Growth Masterminds: mobile growth podcast

How can you kill it on TikTok, generate more organic downloads, and build your community quickly? Oh ... and by the way ... you don't have a huge budget. In this episode of Growth Masterminds we meet Sarah Neill, founder and CEO of Mys Tyler, a platform connecting women with 'body doubles' to find clothing that fits perfectly, thus solving the common problem of shopping disappointment. Sarah shares her growth story, explaining how they use Meta ads, paid PR opportunities with major publications and what they've done in an experimental but highly successful use of TikTok for organic growth. She shares an insightful strategy involving unpaid internships, where interns created TikTok content that significantly boosted app downloads and engagement, demonstrating the power of authentic, user-generated content in digital marketing. 00:00 Exploring Paid Performance Opportunities in Digital Media 01:07 Introducing Ms. Tyler: A Revolutionary Fashion Platform 03:46 Growth Channels and Strategies for Startups 08:34 Mastering TikTok: A Unique Internship Approach 20:28 Reflecting on Marketing Insights and Future Plans

In this episode of Growth Mastermind, host John Koetsier discusses the challenges of iOS mobile measurement in the era of privacy updates, focusing on the difficulty of distinguishing between organic and paid acquisition and the fragmentation of measurement across different methods: SKAN, IDFA, IDFV, MMP, and more. Guests Evyatar Ram and Kelsey Lee, product and marketing managers, introduce Singular's solution to these challenges: unified measurement. This innovative approach combines SKAdNetwork and tracker data to provide marketers with a single, de-duplicated, and accurate view of user acquisition (UA) activity on iOS, tackling issues like over/under counting and data fragmentation. The solution enhances decision-making by offering comprehensive insights into installs, revenue cohorts, and event tracking without the typical delays or inaccuracies stemming from data fragmentation. Beta testers report significant improvements in campaign performance and attribution accuracy thanks to unified measurement, indicating a strong step forward in resolving iOS attribution woes. 00:00 Navigating the Chaos of iOS Mobile Measurement 01:32 The Fragmentation Problem in iOS Attribution 04:37 Unified Measurement: A Revolutionary Solution 07:18 Beta Testers Validate Unified Measurement's Impact 11:12 Differentiating Unified Measurement from Other Solutions 13:54 The Future of Unified Measurement and Its Evolution 17:29 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions

This special episode of Growth Masterminds features an all-women panel discussing their experiences and challenges in the growth industry. The guests share their career paths, biggest triumphs, and the key challenges they've faced, offering advice for women considering a career in growth. The panel comprises of five accomplished women from various companies who delve into topics such as the importance of self-advocacy, the value of mentorship, and the need to be adaptable and data literate in a fast-evolving field. The conversation also highlights the significance of community and support among women in tech and growth sectors.

Guests include:

Adrienne Rice, Performance Media Director, M&C Saatchi Performance

Dr. Matina Thomaidou, VP data science, Dataseat

Tamanda Itaye, Senior Global Performance Marketing Manager, WFP - ShareTheMeal

Saadi Muslu, VP Marketing, Singular

Susan Kuo, Chief Operating Officer, Singular

00:00 Welcome to the Women in Growth Special Episode

00:32 Introducing the Panel: Leaders in Growth

02:26 Journey into Growth: Panelists Share Their Stories

12:50 Biggest Career Triumphs: Stories of Success

22:53 Overcoming Challenges: Insights from the Panel

25:53 Cross-Functional Collaboration in Data Science

27:07 Navigating Leadership and Personal Growth

31:30 Challenges of Balancing Professional and Personal Life

36:47 Empowering Women in the Workplace

45:21 Advice for Women Considering the Growth Space

52:45 Closing Remarks and Appreciation

How do you get more data from ad platforms than they offer? Simple: use Singular. No, we're not talking about anything underhanded or tricky. We're simply getting multiple dimensions and breakdowns that are individually available but not generally visible together. That lack of visibility has a cost: complexity, time, and your ability to see optimization or targeting capability. In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Singular product manager Maayan Shor about the companies' new feature to bring as much data into your BI system as possible, allowing marketers to make the smartest optimization and allocation decisions. Multiple Breakdowns helps marketers by enabling access to a broader range of data breakdowns without the need to switch views constantly. This capability allows marketers to uncover hidden trends, fine-tune targeting strategies, and make more informed decisions by providing a more comprehensive view of campaign data across platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat. We also chat about how specific breakdowns, such as age and gender, can lead to more precise targeting and identification of unexpected audience segments. 00:00 Navigating Data Challenges in Ad Platforms 00:28 The Struggle for More Data: Challenges and Solutions 03:15 Introducing Multiple Breakdowns: A Game-Changer for Marketers 04:55 Unlocking New Marketing Strategies with Enhanced Data 06:21 Optimizing Creative Strategies with Targeted Insights 07:11 Frequency and Impact of Data Analysis in Marketing 09:09 Exploring New Dimensions: DMA Breakdowns and Their Impact 11:07 Selecting the Right Data Breakdowns for Your Marketing Goals 12:37 Closing Thoughts and Appreciation

