Business of Apps Podcast

#66: Growing an app with a mission with Aleksandra Reinert, Growth Marketing at Olio

Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are known for chasing small ideas with big money, but what about chasing big ideas with big money?
Today’s guest is Aleksandra Reinert, Growth Marketing at OLIO, a London-based company with a big mission. Aleksandra talks about the scale and significance of problems that OLIO was built to solve and the story of the app's growth.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Food Waste: How bad is it? Pretty bad - people are big part of problem and solution
✔️ Hunger: A million people worldwide could be fed on less than a quarter of food wasted
✔️ OLIO: Free sharing app for people to give away food and other household items for free
✔️ Food Stamps to Facebook Ads: OLIO’s tried every marketing channel/strategy to grow
✔️ What can you do to grow OLIO? You need a community to start sharing on OLIO
✔️ Common Good: Prevent good food from going to waste and build relationships
✔️ Tech for Good: Companies can make a profit and help society at the same time
✔️ Android or iOS? iOS
✔️ What apps and features would Aleksandra miss most? Google Maps
✔️ What is missing from mobile app technology? Make it less addictive
Links and Resources:
Aleksandra Reinert’s Email
Aleksandra Reinert on LinkedIn
OLIO
OLIO Supporter
Kara Swisher (Tech Journalist)
Quotes from Aleksandra Reinert:
“A third of all food projects globally goes to waste and over 50 percent of that food waste is actually happening in the home in the developed countries.”
“Yes, we are part of the problem - a big part of the problem - but we are also part of the solution.”
“What can I do to grow OLIO in my neighborhood? You need a community to start sharing on OLIO.”
“People know it’s an amazing feeling. We get so many users, as far as people just being so happy with the act of sharing something with your neighbor. It’s intrinsically good.”
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#65: How we 5x our growth in 10 months with Jimmy Davis, Head of Acquisition & CRM at Fiit

Do you exercise? At home or at the gym? Most of us have changed our behaviors and switched to digital fitness to stay in shape - especially because of the COVID lockdown.
Today’s guest is Jimmy Davis, Head of Acquisition and CRM at Fiit, an app that is trying to build a community of fitness lovers to ensure that digital and physical fitness complement one another - just like a marriage.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Behind the Brand: Fiit focuses on high-intensity and interval training for fitness lovers
✔️ Growth Forecast: Digital fitness is still in its infancy, but is growing at a rapid rate
✔️ Community Features: Encourage competition, participation, group support, challenges
✔️ Open Ecosystem: Calibrates w/wearable devices to offer feedback to everyday athletes
✔️ Fiit International Positioning: New country, market, culture, competition, and partnerships
✔️ Performance Marketing: Key pillar of Fiit’s growth strategy by understanding users
✔️ Android or iOS? iOS
✔️ What apps and features would Jimmy miss most? Maps, Slack, and WhatsApp
✔️ What is missing from mobile app technology? Connected devices/equipment, virtual reality, and camera and motion technology
Links and Resources:
Jimmy Davis on LinkedIn
Fiit
Apple Fitness+ vs Peloton vs Fiit: which home workout app is best?
Quotes from Jimmy Davis:
“Our logo, the two ii’s actually represent two people, which kind of showcases that we’re trying to build a community of fitness lovers.”
“Before the pandemic, the digitalization of fitness was well on its way. Like the digitalization of many industries, it’s inevitable. That’s not to say we believe that digital fitness is going to replace physical fitness.”
“We believe that we’re going to live in a world where they both complement one another, and we want to work with physical spaces to really ensure that users and gym members have a holistic way of training.”
“We are now a brand that is actually on people’s radar. Other brands come to us.”
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Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#64: What makes TikTok tick? with Oliver Yonchev, Managing Director at Social Chain

