The Groove

What do you do when your organization is set on vanity metrics like clicks, and you are focused on the KPIs that really matter, like engagement and retention? How do you push for goals without sounding pushy? And when do you let users go because data shows winning them back will likely burn more cash than it generates in the longer term? These are the questions that CRM experts like Vernesa Ćutuk, Growth & CRM Consultant and ex-CRM Marketing Manager at Sleep Cycle, have to grapple with daily to show—and deliver—real value from CRM campaigns. Vernesa joins our host, Peggy Anne Salz, and special co-host, Jim Laurain, on this episode of The Groove. She explains engagement depth and teaches CRM professionals how to ditch the traditional D1/ D7/D30 measurement methods in favor of metrics tailored to their product and user triggers. Moreover, she divulges how to pinpoint and motivate elusive inactive users. Finally, she shares how she used CRM to raise app previews by 70% and the steps any CRM manager can take to prove their value in an organization. Vernesa Ćutuk - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vernesacutuk/ Jim Laurain - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslaurain/ Aampe - https://www.aampe.com/

Chapter Timestamps

00:00: Intro  

02:27: Ditch D1, D7, D30 metrics

06:40: CRM before ads

08:34: Fighting for CRM's value

14:40: Proving CRM's worth without lifting a finger

17:12: Following Blue's Clues psychology

20:15: Motivating inactive users

23:09: Jim's "dirty tricks" to increase engagement

27:43: Not all engagement is equal

34:19: Rapid-fire CRM Q&A

Your company is sitting on a stockpile of valuable customer insights—but accessing and extracting the right data to power effective marketing and engagement strategies can be a stretch. Sure, the answer is in the data—providedyou know the right questions to ask and the events to prioritize. Stacy Earl, Head of CRM and User Retention at online rewards platform KashKick, returns to The Groove to spill the secrets about the data “gold mine” sitting in your CRM and how marketers can utilize it to decipher what users are doing from day one. She explains that CRM looks at more than demographics; it dissects customer behavior, too. And it belongs not in your marketing mix but with your data teams. We’re busting myths and breaking down data barriers in this episode. Join co-hosts Peggy Anne Salz and Jim Laurain, Head of Growth at Aampe, as we learn why CRM is more than a marketing tool and how to unlock this superpower to solve customer service issues, improve product, and rocket revenue.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - CRM belongs with your data teams

07:05 - CRM is more than demographics

09:05 - Become a customer to be a better marketer

11:39 - Digging into data activation 

15:28 - Stop annoying your customers

17:16 - A/B testing done right

20:49 - How to get messaging right every time

25:35 - ChatGPT inspiration

29:49 - Is "unoptimized" messaging actually optimized?

36:12 - CRM data across all departments

38:38 - Rapid fire Q&A

In today’s attention arena, personalization equals profit. This is where AI-powered solutions shine, equipping companies to customize the app experience and explore new areas where greater personalization can yield massive returns. While many companies focus on smart ways to fill the marketing funnel with content and campaigns tailored to treat users like individuals, a few fast-movers are cashing in by offering personalized pricing that makes users offers they can’t refuse. This approach is championed by Cosmic Latte, a maker of LGBTQ+ dating apps that count 15 million users worldwide. Milan Kovacic, Cosmic Latte CEO, joins Peggy Anne Salz to talk about how he works with Assetario, a predictive analytics platform for mobile apps, to make the match between audience segments and the subscription price tag they are willing and happy to pay. Milan also walks through the strategy that allowed one dating app to reach a “double-digit” uplift in revenue. He is joined by Jakub Chudik, CTO and co-founder of Assetario, who reflects on the evolution of AI and reveals the low-hanging fruit, such as personalized recommendations, companies should have high on their radar. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

02:28 - Milan and Jakub's background

06:04 - The perks of individualized pricing

08:59 - How Assetario works

13:31 - Why pricing as a personalization point?

16:59 - When doesn't AI apply?

