Business of Apps Podcast

The Business of Apps podcast brings you actionable insights from the leaders of the global app industry and the world’s fastest growing apps. App marketing professionals, product managers and developers share the latest approaches to building, marketing and monetizing mobile apps. Every Monday we have a candid conversation with app industry professionals about specific topic that may cover app marketing, mobile advertising or app development and we also help our listeners to get to know our guests better.

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Episodes

Monday Mar 11, 2024

Every change in the app ecosystem, especially when it comes to tools and solutions introduced by Apple or Google, goes through a cycle - first you get a mix reaction, some people are thrilled, some are shaking their heads and rolling up their eyes, then they learn to adapt to this change - you can complain as much as you want but you aren’t in a position to cancel it, you need to adjust your workflow to move forward.
So back in 2018, Apple released the SKAdNetwork and ever since it became a hot topic for endless discussions on conferences, chats on Reddit, as well as internal discussions in app marketing agencies, app development teams and so on.
Today, we have Pablo to update you with what you need to know about SKAN 4.0 this year.
Sponsor
This episode is sponsored by Perform[cb], leading outcome-based marketing company. Perform[kb] targets marketers' ideal audience and promotes brands with AI-powered, high-value placements on a pay for performance model. Get in touch with their user acquisition team today!
Today’s Topics Include:
Pablo's background
What is Admiral Media
What's new in the SKAN 4.0 update
Common mistakes marketers made with SKAN 4.0
Admiral Media's approach to SKAN implementation
The role of Generative AI at being more efficient with the SKAN 4.0 framework
Pablo's wish list for the SKAN framework
What Pablo would like to change about mobile tech the most
Android or iOS?
Leaving his smartphone at home, what features would Pablo miss most?
What features he would like to see added to his smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Pablo Pérez González on LinkedIn
Admiral Media website
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Pablo Pérez González:
"I have seen so many people reducing is investment in terms of user acquisition budgeting or just pausing completely the use acquisition on iOS devices because they didn't know how SKAN worked, right? So that's definitely something I don't recommend. Because if you proved that those users were working for you before, meaning that they were converting into revenue, then why not still acquiring  iOS  users, right?"
"I have been using Generative AI in a few ways. The easiest answer would be it's helpful for Conversion Volume Mapping, right? But my experience says it's not there or it's not at a level I would expect yet."
Host
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Monday Mar 04, 2024

We live the world of smart things - smart homes, smart cars (and I don’t mean the Smart car brand from Mercedes, in general - fleets of electric vehicles from Tesla, Rivian, Polstar and so on that are full of high tech that makes them smart). The list wouldn’t be complete if I wouldn’t mention, right - smartphones and apps.
Before late 2022 we thought we saw it all and than ChatGPT happened - boom! People who didn’t follow AI research and development (meaning the majority of population) were shocked by what it was capable of doing and quite frankly they haven’t seen what it can do for science and medicine yet, mostly the focus has been on generation of text for marketing, online publication and so on.
In this episode, we have Günay to talk about AI potential for mobile advertising and app marketing.
Today’s Topics Include:
Günay Aliyeva's background
What is Gamelight
Günay's thoughts about the state of AI and Generative AI in particular
The role of AI in mobile advertising
How does AI fit into mobile app marketing
The cons and externalities of AI in mobile advertising and app marketing
What Günay would like to change about mobile tech the most
Android or iOS?
Leaving her smartphone at home, what features would Günay miss most?
What features she would like to see added to her smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Günay Aliyeva on LinkedIn
Gamelight website
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Günay Aliyeva:
"And it's going to get just easier for image and video makers to perform better and to get better results and put their focus on something more strategic and something where we actually do need human input. You don't need actually a human  to sit and click so many times to create them. So it's it's just much easier for UA managers to do their job and perform better if they have all of those tools in hand."
"There's always a need for a human who will direct it in the right direction and know how to implement the outcomes or what kind of data needs to be input to get what kind of results."
Host
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Monday Feb 26, 2024

