Apptivate: App Marketing Explained

Nicolas Tissier, co-founder and CPO of Purchasely, has spent years optimizing subscription app journeys. He says that the real onboarding window starts at the ad click and doesn’t end until the product becomes a habit. In this episode, Nicolas breaks onboarding down into three stages - intent, value, and habit. He explains why the first session matters so much, how emotional and social values can outperform feature-led messaging, and why more screens can sometimes improve conversion when they create positive rather than negative friction. He also unpacks the growing web2-app challenge, including how to preserve purchase context after a web subscription, avoid forcing paid users through redundant onboarding or paywalls, and build a cleaner handoff that supports conversion and retention.

• What does onboarding mean to you? 
• What are the three stages of app onboarding, and which teams should own each one?
• Where do apps lose the most users during the onboarding journey?
• How much time do app publishers have to prove it’s providing the desired job-to-be-done? 
• Why can adding more onboarding screens sometimes improve conversion?
• How has Apple’s ATT framework contributed to the growth of web-to-app acquisition?
• Where do subscription apps lose users when moving them from a web funnel into the app?
• How can marketers create a smoother handoff for users who have already subscribed on the web?
• Which apps have onboarding experiences worth studying?

• 01:09 — Introducing Nicolas Tissier and Purchasely
• 02:02 — Why Purchasely built no-code tools for faster experimentation
• 03:38 — The three stages of onboarding: intent, value, and habit
• 05:41 — Where apps lose users and why the first session matters
• 07:32 — Communicating progress over product features
• 08:49 — Push, pull, anxiety, and inertia in the onboarding journey
• 10:18 — Positive vs. negative friction in onboarding flows
• 11:47 — Why web-to-app acquisition grew after Apple ATT
• 13:45 — Converting users on the web before they download the app
• 14:44 — The critical web-to-app subscription handoff
• 15:43 — Avoiding redundant onboarding and preserving purchase context
• 16:38 — Apps with onboarding experiences worth studying
• 17:45 — Where to connect with Nicolas and Purchasely

(3:39) “From my perspective, onboarding is everything that happens between the ad click and the moment where the product actually becomes a habit.”

(5:57) “The average app loses roughly 80% of its users within the first three days. So it's rather at the beginning of the funnel. And if you look at this study, it's almost 90% of the acquired traffic that is gone.”

(6:30) “When it comes to monetization, the clock runs even faster. From our data, more than 80% of free trials start on the very day of the install, so the very first day. Half of the paid conversions happen the same day, and it's the same for cancellations. When you have three-day free trials, more than half of the people immediately cancel their subscription just out of security. So, you really need to be very good at the beginning.”

• Nicolas Tissier’s LinkedIn
• Purchasely

As AI agents take on more of the tactical work behind mobile marketing, one question is becoming harder to ignore: what skills will marketers need to stay relevant and valuable in an AI-driven industry? Table Stakes Media founder Piper Martz is passionate about breaking down the fear surrounding agentic AI, and she draws on a decade in lifecycle and retention marketing to explore what this transition means for marketers at every level -- from junior employees who may have fewer opportunities to learn through hands-on execution, to marketing leaders whose roles are shifting toward mentoring talent, managing AI agents, and creating a culture where experimentation feels safe. In this episode, Piper breaks down the rise of AI decisioning, why critical thinking and systems thinking will become increasingly important, and how marketers and their leaders can rethink development, retraining, and experimentation to build careers that evolve alongside the technology rather than compete with it.

• What is Table Stakes Media, and why is Piper focused on AI leadership rather than just AI skills?
• Why are mobile and growth marketers particularly well positioned to experiment with AI?
• What is AI decisioning, and how is it different from generative AI?
• How can AI agents create more personalized lifecycle and retention experiences for individual app users?
• Are marketers becoming managers of AI agents rather than executors of campaigns?
• How should marketers train, supervise, and build feedback loops with AI agents?
• How can junior marketers develop expertise when AI increasingly handles the tactical work they once learned from?
• What can leaders do to create psychological safety for AI experimentation?
• How should companies approach retraining employees when AI automates a significant portion of their jobs?
• Which parts of marketing are most likely to become automated—and which human skills will become more valuable?

