Business of Apps Podcast

#91: Flow Lab app: the story of the 15x growth with Clarize Marais, Head of Marketing at Flow Lab

Have you ever had this feeling when you’re working on something, you’re focused on relevant information only, you know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing the next moment? This feeling may last minutes and hopefully more.
This can be the moment you’re building a marketing plan for your mobile app, or writing a creative for an ad to promote your app or dig deep in numbers for your current app user acquisition campaign. It doesn’t matter, what matter is that these moments are rare and precious. This is when a breakthrough moment may happen for  your app project and you can finally nail a problem down.
You may think that to achieve any goal, you need to be able to put your thoughts together, it feels like that, right? In fact, it’s about being able shut down everything that is not relevant to what you’re doing right now. That is the key.
vDo you think there is an app that could help you with that - to have such moments, have them more? Well, there is - it’s called Flow Lab and Clarize is here to tell us about the app and the story behind its 15x growth and gaining 5,000+ paying subscribers.
Today’s Topics Include:
Clarize path in business took off at Trivago as an International Brand Marketing Associate to become a Head of Marketing in the Flow Lab team to work hard on making sure the app takes off and grow its user base of loyal users quickly
Flow Lab is a mental coach for peak performance app for you to be productive with your work and achieve your goals, removing destruction and helping people to focus on a specific task
The story behind the app and how it was development
App marketing channels Flow Lab team has been putting at work to connect the app with people
App analytics for the app during tough times of iOS15 rollout
The app users feedback
Clarize take on the current state of offers  with how we interact with mobile devices
Android or iOS? iOS
What features would Clarize miss most? In fact Clarize periodically leave her smartphone at home to give her a piece of mind, leaving the tech behind
What’s missing from mobile app technology? Software features to strictly limit use of the smartphone
Links and Resources:
Clarize Marais LinkedIn profile.
Flow Lab website.
Quotes from Clarize Marais: 
"As you can imagine, from the beginning it was very important to distinguish Flow Lab from other big players like Calm, Headspace.
And we aimed to educate people that it's only important to train body but also to train your mind.
Before I cam across Flow Lab I also was not aware that it's possible to train your mind over time to become more focused and productive through meditation."
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London - 25 Apr 2024
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#90: The state of app retargeting with Partick Eichmann, General Manager, Americas at Remerge

Remember when Apple introduced ATT framework this spring, one of the remarks you could hear in the app marketers circles was “all right - the app retargeting is doomed”. I think you shouldn’t be surprised by such reactions and remarks. We live pretty stressful lives right now, people tend to be emotionally triggered at anytime but these days especially.
But there are emotions and there are data.
Today we have Patrick, General Manager at Remerge, app retargeting company,  to tell us about what is actually happening with app retargeting since the ATT introduction and back it up with data.
Today’s Topics Include:
Patrick's trajectory is from a traditional publishing company back in 2004 that was going digital to app retargeting company in 2019.
What is the App Retargeting
How come App Retargeting is still here, even though iOS app users have been switching to iOS 14 and iOS15 for months now
Making the case why App Retargeting is a viable app marketing technique for brands to use
Verticals and companies that use App Retargeting right now
Reality check - Patrick's thoughts about what will be coming with IDFA deprecation versus what is actually happening now
Android or iOS? iOS
What features would Patrick miss most? Camera and Google Maps app
What’s missing from mobile app technology? Better battery life, more apps for life enhancements.
Links and Resources:
Patrick Eichmann LinkedIn profile
Remerge website.
The State of App Retargeting report
Quotes from Patrick Eichmann: 
“We’ve developed a dashboard that provided a view into what was happening from an operating system adoption rate perspective.
And what it actually looks like to give you some more content, that is actually a 30 billion requests a day that are coming through that have IDFA associated with it.
With Android, it’s still intact, there are maybe changes in the future but that makes up the lion share of available inventories now.”
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London - 25 Apr 2024
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#89: The big transitions in the app industry with Patrick Mareuil, Managing Director EMEA at Airship

