Interview with Roberto Sbrolla from InfoJobs
Roberto is a digital marketing expert with over 10 years experience in the online business. For the last 4 years Roberto has been specializing in app marketing, working for advertising agencies and managing ASO, user acquisition and retention for global brands such as Burger King, Just Eat and Nickelodeon, as well as tech startups. He is currently working as online marketing manager at InfoJobs, the #1 job board in Spain.
Find out more about Roberto in this interview and join us at Applause 😉
Quick quiz Roberto Sbrolla – InfoJobs
Roberto will join us at Applause 2018! Do not miss the chance to learn from him and purchase your tickets now 😉 See you on Friday 1st of June at the W Barcelona Hotel.
1. How and when did you arrive to the mobile industry? Why did you decide to stay and work on this sector?
In 2011 I was working as a Media Planner for a marketing agency and the trend on media inventory was clear. Mobile was overtaking desktop. Barcelona was in the front line of this revolution with the Mobile World Congress and Spain in general was becoming one of the countries with the highest smartphone penetration. I was in the right place at the right time and could see all the signs. I surfed the mobile wave. First, I moved to a new agency working with mobile subscriptions and payments. Then, I had an opportunity to join an agency as a Mobile Marketing Manager helping other startups and big brands’ apps to grow. It was the golden age of discovery apps, first installs attribution platforms and ASO was just at the beginning. I’ve always enjoyed the mix of technology, people and marketing. I couldn’t ask for more. I’m still riding that wave…
2. What project are you working on now?
I’m really happy to say that I’m working in a Growth Team. It’s a new joint venture at InfoJobs that is putting Marketing alongside Product. The perfect mix, I would say, when you really want to achieve to move your levers and have an impact on the company’s KPIs and business. Personally, I’m focused on UA, and ASO/SEO which is part of this new exiting project.
3. What is the most important professional quality an app marketer can have?
It’s a mix of curiosity, a solid knowledge of technology and a strong determination to succeed. Curiosity because it’s a field that is moving very fast, it has a lot of connections and branches with other areas and you need to stay up to date always. Doing app marketing you soon realise that you need to deal with many platforms and you are surrounded by technology (devices, software, tracking). A good app marketer should be confident with all things tech.
Determination is crucial, because it’s a competitive market. Your app is just one amongst millions. Competitors or copycats are popping up like mushrooms and an app marketer need to be focused and confident, testing different approaches to make a real impact.
4. What KPIs do you control every day? Which ones are the most important?
As I’m taking care of the B2C side at InfoJobs, I check mainly visits, DAU, MAU, volume of installs, CPI and CPA (based on core events of the app like signups), inscriptions to job offers and unique applicants. Moreover, I usually dig into details per channel and campaigns and check retention rates regularly. Every business has its own set of key KPIs you need to follow. Normally, the best is to well define the few KPIs that let you easily understand if you are growing a user base (new and retained), with core actions that lead to activation and monetization with positive and valuable ROI.
5. What problem do you face in your everyday as an app marketer?
I’m struggling with data and tracking sometimes. It’s something that can drive me crazy, but I learned to be patient and find a workaround always. Patience is probably. One of the most important qualities of an app marketer.
6. What is the best option to monetize a mobile app?
There isn’t a perfect formula. As user, I like the freemium model where you get a good idea of the product before deciding to go for an upgrade or Premium service. It’s up to the app marketer to show off the product well enough with a free version and good ASO. Another good option is the subscription model. The user gets full access to a product paying a recurrent fee and the app starts to generate a stream of money. Unfortunately, it generally works only for specific niches. Nowadays, I wouldn’t go for the advertising model. It can be very hard to scale since you need to rely on a huge user base to make real business. Banner blindness and a generally bad perception of the ads don’t help either. I still believe that ads can deliver value for the user but they need to be very well target and implemented. According to a recent study, in-app purchase is the model to bet on as it is supposed to keep growing in the next years counting for the largest share of the cake.
7. What advice would you give to a company or startup before launching a mobile app?
Invest in a good data infrastructure to measure, track, analyse and finally validate their business model. The key is to understand what’s going on and how you can reach your goals if the first metrics are not positive. If you succeed, then the investment in data will pay off and you’ll have the right insights to base your forecast on, prioritise actions and grow the business.
8. What are the biggest challenges facing the mobile app industry?
The app industry will keep growing in the next years, but competing for users’ attention and monetising them will become harder. People download less and less apps nowadays. The challenge is to create good app products. I’m sure that mobile applications soon will have a more consistent impact on real life than they have today. It’s fundamental that the mobile industry takes on real responsibility regarding privacy, personal data usage as well as social and environmental impacts app can have.
9. What trends will mark 2018?
I would point out AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) and maybe Instant app. Google is pushing a lot to improve speed performance of mobile experience and to take away frictions when it comes to install an app. I’m curious to hear news from Google I/O 2018 which is one of the top events every year to set industry trends.
10. How do you keep up to date with all the news in the app marketing industry? What sources do you consult?
Recently I’m really into Growth and today it’s a lot about Mobile Growth. I would recommend this nice blog article by Ty Magnin that is listing the top sources about this topic.
I’m also following Brian Balfour who publishes very interesting essays about growth.
11. What will you talk about in Applause 2018? Why the attendees shouldn’t miss your keynote?
This year I’ll present a Mobile Growth case study. The audience will get the chance to learn how InfoJobs embraces this challenge with a brand new team, the path and the outcome of the experiment. It’s a real case published exclusively for this new Applause edition.
12. To finish, what apps or games have surprised you in the last year?
I’m playing with the puzzle Two Dots from the developer PlayDots.
They are doing a great job engaging users with a stylish visual storytelling, seasonal and temporary missions, attractive levels not so easy as they seem, limited daily life giving you more than one good reason to go for an in-app purchase when you are totally addicted and stuck at one level. It’s interesting as they are changing the app icon so often. I think it’s a good strategy that works for them to re-engage users attracting.
Then, I would recommend the small gem that is the app Yellow from Bart Bonte. It’s an almost only two colour game you play with tap and slide and some other screen interactions. This app I discovered by word of mouth. They’ve got already over 1 million downloads with a 4,8 stars’ review. The developer recently released a sequel to the puzzle called, guess how? Red.
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