend to engage, retain,

and monetize better.

What is your biggest challenge in marketing

Smule?

One of the biggest challenges is trying to

scale your apps efficiently without having to

rely heavily on the “usual suspects,” Facebook

and Instagram. We have a dedicated person

on our team who is in charge of looking out

for new opportunities. Our general rule of

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Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps | Summer 2016 21

thumb is to continue testing new partners and

products, and if your app is global, go after

regional opportunities.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

I read a lot and I ask a lot. My morning ritual

goes something like this… coffee, run, coffee,

TechCrunch. I also like to discuss the latest

marketing trends with friends and colleagues.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

Diversification is key and it is imperative to

find good users outside of Facebook. Nobody

should rely on one source of traffic to drive

user acquisition, because your performance

would be strongly tied to the performance of

that company. It is also important to remem-

ber that your users are also engaging with

other apps, and that different networks offer

different pocket of users. For example, if your

audience skews on the younger side, you

might find other social networks and gaming

apps to be more effective in driving new user

acquisition.

How important are the holidays to your

business?

Holidays = new devices, and new devices =

more users who are willing to download apps.

Smule is a subscription-based company and

we measure the quality of our users based on

their initial ROI as well as their retention rate.

What we have discovered is that during the

holidays more people tend to subscribe using

gift cards and consequently their retention

rate tends to be lower than that of customers

who subscribe using credit cards.

“Create a great mobile experience and revenue will follow.”

Alessandra Sales, Smule

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Q&A with Elyse

Elyse Burack is the Associate Director

of Marketing at Boxed in New York.

After earning a degree in psychology,

Elyse began applying her knowledge

of how the human mind works to mobi-

le marketing, where her ability to truly

get into the mindset of prospective

customers has driven her success.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

I started my career on the agency side of

marketing and was most excited by techno-

logy clients. When I went to make the switch

to in-house marketing I knew that I wanted

to work for a fast growing startup that was

mobile-first.

Elyse BurackAssociate Director of Marketing

Boxed · Shopping

Forget long lines, hassles and back-

aches. Boxed has all your favorite

big box sized products at pint-sized

prices. Save on time, gas and mem-

bership fees while shopping for items

you use every day – all shipped

to your door.

· Released in 2013

· Headquartered in New York

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What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

I like being at the forefront of where marketing

and where eCommerce is headed.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

While it is really important to read as much

industry news and information as possible, the

best way to stay on top of changing technology

is to constantly talk with others in the space.

What is your biggest challenge in marketing

the Boxed app?

The biggest challenge is that there is a lot of

noise in the marketplace and consumers don’t

want to be bombarded by advertising. It’s

extremely important to be thoughtful in terms

of using the best channels to reach high qua-

lity users and to be focused in terms of which

acquisition channels we utilize.

What does a quality mobile user look like to

Boxed?

A quality mobile user is someone who wants

to stock up on items for their home or office

and builds a cart to do so. The more that users

“walk through the aisles,” the more value they

see in Boxed and the more likely they will

come back on a consistent basis.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

It is important to be diversified across

channels the same way it is important to be

diversified with investing. There are so many

factors that can go into the ups and downs of

performance and it is never smart to have all

your eggs in one basket.

Additionally, different types of customers

come from different channels. It is important

to diversify channels so that you can test the

LTV of customers coming in from one channel

in comparison to another. While one channel

might be great in the short term in terms of

getting customers in the door, another might

be a better long term investment to get the

right types of customers.

What are your top 3 tips for marketing a

mobile app?

Many people are very selective about how

many apps they will download and have a wall

up that isn’t necessarily there for websites or

brick and mortar. Therefore, my number one

tip is to be as direct and concise as possible

in articulating the app’s value proposition and

why this app will make a difference in the

customer’s life. My second tip is to be open to

testing as there are constantly new platforms

being introduced and you never know what

could resonate with customers unless you try.

Third is to be nimble – if something isn’t wor-

king, be quick to change things, whether it is

creative, targeting, bidding, etc.

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What will be the next big thing in mobile

marketing?

I think we have only scratched the surface of

using location based mobile marketing. It is

incredibly powerful to know what your custo-

mers are doing in real-time and how they are

interacting with other brands and products.

“Be nimble. If something isn’t working, quickly change it.”