20:51 - In-house vs outsourcing

26:09 - What to look for in an AI company

31:12 - Driving data-driven decisions

32:57 - What to expect from Assetario and Cosmic Latte in 2024

This summer was a “Barbie” blowout! The blockbuster movie distributed by Warner Bros. brought in over $1.4 billion at the box office this summer, making it 2023’s highest-grossing film—and the topic of social media’s hottest trends. One of these viral hits, powered by an AI photo-editing app, stood out from the rest. With the help of PhotoRoom’s Selfie Generator, 13 million people created, posted and shared custom “Barbie” posters across Instagram and X. Months later, PhotoRoom has been downloaded 100M+ times, and Lauren Sudworth, PhotoRoom’s Head of Brand and Content, joins The Groove to share insider intel into the viral campaign. Alongside host Peggy Anne Salz, she explains how PhotoRoom marries AI and brand identity to deliver UGC at an unprecedented scale and quality for brands on any budget. Lauren says more than powering visual commerce, generative AI is “breaking down barriers to creativity,” even going so far as to produce personalized algorithms and brand IP. The show is one for the books as Lauren shares how any company can start building its brand and how to take advantage of AI tools while maintaining a human touch. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Bringing everyone into Barbie World

05:35 - Influencer power

07:57 - Democratizing content creation

10:51 - A strong brand powers strong content

15:47 - Discovering PhotoRoom's brand

20:25 - Monetization and total AI integration

27:29 - Built-in AI brand assets

31:31 - PhotoRoom's competitive moat

Ad dollars follow the eyeballs. But in a marketplace full of channels and congested with paid, social and organic options, marketers must place their bets where attention is high and returns are impressive. One channel that delivers is audio. While other channels are challenged by the cookie-less chaos and squeezed by low audience attention metrics, audio remains the crowd-pleaser. Audio alone accounts for one-third of the media time spent by consumers and delivers significantly higher ad recall. Gayle Troberman, President and CMO of iHeartMedia, the #1 U.S. audio company that reaches 9 out of 10 Americans daily,  joins host Peggy Anne Salz on this episode of The Groove. She tells us why audio, specifically broadcast audio, is “insanely consistent and resilient” and shares best practices any company on any budget can follow to make a standout audio ad. Finally, she dives into how companies can engage with iHeartMedia and harness its Smart Audio tool to reach audiences and rocket ROI. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:43 - Audio is a powerful channel

04:31 - Incremental growth through audio

06:43 - A big wake-up call for marketers

11:19 - An example of the best audio advertising

16:21 - The #1 podcast network

18:34 - iHeartMedia's advertising tools

21:27 - Looking to the future

Good marketing answers customer needs. Great marketing anticipates them. With Aampe, businesses can create a hyper-individualized customer experience, increase acquisition ROI, and significantly reduce churn with only one tool. Aampe — a platform built by data scientists to help marketers execute effective mobile campaigns based on customer behavior — uses propensity triggering to flip the script on user retention and engagement. By looking to the future, not the past, marketers can offer personalized discounts, messages, and rewards based on a specific user’s likelihood to purchase or churn. Aampe’s Head of Growth, Jim Laurain, joins host Peggy Anne Salz in this episode of The Groove to explain how Aampe, powered by machine learning and AI, takes predictive analytics and retention to the next level, acting as both a “recommender system applied to every element of a user experience” and a tool to transform your business’ lifecycle marketing and bottom line. 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

01:35 - Jim's responsibilities at AMP

02:26 - Inactive triggers create inactive users

06:32 - Tapping into your event stream data

09:55 - When does your A/B test retire?

10:43 - You're triggering at the wrong time

13:01 - Not all discounts are made equal

14:12 - What is propensity triggering? 

16:43 - A recommender system for the entire user experience

18:34 - New customer markets based on timing optimization

20:39 - What's next at AMP?

To effectively make brand voices heard, marketers need a channel that drives traffic while combatting ad fatigue. CTV hits both marks and spells massive opportunity — provided you understand the platform and how to nail the creative. Arthur Querou, Founder and CEO of Vibe, a self-serve CTV ad platform, and Gijsbert Pols, Director of CTV & New Channels at Adjust, take center stage in this episode of The Groove in partnership with The 5 O’Clock Club. Alongside host Peggy Anne Salz, the pair set the record straight, dispelling popular misconceptions about the channel and describing why CTV is the place to be for advertisers who want to effectively increase social and search traffic, strengthen brand image, and optimize retargeting tactics.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Getting into The Groove with Arthur and Gijsbert 

06:29 - CTV is more than just a branding channel

10:12 - Is targeting worth it on CTV?

15:30 - Marketers need a full-funnel mindset when approaching CTV

19:04 - The challenge with attribution

22:05 - To QR code or not to QR code?

24:40 - Tips for creating a compelling CTV creative

Predicting which users are likely to churn is a superpower that app marketers can wield —if they have what it takes to identify users highly likely to churn early in the game and keep them active longer. Fortunately, marketers have both in a new engine that predicts churn with incredible accuracy and automates the process end-to-end. In this episode of The Groove, in collaboration with The 5 O’Clock Club, Kate Lovejoy, Chief Performance Officer at Adikteev, an advanced app retargeting, churn prediction and cross-promotion platform, has the mic. She chats with our host Peggy Anne Salz about the tech that allows Adikteev’s model to classify and score users based on their likelihood to churn. With these insights, Kate says, marketers can focus efforts and resources on “targeting those users in the highest-liklihood-to-churn bucket to make sure they don’t go away from your app altogether.” Kate also shares some tough love and advice for marketers to make retargeting great (and effective) again and cultivate the curiosity and courage to test, iterate and try new things.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - What gets Kate into The Groove? 