Welcome to a podcast crosspost from SplitMetrics' App Growth Talks. Host Lina Danilchik chats with usual Growth Masterminds host John Koetsier as they talk about Singular's ROI Index for 2024 highlighting the best ad networks on the planet. I chat about the significance of Singular's ROI Index, detailing the best mobile ad networks across various geographies and verticals. Lina asks me about my background in mobile ad tech and my path from journalist to VP of Insights at Singular, plus my philosophy on app growth and user acquisition. Key topics include the effectiveness of various ad networks like Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, and ironSource, the surprising success of smaller networks like Moloco, the potential of Apple Search Ads, and the strategic use of artificial intelligence in marketing. We also talk about future innovations in the mobile industry, including multiple app stores and ads personalized through generative AI. See a full transcript on SplitMetrics' website:https://splitmetrics.com/blog/category/app-growth-series/ 00:00 Welcome to a Special Crossover Episode! 00:43 Introducing John Koetsier 03:58 Unveiling the ROI Index: A Deep Dive into Mobile Ad Networks 05:21 The Golden Six: Top Ad Networks Uncovered 08:40 Exploring Apple's Search Ads Performance 15:08 Reddit's Unique Position in the Ad Space 19:10 Exploring AI's Impact and Future in Tech 21:15 The Evolution of Advertising with AI 24:49 Emerging Technologies and Innovations in the Industry 28:47 Insights from the ROI Index Report 30:55 Advice for Small and Growing Mobile Businesses 36:09 Concluding Thoughts and Future Sessions

How will Google’s new consent management platform requirement impact mobile app and game publishers? You now need a CMP ... what's that all about? In this Growth Masterminds we dive into the complexities of managing user privacy and consent in mobile apps and websites. Google's new consent management platform requirements for AdMob, AdSense, and Ad Manager users are in effect right now. So we chat with Gabe Morazan, a product director, and Achraff-Nour Meski, a client services leader from Source Point, a CMP provider. Together, we explore what CMPs are, their role in ensuring compliance with privacy laws like GDPR, and how they can be seamlessly integrated into the user experience without negatively impacting app engagement. 00:00 Introduction to Privacy and Consent Management 00:36 Understanding Google's New Consent Management Platform Requirement 00:51 Expert Insights: The Role and Functionality of CMPs 04:53 Customizing Consent Messages for User Experience 09:09 Global Privacy Control: Simplifying Consent Across Platforms 15:16 The Future of Privacy and Consent Management 18:37 Closing Thoughts and Acknowledgements

Why do gamers like certain games and not others? GameTree is a LFG (looking for group) app that connects gamers to play together. To do that, GameTree leverages psychology to build Gaming DNA, which analyzes why certain players like specific games. Gaming DNA shows what kinds of gamers there are, who likes which games, and who might enjoy playing with others. In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with GameTree founders Dana Sydorenko and John Uke. Their conversation reveals insights into how gaming preferences differ across genders, ages, and platforms, touching on the social dynamics of gaming, the role of gamer psychology, and the implications for game design and marketing. Key topics include the surprising patterns of gaming among men and women, the importance of social connections in gaming, and how GameTree's technology is pioneering personalized gaming experiences. Additionally, the discussion delves into the potential of mobile gaming, the impact of VR and Web3 on the gaming landscape, and the significance of supporting diversity in gaming, particularly the inclusion of women in gaming communities and development. 00:00 Introduction to Gamer Psychology 00:59 Introducing GameTree and its Founders 01:34 Gender Differences in Gaming 03:22 Platform Preferences and Gaming Patterns 04:58 The Importance of Gaming DNA 06:21 The Social Aspect of Gaming 15:30 The Role of Mobile Gaming 22:38 The Future of Gaming: VR and Blockchain 26:39 Women in Gaming 31:51 Conclusion

Where is web3 in 2024? Investment is down, but there is still $91 billion of funding and 95 current unicorns in the space. Asaf Nadler, CEO of Addressable, says the game has shifted from hype to build mode. In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Asaf to discuss the current state and future of web3, especially in relation to marketing and gaming. They delve into how blockchain can revolutionize game ecosystems by enabling asset sharing across different games and discuss the integration between Singular and Addressable. This integration aims to bridge the gap between marketing data and blockchain conversions, potentially transforming web3 advertising and marketing strategies. Also, Nadler provides insights into the challenges and opportunities of marketing in the web3 space, the transition towards mobile in the web3 ecosystem, and the potential future of app and game development on blockchain technology. 00:00 Introduction to Web3 and Gaming Ecosystems 00:36 Welcome to Growth Masterminds Podcast 01:49 The Current State of Web3 and Blockchain 03:56 The Impact of Web3 on Gaming 07:33 The Role of Web3 in Decentralized Finance (Defi) 09:51 The Challenges and Opportunities of Web3 in Mobile 10:29 Addressing the Disconnect Between Data Sets in Marketing 19:37 The Future of Web3 and its Penetration in Various Verticals 28:16 Conclusion: The Potential of Open, Decentralized Data