Science tells us that 80% of information we perceive every second we’re awake is visual. We make sense of this world around us by processing lots and lots of images and some of those images are mobile ads.
Now, there are ads you just want to go away and never come back, some make you smile and some actually give you an incentive to try a new app or grab a specific app you’ve been looking for.
In this episode, we’re going to talk to Jessica about how to pull this pretty tough feat - ramp up ad creatives production to boost your app growth.
Today’s Topics Include:
Jessica Gotti's background
What is Paired
The significance of mobile ad creatives
Paired's first step on a quest to wrap up ad creatives production
Putting together a team to run ad creatives production in-house
Framework to run ad creatives production on scale
KPIs
The impact of that ad creatives wrap up on the bottom line
What Jessica would like to change about mobile tech the most
Android or iOS?
Leaving her smartphone at home, what features would Jessica miss most?
What features she would like to see added to her smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Jessica Gotti on LinkedIn
Paired website
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Jessica Gotti:
"Being able to leverage the creatives correctly and at scale has become mandatory for successful marketing strategies. Especially in today's marketing landscape, where we have to face so many limitations and challenges, creatives can help mitigating them. Let's think about the limitation in targeting brought by new Data Privacy Regulations, ATT’s policy. It's not us anymore actively targeting the audience we are after, but it's the creative that is finding the right audience for us, the one that resonates the best with our message."
"Yeah, it's indeed fundamental having a clear creative exploration and testing framework to make everything work smoothly and facilitate collaboration among many stakeholders. So we came up with a seven step flow, which run on a weekly basis."
"Success didn’t come right away. Getting to the first winning concept took much exploration and testing, almost 3 months […]. The new team had to learn about Paired and understand our audience, we had to set up and refine our framework multiple times"
Host
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Monday Feb 19, 2024

User experience. This term has become so widespread and significant for business because we all use so many products and services and if you think about it - your interaction with those products and services can make your day or ruin it.
Our smartphones and mobile apps have become our life companions and chances are your first thought in a morning can be about your experience with a mobile game the previous evening or watching something cool on Netflix or chatting with ChatGPT-4 on the OpenAI app and going philosophical about something. And if those apps worked flawlessly you had a great user experience, if they were buggy - you know what it feels like.
In this episode, Eric will tell about common technical issues apps have, the evolution of users’ expectations for app experiences over the years, unique challenges for mobile product and engineering teams, and more.
Today’s Topics Include:
Eric Futoran's background
What is Embrace
The most common app tech issues developers encounter
The evolution of app users' expectations for app experiences over the years
Unique challenges mobile product and engineering teams face
App categories that have the biggest problems with app quality
The impact of unresolved app performance issues on app marketing metrics
What Eric would like to change about mobile tech the most
Android or iOS?
Leaving his smartphone at home, what features would Eric miss most?
What features he would like to see added to his smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Eric Futoran on LinkedIn
Embrace website
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Eric Futoran:
"One of our customers actually got threatened recently. A voice-to-chat app, which has millions of users got threatened recently that their app would be pulled by Google because they were below or above the threshold that you would see in the Google Play console. We help with all those things, and then we help you prioritize."
"And then they're throwing an alert which is really reactive. It's too late on mobile, your users are gone. And then because the release cycles, you're waiting a week, two weeks to a month.
And then you're trying to get an approval cycle from Apple or Google, which is getting faster. That's not perfect. But you're still waiting. And like, even a week is too long for a lot of these issues, even the smaller ones that you seemingly don't think that are a big issue, but they can pile and so the pain is getting all these pieces to work together, but also getting your teams to talk a common language."
Host
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Monday Feb 12, 2024