02:52 - Making retargeting great again

08:06 - Accurately predicting and ranking likelihood to churn

11:15 - A free pre-campaign analysis

14:34 - When doesn't retargeting make sense?

16:27 - Tough love for marketers

Audience segmentation and creatives localization have never been easier with Appier, an AI-powered, full-funnel tech company. Appier’s AVP of US Sales & Market Strategy, Fiona Lin Ferrier, joins Peggy Anne Salz on this episode in collaboration with The 5 O’Clock Club. She is an expert in AI, spotlighting gen AI use cases that optimize ad placement and maximize ROAS. And she’s an expert in human connection. A self-proclaimed “personal development junkie” and first-gen immigrant, she brings her whole self to work and supports fellow immigrants and marketers in doing the same. In the episode, Fiona empowers listeners to embrace AI and themselves, stating, “Unconditional acceptance of yourself is number one” and “I’m really excited to build [marketers] confidence.” 

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - What gets Fiona in the Groove?

03:59 - What is Appier? 

06:10 - How does gen AI empower marketers? 

12:14 - Using gen AI to perfect localization

14:08 - Addressing misconceptions about AI

17:34 - Advice to marketers about embracing AI and themselves

Relationship building is the core of powerful marketing, and it starts with good communication and trust. Heather Gainer, Sr. Marketing Manager at Kongregate and Jordon Weissman, Sales Director at Smadex, demonstrate in real-time what an interactive brand-consumer relationship looks like on this episode of The Groove, in collaboration with The 5 O’Clock Club. Our host Peggy Anne Salz facilitates this back and forth, asking the hard questions and putting Heather and Jordon on the spot by urging them to review their relationship and reveal what they haven’t been saying in their emails. Throughout the episode, the trio discusses how to keep customer relationships fresh, perks that peak consumer interest, and Jordan’s forecast on the future of SKAN4. Moreover, Peggy adds musing magic to the episode as she uses astrology to predict what will perfect Kongregate and Smadex’s marketing strategies for 2023.

“If Michael Phelps [were] a DSP, we'd beat him right now,” says Dharak Desai in a recent LinkedIn post. Comparing your company to the all-time most decorated Olympian is no small statement. Still, Dharak believes that, like Michael Phelps, InMobi has the talent to take it and its customers to the top. In this episode of The Groove, in collaboration with the 5 O’Clock Club, Dharak, Director of Sales & Strategy at InMobi, outlines how the multinational mobile marketing platform’s drive to innovate and constantly push boundaries made it AdWeek’s Readers’ Choice Best Mobile Ad Network 2022 and is now helping thousands of advertisers jump into new waters  and "learn how to swim in this sea of SKAN.” This episode is packed with information as Dharek breaks down InMobi’s SKAN 4.0 Readiness Checklist, its post-SKAN bidder with pre-SKAN capabilities, and how marketers can understand predictive modeling, monetization, and measurement through a contextual advertising lens.

AI... friend or foe? To Boian Videnoff, CEO and Co-Founder of Enote, AI can be an assistant, teacher, or supporter if you embrace it. Our host Peggy Anne Salz orchestrates a captivating conversation with Boian in this episode about our machine counterparts and the creations they compose in Enote. A subscription app with over 70,000 users, Enote sits at the crossroads of music and tech. According to Boian, the app pushes the boundaries of AI development and machine learning, digitizing millions of compositions and organizing their sheet music in one central location. Enote's interactive capabilities strike the right chord with thousand of professional musicians, many of whom have recommended the app to their students. Throughout the episode, Boian explains how Enote's community-first approach defied investors' expectations and shares a mistake that made a massive impact on conversion. "This is the largest digitization project in the history of music," Boian says. "I'm excited about shaping the future rather than waiting for it not to change."

Software testing is a must, but it’s time-consuming, tedious, and inefficient when done manually. With Sofy.AI, tasks are completed in seconds. Sofy.AI is the one tool for all your QA needs, able to run automated tests on hundreds of devices with the push of a button. In this episode, we chat with Syed Hamid, Founder and CEO of Sofy.AI, the no-code testing program that frees up 60-70% of a software engineer’s day and enables anyone to test their mobile apps with ease. Leaning on Sofy.Ai’s data from over 30,000 applications, Syed reveals the key components to a successful app and his thoughts on the future as no-code automation becomes the dominant QA tool.