In this episode of Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Singular product manager Gali Housman and product marketing manager Kelsey Lee about the complexities of cross-platform performance marketing. They discuss the necessity of tracking customer journeys across platforms to gain full return on investment and to adhere to user privacy concerns. Singular, their platform of choice, has increasingly evolved to address these intricacies providing tools to measure gaming engagement and the effectiveness of marketing strategies across platforms. Kelsey emphasizes the need for an end-to-end solution to manage the influx of data while ensuring full measurement by marketers. 00:00 Introduction to Journey Tracking in Marketing 00:27 Welcome to Growth Masterminds 00:56 Challenges in Cross-Platform Marketing 01:30 Changes in the Gaming Industry 01:45 The Impact of the Pandemic on Gaming 02:27 The Shift to Mobile Marketing 03:05 The Role of Privacy in Marketing 03:24 The Future of Cross-Platform Games 05:06 The Challenges of Cross-Platform Marketing 06:17 The Importance of User Tracking 10:58 The Role of Conversions API in Marketing 16:13 The Benefits of Cross-Platform Solutions 20:52 The Future of Cross-Platform Marketing 22:17 Conclusion and Wrap Up

How can you get pre-ATT levels of behavioral targeting in a privacy-safe way? Can you? In this Growth Masterminds we’re chatting with the co-founder of an AI-powered tool that says it analyzes game play and user behavior to understand gamers and what they do. Then it recommends games that they’ll like, while rewarding them for playing recommended games. Our guest is a co-founder of Gamelight, Gunay Aliyeva. Host John Koetsier interviews her about Gamelight, an AI-powered tool that analyzes user behavior and gameplay for targeted recommendations. The tool utilizes AI algorithms and a user's data (with given permission) to suggest games based on their preferences. Gamelight endeavors to minimize game downloads and maximize user retention through personalized recommendations. They also discuss Gamelight's arbitrage strategy of acquiring users at a generalized level, then offering highly targeted advertising opportunities to their partners, focusing on long-term user quality and satisfaction. They also touch on the company's expansion into non-gaming apps, the use of a consumer rewards system, and their global reach. 00:00 Introduction 01:15 Exploring the Functionality of Gamelight 03:02 Discussing the Privacy Aspect of Gamelight 04:32 Understanding the User Acquisition Strategy 05:12 Challenging the Traditional Ad Network Model 06:14 The Long-Term Vision of Gamelight 07:08 Understanding User Behavior and Gamelight's Approach 10:03 Discussing the Pricing and Value Proposition of Gamelight 11:08 Expansion into Non-Gaming Apps 15:14 Understanding the Loyalty Program of Gamelight 16:56 Discussing the Global Reach of Gamelight 18:35 Wrapping Up the Discussion

Ever wish somebody had written the book on making mobile app businesses work? Wish no more: the job has been done. In this Growth Masterminds host John Koetsier chats with Russell Ovans, game OG, prof, brewery owner, entrepreneur, data scientist, and current Director of Analytics at East Side Games. Russell discusses his journey from social gaming through to mobile gaming. We delve into a range of topics such as the importance of understanding game analytics and monetization in mobile games, challenges in HR, managing company growth, the impact of pricing strategies on a global scale, the value of A/B testing and player retention. But the big story in this podcast is Russell Ovans' book 'Game Analytics, Retention, and Monetization in Free Play Mobile Games' which is a comprehensive guide to the mechanics of mobile game businesses. 00:00 Introduction and Background 00:00 The Challenges of Running a Mobile App Business 00:44 Introduction to the Guest Speaker: Russell Os 01:17 The Journey into Mobile Gaming 05:26 The Evolution of Facebook as a Gaming Platform 07:48 The Transition from Facebook to Mobile Gaming 09:59 The Importance of Analytics in Mobile Gaming 10:41 The Decision to Write a Book on Mobile Gaming 15:09 The Power of Building an Abstract Schema on Top of Your Data Warehouse 19:32 Understanding the Big Mac Index and AB Testing 20:01 Applying Purchasing Power Parity and Exchange Rates 20:34 Testing Market Response in Mexico 21:11 Adjusting Pricing for Different Markets 22:14 The Challenges of AB Testing 22:46 The Importance of Proper AB Testing 28:53 The Role of Retention in Gaming 33:52 The Complexity of ROAS 36:58 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In this intriguing episode of Growth Mastermind, host John Koetsier chats with industry veteran Farhan Haq, founder of independent growth agency Hyper HQ. They explore crucial strategies to enhance CPMs, discussing the importance of manual calls and real-time bidding in optimizing ad ops within a real-time bidding world. Farhan provides an in-depth look at how games developers and publishers can navigate these processes for effective growth in the mobile gaming landscape. He further delves into ad placements, A/B testing, market strategy, and innovative methods like adjusting in-game rewards based on real-time user worth. The conversation wraps up with an exploration of emerging trends and projections for the future of in-app purchase, subscription, and ad monetization models. 00:00 Introduction and Guest Presentation 01:05 Understanding Ad Operations in an RTB World 01:57 The Importance of Manual Calls and Realtime Bidding 03:46 Optimizing Networks and Running AB Tests 04:05 The Role of Competition in Ad Monetization 04:27 Understanding the Fundamentals of AB Testing 05:53 The Impact of Ad Placement and Pricing on Monetization 06:02 The Importance of Ad Units in Monetization 07:27 The Impact of Automation on Ad Monetization 07:27 The Importance of Hands-On Approach in Ad Monetization 08:48 The Role of Google Ad Manager in Monetization 10:17 The Role of User Acquisition in Monetization 20:23 The Impact of Geographical Location on Monetization 26:59 The Future of Ad Monetization 32:13 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

