What’s in Your [Growth] Stack? Vivian Chang, RetailMeNot

By Vivian Chang | May 10, 2018
Mobile Heroes, Q&A

Guest Blog: Vivian Chang is VP of Growth at Nutranext. Previously, she was former Director, Digital Marketing at RetailMeNot in Austin, TX. 

Every mobile marketer uses a range of technologies and services to help them market their apps. We catch up with our Mobile Heroes to learn what’s in their mobile marketing growth stack.

What channels do you use for marketing your app(s)?

  • Facebook
  • Google UAC
  • Apple Search Ads
  • Youtube
  • Pandora

We do quite a bit with networks and obviously Facebook and Google UAC. But we also allocate budget to channels like Youtube or Pandora that are little bit more about brand building, which also helps drive interest in the app.

We do a lot of testing, some of which is for pure performance, such as Google and Apple Search Ads. We also invest in driving top of the funnel activity, which is where the more engagement-focused media channels come into play.

What attribution partners do you use?

  • Tune
  • Google Analytics

We use Tune Mobile App Tracking as primary attribution of installs for our apps, and on the web we supplement with Google Analytics as well as in house data that we collect to track app usage and behavior.

Why does Tune work best for you?

Honestly, I think attribution tracking is more of a commodity these days than anything else. But we do appreciate some of the side tools that Tune offers for fraud as an example.

Do you use any tools for app store optimization (ASO)?

We do, mostly for monitoring keywords and App Store rankings. This includes AppAnnie and Tune’s ASO tools to some extent. We also use a combination different tools out for monitoring App Store performance.

We also work with TMGA and Incipia. Both companies help to provide ASO insights and provide us with a variety of reports.

What mobile marketing automation (MMA) tools do you use?

We don’t use 3rd party marketing automation tools. We built our own.

Because data is so nuanced in the shopping vertical, there’s many different use cases. We also don’t receive instant data on whether someone makes a purchase or not, so it’s easier for us to use in-house tools to store all of the data we are looking at and integrate into a broader CRM system that integrates with other channels.

What A/B testing tool do you use, if any?

We use our own in-house A/B testing tools. Most of the testing we do is around the product experience and our ads.

What analytics tools do you use?

Again, what we use is built in-house, looking at metrics like app installs, engagement across different post-install events, and identifying the high value actions as well as actions that lead to retention.These are the things that we actively optimize for and focus on.

What is the main reason that building these tools in-house works best for you?

In general, we have a natural bias for in-house within our culture. It can also be challenging to get the value out of third party tools given that we are customizing events and user flows. Data control and protection is also key, and especially highlighted in recent Facebook news.

Do you monetize through ads?

We do a little bit. Primarily DFP. We don’t do a whole lot of pure mobile monetization since app is one part of our omnichannel strategy for our retail partners and consumers.

Do you use any other tools? If so, for what purpose?

Yes we do. On the marketing side we use Tenjin for cost aggregation. It’s quite helpful for tracking ROI and is an area that we continue to invest in.

What mobile marketing conferences do you attend?

Mobile Apps Unlocked is probably the top conference in the industry. I like that it has multiple tracks and that it’s not purely about marketing, they also focus on product and retention. Other conferences are helpful for networking and getting facetime with partners and other colleagues, especially for those of us that don’t live in the bay area. For example, I like to attend the Mobile Growth Summit. And I know that the App Growth Summit is a fairly new conference, but it sounds quite promising.

Do you attend any events or meetups outside of conferences?

A few. I would love to attend more but being in Austin, we don’t have a lot. When we do have local industry events, I try to attend, partly to make sure that women are represented. That’s an impetus for me to attend and speak at any event.

What marketing websites, podcasts, books, social media channels, or other publications do you consume?

I think Adam’s Grow.co email newsletter is pretty good with diverse content. I also like receiving AdExchanger emails. While not specific to mobile, the writers often offer a good point of view with a broader lens. The ones written by marketing practitioners are especially helpful.

Any social media channels or blogs?

There are a few Slack groups that focus on mobile which I find helpful. Eric’s Mobile Dev Memo is another good one that I really appreciate.

What’s in your growth stack? Let us know and we might feature you and your company on this very blog!

Vivian Chang was formerly Director, Digital Marketing at RetailMeNot in Austin, TX. Her extensive background in paid search marketing led Vivian to dive into the rapidly evolving world of mobile marketing where she’s proven herself to be an expert in growing mobile businesses.