To say that we live in a time of change would be a big understatement. Pick up any area of your life and you can find a substantial change there. Many changes were caused or accelerated by COVID-19 last year.
In the mobile app industry specifically, a titanic shift was caused by the notion of privacy, the safety and ownership of people’s digital information.
Questions such as “How people can protect their online data?”, “Should they let companies use their data, - even anonymized - for generating profit for those companies?” - today all these questions are being heavily debated all the time.
In this episode, we want to help brands to better understand this new environment and to do so we’ve invited Patrick Mareuil, Managing Director EMEA at Airship, a mobile app experience platform.
Today’s Topics Include:
In a contrast with a famous way of how many Silicon Valley startups were launched - in a garage - Patrick and his partner launched their first company in early 2000 in a...kitchen. Today Patrick is a Managing Director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions at Airship, a mobile app experience company with more than a decade of experience under its belt.
How brands should adapt to the new reality when mobile app user privacy is on the radar of all tech companies
Lessons for brands after a year and a half of living and operating in the world where COVID-19 impacts every aspect of economy
Mobile marketing strategy changes brands should consider
Android or iOS? iOS
What features would Patrick miss most? Camera and Google Maps app
What’s missing from mobile app technology? Better battery life, more apps for life enhancements.
Links and Resources:
Patrick Mareuil LinkedIn profile
Airship website
Quotes from Patrick Mareuil:
"I see these changes as a win for consumer privacy but it does create some challenges for a company, as you've said, have to adapt to that new era.
There is gonna have to be some equal value change between the brands and the user and the users they want more control, they want more transparency and they open to data collection if the brands are able to bring them relevancy.
Where there is that reciprocal value exchange that's when it's a win-win relationship."
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
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#88: App User Privacy with Martje Abeldt, Chief RevX Officer

When you buy any digital product or service, you have two options. You pay for it or get it for “free.” Both have pros and cons, but the free option is intertwined with what we call in a society - Privacy. You should give your consent and be aware of the consequence of your action to collect personal data.
Today’s guest is Martje Abeldt, Chief RevX Officer at RevX,  the company that helps app marketers to acquire users programmatically and re-engage them, who talks about app user privacy. App tracking transparency (ATT) gives iOS app users the choice to accept or reject such data from being collected by developers.
Today’s Topics Include:
RevX: Platform made for growth, built for app marketers
Remote World: Working across borders in different languages, cultures, and markets
ATT Assessment, Framework, Feedback: It’s just marketing - not much has changed 
Free Internet: Came along because of advertisements to sponsor content (good or bad)
Advertising Budgets: Where and what can still be measured and targeted? 
Best Practices: Use first-party data, comply with privacy framework to target audience 
App Users: How can you be private if you spend more time online - it’s a contradiction
Android or iOS? Both - opts into everything for professional reasons 
What features would Martje miss most? Ability to call a cab
What’s missing from mobile app technology? Virtual reality becoming reality and more practical
Links and Resources:
Martje Abeldt on LinkedIn
RevX
App Tracking Transparency (ATT)
SKAdNetwork - Apple Developer Documentation
Quotes from Martje Abeldt:
“As an aggregate, it’s technology, it’s people, and it’s also reach.”
“We need to be where our clients are. We need to understand what they need. So, the closer we are to them, the easier it is for us.”
“Are privacy regulations enough, basically, to serve the consumer and the individual, or do we have to improve them?”
“People are spending more and more and more time online. So, how can people become more private if they spend more time on the internet where everything is about data. It’s impossible.”
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London - 25 Apr 2024
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#87: Effective app design: 4 pillars with Ritam Gandhi, Founder at Studio Graphene

