Our guest today is Sophie Vo, studio and game lead at Voodoo, and founder of Rise and Play, a knowledge sharing platform for leaders in the gaming industry. In our conversation today, we talk about Sophie’s experience building a new gaming studio focused on producing casual games within Voodoo, a company better known in the hyper casual space. In today’s conversation, Sophie tells us about how she started building her studio from scratch - and the completely unexpected challenges she had to face along the way. She talks about the skepticism about her business model, the fundamental differences between casual and hypercasual games that she saw could threaten the future of her studio, and a ticking clock that her team was building against. She talks about the shock of the pandemic on her then budding team - and the emotional upheaval it caused. She talks about the critical conversations she had to have - with her leadership and her team - when she realized that she was being asked difficult questions about what their team was buildingThis is an incredible warts-and-all conversation, and I felt this was an inspiring and instructive conversation - especially since Sophie was very candid and transparent about her challenges and struggles, as much as she was about what she did about these challenges.We’re so glad to bring you this conversation today.KEY HIGHLIGHTS✨ The priorities for growing a brand new team🔭 Why preparation for the long-term is the only strategy to have🔑 The key to LTV is retention🦘 The leap from casual to hyper casual**Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/zero-to-launch-how-to-actually-build-a-casual-gaming-studio-from-scratch-with-sophie-vo-studio-game-lead-at-voodoo/**Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Este es nuestro segundo episodio del Mobile User Acquisition Show en Español. (An English version of this episode will follow shortly!).Estamos emocionados de dar la bienvenida a Nahir Garcia, la jefa de adquisición de usuarios en Etermax, los creadores de la exitosa serie de juegos Trivia Crack. Hoy hablaremos sobre un tema en que Nahir tiene una perspectiva única - como trabajar con influencers a gran escala. Hoy hablaremos con Nahir sobre cómo identificar influencers y sus audiencias, como dar pautas a las influencers para las campanas, como rastrear las métricas de estas campanas - y cómo estructurar un calendario de marketing de influencers a gran escala para crecer un juego a millones de usuarios. Nahir nos hablará en esta edición en español del programa, y también nos hablará en una edición en inglés sobre el mismo tema, que publicaremos pronto. Estoy especialmente interesado en compartir su valioso punto de vista. Por eso entrevistamos a Nahir en dos idiomas.Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/en-espanol-como-contratar-influencers-a-gran-escala-con-nahir-garcia-la-jefa-de-adquisicion-de-usuarios-en-etermax/**Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

This episode was inspired by a discussion I’ve had online recently. I’ve seen this stated at times - that developers should diversify their user acquisition channel mix. Investing is given as an analogy - the argument is made that a diversified portfolio is safer than one that isn't.BUT this is BAD advice for any app or product that isnt at massive scale(or ~$100k/month) - I say more in this episode.Key highlights🔬 Focus on SANs at low scale (<$50k/month)📡 Concentrate your channel mix to ensure algorithms have enough signal to perform🤔 Contextual advantages of ad networks are hard to realize at small scale🏁 Diversify *only* after you tap out SAN trafficShow notes: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/why-you-shouldnt-diversify-your-user-acquisition-mix-early-on/ Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

