277: “Creative is the new targeting for app growth” with Jonathan Yantz, Managing Partner at M+C Saatchi Performance

Today's topic is where app marketing budgets should go - and why creative now does the work that audience settings used to do.

Ad platforms are increasingly machine learning-led, and the industry is increasingly privacy-led. Put the two together, and the creative you run decides who sees your ad. A couple of hero videos won't cut it anymore.

To cover all this, we've got Jonathan Yantz, Managing Partner at M+C Saatchi Performance, talking to tech journalist David Murphy at Business of Apps New York about budget allocation, creative strategy, and retention.

Jonathan explains why budget planning starts with a robust testing plan, how to be ready for new channels like ChatGPT ads before they arrive, and what a creative strategy built on a large number of variations looks like. He also covers why retention matters more when every dollar is under scrutiny.

If you work in app marketing, performance media, or creative strategy, this is a clear look at how to plan, test, and spend when the algorithm does the targeting.

Today’s topics include:

• Budget allocation - a testing plan thought through in advance, especially going into the end of the fiscal year
• New channels - having a plan ready and making sure you can measure any extra dollar
• Creative is the new targeting - how machine learning-led platforms and privacy changes moved the job to creative
• A robust creative strategy - many variations, with the next batch ready to go
• From A/B to A-to-Z testing - tying creative back to the overall testing strategy
• Budget scrutiny and retention - acquiring a user is costly, so keeping them is the easiest way to grow

Links and Resources:

• Jonathan Yantz on LinkedIn
• M+C Saatchi Performance website
• Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry

Quotes from Jonathan Yantz:

"We always said creative is king. And now we're saying creative is the new targeting, which is absolutely true."

"Any extra dollar is going to be the most important one to measure."

"Every dollar has to drive something."

Host

Business Of Apps - connecting the app industry since 2012