What does it take to create a mobile app to succeed on a highly competitive e-commerce market?
Do you remember a few years ago we used to hear this catchy phrase “Yep, there is an app for that!”. It was about the novelty of mobile apps. Well, today with several million mobile apps in the world, you don’t hear it anymore.
The days of that mantra are over. These days, a mobile app is a vehicle for an e-commerce business to reach out its customers on mobile and improve their user experience. There is just no other way around it - every app project requires a long-term marketing strategy to succeed on a highly competitive landscape.
So we invited Ritam to help us to tackle this tough question - what are the essential ingredients of a modern mobile app design.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Ritam’s path – from a management consulting practice as well system integration and technology practice, working with investment and commercial banks to founding an app design and development company with 90+ team and expertise in all areas of a modern app development.
✔️ Studio graphene is UK headquartered app development company with studios in Delhi, Lisbon and Geneva
✔️ Goal Setting, Impact Mapping, Prototyping and Specification Writing – as the 4 pillars of a modern app development
✔️ New trends in app development Ritam welcomes and the ones he is not a fan of
✔️On which side of the Android & iOS duopoly Ritam is? iOS
✔️ What apps would Ritam miss the most if he leaves the smartphone home. Google Maps
✔️ What hardware / software features Ritam is waiting for? Both mobile hardware and software healthcare related innovations.
Links and Resources:
Ritam Ghandi Linkedin profile.
Studio Graphene website.
Quotes from Ritam Gandhi:
“I think it’s very interesting topic because what is design? Is design a visual element, is design how you think about it, the user experience." 
"A lot of the times you don’t really understand what it is that you are building until sometimes you see it"
"Specification and the detail behind every feature is key to make sure things won’t get lost in translation.”
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London - 25 Apr 2024
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#86: Post iOS 14.5 app marketing budgets with Guido Crego, VP of Product at Jampp

 iOS 14.5. If you aren’t in the app marketing industry, this version number of the Apple’s mobile operating system won’t tell about the whole drama associated with it. It is just what the Settings app on your iPhone suggested you to update your smartphone with. That’s it.  But if your job is to promote mobile apps, I bet you’ve been following the fallout of its release by Apple this spring real close. 
In this episode Guido sheds light on what’s going on with App Retargeting, iOS versus Android ad campaigns shift, IDFA and more.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️Guido started his career as a Search Engine Optimization specialist in a small but vibrant and dynamic Argentinian tech community
✔️ Jampp, part of the Affle company, is a programmatic advertising platform used by the most ambitious companies to accelerate their mobile businesses.
✔️ The update on what's going with app retargeting, after Apple's introduction of its ATT (App Tracking Transparency) framework early on this year.
✔️ Reality check on the current status of IDFA - are people really rejecting app tracking in messes as many people afraid they will a few months ago?
✔️ With all recent updates what's coming up next for the mobile app industry?
✔️On which side of the Android & iOS duopoly Guido is? iOS on his iPhone 12 Pro
✔️ What apps would Guido miss the most if he leaves the smartphone home. Google Maps
✔️ What hardware / software features Guido is waiting for? Augmented Reality tech
Links and Resources:
Guido Crego Linkedin profile.
Jampp website.
Jampp iOS 14 resources section.
Quotes from Guido Crego:
"Argentina is actually a pretty interesting place for tech, although the internal market is small, a lot of successful companies in Latin Americas are started from Argentina.
The reality is when it comes to the split per operating system, it changes a lot depending on the region mostly because, as you may know, different markets and different countries in the world will have different penetration of operating systems. In places like Latin America they are really big on Android and iOS is not that big.
The reality is we are all learning, advertisers are learning how to do it, DSPs are learning how to do it and MMPs are learning how to do it (work with SKADnetwork efficiently)"
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
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#85: App Lifecycle marketing with Fouad Saeidi, CEO at App Growth Network

