This is the first episode we record in 2023, so Happy New Year everybody!

It was another turbulent one, to put it mildly, and so let’s talk about something light - like games.

Specifically mobile games.

To be very specific - gaming apps marketing.

People turn to games during holidays as one of the best ways to give their minds a bit of a break and in fact, this is what they tend to do when they commute, sit in an airport and wait for their flight, and on and on.

But given the time constraints and the typical mindset people have in those situations, it’s usually about casual gaming. In a contract, today we want to talk with Kate about marketing for hardcore and mid-core gaming apps, which time-wise have different flavors.

Today’s Topics Include:

• Kate spent the last decade between a global media agency, online audio & video media, mobile advertising, and top app re-engagement platform

Links and Resources:

• Kate Lovejoy on LinkedIn

Quotes from Kate Lovejoy:

“Retargeting can help throughout the funnel but really what you want to focus on, primarily and first off, is on targeting your payers.”

“Absolutely and what's who we recommend to go after.  The first strategy I was describing is about creating whales - getting more users to exhibit whale behavior."

“I think what's really most important, when you start out with re-targeting is your foundation. So, who you are targeting, and how you're going to measure the results.”

• App industry marketplace

Apple launched subscriptions on the app store back in February 2011. Today, when you think about what apps are powered by this business model, it’s obvious that it’s way more than paying to stream media content on a monthly basis. It’s about gaming, fitness & health, photography, education, and much more.

The reason why Apple introduced this model was to give app developers a new way to generate revenue. Its introduction took place right after Apple launched The Daily app for News Corp and they saw an opportunity for all app developers on the platform to make money in this new way. Btw, the idea with The Daily app didn’t go very well but App Subscriptions stayed and thrive today.

It made absolute sense to give developers an alternative to solely being focused on acquiring more and more users for the apps to power their business. So now they could financially support their app business on a monthly basis with existing customers and be more financially secure to grow their apps’ user base.

Today, we’re talking with Jeff about how to sustain your app subscription business, by improving your app subscription funnels.

Today’s Topics Include:

• Jeff's path is from being one of the first 500 beta testers for iOS 2 back in the day to running Purchasely - a no-code paywall builder for in-app subscription maximization

Links and Resources:

• Jeff Grang on LinkedIn

Quotes from Jeff Grang:

“I really like to say that subscription starts even before the paywall, it's when you're on the app's page on the app store.”

“It's very important that from the first paywall that you will be showing to your customers to raise their awareness on your business model and to explain your value."

“You can also choose to toggle on and off that trial period or offer trial only in some cases so that you create that fear of missing out.”

• App industry marketplace

In every technology, and mobile is not exception, there are transitional moments when a new tech comes in that drastically change the game.

For mobile Augmented Reality is that technology and by now it is way more than Pokemon GO - admit when you’ve heard the term, it was what popped up in your mind. Today AR is about education, shopping, navigation and more.

To me the best application for Augmented Reality so far is what Google Translate AR does - when you can just point your phone somewhere on a subway station in China and quickly figure out where you should go or why the train is not on schedule.

But today Doddz will tell us about the AR potential for digital advertising and app marketing in particular.

Today’s Topics Include:

• Dodds's path - an artist becomes a top Augmented Reality visual designer

Links and Resources:

• Doddz on LinkedIn

Quotes from Doddz:

“AR is the ability to add a digital layer on what is a physical environment in real time”

“One of the stats digital marketing agencies love is the dwell time. For social media an average time on digital content these days isless than a second. The average time on Meta effect of Facebook and Instagram is 75 seconds. "

“I think there are need to be a point where the experiences [AR experiences], the use cases for wearing headsets are better than whatever we're doing at the moment."

• App industry marketplace

Something tells me that among people who listen to this show there are some who do remember how a dial-up modem should sound like when you’re connecting to the Internet. These people witnessed the fight for dominance between the Internet Explorer browser from Microsoft and the one from the Mozilla Foundation.

Now, I’m not sure people are that familiar with terminology like Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0, let alone with Web3 Ads. But today we have Andre to introduce us to web3 advertising.

• the current state of the in-app advertising

• Andre Kempe on LinkedIn

“On the mobile phone our behavior very often changes, we do the same things (as on a desktop), emails - what not but we start using games, we start using social media, we surf on Twitter to check what Elon does lately.”

“Web 1.o was when big media companies were showing us something, web 2. 0 enabled us basically starting to create content, become part of the Internet, start blogging, becoming an influencer, Web 3 is an enhancement of that - it enables creators to start monetizing and control licensing."

• App industry marketplace

Back in the day, when app developers made money selling copies of their apps, a growth strategy was important, then in-purchases came along and the necessity to retain app users, by having a solid strategy, became even more important. Today, when app subscriptions are the name of the game, it is absolutely crucial to have a robust app growth strategy to build a profitable app business.

