Business of Apps Podcast

Most of us wake up in the morning, check the weather, then the traffic on the way to work,  unless your office isn’t your desk, sitting next to your bed, and of course, catch up on social media. Throughout your day, you  spend time launching apps on your smartphone, smartwatch, or tablet. Today’s guest is Ariel Michaeli from Appfigures, which takes a holistic view on the app industry  as a whole and provides insights on app trends. Appfigures offers ASO tools, analytics, and  intelligence to optimize for more organic downloads. Today’s Topics Include: ✔️ Appfigures: All about building platforms and helping as many people as possible ✔️ Gamers and Brothers: Can we make a game for the iPhone and still pay our bills? ✔️ Word of Mouth: Eventually gave access to Appfigures and no longer making games ✔️ Most popular app categories: Before COVID (BC): Entertainment, games, and business After COVID (AC): Health and fitness, games, entertainment, and business Both BC and AC: Travel and business ✔️ Shift: Do you use an app to watch TV on a big screen or video stream to a small device? ✔️ Top Grossing App: YouTube, but Tik Tok is climbing the charts and taking over ✔️ Evergreen Hits: Apps that depend on want vs. need, such as hottest games and widgets ✔️ App Market Mindset: How big is the market and how much are users willing to pay? ✔️ Subscriptions are key to success or failure; always look at competitors and similar apps ✔️ ASO: Whether or not to allow apps to track and target users for search or organic ads ✔️ Android or iOS? iOS ✔️ What app features would Ariel miss most? Email ✔️ What is missing from mobile app technology? Augmented reality (AR) Links and Resources: Ariel Michaeli on Twitter Ariel Michaeli on LinkedIn Ariel Michaeli’s EmailAppfigures Mobile Download Index Quotes from Ariel Michaeli: “It’s always been for me about how can I build a platform that takes either something I’m really good at or something that I care about a lot or, something that I see me, myself using and turn it into a solution for as many people as possible.” “That’s how the idea of Appfigures was born. We needed some sort of platform to track our own  data.” “It’s easier to have a service that has an app, even if the service is mostly reliant on an app.” “(App Market) For you to know that means the difference between success and failure.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

What are most app marketers doing this year compared to last year? Probably not what they planned on, which was incremental app growth techniques and trying new user acquisition channels. Instead, they are trying to adapt their businesses to the world because of COVID-19. Today’s guest is Lisa Kennelly, Chief Marketing Officer at Fishbrain. Lisa shares how Fishbrain has been dealing with the new app industry landscape and the app's growth story. Are you hooked on fishing? Today’s Topics Include: ✔️ Mentality of Marketing: Sense of what should work for locals and worldwide ✔️ Fishbrain: App for fishing—the world’s most popular hobby ✔️ Fishbrain Data: Who, what, where, when, why, and how to catch fish ✔️ eCommerce: If you’re going fishing, you need to spend money on fishing gear ✔️ Spirit of Community: Based on emotions and relationships between people ✔️ Fishbrain Growth: Fishing’s an activity you could do during COVID ✔️ Retention and Competition: Challenge to retain customers who go shopping elsewhere ✔️ Partnership Criteria: Providers of maps, boats, brands, and data research ✔️ Marketing Channels: Google, Facebook, Instagram, affiliates, influencers, native ads ✔️ Target Audience, not TikTok: Plenty of young users, but not the revenue drivers ✔️ Subscription Model: Fishbrain Pro offer adds data to add more value ✔️ Key Takeaways: People management takes more time and energy than expected ✔️ Android or iOS? iOS ✔️ What app features would Lisa miss most? Camera ✔️ What is missing from mobile app technology? Too much reliance on smartphones Links and Resources: Lisa Kennelly on LinkedIn Fishbrain Quotes from Lisa Kennelly: “Fishbrain is an app for fishing, and fishing is actually the world’s most popular hobby.” “Even if you personally are not into fishing, I bet you know somebody very close to you who is obsessed with fishing.” “We were able to take the social, turn that into utility, and in the last couple of years, we added in the eCommerce, as well. If you’re going fishing, of course you need to have a lot of fishing gear.” “How do you keep people motivated? How do you see when they need a break? How do you balance that and find ways to keep them engaged? That takes a lot of effort.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

If you live in the United Kingdom and have kids under 5 years old, then there’s a big chance that they play with apps on their tablet developed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Today’s guest is Ian Irving, Senior Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and App Store Optimization (ASO) Specialist in the BBC Children’s and Education Department. Ian talks about what it takes to manage app marketing for the largest portfolio of mobile apps for children. Today’s Topics Include: ✔️ Young at Heart: Ian’s journey from wanting to be a teacher to building apps for kids ✔️ BBC: Not only a reliable source for news, but educational and safe apps for children ✔️ Four Main CBeebies Apps: Playtime Island, Go Explore, Get Creative, and Storytime ✔️ App Marketing: You are not marketing to the children, you are marketing to their parents ✔️ Batman/Spiderman Line: Parents become uncool and don’t control their kid’s device ✔️ Three Primary Marketing Channels: TV advertising, socials, and organic SEO ✔️ App Stores: Top user acquisition, engagement, and downloads - Apple/iOS and Amazon ✔️ KPIs: Amazon app metrics are extremely limited; rely on external analytics providers ✔️ Seasonality: When audience undergoes specific emotional shift, increase acquisitions ✔️ AB Testing: Micro is variation of small elements; macro makes larger conversion impact ✔️ Learn Language: How marketers speak isn’t necessarily how people talk in real world ✔️ Android or iOS? Android ✔️ What apps and features would Ian miss most? Google Maps ✔️ What is missing from mobile app technology? Advancement of biomonitoring health Links and Resources: Ian Irving on LinkedIn BBC CBeebies Apps David Attenborough Amazon Kindle Fire 7 Amazon App Store Quotes from Ian Irving: “Every week, about 20 percent of 0-6 years old in the U.K. use one of those four apps.” “You are not marketing to the children, you are marketing to their parents.” “There’s a very, very clear line, which we call the Batman line or the Spiderman line and that is at 6 years old because once they hit that age, that’s when anything that their parents are trying to expose them to becomes uncool.” “The idea of seasonality is when there are things happening offline, where your audience is undergoing a specific emotional shift, and the idea is that if you can catch them, if you can trigger that or align with that emotional shift that they are going through, you’re going to see an increase in acquisitions.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

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.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

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.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

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.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

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.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

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.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

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.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024

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.” Brought to you by Business Of Apps App industry marketplace Insights App Growth videos App Data App Events A message from App Promotion Summit Discounted ticket prices are currently available on all of our 2024 summits https://apppromotionsummit.com/   London - 25 Apr 2024 NYC - 27 Jun 2024 San Francisco - 26 Sep 2024 Berlin - 5 Dec 2024