Elyse Burack, Boxed

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Q&A with Colette

Colette Nataf is the User Acquisition

Manager at MileIQ (acquired by

Microsoft) in San Francisco. She attri-

butes her success to her passion for

measuring everything in the user fun-

nel from install to subscription.

How did you get into mobile marketing?

I used to work in search engine marketing,

but I love being at the forefront of new tech-

nology. So when I spoke with Nat Robinson,

fellow Mobile Hero and Head of Marketing at

MileIQ, about moving into mobile user acqui-

sition, it was easy to see that this is where

the future of marketing was headed and

knew I needed to be a part of it.

Colette Nataf User Acquisition Manager

MileIQ · Business

MileIQ service takes the hassle out of

mileage tracking with a mobile app

that tracks drives automatically, syncs

them to the cloud, and dramatically

simplifies the process of generating

accurate mileage records.

· Founded in 2012

· Headquartered in San Francisco

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What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

I love puzzles, so I love that everyday I can

face new adventures and challenges in the

world of mobile. Information is always in de-

mand, but hard to find – we can’t even create

our own tracking links in Facebook cam-

paigns! And these challenges inspire creativi-

ty. I wanted a job that would be intellectually

enriching, and I have absolutely found that in

mobile marketing.

What is the biggest mistake you made as a

mobile marketer?

I would say that my mistakes were always in

my assumptions. Everything from assuming

conversion rates are the same on iOS and

Android (head’s up – they’re not!) to estimates

in volume based upon my own mobile usage,

which was never game-based.

I’d say the biggest mistake I made was not

insisting on having visibility into all conver-

sion data immediately. When I first started,

we worked towards a cost per install target

goal. I was able to hit that goal by diversifying

our user base and marketing channels, but

ended up wasting money on users who

never ended up paying the company back.

But like all mistakes, I’ve learned from this.

Now the entire MileIQ growth team operates

on revenue and upgrade KPIs. It’s been a big

change, and a welcome one.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

Succeeding in this job takes dedication along

with a willingness to learn. Mobile doesn’t

have the same tools as desktop yet, and

sometimes that means you need to come up

with your own process or build your own tool.

I’ve had to learn advanced SQL, Python and

how to work with APIs.

I’ve also had to learn to be at ease with a

philosophy of constant iteration. The mobile

landscape changes every day – sometimes

every hour – as new competitors start and as

new people use their mobile phones. Being

adaptable is key. You need to be able to

respond to your users – wherever they are –

at any time.

What does a quality mobile user look like to

you?

MileIQ has somewhat of a different user ex-

perience. The app actually runs in the back-

ground, so one of our goals is for users to be

LESS engaged with the app. We don’t care

about daily or monthly active users.

“We’re not just staying ahead of changes in mobile tech, we’re creating them.”

Colette Nataf, MileIQ

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Instead, we want to find users who are getting

true value in the app. This means people

who are logging drives, classifying them and

ultimately reporting them to their employer

for a reimbursement or to the IRS for a tax

deduction. I love users who never open the

app, but get deductions at the end of the year

for more than $10,000. We’re providing an

amazing service, and I want all of our users to

take advantage of it.

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

Re-engagement and re-targeting are both

key. Our goal is not to bring users back into

the app for continued usage like a game, but

instead just to remind users that they have

MileIQ. We want to remind them that we’re

catching all of their drives and that those

drives are worth money.

We’ve found that the best methods to increa-

se conversions are those that only remind

users that we have drives. We’ve tried promo-

tions, driving to upgrade and many others, but

at the end of the day users just want to know

that we’re catching drives and doing our job.

That being said, we have advanced user

segmentation for re-engagement. This means

we’re grouping users by every single number

of drives caught and every single dollar classi-

fied. We can show extremely customized crea-

tive based upon these audience segments,

and this is what creates success for us.

What is your biggest challenge marketing

MileIQ?

Our biggest challenge at MileIQ is honestly

just explaining to users how to download an

app. We frequently receive support messages

asking how to install MileIQ and if they can

install it on their computers! These are users

who have only used email, text messaging

and calling on their cell phones. And we’re

finding them and engaging them with an

amazing service. People love the idea and the

execution of our product – we just need to

give them a little more direction.

In our latest video advertisement, we literally

have a shot of a person sitting on the couch,

going to the app store, pressing Install and

opening the app.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

We’re not just staying ahead of the changes –

we’re creating them. I personally build internal

tools every single day to help with marketing

automation and management. Our enginee-

ring team develops strategies to easily A/B

test screens within our app. Together as a

group, we find solutions to every problem.

