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SoundCloud Turned Off Brand Spend. What They Learned About ASO
In this episode, Peggy speaks with Hope Barrett, Director of Product Management for MarTech at SoundCloud, and Simon Thillay, Head of ASO Strategy & Market Insights at AppTweak, about their joint effort to answer the question teams avoid: why should you pay for users who are already searching for your app?
SoundCloud turned off brand spend to find out.
As Hope tells us, the goal was to understand what was incremental and challenge the assumption that brand spend is a must to drive growth. Simon breaks down the data to show when and where brand spend really makes a difference.
The experiment also challenged another assumption. Teams often treat the App Store as top-of-funnel and manage ASO as a separate channel. In practice, ASO is essential across the entire user journey.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- How brand spend influences performance across paid and organic
- Why delivering the same results without this approach could require up to 49% more budget
- Why treating the App Store as top of funnel leads to the wrong conclusions
- How ASO signals connect to paid UA and user intent
- Why growth decisions need to be based on incrementality, not assumptions
It’s just one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.
Chapters
00:00 – Exploring Reviews for User Insights
00:43 – Introducing SoundCloud and AppTweak Experts
01:40 – Reframing the App Store’s Role in the Funnel
03:15 – Shifting from Lifecycle Marketing to ASO
05:43 – Using Headlines to Capture User Attention
07:05 – The Bold Decision to Turn Off Brand Spend
09:56 – Modeling Incremental Gains and Efficiency
16:24 – Connecting Search Intent to Subscription Value
29:00 – Mining User Reviews to Power UA Strategy
31:34 – Leveraging Social Proof in Custom Product Pages
Subscribe for More
⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824
⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm
⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460
Let's Connect
⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz
⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz
⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com
View all episodes
By Peggy Anne SalzIn this episode, Peggy speaks with Hope Barrett, Director of Product Management for MarTech at SoundCloud, and Simon Thillay, Head of ASO Strategy & Market Insights at AppTweak, about their joint effort to answer the question teams avoid: why should you pay for users who are already searching for your app?
SoundCloud turned off brand spend to find out.
As Hope tells us, the goal was to understand what was incremental and challenge the assumption that brand spend is a must to drive growth. Simon breaks down the data to show when and where brand spend really makes a difference.
The experiment also challenged another assumption. Teams often treat the App Store as top-of-funnel and manage ASO as a separate channel. In practice, ASO is essential across the entire user journey.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- How brand spend influences performance across paid and organic
- Why delivering the same results without this approach could require up to 49% more budget
- Why treating the App Store as top of funnel leads to the wrong conclusions
- How ASO signals connect to paid UA and user intent
- Why growth decisions need to be based on incrementality, not assumptions
It’s just one of the conversations shaping the 2026 Full Funnel Growth Playbook, powered by RZR (formerly Aarki), available soon.
Chapters
00:00 – Exploring Reviews for User Insights
00:43 – Introducing SoundCloud and AppTweak Experts
01:40 – Reframing the App Store’s Role in the Funnel
03:15 – Shifting from Lifecycle Marketing to ASO
05:43 – Using Headlines to Capture User Attention
07:05 – The Bold Decision to Turn Off Brand Spend
09:56 – Modeling Incremental Gains and Efficiency
16:24 – Connecting Search Intent to Subscription Value
29:00 – Mining User Reviews to Power UA Strategy
31:34 – Leveraging Social Proof in Custom Product Pages
Subscribe for More
⚡On Point Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7020756661006925824
⚡Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yFF2InbeIgkIRcxvDy3jm
⚡Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-groove/id1585861460
Let's Connect
⚡ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyannesalz
⚡ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/peggyannesalz
⚡Website - https://www.mobilegrove.com