Case Studies

From 91K to 4MM Users: How One Trading Card Mobile App Found Its Next Growth Curve

Services used: paid search, paid social, ASA, ASO, fractional marketing leadership

Company Background – Early Seed Stage Mobile App Start Up Ready for the Next Levels of Growth

One of the most highly rated mobile apps with one of the largest user base faced a financial situation resulting in needing an experienced mobile app marketer to oversee its Marketing function with two non paid media team members. This partnership also required managing and executing its 5 figure monthly paid media budget and refocusing on app store optimization to ensure organic results didn’t further deteriorate.

The Numbers At a Glance

The Challenge and Request

• Provide Fractional Marketing Leadership overseeing two full time, non paid media team members (one email and website, one organic social) and represent Marketing on leadership, partnership, and investor calls
• Ongoing paid media management and optimization of its five figure monthly budget spanning Meta (Instagram and Facebook), TikTok, Google Ads Paid Search, Google Ads App Install, and Apple Search Ads
• Ongoing ASO organic improvement

How We Got To the Results

Growth Strategy and Execution

• Act as a player-coach to set structured process, provide framework and examples for final deliverables, and provide guidelines for ownership transfer
• Designed the end-to-end mobile growth strategy across acquisition, retention, and revenue
• Aligned product/tech, marketing, and leadership teams around shared KPIs
• Built repeatable growth systems that enabled scale from early stage traction to mass adoption

Analytics, Measurement, & Growth Infrastructure

• Built a marketing analytics system across paid and organic channels
• Solved specific mobile app audience creation and attribution challenges
• Created performance dashboards to guide daily optimization and budget reallocation decisions
• Established experimentation frameworks to ensure all growth decisions were data driven and measurable

Paid Media (Search and Social Media) and Performance Marketing

• Rebuilt and scaled a full funnel paid acquisition engine across Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google Ads, TikTok, and Apple Search Ads
• Determined which channels to shut down and reallocate
• Determine which channels to test and expand
• Continuously optimized campaigns using structured creative testing, audience segmentation, and bidding strategy
• Reduced CAC by improving conversion rates across ad creative

App Store Optimization (ASO) & App Growth

• Transformed App Store presence into the primary acquisition channel through keyword, creative, conversion optimization, and reviews management
• Improved store ranking from mid tier visibility to top category placements on both iOS and Android
• Increased install conversion rate through iterative testing of screenshots, messaging, and positioning

Lifecycle & Retention Marketing

• Implemented segmented lifecycle programs using first party behavioral data
• Built the framework for automated email system to drive engagement, conversion, and reactivation
• Reduced churn and improved subscription retention through targeted lifecycle journeys
• Increased LTV by aligning messaging frequency and content with user lifecycle stages and intent signals

Website/SEO Management and Content Marketing

• Developed an SEO strategy with an initial focus on redesigning the website
• Increased organic traffic through a revised organic social strategy, content expansion, SEO improvements, and site optimization
• Built educational and evergreen content that strengthened brand authority in the industry
• Refocused on creative and concept testing to determine engagement level and further test through paid media