If you're on the App Store or Google Play, you're paying the platform tax: 30% on all your IAP revenue. But can you legally AND SAFELY escape that? Maybe yes. In this episode of Growth Masterminds, John Koetsier interviews Archie Stonehill, Head of Product at Stash Gigi, to discuss the digital games industry and the evolution of direct-to-consumer platforms. They discuss the rise of third-party app stores, Apple and Google's 'app store tax', the Digital Markets Act in Europe, and how developers can shift towards alternative distribution channels. Stonehill explains the motivation behind Stash.gg, a platform that supports gaming developers in becoming their own platforms and processing their own payments, and shares insights on how developers can engage with their users directly to optimize profitability and improve overall gaming experience. 00:00 Introduction to the Gaming Industry's Challenges 00:43 The Role of Third-Party App Stores 01:29 The Impact of the Digital Markets Act 02:23 The Three Vectors of Pro-Competitive Pushes 04:23 The Importance of Direct Relationships with Players 05:11 The Evolution of the Games Industry 12:36 The Role of Stash in the Gaming Industry 32:26 The Future of the Gaming Industry 36:36 Conclusion

How do you become Apple's iPhone app of the year? In this episode of Growth Masterminds, John Koetsier sits down with Ron Schneidermann, the CEO of AllTrails, an outdoor exploration app. Out of all the millions of apps on the App Store, AllTrails won iPhone app of the year in 2023. How? How does AllTrails grow? How does AllTrails achieve 7X better retention than the average app What decisions boosted AllTrails growth? Schneidermann talks about taking over from the founder in 2015, growing the user base and revenue, and the critical role of their community. We also chat about the importance of continual product development We end with Schneidermann's thoughts on success, staying humble, and surrounding oneself with smart, passionate people can drive success. 00:00 Introduction to the Journey of Success 00:25 The Making of an iPhone App of the Year 01:45 Understanding the Significance of Being iPhone App of the Year 04:10 The All Trails App: A Closer Look 05:18 The Journey from Startup to Success 07:24 The Decision to Reject Quick Flip and Aim for Long-Term Growth 07:44 Key Decisions that Ignited Growth 12:14 The Role of Product Development in Growth 25:33 The Importance of Regular App Updates 27:50 Advice for Aspiring App Developers 28:15 Conclusion: The Importance of Humility and Openness

In this episode of Growth Mastermind, host John Koetsier chats with Faheem Saiyad, director at App Samurai, about the intersection of AI and user acquisition. They dive deep into topics like the role of AI in game development, how AI aids in campaign optimization, and the application of generative AI in the creative process of ad creation. Faheem also shares details about App Samurai's new ad unit, Rewarded Playtime, that incentivizes users for every minute they spend engaging with a game. However, the chat concludes on the idea that AI is still not perfect; it requires human guidance for optimal performance. 00:00 Introduction and welcome 00:14 Getting to know the guest 01:19 The role of AI in game development 03:35 The Impact of AI on user acquisition 06:22 Challenges of campaign optimization 10:25 Introducing rewarded playtime: a new ad unit 13:44 The future of AI in marketing and game development 16:38 Wrapping up the discussion

In this episode of Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier talks with Ayush Choudhary, senior product manager of GenWise. They discuss the development and growth of the GenWise app, a multifaceted platform designed specifically for elders, which is making a big impact in India. Other topics covered include the challenge of marketing to an older demographic, combining AI with real human interaction, the concept of a 'super app', and emerging monetization models. Tune in to explore how GenWise is revolutionizing the way elders interact with technology ... and how to market an app in non-traditional ways for a non-traditional audience. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:18 Introduction to GenWise App 00:26 Interview with Ayush Choudhary 00:45 Understanding the Concept of GenWise 01:16 The Gap in Elders' Navigation of the Digital World 02:03 The Two Main Focus Areas of GenWise 02:47 The Role of Technology in Combating Loneliness 03:13 The Real-life Impact of GenWise 03:46 The Features and Services of GenWise 07:49 The Growth and Funding of GenWise 07:58 Marketing Strategies for GenWise 15:00 The Concept of Super App in the Context of India 19:00 Monetization Model of GenWise 22:33 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In this episode of Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier speaks with mobile marketing expert Lucas Moscon. They discuss strategies to drastically increase app revenue through smart ad monetization and subscription plans. Lucas explains how he has quadrupled revenues for several apps using remote configuration logic. They also explore SKAN 4 and the use of OpenAI in generating conversion models and informing monetization strategies. Furthermore, they touch on the changing landscape of measurement platforms and the importance of understanding user psychology and behavior in subscription-based apps. The conversation wraps up with a brief discussion on the intricacies of SKAdNetwork. 00:00 Introduction 00:26 Welcome to Growth Masterminds 00:48 Guest Introduction: Lucas 01:21 Discussion on AdMon and Subscriptions 01:42 Balancing Full-Time Work and Side Projects 02:15 The Importance of AdMon for Subscription Apps 04:42 The Journey of Building AdMon Framework 11:26 Benefits of Implementing AdMon Framework 16:02 Introduction to SKAN 4 16:05 Building a Custom GPT for SKAN 4 25:44 The Impact of Scan Four on Small Developers 28:45 Conclusion and Future Discussions