On this week episode we continue our coversation about TikTok and this time we're taking a close look at factors that have been fueling its exponential growth within just a couple years.
Today’s guest is Oliver Yonchev, Managing Director at Social Chain, which uses media, marketing, and technology to build brands. Oliver talks about what makes TikTok tick.
How does the most successful Instagram and YouTube rival make its magic?
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Social Chain: Social-first marketing services business (i.e., insights, strategy, creative)
✔️ Social Chain’s Philosophy: Help brands stay at the forefront of what’s possible
✔️ Vanity Ticks of Marketers: Trend on Twitter, go viral, and reach lots of people
✔️ Business Goals: Social Chain specializes in delivering results
✔️ Social Media Progression/Evolution: People still like the magic that is virality
✔️ Acknowledgement: Going viral and trending is not a predictable strategy
✔️ TikTok Numbers: Downloaded over 2-billion times and over 1-billion active monthly users
✔️ TikTok Users: Average user (not the crazy user) spends 52 minutes a day on the app
✔️ Demographic Data: Brands can benefit from but are slow to adopt platform and channel
✔️ Secret Sauce: Investment, user experience, unique algorithm, the current state of COVID
✔️ Myths/Memes: It’s all kids, dancing, cute pets, and short-form content with no value
✔️ Top Tips: Try it, create with no ego, be native, put people over product, be intentional
✔️ Android or iOS? iOS
✔️ What apps and features would Oliver miss most? Diary and email
✔️ What is missing from mobile app technology? Augmented reality
Links and Resources:
Social Chain
Oliver Yonchev’s Email
Oliver Yonchev on LinkedIn
TikTok
Quotes from Oliver Yonchev:
“Keeping brands at the forefront of what’s possible is really about helping unpick social media, find opportunities, and develop impactful strategies that really anchor to business goals.”
“People still like the magic that is virality. This idea that you can create something, not pay a lot of money and reach tens of millions of people, is always going to be attractive.”
“Going viral, trending is not strategy. That is a consequence of fortune, doing the right things, and having good values and great work. You can’t predict it.”
“If you have a product or a service that appeals to someone under 40 years old and they use it, and you’re not using TikTok, you’re missing out.”
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Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#63: TikTok marketing for brands: best practices with Evan Horowitz, CEO at Movers+Shakers

With more than 500,000 brands worldwide in more than 2,000 product categories, they are all competing for your attention. To meet the demand of reaching out to more people, new marketing channels take off. Once in a while, a truly remarkable channel emerges. 
Today’s guest is Evan Horowitz, CEO of Movers + Shakers. Evan talks about best practices for brands to connect with audiences to win new customers using TikTok.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Mission: Spread joy, positivity, and love for brands via disruptive digital marketing
✔️ Cultural Relevance: Connecting brands to culture on the frontiers of social
✔️ TikTok Marketing: Create a brand channel to leverage highly engaging social platform
✔️ Storytelling: Every video on TikTok tells a story that has a beginning, middle, and end
✔️ Video Style: TikTok is all about authentic, low-production value to fit in
✔️ Do’s, Don’ts: Successful brands on TikTok have a unique strategy, don’t copy and paste
✔️ Is there still a generational gap for the TikTok app? Being too old is no longer an excuse
✔️ TikTok Influencers: Successful people are different, new, and come to be discovered
✔️ TikTok Ads: Not as mature as Google or Facebook, but follows same creative guidelines
✔️ Viral Challenges: New campaign format found only on the TikTok platform
✔️ Best Business Verticals: Consumer products and companies that bring creativity, value
✔️ TikTok’s Future: Building out direct eCommerce opportunities for brands
✔️ Android or iOS? Android
✔️ What apps and features would Evan miss most? News from RSS feeds
✔️ What is missing from mobile technology? Timer to keep Evan from spending too much time on TikTok
Links and Resources:
Evan Horowitz on LinkedIn
Movers + Shakers
TikTok
Quotes from Evan Horowitz:
“We’re a creative agency that’s all about putting positivity out into the world, connecting positive emotions back to the brands that we work with, and driving more brand love.”
“We’re really focused on connecting brands to culture on the frontiers of social.”
“The brand sets up a presence, doesn’t cost you anything, and then it’s up to you to post. I think the difference really is about the style of the video creation and the type of stories that are told.”
“The brands that are more successful on TikTok enter TikTok with a strategy that ‘s unique to TikTok. What doesn’t work is copy, pasting your Instagram strategy or even your content.”
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Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#62: How to grow your app during the pandemic with Grzegorz Garczyński, Director of Global Performance Marketing at Booksy