Non-gaming apps are hot in the app stores - and the numbers are impressive. They recently surpassed Gaming to top the US app revenue charts for the first time. This week, Peggy Anne Salz chats with Andrey Kazakov, VP of Revenue at AppLovin, a company that offers a full-stack solution, including user acquisition, monetization, and measurement to help marketers grow their apps. Andrey dives into how non-gaming apps are succeeding in acquiring high-value users with effective channel acquisition strategies and approaches that emphasize data analysis to optimize a multi-channel portfolio. We also review the company’s latest ad creatives report and learn how one app company increased its subscription rate by 2x.

In the post-privacy world, app marketers are under pressure to identify new user signals to reach their audiences and measure success. In this episode of The Groove, Peggy Anne Salz talks shop and marketing shortcuts withAdam Landis, Head of Growth at Branch Metrics, the mobile linking and measurement company. Adam draws from his long track record as founder and CEO of  AdLibertas, the data platform that helps developers gather and analyze their first-party data in one place that Branch acquired last August, to highlight ways you can do loads more with less data. He also shares smart advice to survive SKAN 4: lean into the data, test often, and measure your outcomes.

When reimagining your company assets, take a note from the bestselling album of all time and remember that marketing isn’t just about “Thriller” KPIs; it’s understanding “Human Nature.” Will McKinney-Raphelt, Sr. Product Manager at Sony Germany, and Bernard Koomson, founder of deadHYPE and consultant with 9+ years of influencer marketing experience, join our host Peggy Anne Salz to talk about prioritizing human connection. The pair said clear objectives and a flexible creative process were key to creating an immersive customer experience celebrating the 40th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s album, Thriller.

According to parents, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. According to Leslie Wood, Chief Research Officer at NCSolutions, a renowned advertising research agency, an ad a week keeps your sales at their peak. In this episode, Leslie chats with Peggy Anne Salz about the sweet spot for ad frequency, as well as changes to targeting practices and the importance of good creative above all else.

There are influencers for every brand – but not every influencer is a good match. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz asks Ryan Detert, CEO of Influential, the world’s largest influencer marketing company, how to choose influencers that deliver high ROI and compelling content. Ryan shares his vision of the Creator Economy and weighs in on the importance of authenticity in influencer marketing. He also offers actionable advice for getting the most value out of influencer relationships, including nano-influencers and micro-influencers

Personal brand-building can be a 24/7 job – but there are a few shortcuts that let you burnish your brand in less time and with more impact. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz asks Jarrett Thomas, a social media consultant, influencer and host of the personal branding podcast More Than a Title. It’s a candid and humorous exchange when Jarrett draws from personal experience and more than a decade in digital sales to share how companies can grow leads (and revenues) by empowering employees to build personal brand. He also speaks openly about overcoming imposter syndrome and steps you can take to ensure your voice is authentic and rises about the noise.

The gaming industry has always been ahead of the pack in terms of building communities through social media. Gaming companies have the knack of bringing together technology, social media strategy, viral video, and influencer marketing to generate buzz and attract fans. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz asks Shawn Silverman, Social Marketing Leader at Brand Authors and former social media and community manager for brands like Square Enix, Blizzard, and Twitch, about creating viral content that takes off. Shawn will also share ideas for building conversations with social content for brands of every size.

If you want revenue, be ruthless. That’s the philosophy of Mike Rhodes, CEO and Founder of ConsultMyApp (CMA). In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Mike, who reminds us that mobile marketing companies are under pressure to deliver value faster. This, he says, means expanding beyond acquisition to ensure new users stay loyal to your app. Mike, whose company counts General Motors and Trainline among its clients, also walks us through maturity tools and key questions to ask about your adtech and CRM. Finally, he shares his favorite mantra (big businesses are missing tech, and small businesses are missing process) and offers smart advice you can follow to up your game. 

How did ZEE5 build the platform, the content and the marketing muscle to become the top-ranking app for South Asian entertainment across 190+ countries, as well as the number one spot in the U.S and the U.K  and the number two spot in Europe? Part of the credit goes to the content (a slate of 200,000 hours of on-demand content that includes original series, movies, TV shows, and more). But another ace in the company’s hand is a unique approach to A/B testing that allows the company to change and customize campaigns and offers with just a simple drag-and-drop. In this episode, part of the special retention marketing series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz speaks with Vinay Iyengar, Vice President - Head of User Growth and B2C revenue at ZEE5 Global. He delves into what he calls “ABC testing” and reveals the real metrics marketers must track. He also takes on a world tour of local tastes and how simple tweaks can make ad creatives more appealing and effective.