According to a recent study, half of all CTV ad targeting is wrong. In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier and expert Chris Kelly, CEO of Upwave, talk about: - CTV targeting - CTV benefits (and limitations) - CTV affordability for smaller advertisers - CTV ads real-time optimization capabilities We also talk about performance versus brand marketing, and the need to both pick apples that are ripe for the harvest as well as plant apple trees to enable future harvesting as well. Look for the blog post and learn about about Singular here: https://www.singular.net/blog/ Check out Upwave here: https://www.upwave.com

Can you play games and save the planet? Maybe, with Dots.eco's new rewarded ad experience that isn't like anything else I've seen. Wooga, Wild Life, and Playtika are using it, so I thought it'd be worth checking out. Maybe you will too :-) In this episode, host John Koetsier chats with Dots.eco chief growth officer Daniel Madrid. Episode summary Dots.eco is a platform that offers real-world environmental rewards to incentivize players in games. The platform allows players to engage in activities such as planting trees, cleaning plastic from the oceans, and saving sea turtle babies while playing their favorite games. The cash for these rewards comes from game publishers and other businesses who pay for the impact. By integrating these environmental rewards into games, publishers can increase engagement, retention, and monetization. Dots.eco has seen significant growth and has partnered with major gaming studios and brands to implement their platform. The results include improved player satisfaction, increased transactions and revenue, and enhanced brand reputation. Takeaways Dots.eco offers real-world environmental rewards to incentivize players in games. Publishers pay for the impact, and the cash comes from game publishers and other businesses. Integrating environmental rewards into games can increase engagement, retention, and monetization. Dots.eco has seen significant growth and has partnered with major gaming studios and brands. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:09 Overview of Dots.eco 02:12 Monetization and Business Model 03:06 Implementation in Games 04:34 Engagement and Retention Strategy 08:17 Results and Growth 12:43 Expansion to Other Industries 16:40 Partnership Process 20:38 Metrics and Results 24:48 Conclusion

Remember Office Space where the consultants came in and asked the QA manager what he actually did around here? (If not, drop everything and go watch it!) In this Growth Masterminds, we chat with Luis de la Camara, VP of Marketing at Rovio, about product marketing managers vs user acquisition managers: what they are, what they do, and why it matters. We also chat about aligning teams for success, crafting joy and a lot of other things, and more, including: - Introduction to Rovio - The difference between product marketing managers and user acquisition managers - The concept of crafts in marketing - The importance of empathy for the player - The roles of CMOs and CGOs in modern app marketing

How do you manage hundreds of apps? Especially when some are D2C, some are B2B, and many are internal?

In this very special Growth Masterminds, we chat with Athina Kanioura, the Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer for PepsiCo. She's managing a digital transformation for PepsiCo to ensure each end customer gets exactly what she or he needs ... but also that every level and layer of a complex multi-billion multinational corporation works together seamlessly.

We chat:

- Strategy

- Apps

- AI

- Generative AI

- Human-centred approach

- Managing internal and external customers

How do you make SKAN work for retail? Games? IAPs? Finance? Subscriptions? Ad monetization?

In this Growth Masterminds we chat with 2 Singular experts who work with hundreds of clients, helping them get their SKAdNetwork models right.

We go through SKAN for:

Games & apps

- admon

- IAP

- subscription

- hypercasual vs mid-core

Verticals for apps

- retail

- fintech

- fast food

- on-demand

- travel

- social

... and more!

The world’s hundred biggest advertisers spent $347 billion in 2022 ... and not much of that hit mobile games, despite the fact that almost 4B people play games worldwide.

The billion-dollar question: how can games access those billions?

There’s been this sort of sad joke about mobile game monetization over the last few years: in other to monetize your game, you advertise other games. That funds your own UA budget, which then mostly gets spent in … other games.

And the $$$ just go on a merry go round, round, and round, and round.

We’re starting to see brands advertise in mobile games now, but it’s not huge.

Andris Merkulovs, the CEO of Monetizr, thinks he has a way to get those big brand dollars into mobile games. In this episode of Growth Masterminds, we chat about exactly how he thinks that could be done.

He helped sell and launch the first-ever banner ad: the (in)famous AT&T "have you ever clicked here ... YOU WILL" ad. Now he's focused on generative AI in advertising in marketing.

In this Growth Masterminds, we chat with Data Axle's Tom Zawacki about the history and the future of marketing and advertising. Ultimately, we chat about generative AI and how it will impact the creation and personalization of ads.

