Apptivate: App Marketing Explained

In this special 200th edition of our Apptivate Podcast, co-host Patrick Eichmann interviews three of Remerge’s regional directors in an insightful discussion about app advertising trends across EMEA, Japan & Korea, and INSEA. You’ll learn about the regional differences and advertising trends across various app verticals. You’ll also get regional insights on retargeting and mobile privacy from all corners of the world. This episode features Hide Cho, Regional Director for Japan and Korea, Kate Taganova, Director of Sales for EMEA, and Maria Latif, Regional Manager for INSEA.Questions guests answered in this episode:What app verticals do you mostly work within your region?What trends are you seeing for app businesses in your region right now?What have you learned about retargeting in your region?Is mobile app privacy viewed as an important topic in your region? What are people saying about it?Timestamp:1:54 Introductions to Remerge’s regional directors4:21 Popular app verticals and trending topics in EMEA6:01 Popular app verticals and trending topics in Japan and Korea8:03 Popular app verticals and trending topics in INSEA10:30 Retargeting in EMEA13:13 Retargeting in Japan and Korea16:09 Retargeting in INSEA20:13 Mobile privacy in EMEA22:05 Mobile privacy in INSEA24:27 Mobile privacy in Japan and KoreaQuotes:(4:40-5:19) Kate - EMEA: “App businesses are constantly pushing boundaries to find cost-effective and efficient ways to re-engage their move valuable users, and there are also different goals for different verticals. For gaming, for instance, it’s important to explore strategies to re-engage users post-install with a focus on maintaining engagement, building loyalty, and also increasing lifetime value.”(14:16-14:32) Hide - Japan & Korea: “What we sometimes see is a lot of collaboration. Let’s say a specific game does a collaboration with an anime character, a Disney character, or even specific brands. During these collaborations, game developers want to really push their advertising spend, including retargeting.”(8.41-9.09) Maria - INSEA: "We’ve seen finance apps really taking off. One of the reasons for that is there is a big push across SE Asia for cashless payments, but we also see a trend in microloans as well. Micro loans are really cool in the sense that they actually empower underserved communities and businesses where traditional banking has not reached them yet."7.22-7.45 Hide - Japan & Korea:  "Before, we saw a lot of smaller, independent gaming companies publishing new games, and an app is a great way to access all different markets around the world. You develop a great game, put it on the Google Play Store and you reach users all around the world, but marketing it takes a lot of knowledge and financial muscles – so we’ve started to see this consolidation of gaming companies."Mentioned in this episode:Patrick Eichmann’s LinkedInMaria Latif’s LinkedInHide Cho’s LinkedInKate Taganova’s LinkedInRemerge

Questions John answered in this episode:If you were a marketing manager focused on creatives at an e-commerce brand, how would you get started using AI to produce ads?How do you think creative teams are evolving now that AI is here?Will there still be a need to work with humans in a world where AI can create ads on demand, and in what role?How is AI democratizing access to high-quality content for small and mid-sized brands?What AI tools do you recommend for marketers?How much should marketers be on top of new AI tools?Tell us about your time at Bluestacks.What advice would you give to someone trying to break into marketing today?Timestamp:0:58 John’s background3:20 Footage engineering aka AI-generated imagery4:57 Getting started with AI for making ads7:26 Limitations of using AI for advertising9:38 Will AI take our jobs?12:43 The role of humans in AI-generated ads14:58 The value of AI for creating ads16:47 Recommended AI tools18:28 How much should marketers be on top of new AI tools?21:48 BlueStacks23:43 How to rise to the top27:47 What to do in Silicon ValleyQuotes:(4:05-4:26) “Yes, the AI orchestrates the script, the voiceover, the performance framework, the footage with the supers, the music – but it needs good ingredients to work with to make the sauce. So, if you can actually engineer footage – particularly with people and products in the frame together (because that’s hard to shoot at scale),  it would be a complete game-changer for the marketing industry.”Mentioned in this episode:John Gargiulo’s LinkedInAirpostReady SetSleepless

Questions Drew answered in this episode:How do you go about data analysis and storytelling?Are there data points or topics you like to dig into that are often overlooked?Sometimes the results of internal models don’t match. What do you do when there are inconsistencies?What advice would you give to new managers?Timestamp:1:30 Drew’s background4:57 What is Varo Bank?7:00 Pivot tables for storytelling8:28 How to present your story12:30 Choosing the right segments to focus on18:12 When data is inconsistent22:16 Drew’s approach to leadershipQuotes:(14:33-14:44) “The value of retrospectives is you run a whole campaign and then you break apart everything to find out what the clear wins are.”(22:22-22:26) “Leadership is a privilege – not a right. Employees are your greatest resource.”Mentioned in this episode:Drew Hampton’s LinkedInVaro Bank