How do you make a great product, tailor it to your target audience and make sure shoppers keep coming back? It’s a tall order, but Meesho, the ecommerce app also crowned the breakout app of 2022, shares how focusing on personalization (and price) converts window shoppers into loyal buyers. In this episode, part two of a two-parter, our host Peggy Anne Salz speaks with Kirti Varun Avasarala, Chief Product Officer at Meesho, the Softbank-backed online reselling platform that enables anyone to start a business without investment. Kirti also shares how you can keep the shopper experience simple and memorable by knowing where to place visual cues and when to deliver push notifications to clinch the sale. 

Understanding your customers starts with listening to their needs. In practice, this means conducting ongoing conversations with your customers, using their preferred channels and delivering the messaging they appreciate. Meesho, a leading online shopping and reselling platform, is taking it a giant step further by turning customer listening into a company-wide mission. In this episode, part one of a two-parter, our host Peggy Anne Salz speaks with Kirti Varun Avasarala, Meesho Chief Product Officer, about innovative marketing approaches paying huge dividends. He shares why “Listen or Die” is the golden rule at Meesho. He also reveals the benefits of following a disruptive strategy that puts lower pricing ahead of convenient commerce. (Watch out for part 2, where we talk about effective push notifications and how to deliver shopping experiences that are off the charts.)

With 2.91 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the third most visited website in the world. But why is it so difficult to get your ads noticed on Facebook? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz speaks with Tim Hyde, CEO and Founder of TWH Media, a social media marketing company that’s worked with Amazon, Dreamworks, and Adidas. He shares his experience being the biggest independent spender on Facebook ads in Europe, and what marketers should be doing to make their ads drive consumer connection and conversion.

VC funding, which was once red hot, is cooling down. What are good alternatives for acquiring new players without breaking the bank? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz speaks with Martin Macmillan, CEO of Pollen VC, which gives credit lines for app and game publishers to fund their user acquisition programs. He talks about the coming winter in VC funding and busts myths regarding what gaming giants are really worth.   

You’ve got seconds to grab audience attention with your mobile app video ads. But how do you craft a story that’s compelling enough to get viewers to install? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Peter Fodor, Founder and CEO of AppAgent, an award-winning app marketing agency. His recent ebook outlines how to get the best ideas for ad creatives and what the best practices are when creating video ads for mobile apps. Grab his ebook from the AppAgent website.

Video is killer content, and over 90% of companies gain customers with the help of videos that grab their attention. But how do you know your video is a hit or a miss? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Joao Viera da Costa, CEO of Replai, an AI-driven video analytics company. Discover how their automated tagging system makes it possible to track videos by frame so you can pinpoint exactly what audiences want to see or where they drop off.

Growth loops — those closed systems where monetization and user acquisition merge into a repeating growth cycle — are powerful systems that break the silos of acquisition, product, and monetization. But how do you get them to work? In this episode, part of the special retention marketing series sponsored by CleverTap, Mick Rigby, CEO of Yodel Mobile, talks about the Infinite App Growth Loop. He draws from his long track record at Yodel, a global app growth marketing agency with award-winning ASO, to show how you can use this framework to launch and scale your app and, more importantly, keep users coming back. 

As humans, we are hard-wired to tell and share stories. We also gravitate to brands that tell a compelling story that connects with us on an emotional level. So, how do marketers shape narratives that resonate with their audiences? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Byron Reese, author of the upcoming book Stories, Dice, and Rocks That Think. He shares insight into how stories have driven the growth and development of human culture, and he outlines tips on how you can tell stories that persuade your customers to take action.

While gamers spent $21.4 billion in their favorite games in Q2, the question remains: how do you persuade players to keep investing in your game? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Hunter Bulkeley, Senior Product Manager at Tilting Point, an award-winning free-to-play games publisher that empowers indie developers to grow and accelerate. He shares a blueprint you can follow to drive lasting loyalty by aligning your game mechanics with real-world charities and causes. He also explores the shortcuts and surprises you can bake into your gameplay to build excitement and brand loyalty. 

Apple restricts identifiers, Google continues to phase out third-party cookies, and everyday marketers awaken to new challenges as they seek to address users that offer value for money. Some are calling it the end for audience targeting. Bango, a company whose technology and platform enables online payments for merchants and app developers, calls it the App-ocalypse! How can marketers survive in a world where app targeting is falling to ruins? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Bango CMO Anil Malhotra and Brett Orlanski, SVP of Product & Sales. They discuss how using purchase behavior data allows marketers to target audiences most likely to pay or make an in-app purchase. They also share clever ways marketers can reach and revive Zombie users who are no longer active and navigate the continued chaos ahead. 