We also hit social media, influencers, Taylor Swift -- yes, once a client -- and that good-old-fashioned marketing methodology: omnichannel.

Entertainment apps most often monetize via interstitials. Same with news and weather apps. For hypercasual games, it's much more about banners than rewarded ads.

I recently saw that Kayzen released a Programmatic Inventory Index based on an analysis of:

- 24 trillion bid requests

- 630,000 apps

- 1.4 billion daily active users

- 10 billion machine learning decisions every day

I’m a sucker for stuff like this, so I thought ... I have to talk to these guys and learn what they found out. So I did ... and now you can too!

If you're doing ad monetization in your app or game, you need that data in your MMP. And you need granular data so that you can calculate accurate ROI, LTV, and ROAS.

In this Growth Masterminds, we chat with Singular director of product Lisi Gardiner about admon insight the Singular product. The key new thing: thanks to a recent product innovation it's now available in Singular's free tier of service.

We talk about how it works, what's supported, why it's now in the free tier, and much more!

What are the 15 worst, most awful, horrific mistakes you can make in mobile user acquisition?

I saw something interesting on LinkedIn a couple of weeks ago: someone posted and said they managed 26 million euros in ad spend to scale apps over the last 12 months.

And ... they had learned 15 of the worst performance-killing mistakes

Well, after that I had no choice: I had to invite them on to Growth Masterminds and discuss them all.

So for this Growth Masterminds we have Pablo Gonzalez, the author of that LinkedIn post. He is a performance marketing director for Admiral Media and has worked in performance and digital marketing for over a decade with clients like Mercado Libre, Banco Galicia, and multiple other brands.

What can you definitely not do while scaling UA spend?

Watch and listen!

How does Privacy Sandbox on Android work? What will you get back? How much noise will Google add? When will it be launched? When is Singular testing Privacy Sandbox? How can I test Privacy Sandbox? We answer these and many more questions in the second part of our Privacy Sandbox on Android show with Singular CTO Yuval Carmel and software architect Ron Shub. Among the topics we discuss ... What did running tests in Privacy Sandbox teach you? - Any gotchas? - Major challenges? - Walk us through the process - What happens … where … from ad placement to install to conversions What data will marketers get? - User-level imitations on that data? - Noise? SDK Runtime - Thoughts? - Preventing fingerprinting? - Will it hurt anything legit? - Will it make publishing apps easier? - Will it create more security? What’s new in Privacy Sandbox in the last couple of months? - Protected audiences? 1% of Android devices are Privacy Sandbox ready … when will that grow? Impact of Privacy Sandbox vs SKAN? - Initial? - Could there be a flight to iOS? - Learning curve for marketers? More Singular testing coming ... - Can others get in on that?

Everyone needs more creative, but building it at scale is hard and expensive. Can generative AI do the job for you?

In this Growth Masterminds, we chat with Winclap general manager Avi Ben-Zvi about building mobile user acquisition ad creatives via generative AI.

We discuss:

- what tools he's using

- how he's using them

- what he's building: video/stills/audio

- the big shift he's seeing in creative right now

- and the results generative AI is ... well ... generating

How can you maximize one of the top 3 user acquisition platforms on the planet?

Imagine boosting your conversion rate by 100%. Or cutting CPI by 50%. All while massively boosting how many people see your ads ... essentially for free.

In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with ASO expert Emre Bilgic from Mobileaction about cutting-edge App Store optimization plus paid marketing tips on Apple Search Ads, a must for any serious user acquisition pros on iOS.

We also talk about:

- Hidden secrets on ASA

- Common mistakes on ASA?

- Metrics that matter most on ASA

- Recommended budgets and drip campaigns

- The correlation between good ASO and paid UA on ASA

- Media mix modeling and ASA … what’s interesting here

- and much more!

As always get all the details on Singular's blog when we post:

https://www.singular.net/blog/

So you want to grow to $50,000 or $80,000 a day in ad monetization revenue? In this episode of Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with admon and UA expert Felix Braberg about everything ad monetization.

On the menu:

- Google Ad Manager

- AdMob

- Amazon Publisher Services massive growth

- Losing 8-18% on ad arbitrage

- Using Moloco to gain an 8-11% ad ARPDAU

- Getting value from 100% of your users, not just 1%

- Duolingo's massive ad monetization success

- The move away from subscription revenue

- How to get big in ad monetization

- Keys to organic growth

... and much much more! This episode is part of our "How do you acquire your first million users" series, so there's lots in here for those who are early in the app growth journeys.

As always, check the Singular blog for more:

https://www.singular.net/blog/

Subscribe to the audio version of this on any podcast platform:

https://www.singular.net/growth-masterminds-podcast/

And chat with us about how Singular can help you!

https://www.singular.net/lp/demo/

Kids apps can be tough. But there's also a ton of opportunity.

Whether you're in an official Kids Space on Google Play or Made for Kids section on the App Store, or just an app that is designed to appeal to kids, there are special rules and guidelines from governments and platform owners.

Knowing these and following them unlocks a world of opportunity, however.