01:52 — What is Table Stakes Media?
03:41 — Piper’s background in lifecycle, retention, and agentic AI
05:22 — Why AI transformation is also a change-management problem
06:09 — The pressure leaders face when introducing AI to their teams
07:11 — Building communities around AI leadership and experimentation
08:27 — Why mobile marketers are primed for AI experimentation
09:21 — Hyper-personalization, retention, and the limits of segmentation
10:33 — Why push notifications are a powerful testing ground for AI
11:07 — What AI decisioning means for mobile marketers
13:04 — Using one AI agent to continuously learn from each user
14:06 — Are marketers becoming managers of AI agents?
16:22 — The problem facing junior marketers in an AI-first workplace
17:17 — Why mentorship matters more as tactical work becomes automated
18:39 — Psychological safety, experimentation, and learning through failure
19:56 — How leaders should communicate when AI takes over job functions
21:13 — IKEA’s approach to retraining employees displaced by automation
23:09 — Why critical thinking becomes more important in an AI-powered workplace
24:08 — Systems thinking as a critical skill for the next generation of marketers
26:01 — What will a marketer’s job look like in two or three years?
27:19 — Why fear of AI can prevent marketers from developing valuable skills
29:09 — Protecting creativity, taste, and human judgment in an AI-first world
30:18 — Piper’s advice: experiment, play, and help shape what comes next
30:55 — Where to follow Piper Martz and Table Stakes Media

(14:42) “I hate micromanagers, but if you've got a team of AI agents, you need to be a micromanager. Give feedback all the time. Tell them when you're disappointed. Tell them when you're delighted. Build these feedback loops.”

(20:18) “Can you imagine how powerful it is as a junior employee to have someone say to you, ‘Hey, you're going to learn this tool. It's going to take over 50% of your job, but we're going to train you and support you.”

(30:37) “It's an experiment. Take the reins and start playing. Start experimenting. We don't know what it's going to look like. Be part of that transition.”

• Piper Martz’s LinkedIn
• Table Stakes Media 
• Piper’s Luma Calendar for AI events in New York

After realizing the customer acquisition cost with Apple Search Ads and Meta Ads was too high to scale his app, Michael Butler looked for a better acquisition model. In the process, he discovered an opportunity to solve an overlooked growth marketing problem: no reliable way to track app transactions back to the affiliates or influencers driving them. In this episode, the Insert Affiliate founder explains how app marketers can turn creator partnerships into a measurable acquisition channel using attribution links, referral codes, and real-time transaction tracking. Michael also shares why engaged micro-influencers can outperform larger creators, how to structure revenue share, and why affiliate marketing is becoming more compelling as traditional user acquisition costs continue to rise.

(7:39) "If you know who your customers are and where they hang out, you'll also learn which influencers and affiliates are going to resonate with them.”

(12:40) “If you find an affiliate that’s a really good fit, really likes what you’re building, and will post about it in a very genuine way, they don’t need a large audience -- just an engaged one.”

(17:39 “You need to give influencers some guidance. It’s the same as hiring any sort of staff member. If you bring them on but don’t give them training or show them your product, they’re going to be a lot less effective.”

Your next customer may be asking ChatGPT which app to download, but will your app make the list? AppTweak’s CMO Alexandra De Clerck draws on more than eight years in app store marketing to explain how LLMs interpret user intent, combine internal knowledge with live web retrieval, and use “query fan-out” to decide which apps deserve a recommendation. She reveals why app store descriptions have become critical AI discovery assets; how detailed reviews and community conversations help validate an app’s positioning; and why smaller apps have a rare opportunity to compete for AI visibility before the market becomes saturated.

00:23 – Introducing Alexandra De Clerck and AI app discovery

(6:07) “An important concept to understand in AI search is how AIs actually interpret the prompt.”

(9:48) “What we’ve seen from our research is that actually almost 50% of all citations in ChatGPT are app store listings.”