With 500+ million people using Instagram Stories and 50+ million using TikTok daily, it’s clear storytelling is a powerful way to connect people. And Storyly has found a niche helping brands tell their stories. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with İrem Işık, Head of Marketing at Storyly, a company that uses an SDK so companies can share stories directly into their apps and build stronger relationships with customers.  She shares top tips you can follow to find your brand story (and voice), and highlights the connection between memorable stories and remarkable retention.

Consumers trust content created by people, not just brands. But where do you source user-generated content (UGC), and how do you harness the power of user-generated video to build brand and grow your reach? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Mike Christensen, CEO & Founder of Stitcht, an engagement platform helping brands create video threads and encouraging consumers to join the conversation. Mike draws from case studies, brand stories, and the company’s latest ebook to give us a crash course in the tools and techniques you need to source authentic UGC content for your campaigns. 

With 6.8 million adults in the U.S. suffering from generalized anxiety disorder, and only 43.2% receiving treatment, there’s a huge opportunity for tech to step in. This is precisely what Rootd did — they now help 1.7 million users and are a shining example of how you can bootstrap your app to have reach and impact. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Ania Wysocka, Founder of Rootd, about bootstrapping, the drive to succeed, and the healing power of mobile technology. Ania also talks about app monetization models, where paid advertising can give your app a boost and lessons every founder should know.

Think TikTok for sports, and then add LinkedIn to help athletes and coaches connect. It’s the winning recipe that has allowed Press Sports to build a committed community of over 250,000 users across 70 countries. In this episode, part of the special retention marketing series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Drew Williams, Co-Founder & CMO at Press Sports. He shares how he and his team found their niche — and the inspiration — to create a thriving community. He also reveals how he mapped engaging user journeys to boost conversions, connect with fans, and take on the social networking giants head-on.

Finding the best signal strength can be a challenge, but Network Cell Info, one of a portfolio of apps from M2Catalyst, is helping users monitor, measure, and share cell network coverage data. The crowdsourcing approach doesn’t just enable users to have a voice in cell coverage; it also drives engagement and participation by simply being part of the network of users. It’s a winning combination that M2Catalyst Director of Marketing Joshua Shorter says has allowed the company to double the number of active users and grow lifetime value. In this episode, part of the special retention marketing series sponsored by CleverTap, Joshua tells our host Peggy Anne Salz about the the benefits of crowdsourcing data, the importance of A/B testing, and ways you can use App Store Optimization to create brand awareness and cross-sell other apps to users.

When Grow.co started its MAU annual conference for mobile acquisition nearly a decade ago, it helped pave the way for “growth marketing” to become a staple in tech jargon. And with MAU’s bold return to Las Vegas as an in-person event after two years of virtual conferences, the focus is now solidly on retention. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Adam Lovallo, Cofounder of Grow.co, which hosts MAU Vegas, on serial entrepreneurship, networking opportunities, and retention as the new competitive edge.

When you’re a financial super app with the largest peer-to-peer lending platform in your country and you’re serving the underbanked and unbanked sectors by making it easy for their SME’s to get a loan, you’re going to run into some challenges. In this episode, part of the special retention marketing series sponsored by CleverTap, we hear how Koinworks came out fighting fit thanks to a human approach and holistic technology. Our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Aditya Chintawar, Chief Product Officer at  Koinworks, about how educating customers and delivering a consistently delightful customer experience can build trust and lasting loyalty.

Marketing can never be one-size-fits-all, and that goes double if you have a subscription app. To reach potential subscribers in the right context and reinforce the decision to commit to recurring costs requires new thinking, flexible pricing and a fresh approach to subscription billing models. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Jean-François (Jeff) Grang, Co-founder & Chief Product Officer at Purchasely. His company is making it easier for app owners to build a product catalog, set up in-app subscriptions and optimize conversions. Jeff discusses surprising nuances you need to know to price your offers (for example, a free trial can hurt, not help your business) and why even paywalls require personalization if you want people to purchase without pain. 

Falling is a serious problem for senior adults, but one app takes on the challenge. Nymbl Science, a top-ranked app in the health and fitness category, harnesses hyper-personalization and a novel approach to training to help users improve their lives. The app pairs simple physical exercise with cognitive brain puzzles to drive a 35% decrease in calls to emergency services for falls and fall-related injuries. It also hyper-personalizes messaging to build trust and reach retention rates that are twice those in any the app category. In this episode, part of the Reimagine Growth series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Laura "Lo" Schroeder, Director of Marketing at Nymbl Science, to discuss how trust and empathy directly boost engagement and retention.   

