The Mobile User Acquisition Show

Andy Carvell is the co-founder of the growth consulting firm Phiture. Before founding Phiture, Andy led the retention team at Soundcloud, where he helped drive some massive experimentation-driven growth. He is also known for his Mobile Growth Stack, a framework that was built on a 15-year career developing mobile products. In today’s conversation, Andy outlines the impact of privacy changes in iOS 14 on retention and engagement strategies, especially how the reduced reliance on IDFAs impacts tooling and targeting. He also talks about what to look forward to in iOS 14, and using successful strategies from his push notification playbook to increase IDFA opt-ins.KEY HIGHLIGHTS🥰 Why the impact of iOS 14 on retention strategies for apps might not be huge.🆔 What are scoped identifiers? They’re the reason analytics and attribution will continue to operate as they do post iOS 14 as well.🔀 Cross-platform user tracking that currently uses the IDFA will need to change 🔗 Deep linking will still exist. Deferred deep linking needs figuring out. 💨 Shifting from deterministic to probabilistic methods to identify users will make some magic vanish.👀 Using fingerprinting to identify users might be a grey area in Apple’s privacy ruling. 🌎 Privacy changes will affect geofencing campaigns and segments that require accuracy to work.👍 Surprisingly most CDPs are well set up with regard to user privacy; and have solutions to continue without IDFAs for most part.📒 Account creation within apps is going to become more important.😎 Cool stuff to look forward to in iOS 14.📋 How to use push notification prompt strategies to get pre-permissions for IDFAs. 📚 There are other opt-in playbooks to learn from.Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-idfa-changes-in-ios-14-will-impact-retention-and-engagement-strategies-with-andy-carvell-co-founder-at-phiture/**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 Gonzalo Fasanella, Chief Marketing Officer at Tactile Games. Gonzalo and his team have taken a strikingly unconventional approach to user acquisition and growth - by running ads that emphasize short, dramatic vignettes of stories rather than gameplay. Today we’re thrilled to dive into how they think about their strikingly original creatives, how their teams are structured to drive creativity, how they measure and track their performance - and much much more about everything that has made their hit game Lily’s Garden such a huge hit.Key highlights: 📖 What inspired Tactile Games to create story-driven games🥇 Making the story a priority instead of an afterthought in a design-heavy game♀️ The idea of creating a relatable female protagonist🏡 Filling a gap in the market by creating relatable games🔎 Why Tactile Games relied on focus groups for key decisions about ads - and how these focus groups were structured.🎨 How to determine the right mix of flow and elements to ensure ad recall for users😾 The surprising starting point for making great ads is understanding how annoying people find ads.🧪 The key elements of high performing ads that the team identified from focus groups.😂 Most ads out in the market are either funny or cute. 💫 Why Tactile Games explored emotions other than funny or cute.🧮 The challenge of finding analytical performance marketers who are also creative🏋️ Exposing creatives to data is the way to empower them⛳ Tactile Games surfaces only two KPIs in front of their creative teams.👍 Why virality is not the goal🖊️ How to structure your working environment to foster creativity🤖 How Tactile Games has used automation to supercharge UACheck out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-create-story-driven-ads-that-drive-massive-performance-with-gonzalo-fasanella-chief-marketing-officer-at-tactile-games/ **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

Kevin Bravo is among the few people we know who have pulled SKAdNetwork apart to study how it works.In our conversation today, Kevin talks offers a minute understanding of literally the bits and bytes of how to make use of SKAdNetwork conversion values to offer as much insight as possible within the limited capabilities of iOS 14  . As changes are imminent, app developers are going to have to tap into their creativity and past user activity data to be able design solutions that are uniquely suited to the conversion value framework within their apps. KEY HIGHLIGHTS🛠️ The mechanics of how SKAdNetwork works 🖱️ The journey of a user from click to conversion🌐 How ad signatures enable user attribution⏳ The tale of two timers: understanding how postbacks work💾 The two functions that are critical for tracking on SKAdNetwork📨 How to use your 64 bits of information wisely⛰️ How identifying what makes a high value user high value is key to making the most of SKAdNetwork🔢 Different models for picking conversion values📱 Selecting the right in-app events to send signals💰 Understanding your how your LTV curve is shaped plays a big role in determining the right conversion value model🎛️ What is mixed modelling: tracking revenue and engagement events🧲 How to pick conversion models for ad monetized games⏰ Using some of the 64 bits to connote time elapsed.🎨 How subscription apps can get creative by using events other than free trial and subscription 📏 One size doesn’t fit all: conversion streams play dictate how bits can and should be optimisedCheck out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-design-a-conversion-value-framework-for-succeeding-with-skadnetwork-with-kevin-bravo-co-founder-at-2nd-potion**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

There’s speculation and worry about what marketing will look like in a post-IDFA world - especially since laser-focused targeting of high-value users on platforms like Facebook has been so incredibly successful. But there is no reason that the future should be entirely gloomy without this ability to laser-target users. We’ve all been in a world without hyper-targeting; we just have to look back to lessons from the past to see what the future might look like. KEY HIGHLIGHTS💰 Why we are bidding very high on Facebook’s value-optimized campaigns, but not on Snapchat or TikTok🧮 How marketers justify high CPIs and CPMs on Facebook🔬 Precise targeting is very impactful; but we are going to learn to live without it📜 What we did pre-2016 is going to help us navigate the futureCheck out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/back-to-the-future-how-pre-2016-ua-strategies-prepare-us-for-a-post-idfa-world/**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 Erich Detert, senior performance marketing manager at InnoGames. Copy is often overlooked because of the great focus on visual creatives, and therefore becomes a missed opportunity for marketers to connect with and persuade potential users. In our conversation today, Erich underlines the critical importance of ad copy in performance marketing, and shares his observations of how his experiments have impacted key metrics and lead to more qualified users and stronger ROAS.KEY HIGHLIGHTS🧪 What inspired Erich to start testing ad copy.🔮 What sort of results you can expect from each type of ad copy.🖱️ Why more clicky or sensational copy may not always be the best performer.✨ Why high quality, representative ad copy can be even more important with iOS 14.📏 How length makes a difference to performance of ad copy.🌱 What early stage startups should do with ad copy tests.🎥  How important ad copy is for video as compared to display or image ads.🎞️ How important video thumbnails are in driving performance.📱 What channels the ad copy matters in. Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/why-ad-copy-is-critical-for-mobile-ua-campaigns-with-erich-detert-senior-performance-marketing-manager-at-innogames**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