It's been a second year as the whole world has been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Obviously, mobile app businesses are being impacted by this pandemic as well, for many app onwers it has changed their app development plans and how they market their apps. 
On this episode we have Grzegorz Garczyński, Director of Global Performance Marketing at Booksy to talk about how COVID changed how people use the app, how the app changed itself and more.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Booksy: a duo of B2B and B2C apps - one for people to book their haircuts, tatooes, massage sessions and more, the other to let businesses manage their bookings with clients more efficiently.
✔️ Booksy customers and how COVID influenced their app use case: anybody who needs to book barbershops, tatoo saloons visits, hasn't changed much but helps them organize their visits during pandemic better.
✔️ Countries booksy is big at: US, UK, Poland, Brasil, South Africa and Spain, Mexico.
✔️ How COVID influenced the app itself: fast growth was replaced by survive mode as the pandemic hit, the app got online services.
✔️ COVID's impact on the app's marketing: persuading people to use the app was replaced by running search ads to reach people who want an app like Booksy.
✔️Do they use TikTok for marketing: not at the moment but it's on their radar for sure.
✔️Takeaways: good quality content is the key to survive tough times like now.
✔️ Android or iOS? iOS
✔️ What app would Jess miss most? Apple Pay and the Apple's Health app
Links and Resources:
Grzegorz Garczyński Linkedin profile
Booksy app
Quotes from Grzegorz Garczyński:
“From the perspective of the customer application, it could be anyone. Whoever wants to book an appointment.”
“In each country, the restrictions are or were quite strong. Thanks to the application, the salon owners can control the flow of customers and at the same time, attract new ones.”
“Both apps grew in popularity after the lockdown.”
“People are trying to find their way to organize their businesses.”
“If we want to build an effective business, we need to be aligned with organic behaviors.”
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#61: How to balance a growth strategy for the short and long term with Jess Overton, Director of Demand at ironSource

When marketers run mobile advertising ad campaigns, just like with any business, or any situation in our life for that matter,  they need to make short and long-term decisions.
Psychologically we’re wired towards making short-term decisions. And so it’s quite natural that some app marketers are still focused on short-term marketing channels that bring them revenue fast.
Today’s guest is Jess Overton, Director of Demand at ironSource. He talks about an optimal strategy to make your app marketing sustainable for growth, while finding balance between short- and long-term goals.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ ironSource: Where app developers tailor user acquisition for on-device channels
✔️ What’s the difference? Short-term is anything up to day 7, long-term is day 7 and beyond  
✔️ App Growth Strategies: How many permutations of your LTV curve can you calculate?
✔️ Room for Improvement: Test new channels and build out a thousand curves
✔️ Predictive and Multiplier Models: Higher cost to lose a lot of unengaged users quickly
✔️ Out-of-the-Box Experience: Aura platform developed to discover new apps
✔️ App Growth Marketers: Know your user and know the use case for conversions
✔️ Android or iOS? iOS
✔️ Accidentally left his smartphone at home, what app would Jess miss most? The Podcast App
Links and Resources:
Jess Overton on LinkedIn
ironSource
ironSource Aura
Quotes from Jess Overton:
“It’s really been a trip for me to see all the new tools that we’ve got and compare it to what we were doing 10 years ago. It’s just a different world.”
“How many permutations of your LTV curve can you calculate?”
“If you’re only looking at those first seven days, you’re going to think the channel is worthless because you’re just not seeing those users convert yet.”
“We need to be creative to find our way out of a one-size-fits-all strategy and really find those areas where we can adapt our regular curve to those different types of channels.”
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Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#60: The State of Mobile 2021 with Amir Ghodrati, Director, Market Insights at App Annie

