3 Expert App Growth Tips from the Mobile Industry’s Best (Takeaways from Mobile Growth Summit 2020 in SF)

The AGN team attended and sponsored the first Mobile Growth Summit of the year in San Francisco, CA. The two-day conference took place on February 12-13, right before Valentine’s day. The love and passion for all things mobile growth could be felt in the air as a diverse crowd of appreneurs, digital marketing vendors, and big-company names from around the world convened at this significant industry event.

Natalia, one of the newest members of AGN, shares some key takeaways from the conference here: 

Takeaway #1: Creative is the New King

Since the introduction of automation in target marketing by Google and Facebook, creative has become the most significant piece of digital marketing. In the past, market research was primarily focused on discovering the right target market fit for a product. Nowadays, market research is more relevant for creating ads that resonate with the target audience. 

ASA: the ideal platform for creative testing

As mentioned in the workshop “Apple Search Ads 2020 – Latest Trends & Best Practices“- led by our very own AGN CEO, Fouad Saeidi, and MobileAction‘s COO, Yekta Ozcomert – Apple Search Ads provides the perfect platform to test creatives.

Testing screenshots in the app store itself is an exhausting process, as it takes Apple up to 2 weeks to approve a new release; and having a new release of your app every time you want to test a new screenshot simply isn’t feasible. With ASA, you get 3 versions at a time, allowing you to create different versions which you can A/B test and quickly see which screenshot creatives are performing best.

Expect (and embrace) failure

Another common old-new concept prominent at the MGS conference was the story of failure. Even among the smartest people, two-thirds of ideas fail. At AGN, we resonate with agile stories of failure to succeed for appreneurs. During creative testing, digital marketers often discover that over 90% of creative ad concepts fail. 

The smallest tweaks can make the biggest difference

What’s more, it’s often surprising which ad ends up delivering the most app downloads at the lowest CPI. Even minor differences in text and character colors can make a big difference for app installs and costs. Testing and re-testing the creatives is the answer for discovering the most successful campaign that contributes to user base growth. 

Takeaway #2: The Importance of User Research & Retargeting

ROARRR matters

The hyper-growth framework called ROARRR was referenced at the MGS conference by George Revutsky. ROARR stands for the combined power of user research, app optimization, campaign activation, retention, revenue, and referral – with the last three making the loudest noise. 

Source Unsplash. 

More precisely, the ROARR framework stands for:

• Research– research user experience, market and competitors 
• Optimization– improving app’s ranking and visibility 
• Activation – create an engaging user experience
• Retention – keep your users long-term
• Revenue – monetize your app
• Referral – ensure users like your app so much that they refer others

Don’t trivialize the research stage

Many startups bomb the research component of their strategy because they only test their idea within their personal networks. Well-developed companies also sometimes miss research that uncovers issues with UX and monetization of app products. Even a simple qualitative study and user testing can help to better understand how to target and grow the right user base for an app.

 

Takeaway #3: Ride the Wave of Mobile Growth 

Go with the flow and try new things

Riding the wave of mobile growth is challenging, and much like in real wave surfing, you go through dynamic ups and downs. 

MGS participants shared a variety of growth strategies and growth hacks. For example, Lingvist boosted growth by expanding into new markets who were keen to learn English and to share the app quickly. Companies like Carousel grew by thoroughly monitoring user feedback and releasing new features with gradual rollouts. Others achieved great results with innovative ASO and UA campaigns. It was also great to see the rise of organizations such as Vendry Marketing Agency Directory and very kind of them to have listed us among the top App marketing agencies in North America. 

It’s important to note that what worked for one company might not necessarily work for the other. Since mobile growth is our specialty, please visit our blog for other app marketing growth strategies.

SUMMARY

MGS conference was a great opportunity to learn about the latest trends and practices in mobile growth.  We noticed that our fellow app marketers are facing similar challenges and opportunities with app growth. 

Please follow us this month as we share more insights and tips on fast mobile growth. If you’d like a free e-book for how to launch and grow your App, please find it here!