Interview with Ekaterina Petrakova from Rocket Internet - Applause 2018 Skip to main content

Interview with Ekaterina Petrakova from Rocket Internet

Ekaterina Petrakova is Mobile Mobile Marketing Manager and she leads most of apps and mobile marketing initiatives across Rocket Internet. Besides focusing on apps, she is involved in SEA which feeds on her passion for Online Marketing on both mobile and desktop. She will participate in Applause 2018 giving a keynote and also in the App Store Optimization panel discussion. Listen her on Friday 1st of June at the W Barcelona hotel!

Read the full interview and find out more about Ekaterina šŸ˜‰
Ekaterina Petrakova

Quick quiz Ekaterina Petrakova – Rocket Internet

Do you want to know more about her? Keep on reading and don’t miss the chance to attend Applause 2018!

1. How and when did you arrive to the mobile industry? Why did you decide to stay and work on this sector?

When I joined Rocket Internet, my first task as a member of Search Engine Optimization team was to set up App Store Optimization to help our portfolio companies – a long-term project that took me almost a year. With time the scope expanded, and today I cover almost everything that is related to apps and their marketing.

2. What project are you working on now?

Iā€™m glad that my list of tasks is very diverse: from evaluating the app as an investment to the actual setup of tracking concept. Besides the daily ā€œroutineā€, currently Iā€™m digging into GDPR topic and trying to prepare the documentation for our companies.

3. What is the most important professional quality an app marketer can have?

Guess the industry pushes us being early adopters as well as accepting the fact of certain strategies and approaches becoming things of the past within months. This might be very challenging: to be in constant search for the new solutions but at the same time focus on KPIs and not only testing.

4. What KPIs do you control every day? Which ones are the most important?

I rarely follow one application only, itā€™s more common for me to look from an industry / category or our benchmark perspective. From that point of view, I worry a lot about reviews (especially after app updates), MAU / WAU / DAU and overall ranking trends fluctuation in the category.

5. What problem do you face in your everyday as an app marketer?

It might be slightly out of topic: as I work with SEO as well, I often see the dissonance between an app and a website. To have a clear definition of a brand is essential when you start ASO or paid advertising as you have to know what do you promote and offer.

6. What advice would you give to a company or startup before launching a mobile app?

  1. Start with a proper market research & strategic planning.
  2. Go local, not global. Look at all those little cafes in any European city that have local & loyal customers who stick to them ā€“ this should be the first goal. And only when you achieve it ā€“ expand.

7. What are the biggest challenges facing the mobile app industry?

Despite the news around acquisition: Apple Search Ads or GDPR that might significantly change the way we work with ad networks, I find retention to be the key topic today. Acquisition is no longer a Pandora box irrespectively the budget, while the retention is still a struggle for everyone, even the most successful apps.

8. What trends will mark 2018?

With Google and Apple offering advertising services, Iā€™m sure their products will keep popularity in 2018 (UAC and Apple Search Ads). Also, all Google mobile web initiatives shake the industry quite a lot: Mobile-First Index (no need to mention the raise of AMP) thatā€™s coming this year may definitely change the market.

9. How do you keep up to date with all the news in the app marketing industry? What sources do you consult?

As nowadays itā€™s crucial to stay updated on a daily basis, I rely on my RSS feed. It includes sources like: the main MMPs and push/engagement provides blogs, SplitMetrics blog, AppBrain and, of course, ASO stack and some ASO-related articles at Medium.

10. To finish, what apps or games have surprised you in the last year?

I am not a heavy app user, and usually stick to the same things that I find useful or like. NO surprises here,, but I have to admit: I am very curious about the shift that Instagram is doing right now ā€“ trying to monetize their product. Especially by the fact that it is really working.

See you on Friday 1st of June at Applause 2018!

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Daniel PM

Author Daniel PM

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