Clue’s Director of Product Adeline Lee joins SCALE17 next month to share insights into her team’s app store optimisation approach. Below, she gives a first run-through of how Clue has used the app store as an acquisition channel – and the role that data-driven experimentation plays in the process.
Tell us a little bit about what you do at Clue.
I lead a full-stack product development team focusing on monetization and retention, as well as leading Clue’s app store optimisation strategy.
What’s different about your app store optimisation (ASO) strategy at Clue? How have you used this as part of a broader marketing strategy?
At Clue, we tackle app store optimisation (ASO) through multiple approaches. We test different colours, images, and messaging to understand which combination goes well. The goals of ASO are optimising the app’s visibility in the app store and download conversion (the percentage of people who see the app page who actually download it). Typically apps focus on a single goal instead of covering both, but at Clue, we focus on both goals.
The marketing team benefits from the insights of successful ASO initiatives and uses them to inform subsequent campaigns.
Has using the app store in this way allowed you to reach a different audience?
Yes, through different ASO approaches, Clue can test which different combinations of colour, images, and messaging appeals most to a specific audience in a given market. For example, a blue image might work better in Germany, while a red one works better in France. Ultimately that means we can deliver the most effective marketing to each unique audience we’re trying to reach worldwide.
Do you use the app store as a tool for performance marketing, or for branding as well?
Yes, we share the successful ASO initiatives with the digital marketing team so they can do more specific targeting with various performance marketing tools. We also share the less than successful initiatives so we don’t replicate them in other marketing efforts.
How important is experimentation as part of this process?
Experiments are probably the most important part of the process because it is about testing out subtle changes that could yield significant improvements. In more advanced experiments, it is finding the right combinations that can increase organic growth. It’s important to note that it takes a lot of patience to try different combinations and wait for a conclusive result to act upon.
What impact have you seen on your organic growth as a result?
We have seen positive uplift on Clue’s organic growth with ASO. However, it is important to understand that ASO is a continuous improvement journey and not a one-off effort because it is the cumulative positive improvements that lead to a visible improvement in organic growth.
Why do you think this channel has been relatively untouched among marketers so far?
The potential of app stores as an acquisition channel is not fully explored yet as it is still a relatively new industry and its format is constantly changing. Finding success through ASO is not dependent on intuition or gut feel but on systematic, data-driven experiments to drive organic growth. This channel that has been primarily used by product/ tech development team is still relatively new to marketing teams. As more granular data is available by the app stores, I expect that this channel will gain popularity with marketers.
Lastly, what can we expect from your talk at SCALE17? What do you hope the audience takes away from it?
This talk will provide an introduction to ASO, show how to conduct experiments and give examples of how the app store can be used for brand positioning to optimise performance marketing initiatives.
Don’t miss Adeline’s ASO talk at SCALE17 on October 26. Tickets: www.scale17.co