Questions Josh answered in this episode:How big is the mergers & acquisitions marketplace for mobile apps?What advice do you have for app developers at an inflection point with their business where they’re not meeting their goals?What categories are BlueThrone’s strengths?What can app developers do to increase their odds of being discovered by an acquisition company?How do you evaluate an app to determine if you want to acquire it?What should founders and developers be cautious about when talking to app buyers?Timestamp:1:24 Josh’s background and a little about BlueThrone4:40 The mobile app M&A marketplace5:47 BlueThrone’s value proposition7:05 What can acquirers do for app developers11:17 How to be discovered by an app acquisition company14:15 What are app acquisition companies looking for in an app17:43 Red flags for app buyersQuotes:(14:20-14:28) “A good litmus test is to see how much of your traffic is organic. If you can sustain the business based on its organic traffic, that really signifies product-market fit.”(15:32-15:46) “A really good piece of advice I often give founders is don’t be shy about the stuff that’s not working. You can very much tell the potential acquirer about it. But the winning formula is to present a game plan on how you’re going to solve that.”Mentioned in this Episode:Josh Peleg’s LinkedInBlueThroneemail: josh.p@bluethrone.io 

Questions Toby answered in this episode:Can you tell me about a significant but small win from your early days as a launcher?When did the advertising component of DoorDash’s business begin?What role did you play in DoorDash’s transition to including non-restaurant categories in your platform? And how does the advertising strategy differ?Can you tell us about a key challenge you faced? Or which milestones you’re most proud of?Are there any trends or new initiatives that you see shaping DoorDash or the DoorDash advertising platform in the next few years?Timestamp:0:38 Toby Espinosa’s background at DoorDash1:36 DoorDash’s founding story & Toby’s first big win9:09 Building DoorDash’s advertising CPA model18:54 Expanding into non-restaurant categories22:09 DoorDash’s newest ad solutions23:33 DoorDash’s challenge and opportunity29:28 How to invest in the future31:51 Best of San FranciscoQuotes:(9:40-9:56) “So we started by building a discounting platform that allowed any one of our restaurant partners to discount an item and target specific outcomes, whether it’s a first-time user, a lapsed user, etc.”(20:05 - 20:16) “We want to bring consumers a relevant piece of content, and we might also bring them a promotion or discount to help increase the conversion rate of that sale.” (23:31 - 23:49) “The way we look at this space is that we were founded on a very simple principle – to help local economies grow. We are probably about two or three percent into that journey.”Mentioned in this Episode:Toby Espinosa’s LinkedInDoorDashDoorDash unveils new platform for enterprise restaurantsDoorDash adds new capabilities for CPG partners

Kevin Kawai, the Lead Growth Marketer at NewsBreak, brings over a decade of growth marketing expertise to the discussion. He shares insights on no-cost growth strategies, optimizing onboarding processes, and leveraging waitlist campaigns. Kevin emphasizes the importance of user feedback to enhance app features and discusses balancing short-term tactics with long-term growth goals. Plus, he explores the potential of AI in revolutionizing marketing strategies. Perfect for aspiring marketers looking to boost app success!

In this live edition of the Apptivate podcast, Remerge CEO and co-founder, Pan Katsukis, interviews the Vice President of DoorDash Ads, Toby Espinosa, about the company’s advertising journey – live on stage at the App Growth Summit in San Francisco. DoorDash is now one of the largest marketplaces in the world for delivering food, goods, and more, generating over 80 billion in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). Hear about their humble beginnings in Palo Alto, how they flipped the paradigm for helping restaurants and small businesses to grow through their advertising platform, and where they are today with their retail media network. Questions answered in this episode:Can you describe your role at DoorDash and how it evolved?Do you provide tools outside your platform?How do restaurants budget for advertising on social media with DoorDash?How do retailers tap into DoorDash’s ad tech?How was the process of building your advertising technology?What’s a trend in mobile you see working well?Timestamp:1:37 The evolution of Toby’s role at DoorDash4:30 DoorDash’s beginning7:30 Advertising that works for restaurants9:37 Digital tools for your growth inventory13:44 Payment-withholding for advertising vs CPA15:08 Building business for retailers17:40 Mindset to build an ad tech empire21:05 Understanding your value propositionQuotes:(5:40-5:53) “When we started, that was the whole idea: to provide the delivery service so that these restaurants on Main Street and every small business can grow. So our founding principle was growth.”(9:38-9:51) “We have a perspective within DoorDash that the best businesses are layer cakes, and they’re built over time. And the way you build that layer cake is by basically continuously asking your customer what they need in order to be successful.”Mentioned in this Episode:Toby Espinosa’s LinkedInDoorDash

