Intelligent Artifice, formerly the Mobile User Acquisition Show

Thanks for tuning in all through 2023. We look forward to 2024!

🚀 How much does a billion-dollar game spend on marketing? Monopoly Go won't tell us, but we did some sleuthing to come up with some estimates, thanks to data from our friends at Sensor Tower.

Join the conversation as we unravel how the billion-dollar sausage is made. 🕹️📊

Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/monopoly-go-marketing-budgets/

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
🛳️ Flat revenue trend over the last 4 months, signaling a potential plateau in growth.
🛩️ iOS and Android downloads show a steady decline, especially in the U.S. suggesting a shift in UA strategies.
🛎️ The diverse advertising strategy includes prominent shares of voice on platforms like AppLovin, BidMachine, and surprising placements on Snapchat.
⌚ Analysis hints at a substantial UA budget, potentially exceeding $60 million per month, although recent trends suggest a conservative shift post-August.

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

Today’s guest is Martin Macmillan, Founder and CEO of Pollen VC. In today’s episode, he talks about measuring the financial impact of UA spend. 
In mobile marketing, ROAS has long been the go-to metric. However, a recent encounter that Martin had at a gaming conference revealed a critical blind spot—time. Two studios, seemingly comparable in ROAS, had vastly different realities. 

In this episode, we take a closer look at the financial impact of UA activity - and the nuances around measuring this.

Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/measuring-returns-ua-spend-martin-macmillan-pollenvc/


KEY HIGHLIGHTS
⛑️ The simplistic approach of ROAS neglects the crucial factor of time in assessing performance.
🪗 The impact of different game genres on return metrics.
📚 mROI (monthly ROI), calculated by considering the profit a cohort generates over time.
📊 Internal Rate of Return (IRR) accounts for the time value of money and non-linear user monetization profiles. 

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

Our guest today is Yevhen Tarasenko, a mobile growth strategist with more than 10 years of experience. He currently works with Fabulous as the ASO and Market Intel Lead.

In this episode Yevhen unveils the intricacies of measuring the impact of ASO, guiding us through understanding ASO, deciphering data structures, exploring tools, distinguishing organic from paid traffic, and building custom dashboards for effective strategies.

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Check out the show notes here:
https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/aso-yevhen-tarasenko-fabulous/

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
📊 There are couple of ways for reporting ASO impact. It’s crucial to select the setup that works best in your case.
📞 Communicating with UA and data teams is essential for the process.
⏲️ Depending on time and resources there are 3 levels of customization: store native consoles, third-party solutions, or custom dashboards

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

Our guest today is Sami Biçer, Growth Manager at MagicLab. 

In this episode, we'll embark on a journey into the world of ad monetization, focusing specifically on the topic of latency. 

We dissect the intricacies that govern the time it takes for ads to load, unraveling the critical balance between user experience and revenue generation. 

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Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/ad-monetization-sami-bicer-magiclab/


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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
🎯 Precise Event Measurement: The Bedrock of Analysis
📊 Defining Key Data Points
⚖️ Balancing Acts: eCPM vs. Impressions, More vs. Less Placements
🔍 Finding the Optimal Through A/B Testing
📈 The Results

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

In this episode, we dissect the impact of Black Friday on the gaming industry. We dig into the data from Sensor Tower to explore and understand the impact of Black Friday on games. 

The revelation? Black Friday isn't about discovering new games; it's about existing players splurging on their favorites. As user acquisition costs soar, our advice to smaller developers is to ride out the storm, go easy on UA, and focus on maximizing revenue from current players. 

How? Transform routine live ops into something special, aligning with the festive spending spirit. 

More details in the episode.

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Check out the show notes here:
https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/ua-gaming-black-friday/


KEY HIGHLIGHTS
📈 Gaming downloads rise 10% on Black Friday, contrasting e-commerce trends. 

💰 Despite modest download increases, gaming revenue surges 50% on Black Friday. 

🕹️ Black Friday prompts existing players to boost in-game purchases significantly. 