We're in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it influenced every single area of our live, including mobile, of course. To get a bird-eye view on the mobile app ecosystem, we invited the industry standard mobile data and analyics company to talk about 2020 and 2021 in mobile.
So today we have a returning guest - Amir Ghodrati, Director - Market Insights at App Annie. Amir talks about the State of Mobile 2021 report and shares insights for five main data points that strengthen mobile’s role for engaging customers and growing your top line.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ New App Downloads: 218 billion downloads; 7% increase
✔️ App Stores Spend: $143 billion in consumer spend; 20% increase 
✔️ Daily Time Spent Per User: 4.2 hours per person per day; 20% increase
✔️ Mobile App Spend: $240 billion in mobile ad spending; 26% increase
✔️ Venture Capital to Mobile Tech: $73 billion invested; 27% increase
✔️ App Discovery: Searching for something specific, such as branded terms
✔️ Keywords: Where your app ranks and which words are popular to move up
✔️ Mobile: Businesses should focus on this area to grow or stay relevant
✔️ Channels, Strategies, Markets: Where and how people are spending their time 
✔️ Monetization: How much money app developers and app stores make
✔️ Generational Gap: More people over 45 years old experimenting with apps
✔️ OS 13 vs. 14: Upgrade and update to quickly gain access to new tech
Links and Resources:
Amir Ghodrati on LinkedIn
State of Mobile 2021
App Annie
#37: Game Taxonomy and Analytics with Amir Ghodrati, Director, Market Insights at App Annie
Quotes from Amir Ghodrati:
“Not only are more people using mobile in general, but the time per person is also going up, which is how you get such big growth.”
“This is kind of the perfect time for user acquisition. People are on the hunt for new apps.”
“From the publisher’s side, even having your app on a device is a very big win because you can start doing push notifications and other types of re-engagement campaigns.”
“For the vast majority of businesses, mobile should be your main area of focus, if you’re looking for ways to grow or stay relevant.”
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#59: App localization best practices with Victoria Chang, International Growth Lead at Flowkey

Growing the app's user base is what on an app marketer's mind from Monday till Friday and possibly on weekends as well. Going international is one of the ways to expand an app's user base.
Today’s guest is Victoria Chen, International Growth Lead at Flowkey, a piano learning app for beginners, returners, and advanced players. Victoria is sharing her experience of the app's localization and helping you to avoid possible mistakes you may make, having zero experience with it.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Global Landscape and Growth Marketing: Internationalization tackles local issues
✔️ Flowkey: Professional pianists create and produce in-house arrangements for all abilities
✔️ Popular Songs: Learn to play the songs you know and love (i.e., Piano Man, Swan Lake)
✔️ Benefits: App brands should go to other markets to get more users and revenue
✔️ Is it worth it? Depends on total effort, research, cost, and if the app is translatable
✔️ Market Criteria: Potential profit, market size, and purchasing power
✔️ Mental Health Market: Keep yourself mentally healthy, even if you have to pay for it
✔️ Localize App: Make product usable/available, launch it, develop authentic improvements
✔️ Regional Manager: Translate apps using someone familiar with culture, native language
✔️ Key Takeaways: As you build a localization strategy, start with a plan and local insights
✔️ Android or iOS? iOS
✔️ Favorite mobile app(s)? Wolt
✔️ What technology would Victoria find useful in daily life? Augmented reality
Links and Resources:
Flowkey
Flowkey on LinkedIn
Quotes from Victoria Chen:
“Going to another market directly means getting more users and having more revenue.”
“In terms of purchasing power, I will usually suggest people to go a bit deeper—not only how much people are spending, but what they are spending it on?”
“If you are a business, you have to also look at what type of category people are willing to pay for it or invest in it.”
“People know that they should pay for education for learning languages, learning instruments, but it’s still quite a new concept that people should invest in their own mental health.”
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Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024
 

#58: Unconventional ASO: custom campaigns with Binh Dang, Senior Organic App Growth Manager at Idealo

