Mobile Growth Stack can be defined as a sort of mobile cheat sheet. It consists of one-page diagram and chart that assists growth experts to think more strategically and holistically. The diagram or structure comprises of the levers for growth by the important funnel phases i.e. attainment, retention & engagement and monetization.

As a result, growth practitioners contemplate all the things they could do to boost the growth of their mobile product at each stage. This provides assistance in defining focus areas and creating a coherent strategy. This Growth Stack is updated every year. You can see the last year’s growth stack here.

The update of this year encompasses a brand new layer called “tech”. It inspires consideration of permit to select technology of one’s own choice. So let’s look into what has changed this year. 

1. Influencer Marketing As A New Activity In The Acquisition Layer

Influencer marketing covers a wide range of tasks that include working with groups or influential individuals to attain endorsement, product advocacy, and brand.

Influencer marketing is rapidly on way to becoming performance marketing activity. This replaces or augments customary mobile app install campaigns. It is evaluated against DSPs and Facebook on the exact terms.

2. Virality And Content Indexing For Engagement & Retention

Integrations can serve as great drivers of viral acquisition. They empower sharing of app-based content to the intermediary services. These services are social networks and messaging platforms.

So, virality can be considered as a significant re-engagement pedal, as it enables the product to gain market share.

In a similar way, content indexing- reliant on the specific implementation by 3rd parties, Apple or Google- suggests methods back into the app for present users.  This is done, in addition to the attainment of new users through the discovery of extra search.

3. Conversion Optimization As A New Vertical Layer

In the acquisition layer, conversion optimization forms an important part of:

  •    App Store Optimization (enhancing transformation from app store listing impression to install)

  •    Performance Marketing (click to install an ad impression to click)

  •    Cross-Selling efforts between platforms and products.

In retention and engagement, transformation enhancing efforts focus on transferring people between low-engaged or non-engaged to advanced forms of engagement through various means.

In the Monetization layer, augmenting for transformation to a buying, payment, incentivized video view, or ad-unit click, are important to growing profitability.  CRO is hence the fundamental of monetization creativities.

4. Product At The Core Of The Engagement & Retention Layer

Retention branches out from appealing product know-how and no activity notifications, community engagement initiatives, and lifecycle marketing will keep consumers using a poorly-designed product that they do not find attractive. The product is now clearly positioned at the staple of the retention and engagement layer to reflect this.

5. ‘Activation’ Instead Of First Time User Experience

The particular description of activation is product-specific, and it probably evolves over time as a deep knowledge of user behaviour is collected and the teamsters of longer-term engagement are recognized more conclusively via hypothesis testing.

6. New And Expanded Channels

  •    Search Expanded To Include Paid App Store Search

Search as a channel shelters promoted and organic app discovery through app store searches and search engines. This could be through pointing particular keywords, and via indexing in-app content that seems to be prominent in search results.

  •    Mobile Platforms

The sudden rise in messenger platforms like WeChat, Line, SnapChat, Whatsapp, and Facebook Messenger etc. has led many to wonder that messaging is the fresh platform, downgrading all other apps and networks to also-rans in the competition for smartphone consumers’ consideration.

  •    App Streaming

Streaming games and apps permit users the opportunity to practice all or some of the product without requiring downloading it as an archetypal native application from the store.

  •    Mobile DSPs And SSPs

The 2017 edition of the stack adds mobile Supply Side Platforms (SSPs) and Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) as channels in their own right, slowly recognizing the growth of programmatic marketing.

  •    Chatbots

Despite the immaturity of present experiences, conversational interfaces, digital assistants, NLP, AI and Chatbots are rising in prominence. The will increasing play a disruptive role in the method users interact many products and platforms in various categories.

7. Enabling Tech Gets Its Own Layer

The main objective was to simplify stack but not at the expense of clarity. Although numerous generalizations were certainly made, they have been negated out in one fell fly down by the accumulation of an entire fresh layer: the tech layer.

From the Retention & Engagement layer deep linking has been moved here. This is because deep linking is not a growth driver or an activity in itself. However, it is a fundamental technology piece that is required to be placed in order to do more impactful and interesting things. This includes contextual and content indexing.

About the author

Ray Parker is an entrepreneur and internet marketer with over 15 years of experience in Search Engine Optimization, Creative Writer and Digital Marketing with IQVIS. He has worked with several clients from all over the globe to offer his services in various domains with a proven track record of success.