We recently hosted some experts, including:

- Celeste Rollason, Senior Child Privacy Expert @ Privo

- Stefano Accossato, Head of UA & Ad Monetization @ TutoTOONS

- Mike Gadd, EMEA Customer Success Director @ Singular

... to find out:

- what is a kids app?

- what do GDPR and COPPA say?

- what other legislation is out there?

- how do different geos deal with kids apps?

- marketing to both kids and parents

- level of competition in kids apps

- compliance as an enabler

- what the rules are

- tools and tech to make kids apps marketing work safely

- monetization for kids apps

- subscriptions for kids apps

- in-app purchases for kids apps

- building trust with parents

- and much more ...

There's a lot new in the world of SKAdNetwork, even if we're not talking about SKAN 4 or SKAN 5.

In this episode of Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Singular product manager Omri Barak about everything that's new, including:

- the SKAN 4 conversion value reset bug

- the state of SKAN

- model migration: how to change SKAN models easily & quickly

- upgrading to SKAN 4

- SKAN cohorts

- modeled revenue

- the Google conversion API

... and much more, including what we can expect from Singular in the coming quarter.

How do you scale a game from zero to hero? And how does your growth job change as the game gets bigger?

In this Growth Masterminds we chat with Itay Milstein, VP of growth at Braingames. He's formerly from Wivo and was head of growth at Huuuge Games. Braingames makes Word Farm Adventure, a fast-growing game that is a mashup of word puzzles and a world-building farm sim.

We chat about:

- scaling growth

- when to scale

- the hardest part of the cold start

- how growth is different now than 2 years ago

- how performance marketing changes over time

- organic growth

How do you get your first million users?

I'm starting a new series in Growth Masterminds, and it's about getting your first million users for a new app. There are huge challenges for big apps and big brands to grow, but they’re different: they have resources, a brand, and maybe some existing users/players/customers.

Starting from zero is a different challenge.

I think there’s a lot to learn for both types of app marketers from both sets of challenges, but this series will focus on early-stage growth.

To start, we're chatting with Hannah Parvaz, who is literally an “app marketer of the year” and also a “biz strategy consultant of the year.”

She’s worked in tons of growth roles and now runs her own growth agency, Aperture, helping apps grow and mobile businesses work.

The golden age of mobile is over ... at least the golden age of gigatons of free data for marketers and adtech companies. Thanks to IDFA and GAID app marketers had near-free access to huge amounts of behavior data. That was great for acquisition, but also engagement & retention of users/customers/people. That era is almost over. What’s going to win now? In this Growth Masterminds I chat with Thomas Butta, CMO of Airship. Airship just completed a survey of 11,000 consumers, and Butta shares what they learned. We also chat about the one-to-one relationship apps still offer brands AFTER they've managed to get customers into their apps and signed up or subscribed.

MMM is hard.

Whether you like media mix modeling or marketing mix modeling, getting all your data is hard, onboarding to an MMM tool is hard, comparing to market trends is hard, sanity checking is hard.

But there is an easy button for MMM.

And it's called Singular.

In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Singular CTO Eran Friedman about Singular's new MMM product, with:

- total spend coverage

- fully automated onboarding

- market trends baked in automatically

- direct comparisons with direct attribution results for sanity checking

MMM isn't attribution, per se. Nor is it a replacement for SKAN, for Privacy Sandbox on Android, or GAID. But it does offer huge utility in incrementality checking and measuring results in hard-to-measure channels and media.

How much fraud do you have in your mobile game or retail app? According to some, it amounts to billions of dollars globally every single year.

That ranges from "friendly fraud" to "family fraud" to "true fraud," according to Suresh Dakshina, co-founder and strategist at Chargeback Gurus. In this Growth Masterminds with host John Koetsier we chat about in-game fraud as well as e-commerce fraud.

We chat about how this fraud happens, what app publishers, developers, and marketers can do about it, and what the process of dealing with it looks like.

Ever feel like your user acquisition campaigns are doing the same thing over and over? Ever feel like every UA manager is running campaigns in exactly the same place as everyone else?

In this Growth Masterminds with Fluent co-founder Matt Conlin, we chat about fishing in new ponds: different places to find new users. We chat about CTV, TV, editorial content, rewarded discovery, influencers, surround sound marketing, and -- believe it or not -- ads in e-commerce environments.

Content matters, but so does context. And there's so much more to mobile user acquisition than in-app ads.

Shocker: since we chat about different user acquisition strategies, we also chat about different marketing measurement strategies.

What has App Tracking Transparency done? And what will Privacy Sandbox on Android do? In a lot of ways they shift power from the buy side to the sell side in mobile adtech ... and they privilege larger companies with massive amounts of first-party data.

In this Growth Masterminds we chat with InMobi chief business officer Kunal Nagpal about the privacy revolution and how everything from targeting to optimization to measurement is changing. We also discuss how those changes are impacted every link in the adtech ecosystem.

Tune in as I ask Nagpal:

- How do ad networks have to change?

- What’s the model that works for the next decade?

- Is targeting toast?

- What about optimization signals?

- What about Apple, an ad network based on first-party data?

- Are owned audiences the future?

- What does this mean for third parties? App monetization?