Consumer expectations of personalization are at an all-time high. Recent McKinsey research shows that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized experiences. But is it enough to meet consumer needs and clinch the deal based on a knowledge of past behavior and purchases? Or should companies be bolder and adapt marketing, messaging, and communications to the unique needs of individual customers in real time? In this episode, part of the Reimagine Growth series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks about hyper-personalization with Abhishek Gupta, Chief Customer Officer at CleverTap, to discuss how retailers can deepen customer relationships and drive repeat purchases by harnessing hyper-personalization. Abhishek also walks us through the Fit for the Future of Retail, a new report highlighting the framework and tactics marketers can harness to grow revenues and retain customers at every step of the shopper journey. Finally, we discuss his latest article on VentureBeat on why hyper-personalization is the future of retail and how marketers can prepare now.

If it seems like every brand is marketing on TikTok these days, that’s because it works. But more interest, massive returns, and eye-popping virality have created a complex and crowded space. Fierce competition calls for brave measures and that is where Yoke Network has made its mark with an easy way to connect the right influencers with the right app. The outcome is a robust ecosystem that links app marketers to influencers, and influencers to more apps. In practice, the  platform allows brands to post project briefs. Influencers then create content, promote it, and get paid by their performance. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with co-founders  Mustafa Mohamed and Jidè Maduako, the dynamic duo behind Yoke Network. They talk about  how influencers can join their talent pool (2,000 and counting), the mainstream appeal of TikTok, and tips brands can follow to get surprising results. 

If you’ve ever ordered food delivery or hailed a ride in Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, or Panama, then you know how ubiquitous Yummy is. They boast a 2,860% year-over-year growth in completed orders. It’s quick and quality service that keeps customers loyal and caught the attention of fast food chain KFC, which has negotiatedan exclusive deal with Yummy in Venezuela. What are their secrets to this massive growth? How does Yummy map events in the app to drive repeat purchase and high performance? In this episode, part of our Reimagine Growth series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Ignacio Carrillo-Batalla, CTO at Yummy, on what it takes to achieve super app status in Latin America.

After being driven to build a great app, how do you know it’s a commercial success? And if it is, when and how do you make the call to exit? BlueThrone has a valuable checklist and calculator to help you quantify the value of your app, so you can be ready to sell it off should you decide to cash in and move on. In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Idan Waller, the Co–founder and CMO of BlueThrone, about exit strategies, app aggregators, and why selling might just help you get back to what you do best.

Can an app that emphasizes authenticity and being straightforward actually succeed in such a crowded space as online dating? Apparently, when you focus on creating a safe experience for women, success comes flying at you. In this episode, part of our Reimagine Growth series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Edward Chen, Founder & CEO at HUD, a dating app that’s been growing leaps and bounds by building a delightful—and non-swiping—customer experience for women. Turns out when you build a safe space for your target market, they end up wanting to stay. For HUD, the outcome is an increase in customer retention that would make any marketer envious.

What does it take to design a user experience that captures the attention of gamers and keeps them coming back? And how does one pivot from a design and UI background to building the complete user experience in a game? In this episode, our host Peggy Anne Salz catches up with Jasmin Dahncke, Senior UX Designer at Mainframe Industries, an independent, venture-backed game developer with studios in Helsinki and Reyjavik. Jasmin shares tips for thriving and busting KPIs in the games industry. 

The obstacles that marketers now face in a privacy-first world are tremendous. But forcing marketers to get back to the basics of customer-centricity in both product and communication is a great thing. In this episode, part of our Reimagine Growth series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz catches up with Adam Broitman, Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting firm that helps organizations grow sustainably. What they talk about sheds light on the path forward for digital marketing: providing an excellent customer experience alongside a superior product.

The race is one for fitness companies to become next-gen personal wellness providers. But teaching this goal demands marketers harness personalization, recommendations and well-timed notifications to build audience and drive loyalty. In this episode, part of the Reimagine Growth series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Kim Adams,  Director of Marketing, Client Manager, at Muuv Labs, a Vi Company. Kim shares the playbook she follows to segment users based on their intent and inspire them to work out and reach high. She also reveals the golden rule of retention marketing and why recommendations are a marketing must.

