ASO Expert Interview: Peter Fodor

Peter Fodor, founder ofAppAgent(mobile marketing company), is our newest ASO Expert. Discover his interview below and learn more about his latest App Store Optimization challenges.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your company?

After graduating in marketing communications, I spent the next 5 years in the advertising business working for clients such as Nestlé and Vodafone. Then I switched industries, founded a mobile gaming studio and created 10 mobile apps with a cumulative download of 8 million. My current company called “AppAgent” combines two previous careers, we’re focusing on mobile marketing and help clients such as Malwarebytes or Tradewise (US), CI Games (POL) or Kiwi.com (CZE) with their mobile strategy,data analytics, mobile creative services and user acquisition.

2. How long have you been involved in ASO or app marketing?

Since 2011 when I launched the first game called “Power of Logic”. The business is completely different today as are the tactics and tools, the market is much more mature and therefore it is more exciting.

3. What was it about this industry that made you choose it as your primary job?

As a marketer in a traditional advertising space, I hated the lack of numbers in the decision-making process and ATL/BTL campaigns evaluation. It’s like handling an ice-breaker without a compass. Mobile marketing is more like a jet scooter as it is more data driven and focused on measurable results.

4. How do you see the world of ASO and App marketing evolving?

It’s fast, maybe even too fast :). The rules of the game change quickly and new opportunities emerge every day. Therefore, it’s important to use common sense and focus on what’s important for a specific business in a specific time. I see that the most common mistake in mobile space is doing the wrong thing at wrong time which results in losing precious time and money.

5. What should be the biggest focus for app developers and marketers in 2017?

As in every business, to fully understand who your customers are and what is the value for them. I’m surprised how rare the deep understanding is of these two essential parts of business success. Everything else should evolve from this point: what are the business KPIs and the data we collect, how we present the app in the store, what is the right target and advertising message, etc.

6. What was your favorite app in 2016?

Supercell’s new game “Clash Royale” and I had a ton of fun with the Masquarade app as well.

7. Tell us about your most challenging ASO “experiment”

Recently, I optimized iOS keywords for Kiwi.com in the flight tickets business. It’s a super competitive segment, where the client ranked only for brand phrases such as “Kiwi flights” or “Kiwi flight tickets”. After 2 months of work, the app ranks in top 10 in the US store for 23 non-branded and highly relevant phrases such as “air tickets”, “best flight deals”, “flight ticket” or “flight finder”. Now, we’re localizing the winning set into 10 other languages to increase the impact.

8. Tell us about your experience with AppTweak and give us your favorite feature.

The keywords suggestion is the most helpful. I’ve generated over 130 phrases using various techniques outside of the tool but AppTweak suggested many other relevant phrases which never came to my mind.

9. Do you have any “MasterChef” ASO tips?

Here are my 3 tips:

1. Ranking competitor names can be difficult but not impossible if you use a phrase such as “Ryanair app” or “book Ryanair”
2. Combine keywords from different language versions to increase the number of phrases. A good example is the keywords in the Mexican version are taken into account for searches in the US Store.
3. Focus only on phrases where you can reach the top 10, people won’t find you when you are ranked #48.

Peter has both a marketing and an app developer background. Combining his two previous carriers, he founded AppAgent (mobile marketing company) and now uses his experience to help brands standing out in the store.

Want to contact Peter? Find all details on her ASO Expert profile page.