How do people discover mobile apps these days? Via a built-in search on the App Store and Google Play, about 65% of app downloads are powered by search. The other route - online ads in your Instagram feed, on YouTube, on TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, Readit and on and on.
How do app marketers take advantage of search as an app marketing channel? Right - they do the App Store Optimization (aka ASO). But do you wonder if you're doing everything what is possible to do with ASO?
Today’s guest is Binh Dang, Senior Organic App Growth Manager at Idealo will answer that question for you. Binh talks about his ASO custom campaigns concept. Find out what you’re missing!
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ App Growth Marketing: Binh’s two favorite things—games and marketing
✔️ Idealo: Leading price comparison online shopping platform in Germany
✔️ Idealo’s Mission: Save money and buy stuff without causing damage to the environment
✔️ Standard ASO Steps: One-way road or repetitive loop processes for app store assets
✔️ Pros/Cons: Efficient system, a scientific testing method for improvements; diminishes ROI
✔️ Specific Purpose: ASO custom campaigns are short-term, story-driven sprint of activities
✔️ ASO Campaigns: Product marketing, seasonal promotion, brand communications, and extracurricular activities
✔️ Mistakes: Bad timing, confusing communication, and radical application of new method
✔️ Key Takeaways:
Talk to your peers across channels and departments
Use different processes in different contexts
Create campaign timeline and plan in advance Android or iOS? Partial to iOS, but prefers to be Android
✔️ Favorite mobile app(s)? Google Calendar
✔️ What technology would Binh find useful for everyday life? More wearable devices
Links and Resources:
Binh Dang on LinkedIn
Binh Dang’s Email
Idealo
Quotes from Binh Dang:
“We help millions of users, mainly inside of Europe, make smarter shopping decisions. We will continue to reach out to more to advocate a more affordable and also sustainable lifestyle.”
“A customized ASO campaign can be seen as a short-term, story-driven sprint of ASO activities.”
“I have to be flexible enough with my ASO activities to serve multiple different purposes. So, when a new opportunity arises, I can capture it.”
“I have at least four major types of campaigns. They basically serve four different purposes, and they answer four different types of strategic questions that users may ask.”
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

#57: Higher purpose campaigns to grow your app with Luca Stefanutti, Head of Product Marketing at Runtastic

Fact - people are tired of ads, especially on mobile. Because of such a variety of options they're bombarded in their Instagram / Facebook feeds, inside apps, on websites and of course on YouTube and Google, it is hard to expect a level of engagement app brands need from them to increase their sales. 
There is a way to solve this problem and achieve a high level of engagement - launch a higher purpose campaign to let people do something for their environment, local community, something that will make them feel good and, at the same time, help an app brand to achieve its marketing objectives.
Today’s guest is Luca Stefanutti, Head of Product Marketing at Runtastic. He leads the Running Growth squad with the goal of growing the Adidas Running app. Luca’s job is to connect product and marketing to give users the best value proposition in the health and fitness category.
Today’s Topics Include:
✔️ Runtastic: Opportunity to feel and see results with support every step of the way
✔️ Two Apps, One World: adidas Running and adidas Training
✔️ Higher Purpose Ad Campaign: App marketing tool to change the world by taking action
✔️ Success Story Strategy: Build a bridge between inspirational goal and any app
✔️ User- vs. Customer-Centric: Understand your audience and what they care about
✔️ App KPIs: Connect with users, leverage mechanics, and measure success metrics
✔️ Android or iOS? Android
✔️ Favorite mobile app(s)? Vivino
✔️ What technology would Luca find useful? eCommerce and privacy campaigns
Links and Resources:
Luca Stefanutti on LinkedIn
Luca Stefanutti on Twitter
Runtastic
adidas Runtastic: Campaigns and Tracking Partners
Quotes from Luca Stefanutti:
“We are not so little, it’s simply because we have more than 370-million of downloads across the world, and we have more than 168-million registered users. We are quite famous.”
“It will really give you the possibility to create something more, something beyond the simple usage of a product.”
“It’s not about buying a product or service, it’s really about changing the world by doing an action.”
“The first thing that you always consider is your user.”
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Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits
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London - 25 Apr 2024
NYC - 27 Jun 2024
San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024
Berlin - 5 Dec 2024