Social apps and platforms thrive and grow when the communities they power are enabled to create and share. But how can marketers encourage creators to create? What are the incentives that trigger action, drive loyalty and fuel the fandom that brings creators and audiences close together? In this episode, part of our Reimagine Growth series sponsored by CleverTap, our host Peggy Anne Salz talks with Rory Geoghegan, Head of Product at YouNow, a live streaming platform where anyone can stream, meet people and interact in real-time. Rory shares how deep personalization, honest feedback and catering content and “broadcast reports” to individual creators drove a double-digit increase in the number of weekly active users on the platform. He also talks about what users expect from social apps and the metrics that tell marketers their campaigns are hitting important engagement and retention targets.

The gender gap can't be solved at the corporate level alone. Research suggests that when young girls are able to see themselves in women who rise to the top of their fields, or understand that no career path or topic of study is off-limits, it can have a ripple effect that shapes the rest of their lives.

Maya Sharma, a high school student from Washington State, is already paying it forward to the next generation of female leaders. She's the author of "Paving," a new book featuring 25 interviews with a remarkable list of inspiring women, from New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern to Pulitzer Prize-winning White House reporter Ashley Parker. In this interview, Maya shares some of her reasons for undertaking this effort, her biggest takeaways from the wide range of interviews, and the importance of activism among younger generations.

The demise of identifiers such as third-party cookies presents both challenges and opportunities for publishers. Neither diversifying revenue nor maintaining a healthy ad business will prove to be easy tasks in the years ahead. In this episode, Peggy Anne Salz talks to Sheri Bachstein, global head of IBM Watson Advertising and GM of The Weather Company. Bachstein has overseen a wildly successful pivot to paid as part of a larger move to diversify revenue at the IBM-owned property, approaching one million paid subscribers and seeing double-digit growth every quarter. Bachstein shares her step-by-step journey to subscription success, including insights on tailoring the product to the consumer, targeting potential subscribers and building a winning customer service team. She also reveals her take on the future of advertising and a call to action for the media industry at large.

The record number of newsroom closures in 2020 offered unsettling evidence of how difficult it is to maintain a local news outlet in the digital age. In this episode, Peggy Anne Salz talks to Millie Tran, chief product officer at The Texas Tribune, which has built a sustainable online local news business that employs more than 60 journalists through a range of revenue sources, including thousands of paying members. From her experience at the Tribune, as well as The New York Times and Buzzfeed, Tran shares how the news outlet aligns editorial with the back-end processes to adapt content and coverage to what most readers find most useful. She also reveals how her team harnesses audience data and innovative news modules and visualizations to drive a 2x increase in homepage views and keep readers coming back.

The shift to on-demand services has undeniably become one of the major stories of media consumption over the last several years. But far too many outlets are missing out on a major opportunity by failing to cater to underserved audiences, such as Spanish speakers who make up an ever-growing share of the U.S. population. In this episode, Peggy Anne Salz talks to Rich Hull, chief strategy officer at Vix, an ad-supported streaming service, recently acquired by Univision, which features more than 20,000 hours of free, on-demand programming. With a long history in media production and a wealth of experience engaging audiences with movies, TV and on-demand content, Hull explains why all media companies must acknowledge the demographic revolution, shares his views on the future of streaming, and tells the story behind Vix's massive growth.

Engagement, monetization and moderation are three key challenges for any media platform or social network. Kumu, a livestreaming app that's blowing up with Millennial and Gen-Z Filipinos all around the globe, seems to have figured out all three. In this episode, Peggy Anne Salz talks with Roland Ros, co-founder of the innovative app, which combines elements of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp and even Amazon into one super app, featuring 2 million monthly active users and tens of thousands of live broadcasts every day. Ros shares insights on how he's striking a chord with young users, the ways he's lined up an impressive array of investors, and how media companies can more effectively take advantage of live streaming video and audio platforms.

The news media has been in a long-term state of transformation since the rise of the internet. Today, change is the only constant. How can leaders at journalistic outlets navigate the present while building sustainable business models for the future? Continuing our series, Peggy Anne Salz talks to Anita Zielina, director of innovation and leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. Anita draws from her own change-making career at several news organizations as well as her current role molding the media leaders of the future to share valuable wisdom on the skills organizational leaders need to ensure the news media's survival.

Audience relationships are everything in media, and never was that more true than during the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic. To kick off our new series, Peggy Anne Salz talks to Maureen Hoch, editor of HBR.org and managing director of digital content at Harvard Business Publishing, about how the publication quickly adapted to continue serving business leaders with vital journalism, analysis and commentary in a time of crisis—in all of the right formats. Additionally, Maureen shares insights on growing the brand's portfolio of audio content, engaging audiences across various channels and mediums, and much more.