As you're reading these lines, around the world dozens and dozens of app marketing teams work on brainstorming new ideas to give their app a leg up on competition. They crunch data from app analytics tools, trying to figure out why people churn away from their app, decide on plugging in a new app user acquisition channel and so on. The list is endless. If you put together all those activities together you get the App Lifecycle marketing notion - a holistic view on an app marketing, when all activities are viewed as a part of the general picture. It's about long term strategy and being able to think a few steps ahead and plan ahead.
In this episode we have Fouad Saeidi, CEO of App Growth Network to walk you through the app marketing funnel that is at the base of the App Lifecycle marketing.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️Fouad has been in digital marketing in over a decade. Started at a mobile games startup in 2013, in 2018 he founded App Growth Network - currently one of the leading app marketing agencies on the market.
✔️ App Growth Network is an app marketing agency with over 250 mobile apps under its marketing belt.
✔️ What is App Lifecycle marketing
✔️ Marketing funnel and its stages
✔️App user acquisition, activation, retention and monetization
✔️ On which side of the Android & iOS duopoly Fouad is? iOS on his beloved iPhone 12 Pro
✔️ What apps would Fouad miss the most if he leaves the smartphone home. Slack :-)
✔️ What hardware / software features Fouad is waiting for? Small thinks like unread feature for Messages app.
Links and Resources:
Fouad Saeidi Linkedin Profile 
Fouad Saeidi email - fouad@appgrowthnetwork.com
App Growth Network website.
Quotes from Fouad Saeidi:
"A Lifecycle marketing is about creating an effective strategy that meet customers' needs at the right stage.
The first step is obviously to focus on the value proposition - how is my product is different?
You are just launching a product, do you really want that million (of users) right now? Or do you want to have thousand to ten thousand downloads to validate every stage of the product? "
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London - 25 Apr 2024
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#84: Stories in your app with Aykut Bal, Head of Business at Storyly

One of the pillars of the app marketing are formats - how information about apps is packed and presented to people on various advertising platforms.
It's one thing when it's about connecting via ads a mobile app with people who need that app, it's another when retaining app users is at stake. Mobile app users churn is a continuous challenge app marketers face around the globe, from small indie developers start-ups to big app development powerhouses and brands.
There is a number of ad formats at app marketers disposal - Banners, Interstitial, Video, pop-up, pop-under and more and you may think that you know them all and there is no room for innovation.
Wrong. There is. And Aykut is here to tell us about the story format.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️Storyly is a platform to bring social media content into the app, as well as to create and publish content from scratch
✔️The story format can be that edge, new angle, that distinctive feature that app marketers are looking for to set their apps apart from competition
✔️ It works for both indie developers and big brands, it's a matter of what content they publish via their social media channels
✔️Don't overwhelm your app users via content you're publishing from your social media channel packed in the story format.
✔️ On which side of the Android & iOS duopoly Aykut is? iOS on his beloved iPhone 12 Mini
✔️ What apps would Aykut miss the most if he leaves the smartphone home. Pokemon GO :-)
✔️ What new app technologies is Aykut most excited about? Machine Learning to process all personal information on the device to keep it secure, out of reach of hackers.
Links and Resources:
Aykut Bal Linkedin profile.
Storyly website.
Quotes from Aykut Bal:
"How to engage users was at the center of it all. When you fail to engage your app users, you're loosing them.
The cheapest way to grow is not acquiring the users in the cheapest way but keeping them inside the app."
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London - 25 Apr 2024
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#83: Catapulting app growth with Apple Search Ads with Yusuf Barutcu, Director of Business Development of SearchAds.com