📈 ARPDAU shows a notable spike across all gaming genres on Black Friday. 

💰 User acquisition costs spike during Black Friday, spiking advertising expenses.

 ⏳ Smaller devs might want to wait out the Black Friday ad storm rather than double down on UA. 

💰 Much better to maximize revenue from current players, capitalizing on their spending mood. 

🛠️ Double down on live ops during Black Friday. 

🚫 Avoid direct retail competition; capitalize on player spending in games.

All data thanks to our friends Sensor Tower.

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

 Our guest in today’s episode is Božo Janković, Head of Ad Monetization at GameBiz Consulting. Today, on the Mobile Spotlight segment of the Mobile User Acquisition Show, we'll dive into a pressing question: Is mediation optimization still a viable strategy for ad revenue?

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Check out the show notes here:
https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/ad-monetization-bozo-jankovic/

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

📊 While bidding is becoming a more and more prominent technology via which ads are served, optimization of mediation and waterfall setups is still an important strategy in maximizing ad revenues in mobile apps. Available tactics include:

• Price point optimization of non-bidding ad networks 💰
• Expanding optimization to non-tier1 markets 🌍
• Bid floor optimization 📈
• Latency optimization ⏱️
• Price ceilings 🚫
• AB testing new ad providers 🧪📊
  
  

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

Today’s episode is part of the Mobile Spotlight Series with Atishay Jain, Associate Director at Splashlearn as our guest.

In this episode Atishay dives into the world of kids’ apps and the unique challenges faced when planning growth strategies for them.

For example - how do you plan growth for an app with 0 IDFAs?

Atishay explains how they’ve learnt to work around SKAN and brings us some amazing insights through his work with kids’ apps.

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Check out the show notes here:
https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/kids-app-strategies-atishay-jain-splashlearn-2/

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
📉 The Limitations of Conversion Tracking
🌐 Navigating MMPs Without IDFA
📲 Meta App Install Campaigns with SKAN
👧 Age-Appropriate Content and Creatives
🤝 Aligning Marketing and Growth in a Post-IDFA World
📈 Adapting to Google’s UAC Ecosystem
🚫 Regulatory Restrictions
🎯 Varied Target Audience
🔄 Rapidly Changing Trends

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

Our guest in today’s episode is Amy Monier, former Director of Product Marketing at Zynga and founder at Appspand, an app marketing agency for mobile startups. In today’s episode, she talks about how marketing and product teams can leverage and track user-generated referrals (UGRs) to drive new user acquisition.

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Check out the show notes here:
https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/user-generated-referrals-amy-monier/

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
🎯Finding a New Audience - Utilizing User-Generated Referrals (UGR) for app downloads
🧠Psychological Motivations for UGR- Four psychological motivations in driving UGR
📊UGR Tracking and FTUE - How tracking and onboarding can be customized for UGRs
📣Referral Program Promotion- Create awareness for your referral program through owned media

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

Our guest today is Joakim Achrén, a gaming industry veteran with a remarkable journey. He's the Founder of Elite Game Developers and General Partner at F4 Fund. Earlier, Joakim co-founded Next Games, which was later acquired by Netflix.

With a ton of experience as both an operator and investor in the gaming world, Joakim has unique insights to share. In this episode, we dive into the current landscape of the gaming industry, the challenges faced by gaming startups, Joakim’s own journey - and the fascinating intersection of writing and investing.

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Check out the show notes here:
https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/gaming-investing-joakim-achren/

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS
🎮 Transitioning from operations to gaming investments 🕹️
🚀 The journey from founder-operator to angel investor 👼
🧠 Content creation driven by curiosity and insights 📝
💃 Balancing engagement with personal style in writing 📚
😄 Emphasizing the joy of content creation over metrics 📈
🌟 Openness and transparency in the VC approach 💼
👨‍🏫 The importance of mentoring and lessons learned 📚
💰 Challenges in gaming fundraising and advice for early-stage founders 🎯
🎨 Maintaining a unique content style 🎭

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