Intelligent Artifice, formerly the Mobile User Acquisition Show

Seems organic, but is paid. Long user funnel, with high CTR.

In this episode, with our guest, Violeta Pirnog, Senior Performance Marketing Manager at Blinkist,  we are unpacking the bundle of seeming contradictions that are native ads on Facebook. 

Right from user flows to testing parameters, Violeta takes us meticulously through the art of the soft sell. We are used to attention-grabbing creative ads doing the heavy lifting for conversions, so it hits differently when we hear how articles take on that mantle. 

How do you track events? What do you test? How do you optimize performance? Which placements do you go for? 

Bursting with questions? So were we! Check out this incredibly insightful episode.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

📈 The change in user perception of native vs non-native ads
🖊️ Ad to app: the extended user flow of a native ad campaign
🦙 There’s a lot of BI in the background for native ad performance optimization
🍚 The subtle components of a native ad campaign
🎚️ How to decide if native ads are the right channel for your product
🎭 The performance of different native ad placements on Facebook
🏦 How to use Instant Experience as a litmus test
🖼️ What the testing framework for native ads looks like
🤝 The efficacy of automated vs manual testing
🧪 The surprising result of testing Taboola and Outbrain content flows on Facebook
🖊️ Headlines, creatives, article content and more: the variables of a native ad campaign

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Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-native-ad-flows-with-landing-pages-articles-win-out-over-direct-to-appstore-flows-with-violeta-pirnog-senior-performance-marketing-manager-at-blinkist/

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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Among the big changes that are coming with iOS 15 are custom product pages, which offer the ability to customize app store pages for different audiences.
 
In this episode we review some use cases for custom product pages, discuss implications for analytics and tracking. We are excited to try out custom product pages, and explore the added opportunity to design end-to-end user flows from ad to app download.
 
Having said that, we do see one big caveat because of Apple's privacy thresholds.

Key highlights

💅 Custom product pages is not the same as ASO or A/B testing
🍕 How to slice and dice your data for different product pages
⚖️ Will privacy thresholds help or hamper this new feature


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Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/ios-15-how-custom-product-pages-could-dramatically-impact-ua-strategy-with-examples/

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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

We are excited today to welcome Nahir Garcia, head of user acquisition at Etermax, creators of the successful series of games Trivia Crack. [Note: this is the English version of the Spanish episode that we released a few weeks ago].

In today’s episode, Nahir tells us about the types of influencers out there, how to evaluate their fit with a game, how to give guidelines, how to schedule campaigns, how to measure performance - and so much more.

If you’re curious about what it’s like to work with influencers at a large scale, this episode is going to be great for you.


KEY HIGHLIGHTS

🚀 Influencer marketing opens up more user discovery channels
🔍 The challenges of finding the right influencers
🤩 How disparate categories can have surprising results
🍬 The intersection of game goals and audience interest is the sweet spot
🎭 How to revisit established performance metrics in this new paradigm
🤝 Brand enhancement vs performance marketing
🤹 Campaigns are partially bets and partially certainties

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Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-scale-non-gaming-audiences-for-games-via-influencers-with-nahir-garcia-head-of-user-acquisition-at-etermax/

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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Apple’s privacy thresholds in SKAdNetwork have been obfuscating conversion values - and preventing advertisers from getting an accurate read on performance, especially on Facebook. Facebook recommended ensuring that you hit at least 128 installs a day per campaign so you can overcome Apple's privacy thresholds.

Will hitting the 128 install daily threshold solve your problems? How does this privacy threshold apply to channels other than Facebook - ad networks and SANs?

We try to answer these questions in this episode, based on what we are observing.


Key highlights
💍 What happens if you do hit 128 installs a day per campaign?

 🧐The difference between Facebook and other networks.

 🧶 Why do other networks behave differently from Facebook?

💪 How are we responding?

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Check out the show notes here:  https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/the-curious-case-of-facebooks-128-install-recommendation-how-to-address-skadnetworks-privacy-threshold-limitations/
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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

We’re 2 months into ATT - and more of the dust has settled.

Many advertisers are continuing to see challenges with their performance right now as the actual impact of traffic without user-level data is becoming increasingly visible. Yet, there are some strategies and opportunities available still.

Based on our review of 15+ accounts across verticals and different budget levels, we see some elements that are common to accounts that are relatively happy with where they are now - that we recommend to folks looking to ameliorate their recent performance issues.
[By the way, these are also some of the key recommendations we’ve given in some of our recent free office hours sessions, which you can read about at https://rocketshiphq.com/officehours/ - and have gone into in much more detail and depth in our workshop Mobile Growth Lab ( http://MobileGrowthLab.com ), whose recorded sessions we are making publicly available now).]

Here you go on our top 6 recommendations for advertisers looking to combat performance deterioration.
 
Key highlights
🧬 Use blended metrics as a source of truth
📲 Optimize for installs (or upstream events) on FB
💪 Consolidate AEO campaigns (and skip VO)
🧐 Lean in to other SANs
🌐 Web flows
🌄 Ad networks/DSPs outside of SAN (at larger budgets)


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Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/whats-working-now-post-att-ios-14-5-in-mobile-user-acquisition-6-opportunities-to-address-performance-deterioration/ 

 
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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Our guest today is Sophie Vo, studio and game lead at Voodoo, and founder of Rise and Play, a knowledge sharing platform for leaders in the gaming industry. In our conversation today, we talk about Sophie’s experience building a new gaming studio focused on producing casual games within Voodoo, a company better known in the hyper casual space.