As so many app developers and publishers would agree, growing an audience for an app is a challenge. Nothing is static - you find a new marketing channel that works and for a while and you feel like you can finally breath again freely but then it becomes crowded with your competitors or the app industry wide change happens like Apple’s introduction of ATT framework and… - back to the drawing board.
But today Luisa will tell you a story of what it takes to scale a subscription app for kids and if you feel like it should be even more challenging, you are right - it is.
Today’s Topics Include:
Luisa Zuleta's background
What Sago Mini and Toca Boca games are about
Limitations in app marketing Luisa faced even before SKAD introduction
Building relationships with partners to go through tough times
Rethinking app audiences
Reworking the marketing channel
Defining LTV for an app
What Luisa managed to achieve as the result
Takeways
What Luisa would like to change about mobile ad tech the most
Android or iOS?
Leaving her smartphone at home, what features would Luisa miss most?
What features she would like to see added to his smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Luisa Zuleta on LinkedIn
Sago Mini website
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Luisa Zuleta:
"So when you're advertising and producing kids apps, you are you have to face two sets of regulations COPA for the US and GDPR for Europe. Those regulations affect not only marketing, but also the app development, publishing, what kind of data you can collect inside the apps, and also monetization strategies. "
"So it's not like any traditional gaming app where you look at your user base and you know that the user that's most engaged is the one who did level one to three in the first 20 minutes, or bought this pack or that. It's not applicable. Sometimes you could have a parent of a four year old having a strict screen time of two times a week."
Host
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Monday Feb 05, 2024

There is this joke in Silicon Valley “US tech companies are great in software, Chinese ones are cool in hardware and EU make laws and regulations” Of course, there is always a kernel of truth in every joke and I would say that this one has a pretty big one.
Big Tech has been in a free fly mode since the inception of Google. There have been very few regulations for which you don’t event need fingers on your both hands to count. But things change and right now regulations are coming.
Today Michael will tell us about the EU’s Digital Markets Act - what it is and what are its implications for app developers and publishers.
Today’s Topics Include:
Michael Bilotta's background
What is Worldline
Digital Markets Act: definition and implications for app developers and publishers
Third-party payment systems providers response
The advantages of implementing third-party billing for mobile app developers and publishers
Trialing alternative payment systems with customers in South Korea, implications for the US
What Mike would like to change about the mobile teach the most
Android or iOS?
Leaving his smartphone at home, what features would Mike miss most?
What features she would like to see added to his smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Michael Bilotta on LinkedIn
Worldline website
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Michael Bilotta:
"So the Digital Markets Act is multifaceted, and essentially what it's looking to do is regulate the way that big tech can operate in the EU really from the perspective of ensuring that there are not these monopolies that are created because of the fact that these big tech companies are so expensive. "
"So when a payment goes through the traditional app store, it goes into kind of a black box that nobody is super familiar with, nor do we really understand exactly how that payment is being processed. But through a third party payment provider, we can do things like smart routing, where if a transaction fails initially, we can try and route it to another financial institution and see if we can get an acceptance. "
Host
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Thursday Jan 25, 2024

Another week another bonus episode for you, this time it is the Boosting User Engagement and App Retention panel discussion from our App Promotion Summit Berlin that we hosted back on November 30 last year.
Every app marketer would agree that App Retention is absolutely crucial for a mobile app project to become sustainable.
To address a number of questions about app user engagement and retention we had:
Ioana Iordache, Head of Retention at Blacklane
Tobias Lüder, Head of CRM at Delivery Hero
Isabelle Matuschka, Senior CRM Manager at Blinkist
Niklas Henckell, Head of Community Development at Jodel
Jon Genovard, CRM & Retention Manager at ShareTheMeal, United Nations World Food Programme.
The focus of this panel was on:
✅ real life case studies for retaining app users
✅ measuring app user retention
✅ how of app users habits fit in their usage of apps regularly
Host
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012