“If multiple app stores do the same thing(as Apple did with ATT), I see this as a disruption to business.”Now that the IDFA rug has well and truly been pulled from advertisers’ feet, there has been a scramble to refactor strategies and create new protocols. But, as Jayne Peressini points out, Apple iOS is just one platform. What happens if other platforms follow suit, and also pull the plug on existing protocols? Her recommendation is a revolutionary one: build a decision engine in-house. It is not easy, it takes a ton of expertise, it will take a huge amount of time and resources. It may also take some wrangling with existing DSPs. But it can be worth it. Check out our amazing conversation about in-housing decision engines, and effectively future-proofing your UA strategy for potential curveballs. KEY HIGHLIGHTS📈 How to future-proof growth strategy⚖️ The case for bringing the decision engine in-house✅ We still have to be SKAdNetwork compliant🏗️ How to build bidder as a service in-house🤝 The shift of UA towards engagement and retention👩‍🔬 The expertise necessary to build a decision engine**Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-build-a-bidding-decision-engine-to-future-proof-your-user-acquisition-activity-with-jayne-peressini-senior-director-mobile-marketing-and-growth-at-electronic-arts/**Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Last week, we talked about what’s up with Facebook - and this week we’re taking a look at what’s happening with Google post iOS 14.5/ATT. What is changing, what is working with creatives, reporting and day to day ops - and what is a big hot mess right now? It’s been just over a month since Apple pulled the trigger on iOS 14.5 - and in this episode we wanted to highlight the key changes that we are seeing with Google Ads/UAC.**By the way, we go into this in much much more detail in our workshop series Mobile Growth Lab - where we share case studies, examples and data around what is happening. Recorded sessions from the Mobile Growth Lab are available right now. See more details here: https://www.notion.so/Mobile-Growth-Lab-2021-Recorded-Sessions-7132fcdf1d8b4d98a4a91c624423b94f (You can also just join the waitlist for the next edition here: http://MobileGrowthLab.com ).**KEY HIGHLIGHTS🛠️ We’re able to run campaigns & optimize for events without Firebase🌼 Way more ‘modeled’ events🎚️ No hard cap on 8 campaigns🧮 No tROAS. Only tCPA, tCPI🗺️ No such thing as conversion value mapping or setup🔌 No way to plug in MMPs - at least right now🔥 Reporting is a huge mess⌛ 5 day delay in reportingShow notes: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/the-state-of-google-ads-uac-post-att-ios-14-5-8-big-changes-challenges/Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

What’s happening with Facebook? What is changing, what is working with creatives, reporting and day to day ops - and what is a big hot mess right now? It’s just under a month since ATT and iOS 14.5 - and we have a clear early read of what is happening. In today’s episode we survey the landscape of Facebook ads post ATT - and speak about the key challenges and opportunities we see.**By the way, we go into this in much much more detail in our workshop series Mobile Growth Lab - where we share case studies, examples and data around what is happening. Recorded sessions from the Mobile Growth Lab are available right now. See more details here: https://www.notion.so/Mobile-Growth-Lab-2021-Recorded-Sessions-7132fcdf1d8b4d98a4a91c624423b94f (You can also just join the waitlist for the next edition here: http://MobileGrowthLab.com ).**Highlights📊 No purchase data for some apps.🚫No breakdowns between redownloads and new users.❌No clear metrics at ad group and creative level🌪️Reporting is still a mess✔️Install optimization is working relatively well.🚧Non iOS 14 campaigns(targeting IDFA users) are still working.🔄Persona and interest based creative pairing is making progress.🔢Blended numbers still provide strong guidance.Check out the show notes here:https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/the-state-of-facebook-ads-post-ios-14-5-att-4-challenges-4-opportunities/Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

Highly specific or customized SKAdNetwork conversion schemas can be relevant and useful - primarily because these are a good indicator of eventual LTVs of users. However there are aspects of these custom schemas that definitely need to be thought through for them to be relevant - some of which considerations we talk through in this mini-episode.Check out the show notes here:https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-make-compound-synthetic-conversion-value-schemas-work-in-skadnetwork-ios14/Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