In today’s conversation, Sophie tells us about how she started building her studio from scratch - and the completely unexpected challenges she had to face along the way. She talks about the skepticism about her business model, the fundamental differences between casual and hypercasual games that she saw could threaten the future of her studio, and a ticking clock that her team was building against. She talks about the shock of the pandemic on her then budding team - and the emotional upheaval it caused. She talks about the critical conversations she had to have - with her leadership and her team - when she realized that she was being asked difficult questions about what their team was building

This is an incredible warts-and-all conversation, and I felt this was an inspiring and instructive conversation - especially since Sophie was very candid and transparent about her challenges and struggles, as much as she was about what she did about these challenges.

We’re so glad to bring you this conversation today.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

✨ The priorities for growing a brand new team
🔭 Why preparation for the long-term is the only strategy to have
🔑 The key to LTV is retention
🦘 The leap from casual to hyper casual

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Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/zero-to-launch-how-to-actually-build-a-casual-gaming-studio-from-scratch-with-sophie-vo-studio-game-lead-at-voodoo/

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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Este es nuestro segundo episodio del Mobile User Acquisition Show en Español. (An English version of this episode will follow shortly!).

Estamos emocionados de dar la bienvenida a Nahir Garcia, la jefa de adquisición de usuarios en Etermax, los creadores de la exitosa serie de juegos Trivia Crack.

Hoy hablaremos sobre un tema en que Nahir tiene una perspectiva única - como trabajar con influencers a gran escala. Hoy hablaremos con Nahir sobre cómo identificar influencers y sus audiencias, como dar pautas a las influencers para las campanas, como rastrear las métricas de estas campanas - y cómo estructurar un calendario de marketing de influencers a gran escala para crecer un juego a millones de usuarios.

Nahir nos hablará en esta edición en español del programa, y también nos hablará en una edición en inglés sobre el mismo tema, que publicaremos pronto. Estoy especialmente interesado en compartir su valioso punto de vista. Por eso entrevistamos a Nahir en dos idiomas.


Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/en-espanol-como-contratar-influencers-a-gran-escala-con-nahir-garcia-la-jefa-de-adquisicion-de-usuarios-en-etermax/

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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

This episode was inspired by a discussion I’ve had online recently.

I’ve seen this stated at times - that developers should diversify their user acquisition channel mix. Investing is given as an analogy - the argument is made that a diversified portfolio is safer than one that isn't.

BUT this is BAD advice for any app or product that isnt at massive scale(or ~$100k/month) - I say more in this episode.

Key highlights

🔬 Focus on SANs at low scale (<$50k/month)
📡 Concentrate your channel mix to ensure algorithms have enough signal to perform
🤔 Contextual advantages of ad networks are hard to realize at small scale
🏁 Diversify *only* after you tap out SAN traffic

Show notes: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/why-you-shouldnt-diversify-your-user-acquisition-mix-early-on/ 

Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

“If multiple app stores do the same thing(as Apple did with ATT), I see this as a disruption to business.”

Now that the IDFA rug has well and truly been pulled from advertisers’ feet, there has been a scramble to refactor strategies and create new protocols. But, as Jayne Peressini points out, Apple iOS is just one platform. What happens if other platforms follow suit, and also pull the plug on existing protocols?

Her recommendation is a revolutionary one: build a decision engine in-house. It is not easy, it takes a ton of expertise, it will take a huge amount of time and resources. It may also take some wrangling with existing DSPs. But it can be worth it.

Check out our amazing conversation about in-housing decision engines, and effectively future-proofing your UA strategy for potential curveballs.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

📈 How to future-proof growth strategy
⚖️ The case for bringing the decision engine in-house
✅ We still have to be SKAdNetwork compliant
🏗️ How to build bidder as a service in-house
🤝 The shift of UA towards engagement and retention
👩‍🔬 The expertise necessary to build a decision engine

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Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-build-a-bidding-decision-engine-to-future-proof-your-user-acquisition-activity-with-jayne-peressini-senior-director-mobile-marketing-and-growth-at-electronic-arts/

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Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Last week, we talked about what’s up with Facebook - and this week we’re taking a look at what’s happening with Google post iOS 14.5/ATT. What is changing, what is working with creatives, reporting and day to day ops - and what is a big hot mess right now?

It’s been just over a month since Apple pulled the trigger on iOS 14.5 - and in this episode we wanted to highlight the key changes that we are seeing with Google Ads/UAC.

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By the way, we go into this in much much more detail in our workshop series Mobile Growth Lab - where we share case studies, examples and data around what is happening. Recorded sessions from the Mobile Growth Lab are available right now. See more details here: https://www.notion.so/Mobile-Growth-Lab-2021-Recorded-Sessions-7132fcdf1d8b4d98a4a91c624423b94f

(You can also just join the waitlist for the next edition here: http://MobileGrowthLab.com ).

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS

🛠️ We’re able to run campaigns & optimize for events without Firebase
🌼 Way more ‘modeled’ events
🎚️ No hard cap on 8 campaigns
🧮 No tROAS. Only tCPA, tCPI
🗺️ No such thing as conversion value mapping or setup
🔌 No way to plug in MMPs - at least right now
🔥 Reporting is a huge mess
⌛ 5 day delay in reporting


Show notes: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/the-state-of-google-ads-uac-post-att-ios-14-5-8-big-changes-challenges/

Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:
http://RocketShipHQ.com
http://RocketShipHQ.com/blog