Monday Jan 22, 2024

What are you watching these days? The Morning Show or Foundation on Apple TV+? Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime? Are you listening music on Apple Music or Spotify? In other words - we live in a streaming world.
Initially it was cool to have Netflix for all your online movie watching time and now there are Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount Plus, Max (which you may still call HBO Max), Disney +. All these platforms charge you around $10 a month, but when you decide to go with a few of them at the same time, it adds up pretty quickly.
People clearly need to decide what platforms to choose because they both don’t have enough money and don’t have time to watch all of it and so they have to choose.  And this is just movies, there are streaming apps for gaming, fitness, podcasts, and more.
In this episode we have Chris to help us out with your app growth strategy to survive these streaming wars.
Today’s Topics Include:
Chris Puga's background
What is Creative Clicks
Why content curation is important for streaming apps
How to make a first impression good while app onboarding
How to make your app users stick to the app
Examples of successful app growth strategies
Takeways
Android or iOS?
Leaving his smartphone at home, what features would Chris miss most?
What features she would like to see added to his smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Chris Puga on LinkedIn
Creative Clicks website
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Chris Puga:
"From the brand's perspective, it's simple, like content creation is important because a seamless user experience is no longer a luxury or a nice to have, it's a necessity."
"I think deep linking  is a great way to make a good first impression. I think not inundating new users with a lengthy user flow. I think that's huge. That is an amazing way to make a good first impression."
Brought to you by Business Of Apps
App industry marketplace
Insights
App Growth videos
App Data
App Events

Thursday Jan 18, 2024

This week we have another bonus episode for you, this time it’s the App Growth Strategies for 2024 panel discussion from our App Promotion Summit Berlin that we hosted back on November 30, 2023. 
On the panel we had:
Wendy Tai, Head of Performance Marketing at Wolt
Ara Salbashian, Head Of Digital Marketing at FREENOW
Alexander Beresford, Chief Growth Officer at Taxfix
Rodolphe Helderwerdt, Head of Marketing at Tandem.
App Growth is one of evergreen themes in app marketing, it was relevant and important five years ago, it was crucial last year and it continues to be on minds of app marketers this year.
The focus of this panel was on:
✅ effective team management.
✅ what trends can be seen in the market
✅ suggestions for app growth 💯
 
Ladies and gentlemen, without any further ado - the App Growth Strategies for 2024 panel.
Brought to you by Business Of Apps
App industry marketplace
Insights
App Growth videos
App Data
App Events

Monday Jan 15, 2024

Happy 2024 everybody! It’s time of the year when we think about resolutions like keeping yourself fit and so fitness can be one of the things on your mind right now. How about keeping your fitness app fit? I bet just like with keeping yourself in shape you wouldn’t mind to learn from other folks’ experience, wouldn’t you?
In this episode, I have Mansi to tell you about the lessons she’s learned growing and keeping the MyFitnessPal app in shape.
Today’s Topics Include:
Mansi Sharma's background
What is MyFitnessPal app
How to conduct a proper research
The role of ad creative and targeting in running an app ad campaign
A scaling of a mobile user acquisition campaign
Assessing user acquisition budget spending
Testing app marketing campaign hypotheses
How do you compete effectively?
Takeaways
Android or iOS?
Leaving his smartphone at home, what features would Mansi miss most?
What features she would like to see added to his smartphone?
Links and Resources:
Mansi Sharma on LinkedIn
MyFitnessPal app
Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry
Quotes from Mansi Sharma:
" So, for example, if the category is not big enough, we need to come up with category expansion campaigns, which would be much more broad reaching and sort of educational in nature. However, if the category is okay and our budgets are still small and we need results in the short term, I'd focus on growing my market share by reaching out to people who are already in the category right and win them over to my side. "
"So creative wins over targeting because what I found is that a good creative can break the targeting barriers. So for example, if you have designed a creative for a 25 year old male, if it is designed well, it can also work for a 45 year old male."
Brought to you by Business Of Apps
App industry marketplace
Insights
App Growth videos
App Data
App Events

Business of Apps

The Business of Apps podcast brings you actionable insights from the leaders of the global app industry and the world's fastest growing apps. App marketers, product managers and developers share the latest approaches to building, marketing and monetising mobile apps. Every Monday we have a candid conversation with app industry professionals about specific topic that may cover app marketing, mobile advertising or app development and we also allow people to get to know our guests better.

© 2024 Business of Apps

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