“We discovered that the more words we put in front of people, the better return on ad spend we were getting.”Our guest today is Stevie Lutgen, Sr. Manager UA at Radish Fiction. In our conversation today, we talk about the importance of copy(especially long copy) in reaching and retaining valuable audiences. In a world where emphasis is placed on creating short digestible snippets of content, we were surprised to hear that Radish uses paragraphs and paragraphs of text in their most successful ads. In our conversation today, Stevie walks us through the process of selecting, testing, and refining ad copy to best represent their product. We also look at how framing and identifying ‘hooks’ can be so pivotal to performance. This week’s episode is a masterclass in how words, narratives and framing can so dramatically impact performance in a world where they are almost taken for granted.KEY HIGHLIGHTS📈 Why more copy has correlated with stronger ROAS for Radish.📚What Radish’s ads look like - and how they ended up with text-heavy ads.🖼 Framing matters more than the story itself.🧪Watching Netflix for research.👏How stories become ads: who on the team owns what part of the process.📓How stories and narratives work for UAC🎥 Telling stories on Snap and TikTok☎️ How Radish is dealing with the absence of deep linking post iOS 14.5**Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-use-words-to-shatter-short-attention-spans-stevie-lutgen-user-acquisition-radish-fiction/**Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog

"Oh, if we turn off the spigot, is it going to tank our growth?"When practically all UA mixes involve Facebook, it is rare to come across a strategy that doesn’t use it at all. Trang Dao, VP Growth at Atom Finance, talks to us about how they made the decision to remove Facebook—and all paid social—from their UA strategy altogether. We talk about getting management buy-in, the importance of channel diversification, how to restructure processes and how to pick the right digital channels to make sure that growth continues unabated. KEY HIGHLIGHTS🔱 Why Facebook shouldn’t be your only channel🚩 The importance of channel diversification🌿 There are channel options for every company size 🎓 Why products which need education are not a great fit for paid social🏗️ How to rebuild the infrastructure to transition out of Facebook🧗 Manpower intensive channels take a while to ramp up🤑 Publishers follow demonstrated success🚓 Dealing with the potential of fraud with affiliate traffic💅 You need to counteract churn with product management to balance low initial signals🎛️ The few but predictable levers for targeting on pre-install ads💡 How to use mobile web in the face of iOS 14 and ATT changesCheck out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-break-up-with-facebook-the-opportunities-and-challenges-of-an-unusual-acquisition-channel-mix-with-trang-dao-vp-of-growth-at-atom-finance/**Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog**Check out our podcast featuring inside stories of how technology evolves and grows:http://HowThingsGrow.co

Our guest today is Adam Lovallo, CEO and founder of Thesis, host of the MAU [Talk] podcast, and founder of grow.co. Adam was our first guest on How Things Grow, and his episode on the rise and fall of daily deals was a very interesting behind-the-scenes peek into a roller-coaster of time that he lived through. Today, we are excited to talk to him about a subject that he feels strongly about: incrementality. We start with talking about what incrementality testing is, how to identify signs of underlying issues in campaigns, and why Facebook and Google reported numbers can be problematic. Adam then goes on to describe prescriptions on how UA teams can solve incrementality issues, discussing the efficacy and potential outcomes of each. Finally, we talk about the role of MMPs, how iOS 14 plays into the picture, the critical importance of channel mix in budgeting and performance decisions, and the importance of seemingly old-school ways to measure performance like blended CPAs or marketing-as-percentage-of-sales. This is a masterclass in understanding the true impact of your marketing, and an unmissable episode for anyone who has questions about how to diagnose issues and implement fixes in their strategy. Enjoy! KEY HIGHLIGHTS🤔 What are incremental conversions🚩 The first signs of an incrementality issue💥 Results from an incrementality test can be startling to advertisers💊 Prescriptions to fix incrementality issues🔀 Why you should change up your channel mix🙋 Self-attributing channels are configured to take credit⛔ The limitations of MMPs with tracking🌎 How geographic targeting can generate clean data🧮 The importance of using blended numbers to determine CACCheck out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/is-your-cac-10x-what-it-should-be-how-to-surface-incrementality-issues-in-your-paid-ua-with-adam-lovallo-ceo-and-founder-of-thesis/**Get more mobile user acquisition goodies here:http://RocketShipHQ.comhttp://RocketShipHQ.com/blog**Check out our podcast featuring inside stories of how technology evolves and grows:http://HowThingsGrow.co