This ambitious creativity and enthusiasm for

the work we do is contagious here. You won’t

find anyone at MileIQ who isn’t at the front of

his or her field.

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How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

My very first task at MileIQ was to diversify

acquisition spend away from Facebook. We

were spending more than 90% of our marke-

ting budget on Facebook, and it was a huge

risk to the business. If anything happened to

Facebook and the users, we would lose ou-

rentire marketing strategy.

Since then, we have managed to diversify

across a number of channels. We now have a

healthy and well-balanced portfolio.

How important are the holidays to your

business and what season is the biggest

time for you?

Our “holiday season” is tax time. MileIQ users

typically think about mileage tracking and

deductions for their taxes (and generally when

their accountants ask to see their mileage

logs!).

We see a lot of search volume during this time

and increased conversion rates. But diversifi-

cation in revenue is just as important as diver-

sification in costs. We are always challenging

ourselves to think about how we can engage

users outside of this “holiday season” and rely

less heavily on the first four months of the year.

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Q&A with Shamanth

Shamanth Rao is the Director of

Growth at PuzzleSocial in New York.

His experience in search marketing, ad

tech and mobile marketing has shaped

him into an expert on mobile growth.

How do you stay ahead of changes in

technology?

I don’t consume massive quantities of infor-

mation. My friends at Grow.co run a great

email newsletter and email list focused on

mobile growth that I regularly read. Other

than that, I like to meet industry folks one-on-

one and at events.

What do you like most about mobile

marketing?

I like that I’m always learning something new.

The industry has evolved dramatically over

Shamanth Rao Director of Growth

PuzzleSocial · Entretainment

PuzzleSocial Inc. is the maker of Daily

Celebrity Crossword, the world’s

most-solved and top grossing daily

digital crossword puzzle. The app can

be played on iPhone, iPad, Android,

and Kindle devices as well as on

Facebook.

· Founded in 2010

· Headquartered in New York

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the last few years – from running banner ads

on CPM to hyper-targeted rich media ads and

CPA campaigns. Working in mobile marketing

keeps me excited to go to work every day.

What does it take to succeed in mobile

marketing?

Having a long term view of growth that encom-

passes the financial viability of the business.

What is the biggest mistake you made as a

mobile marketer?

Ignoring downstream retention and perfor-

mance. We’ve run campaigns where the initial

ROI of users in their first few days looked

good because these users were relatively

cheap. After taking a closer look at our data,

we realized that their downstream retention

and monetization (beyond their first few days

after install) were not so hot. Therefore, what

we thought was an ROI-positive cohort based

on the initial data turned out to be one where

we lost money.

What does a quality mobile user look like to

you?

A quality user for us is one who has made it a

daily habit to solve our puzzles every single day.

What strategies work best to convert ins-

talls into engaged users?

Because we’re a game that’s proven offline

for decades now, most users who install are

familiar enough to start playing our game. With

that said, we also have an in-game tutorial that

is a key part of our first-time user experience

that guides users through the gameplay to

make sure users understand the core value of

the game.

What is the biggest challenge marketing

your app?

Acquiring cost-effective, quality users at scale.

There’s always a tradeoff between scale and

price – and that is a constant battle that we

fight.

How important is diversifying user acquisi-

tion outside of Facebook?

This is absolutely critical. Facebook has to

be one channel in a portfolio – and we take

care not to be overly reliant on any single

channel.

How important are the holidays to your

business?

Holidays are only marginally important for

us, because we’re a daily crossword game.

There are new devices in the market that

drive incremental usage, but our primary goal

is to have users form a daily habit of solving

crosswords, irrespective of whether it’s holi-

day season or not.

“There’s no room for complacency in mobile.”

Samanth Rao, PuzleSocial

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Guide to Marketing Non-Gaming Apps | Summer 2016 31

Liftoff, Fueling Mobile Growth

Liftoff is a full-service mobile app marketing and

retargeting platform which uses post-install data

to run true CPA-optimized mobile user acquisition

and retention campaigns. With Liftoff, campaigns

are optimized to drive specific actions beyond

the install, to acquire users who engage in more

profitable post-install events like booking a hotel,

subscribing to a service or making a purchase.

[email protected] heroes.liftoff.ioliftoff.io