- What changes can we expect to see in the future from InMobi?

Planning to buy an Apple Vision Pro?

Whether yes or no, Apple very quietly released a ton of new privacy updates: privacy manifests, SKAN 5 (!?!), required reason APIs, tracking domains, retargeting attribution, SDK signing, listings of privacy-impacting SDKs, relays, enhanced private browsing, and more.

In this Growth Masterminds, Singular CEO Gadi Eliashiv, CTO Eran Friedman, and host John Koetsier discuss the changes and updates. And, of course, their impact on SKAN, fingerprinting, MMM, and the entire adtech ecosystem.

What actually happens when a demand-side platform engages machine learning to boost your bids?

We now have less data than ever before about to drive the targeting piece of mobile user acquisition, with very limited access to anything approaching behavioral targeting.

In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Persona.ly direction of machine learning Joseph Iris about targeting, demand-side platforms, and AI. We talk about signals, timing, context, and how SKAdNetwork and Privacy Sandbox are impacting everything.

We also talk about what signals are most predictive and most powerful.

How will generative AI impact games? According to Unity CEO John Riccitiello, it will massively grow the industry, speed development by a factor of 2-3X, and enable much smarter, more realistic gameplay.

In a crosspost from his TechFirst podcast, Growth Masterminds host John Koetsier chats with Riccitiello about generative AI in game creation, world building, but also in realtime gameplay.

The impacts on NPCs, on immersive experiences, and on richness of the artificial worlds game developers create will be massive.

Plus, Riccitiello drops some news about an AI engine that Unity has been working on for over 5 years ... and is currently present in over 4 billion devices globally.

How do you make games go boom? Balancing pleasure and frustration, says long-time growth expert Elad Levy.

In this Growth Masterminds we chat with growth guru Elad Levy, who sold his last game company to Playtika. He's also led growth and marketing and co-founded numerous other tech startups.

Our focus: making games growth. We chat about:

- data

- testing

- predictions

- generative AI

- engagement

- live ops

- and, of course ... game design

Privacy Sandbox is by all accounts more complicated than SKAdNetwork ... even SKAN 4. But Singular says "we will do everything for the UA managers."

The bad news is that to make Privacy Sandbox work, you need to set sources, register triggers, get big aggregated reports from upper funnel activities and much smaller lower funnel reports. You need an aggregation server and the ability to decrypt encrypted data. You need to accept the fact that Google will be adding noise to the data to increase privacy. And much more.

But the good news is that Singular -- and the adtech ecosystem at large -- will handle almost all of this complexity for you.

ALMOST all.

In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Singular chief architect Yuval Carmel and architect Ron Shub. They all dive into Privacy Sandbox on Android and get you the information you need to start thinking about how you'll handle Privacy Sandbox when it gets fully implemented and deployed.

Tiny X buttons. Phantom clicks. Endless countdowns before you get back to your game.

How can we make mobile ads suck less?

In this Growth Masterminds, host John Koetsier chats with Francesco Renzo, former Googler and current VP at Moloco, the AI-powered performance ad network.

They chat about:

- the mobile ad problem

- the risk factor if mobile ads suck too much

- the causes between ad networks, publishers, and advertisers

- how we fix it

- what advertisers can do

- what publishers can do

- and ... measurement in the era of privacy (and sky-high click-through rates)

What does a DSP do? And how will it change when they no longer have IDFA or GAID to do it with?

In this Growth Masterminds host John Koetsier chats with longtime adtech and martech thought leader and current InMobi head of product marketing, Sara Camden.

They chat about:

- what DSPs even do :-)

- how DSPs work under SKAN (and Privacy Sandbox)

- the transition to SKAN 4

- and much more ...

60% of in-app subscription cancellations happen in the first 60 minutes ... but there's a way to 10% of them back.

In this Growth Masterminds host John Koetsier chats with Apphud cofounder Renat Kurbanov. Every app marketer wants more subscription revenue, but how do you achieve that?

In this episode, we chat about:

- the core challenges to driving subscription revenue

- typical and most successful flows to drive more subscription revenue

- optimizing free trials

- managing auto-renews properly

- ARPAS … what it is, and why it matters

- subscription fatigue in a down economy

Can you make money by running fewer ads? Gaming OG Adam Jaffe says yes.

In this Growth Masterminds, we chat about bad ads, bad ad experiences, and how not to run ads in your games and apps. We also chat about the declining ROI of increasing numbers of ads in your app.

Adam was formerly with Jam City, was the CEO of Tenko Games, is a former CMO of an edtech company, sits on advisory boards for multiple companies including Dataset and INCRMTL ... and is now founder and CEO of Mega Studio, a gaming agency that designs, builds, analyzes, and monetizes games.

SKAN 4 tools are now live in the Singular dashboard. Clients who want to set up and start testing SKAdNetwork 4 compatible campaigns can now do so live in the Singular dashboard.

That means you can now set up conversion details for each postback: postbacks 1, 2, and 3. Both revenue and events models are now available; additional models and mixed conversion models will soon also be live.

And good news: this is fully backwards compatible with SKAN 3, so it won’t interfere with any ongoing live campaigns.