We’ve discussed at length about the upcoming changes in mobile measurement as a result of IDFA becoming opt-in in iOS 14.A critical aspect of navigating this change is about managing user consent to make the most of the options in iOS 14. In this episode, we talk about what you can do with consent flows – and why it matters for your iOS 14 strategy.Key highlights: 📋 Why getting consent matters.💬 You can only ask once.🔔 Test soft prompts before a hard one, much like for PNs🎯 Test the right messaging in the Apple-provided prompt⏳ Why delaying opt-in is the best decision in certain casesCheck out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-maximize-idfas-opt-ins-with-thoughtful-user-consent-flows/ **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 Sandra Wu, paid content marketer at Blinkist. In today’s interview, Sandra dispels many of the misconceptions about using these marketing channels. Starting from suggesting an entirely different approach to these ads and understanding the place it occupies in the funnel, to selecting the right metrics to measure success and critically evaluating if paid content marketing is indeed the right user flow for an app, she covers all bases. In this conversation, she highlights the many differences between Facebook and Google advertising and paid content marketing with relatable examples and sharp insights. Key highlights: 🧮How paid content marketing differs from Facebook and Google ads.🔎The user flow on platforms like Outbrain and Taboola.🛬Landing pages and the paid content marketing user flow.🧩Components of a paid content ad.✒️Why the headline is the first touchpoint for a user.🤔Why two seemingly similar headlines can have very different performance.🎯How copy helps qualify the right users.🤞Why it’s important to mirror the style of the top publisher that you expect to work on.🎰Why clickbait traffic can become very expensive.💯How sensationalism or buzzwords can be impactful. 🛣️When to use a direct-to-app store user flow, and when to use a landing page.🗺️How to structure a landing page.⚖️How to strike the right balance between being sales-y and valuable.⚠️The biggest mistakes made by marketers when it comes to paid content marketing.Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-to-unlock-the-power-of-paid-content-marketing-using-outbrain-taboola-with-sandra-wu-paid-content-marketing-lead-at-blinkist/**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 Paula Neves, product manager at Square Enix. We discuss how psychological models are integral for understanding user personas, which in turn give us data and insights on how to attract, engage and motivate different kinds of users - and change what oftentimes is the essence of a game itself. This is very much a masterclass in gamer psychology - and we’re thrilled to present our conversation with one of the smartest folks in mobile today.Key highlights: 🏅 What inspired Paula to start using psychological frameworks to understand gamer motivation. 🔑 The key psychological models and frameworks that are relevant for understanding gamer motivation.🎮 How psychological models help point to the kinds of players a game will attract.📊 How Paula adapted models originally made for AAA games for an F2P context.📈 How to evaluate a game as per a psychological model prior to its launch.🧐 How psychological models help align on a vision for the game.🤝 How to resolve disagreements that may come up when evaluating a game according to a psychological model.👀 How Paula and her team structure their competitive analysis.🧑‍🤝‍🧑 How to address resistance to applying psychological models within a team.📄 How user testing, surveys and focus groups fit into the process of applying psychological models.⚙️ How UA can be used to test user archetypes.💬 How in-game user behavior can be tied back to the creatives or messaging that brought a user in.🏃‍♀️  How psychological models can be applied to a game that is already live and active.🕹️ How a game developer might start implementing psychological models. Check out the show notes here:https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/player-motivations-psychological-models-paula-neves-square-enix/**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 Maor Sadra, co-founder & CEO at Incrmntal. In today’s episode, we dive into how last touch attribution has always been fraught with inaccuracies and how it measuring incrementality might just be the best way to understand what the true impact of your digital marketing is.Key Highlights:🥴 Why last touch attribution has always been problematic🧐 What led to Uber being susceptible to fraud.😤 How there’s a thin line between frauds and self-attribution, when it comes to claiming credit for click and view through installs😯 How last touch attribution enabled fraud🤦‍♂️ You don’t get direct or reliable access to impression or click level data from Facebook, or Google for mobile apps😍 If you own your domain, you’ll get individual data about users and their impressions🤨 How MTA can be challenging to make work on mobile🙄 Marketing measurement is not deterministic👍 Often if an advertiser pauses marketing temporarily, they start to see that they might be spending too much.✌️ With sporadic incrementality testing, one will not be able to optimize marketing on an ongoing basis🤔 Causal inference is critical while measuring incrementality.🥂 The last touch attribution is a good way to understand creative performance..🤵 Is measuring incrementality essential at small scale budgets? Check out the show notes here:https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/how-incrementality-helps-measure-the-true-impact-of-marketing-spend-with-maor-sadra-ceo-co-founder-at-incrmntal/**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

The pursuit of free growth is much talked about & lauded. However, it's worth keeping in mind that every form of growth comes with some cost attached.In this mini-episode, we explain why that is the case (even if you're not reliant on paid acquisition).We'll be back with our regular programming of interviews starting next week.Check out the show notes here: https://mobileuseracquisitionshow.com/episode/theres-no-such-thing-as-free-growth/**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