(10:19) “LLMs really look at app store listings to understand what an app is about, who it’s for, and what the main use-cases are, so that’s the highest leverage opportunity for app marketers getting started with an AI search strategy.”

(12:22) “So we see when ChatGPT makes a recommendation [for a mobile app], usually the first five to six answers are sourced. So that means that they actually did a live web retrieval to find information about this. And for where it's not sourced, it actually means that they looked into their internal knowledge base to build the answer.

(22:11) “If you start now by optimizing your intent  coverage around the web and really helping ChatGPT and other LLMs understand what your app is and what your app is about, build that context into their internal knowledge base as well, then you have an edge up compared to people who are still exploring or discovering or wondering whether or not it's worth it to get started.” 

Irwin Hau, founder of Chromatix and ConversionCow, joins Apptivate to unpack the psychology behind customer conversion and why acquisition is only the beginning of the user journey. Drawing from more than 17 years of experience analyzing tens of thousands of websites, apps, and digital experiences, Irwin shares the principles that separate traffic from customers, how clarity and proof influence decision-making, and why education, gamification, and ongoing engagement are critical to reducing churn. Irwin goes on to explore with Remerge’s Patrick Eichmann how mobile marketers can improve onboarding, build stronger habit loops, and think more deliberately about retention rather than assuming installs automatically translate into long-term users.

Yevhen Tarasenko, CMO and co-founder of Apptonomy, joins Apptivate to discuss how app store optimization is evolving in the age of AI. After more than a decade in ASO, Yevhen shares how the discipline has changed from a keyword-focused practice into a broader challenge of app discoverability across app stores, search engines, Reddit, and large language models. The conversation explores the limitations of traditional ASO workflows, how AI is changing the way marketers analyze visibility, and why app teams need to think beyond rankings and metadata to succeed in a world increasingly shaped by AI recommendations and automated discovery.

Natasha Saviuk, Growth Director at Wealthsimple, joins Apptivate to discuss how incentives evolved from simple promotions into one of the company's most effective growth channels. The conversation explores the lessons Natasha brought from her background in neuroscience, how Wealthsimple scaled from $15 billion to more than $125 billion in assets under management, and why physical rewards often outperform cash incentives. Natasha and Taylor also discuss campus growth strategies, virality, incrementality, account transfer incentives, and the surprising results of campaigns, ranging from free bubble tea to Apple products and even a house giveaway.

Adeel Shaikh Muhammad, founder of Adeel Solutions, is an advisor on cybersecurity, AI governance, and digital risk. He joins Apptivate to discuss the growing tension between AI-powered growth and user trust. The conversation explores why AI governance is becoming essential for modern marketing teams, how over-personalization can create a sense of creepiness for users, and where companies are introducing AI without clearly defined use cases. Adeel and Taylor also discuss shadow AI, human oversight in automated systems, the security implications of AI agents, and practical frameworks that organizations can use to balance innovation, speed, and accountability as AI adoption accelerates.

Ekaterina Gamsriegler, former Head of Growth and Marketing at MyGroove and longtime advisor across music, education, and health apps, joins Apptivate to discuss why sustainable growth depends on systems rather than isolated wins. The conversation explores the nature of modern growth funnels, how creative strategy impacts retention and churn downstream, and why many teams optimize acquisition while misunderstanding activation and long-term value. Ekaterina and Taylor also discuss localization as a full-funnel growth lever, pricing strategy during high-intent seasonal periods, the realities of founder-led and offline growth channels, and how mapping the complete user journey can uncover hidden bottlenecks that data alone often misses.

Remerge CEO and founder, Pan Katsukis, joins Patrick Eichmann for the first video edition of Apptivate. They discuss the evolution of mobile advertising, the origin story behind Remerge, and where the industry is heading next. The conversation explores the rise of app retargeting, how ATT and privacy changes reshaped mobile growth, why probabilistic targeting is driving renewed momentum on iOS, and how AI is changing campaign optimization behind the scenes. Pan also reflects on Berlin’s startup scene in the late 2000s, the early days of mobile advertising before smartphones, and how infrastructure, automation, and user behavior will shape the next five years of app marketing.