Every app marketer is on a quest to acquire more users for her or his app. Today’s app marketing toolbox consists of such well time-proven tools as App Store Optimization, Paid User Acquisition via ad networks, paid ads platforms from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest and such, as well as content marketing, PR, ads in podcasts, on TV, radio and even good old outdoor ads.
But when it comes to iOS apps specifically, the Apple’s Search Ads stands out as one of the most powerful weapons in the app marketer’s arsenal. The platform has gone through a few years of evolution to become an effective tool to drive iOS app installs on multiple markets. In this episode we have Yusuf Barutcu of SearchAds.com to tell us about how to use this platform efficiently and scale up your app user acquisition campaign.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Yusuf began his career in e-commerce and for the last 12 years he’s been an app search marketer, spending the last 2+ years in the SearchAds.com team
✔️ SearchAds.com helps app marketers to plug Apple’s Search Ads to their overall app user acquisition campaigns and have a holistic view on their UA efforts. It provides tools you need to find the best keywords, scale your marketing campaigns, and to be at the top of App Store search.
✔️ 60% of all iOS app downloads are driven by search - hence Search Ads is the must platform to use
✔️ The core of a successful Search Ads campaign is to define as much keywords relevant to your app as possible
✔️ Always consider a broader context than your app’s purpose to discover additional keywords to drive app installs
✔️ Make sure you bid on keywords that present your brand to avoid loosing traffic to your competitors
✔️ To market your app on 60 markets for dozens of keywords you need to use automation tools, unless you are a super human
✔️ iOS15 Custom Pages bring new capabilities for the visual creatives on the iOS App Store.
✔️ Search is a source of a high quality traffic, people open up the App Store app to search with an intent to find a specific app
✔️ On which side of the Android & iOS duopoly Yusuf is? iOS (and never looked back)
✔️ What apps would Nick miss the most if he leaves the smartphone home. Slack :-)
Links and Resources:
Yusuf Barutcu LinkedIn profile
Search Ads website - https://searchads.com
Quoеtes from Yusuf Barutcu:
"The main quality traffic generator is search. Because there have an intent to get what they after, so if what they after is what you have then you should be there.
Once you follow the right strategy, well - bingo, it’s not a rocket science and you can easily grow your business.
To speak loudly about that, at Mobile Action platform we have around 6 million keyword crawled every day."
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London - 25 Apr 2024
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#82: iOS 15 implications for ASO with David Bell, CEO of Gummicube

Year in, year out Apple has been improving its mobile operating system that every iPhone runs on - the iOS. This year its 15th version has just hit the market. In some years, Apple’s focus is on introducing new features, others on polishing some features, sometimes they don’t get a particular feature right from the first shot and they need to revisit it again next year - Apple’s engineers are human beings, like you and me.
In particular, amongst all these updates there are some that are of interest to mobile app marketers. Today we’ll cover such updates introduced with iOS 15 and we have Dave Bell, CEO of Gummicube, a leader in providing Big Data Analytics for the App Stores, which is used for App Store Optimization, Mobile Marketing and Market Analysis, here to tell all about it.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️Dave's been in the mobile marketing space since 1999, actually was among developers who created and published apps for featured phones, before the rise of Apple's iOS App Store for the iPhone.
✔️Gummicube is the oldest North America-based App Store Optimization company, more than 11 years on the market, built the tech to help app marketers to understand how the app stores work from an app marketing perspective.
✔️Apple's focus with iOS, as well as in general, is app users' data privacy and creating a more robust experience for app marketers.
✔️iOS 15 beta feature Private Relay, which is essentially Apple's VPN - another Apple's step in the direction of replacing iOS apps developed by a third party, when the stakes are high, like in the case of iOS app users privacy and data safety.
✔️Updates for the iOS's Spotlight
✔️A/B testing solution for iOS
✔️Custom Product Pages
✔️Searchable In-App Events
✔️SKAdNetwork enhancements
✔️App Clips updates
✔️Dave's iOS 15 favorite features
Links and Resources:
Dave Bell's Linkedin profile
Gummicube website.
Quotes from Dave Bell:
"Apple is moving in the direction when they are going to make it more convinient for their user to stay with Apple ecosystem.
Frankly, if you're looking at the amount of time people spend in mobile apps versus websites, I think the statistics is 88% of the time is being spent in the mobile app versus web.
But I think that actually the reality of In-App Events is going to be much more broad because of this in even in apps, you know, categories you wouldn't think of, like Productivity, Utilities simply because in-app events are re-engagement ASO."
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024