Chances are you listening to this episode as you’re on your Uber ride and so who else not a former member of Uber’s marketing team should be on this episode to talk about a profitable growth strategy for subscription apps, so we’ve got Alex.

Today’s Topics Include:

• The landscape of challenges app marketers face today

Links and Resources:

• Alex Guerra on LinkedIn

Quotes from Alex Guerra:

“The first step is about external validation, external assessment. These basically imply making sure that your customers are perceiving your value proposition in a way that makes you identify these key success factors and which are relevant for them.”

“The second step is Internal Analysis and this normally works the best for companies that already have a subscription plan or any sort of pricing model that they want to revisit."

“I think there is a need to be more focused on monetization.”

• App industry marketplace

I remember a few years ago there was an app industry-wide research conducted with tens of thousands of app developers to reveal what it was like for them to be a part of the mobile app ecosystem.

One of the findings was that there was only a very small number of them for whom developing apps was a hobby. The bulk of people went into mobile app development to make a living.

How to grow my app user base? How to increase my app revenue? How to increase it sustainably? What to do about that huge app users churn that I have? All these nagging questions cross-app developers’ mind day in, and day out.

In this episode, Jenny will tell you about how to conduct user research to help you to build the right app monetization strategy.

Today’s Topics Include:

• App developers' mindset to generate more app installs

Links and Resources:

• Jenny Kay Pollock on LinkedIn

Quotes from Jenny Kay Pollock:

“You've built something out there, you've worked value proposition number one and you think "hey, this is what the users want. As you're talking to the users, as you're getting users' feedback, you see app reviews that, it really makes sense to iterate on what you're offering.”

“If you're trying to figure out if people are aware of the feature you offer, don't start by asking questions about that. You're going want to be very mindful of the order of the survey."

“What you need to do is to work with your internal teams to get their support. So I recommend to starting with maybe three people who will be excited about the feature you're suggesting.”

• App industry marketplace

Every industry has these moments - everybody is chugging along, no drastic changes are on the horizon, and then all of a sudden boom - rules of the game are changed significantly.

For the app industry that change was the introduction of the SKAdNetwork by Apple a couple of years ago. For some that was the moment of shock and terror, for some folks who kind of saw it was coming, it was just the moment when it became reality.

Today Alex will tell us about SKAdNetwork 4.0 from Apple, Privacy Sandbox from Google, and what subscription app owners should do about it.

• The state of the app industry app user privacy wise

• Alex Bauer on LinkedIn

Quotes from Alex Bauer:

“We need strong user privacy protection laws - this is not in a debate by anyone.”

“It's really difficult to balance those two extreme objectives [privacy and targeted ads] and the act of trying to find the balance I think is good to drive a lot of innovation.”

“I think it solves a few of the key ones that were so significant that they were really blocking even basic implementation of an ad monetization.”

• App industry marketplace

On this podcast, we had app marketers, developers, advertisers, and experts in various areas of the app industry. All these people shared their expertise, gave their take on challenging questions, and shared their dreams and hopes for the industry.

Today, I want to give you a perspective from somebody who is, in my opinion, in the best position to give us a bird-view of the app industry and talk about where are and where we’re going.

Eric will cover multiple bases, giving us the highlights from the Consumer Subscription Software report, issued by GP Bullhound investment bank recently.

• The current state of the app market

• Eric Crowley on LinkedIn

“There are great prices being paid for great companies at any time, even if there is a recession. If it's a great business someone will pay the price.”

“The biggest thing is App Tracking Transparency (ATT) rolled out. There is no way to put it differently - it was a huge hit to the space.”

“TikTok - it's easy to get a lot of views, it's really hard to get retention and engagement.”

• App industry marketplace

Imagine you have your bakery shop. I’m sorry if you’re listening to this episode before your lunch but it will help me to make the point :-) Anyway, you see people coming through the door every day and some of their faces are familiar to you - they’ve become your recurrent customers.

Now, as much as you like to see familiar faces and possibly become pals with these people, it’s not the end of the story. Your recurrent customers make your business financially stable and predictable. Now, switching to mobile apps, each day you’re selling your “donuts” in hundreds and, given how much you’re investing in attracting new users, you really need to have recurrent customers.

Acquiring a new app user can be five times as expensive as retaining an existing one.

And in this episode, we have Jennie to tell us about app retention.

• 30-day app user retention definition

• Jennie Lewis on LinkedIn

“Only 8% are coming back to the app after a 30-day of download, which is a huge cliff.”

“The year average for a customer in North America [Cost Per User] is $5.28”

“The data shows that the worst cliff is within the first two days.”

• App industry marketplace