How do you know you’re on the best path to growing your app? Michelle Murcia, the Head of Growth at Storybeat (a comprehensive image-editing app for social content), unpacks this question for mobile marketers. Michelle discusses the stages, frameworks, and methodologies that she considers essential for driving growth and revenue on mobile.Questions Michelle answered in this episode:Can you tell us about your role as Head of Growth at Storybeat? And what does your typical day look like?How do you find your target app users (content creators and businesses)?What’s your approach to managing the lifecycle of each user and identifying growth opportunities?What is your North Star metric?What skills do you think are crucial for working in mobile marketing today?What trends do you see shaping the future of mobile marketing, especially for smaller companies?Timestamp:1:00 What is Storybeat?1:32 Michelle’s role as Head of Growth3:53 Attracting content creators5:48 Identifying growth opportunities15:00 Defining our North Star17:00 How to become a mobile marketer19:20 Trends in growth marketing strategy23:38 What to do in Barcelona & ColombiaQuotes:(7:20-7:40) “You need to identify the stage of growth that your company is in before you can start to create the [growth] strategy. In terms of growth, there are normally three different stages: the discovery stage of the startup, the optimization, and when it’s more mature, to scale it.”(15:19-15:39) “A North Star metric is a metric that needs to meet at least three requirements: The first one is that it needs to help show you the value of your product to the user; second is to, of course, measure the happiness of the user; and third, that it brought revenue.”Mentioned in this Episode:Michelle Murcia’s LinkedInStorybeat

Could streaming be the next big channel for mobile marketers? Peter Hamilton, Head of Ad Innovation at Roku believes it will be. In this episode, he chats with Taylor about how action ads work on Roku – where viewers can place orders or download an app directly from their TVs. He also discusses their newest product for advertisers called ‘Roku Ads Manager’. Targeting and measurement with CTV just got a whole lot better. Tune in to the episode and find out how.Questions Peter answered in this episode:What does Head of Ad Innovation mean? And what innovations are happening at Roku?How do you make the ads relevant to the viewer?How do action ads work? And what impact have you seen from allowing viewers to place orders directly from their tv?Is there anything besides the action ads that makes streaming such a powerful advertising channel?Who is your ideal customer to be using this product?What can’t I miss on a weekend trip to Seattle?Timestamp:1:02 Peter’s background4:35 Solving the ‘discovery’ problem with streaming6:00 Ad innovation at Roku7:25 Targeted capabilities with streaming8:45 Action ads on tv13:00 Roku Ads Manager17:07 Who is Roku Ads Manager for?20:36 Creatives for CTV27:06 A weekend in SeattleQuotes:(17:48-18:12) “Whether you’re trying to drive downloads, gameplay or mobile subscriptions, Roku Ads Manager is valuable from a targeting and measurement standpoint. We want to prove the value and ROAS of CTV.”(20:36-20:40) “CTV is the next frontier for the growth hacker to solve.”(22:34-22:47) “The number one thing that impacts CTV is your creative. Does it get someone to lean forward and press ‘okay’ on the remote? Does it get them to pull your website up on their phone or download your app?” Mentioned in this Episode:Peter Hamilton’s LinkedInRoku Ads ManagerPeter Hamilton’s Instagram

When Alex Song had to fold a business due to the signal loss from the post-iOS 14 changes in digital marketing post-iOS 14, he set out to solve this problem. In this episode, Taylor interviews Alex about that solution – an AI-powered data intelligence platform called Proxima. You’ll learn how the platform leverages anonymized first-party data to help digital brands access new customers, lower their acquisition costs, and increase their ROAS. He also shares poignant advice to professionals wondering if they should be taking more risks in their career path. Alex is the CEO and Founder of Proxima. Before launching Proxima, Alex founded three direct-to-consumer businesses, after working a decade as an investment banking analyst.  Questions Alex answered in this episode:What is Proxima and why did you start it?Where are you getting your data? And what are you doing with it to make CPAs lower and ROAS better?How did you manage to solve the loss of signal post-iOS14?How do you think the most successful mobile marketers are getting in front of the right customer at the right moment, without a ton of data to rely on?How do you think about attribution and measurement?What do you think the future looks like for AI-powered marketing platforms?Does your platform work with Android, too?Timestamp:0:50 What is Proxima?2:25 Alex’s background8:00 How does Proxima work?12:54 How most marketers are solving for signal loss14:51 Attribution and measurement16:15 Testing audiences and creative concurrently17:10 The future of AI-powered marketing tools19:32 How to test if Proxima would work for you22:15 Career advice & accelerated learning28:47 What not to miss in NYCQuotes:(13:50-14:16) “What we are really focused on is how people can be empowered to test audiences the same way they feel they can test creatives.”(27:34-27:49) “I think the main difference in my learning curve really came from the speed at which I was willing to be wrong and then to learn from it.”Mentioned in this Episode:Alex Song’s LinkedInProxima