Monetizing an app relies on how you keep users engaged, and not just at the beginning but over a user’s lifetime. To kick off the first episode of adjoe's Mass Appeal Podcast, host Tommy Yannopoulos speaks with Alex Guerra, the Director and Head of Monetization at Baz. They discuss how economic incentive programs can drive app engagement in a profitable way. You’ll learn about the three principal monetization strategies; how to use incentives, like referral programs and gamification, to drive engagement and retention; and how to work with your data science team to build predictive marketing models with AI and machine learning to turn a profit.
After receiving his Masters from UCL in London, Alex worked at Uber for over 4 years, eventually becoming the Latin America Lead for Global Strategy. Now he directs pricing, market intelligence, and revenue growth strategies for Baz, Mexico’s first superapp. Baz is one app for payment and financial services, entertainment, e-commerce, and more.
(14:48-14:54) “What speeds up engagement and also user acquisition or retention is giving a customer something to reward their action.”
(19:57-20:11) “You have to build AI and machine learning models that create propensity and ranking models that make sure you’re reducing the cost of engagement and the cost of acquisition but you maximize or optimize for the lifetime value.”
(26:49-27:02) “You need to be patient. I’ve seen a lot of companies drop their [AI data modeling] efforts after a few weeks. Some of these experiments need two, three, or four months–it depends on the purchase frequency that your business has.”