Writing

Field notes on growth that pays back

Practical pieces on mobile user acquisition, unit economics and scaling subscription apps. No fluff, no AI slop.

May 2026·9 min

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for Mobile Apps: Calculate & Benchmark

Cheap installs flatter a dashboard and starve a P&L. Here’s how to measure customer acquisition cost the way it actually drives decisions, and how to bring it down.

CACUnit economicsSubscription

May 2026·11 min

Mobile App User Acquisition: The 2026 Playbook

What mobile app user acquisition actually looks like in 2026, the channels, the creative engine, measurement that survives SKAN, and how to scale without breaking the economics.

User acquisitionStrategyMobile

April 2026·8 min

Web2App Funnels: Why Subscription Apps Are Leaving the App Stores

Reclaim the store’s cut, own your data, and give paid UA more room to bid. The case for Web2App, and how to build one that works.

Web2AppMonetization

April 2026·7 min

ROAS vs LTV: How I Decide What to Scale (and When to Kill It)

ROAS is the speedometer; LTV is the fuel gauge. Here’s how I read both to decide what scales and what dies.

ROASLTVEconomics

March 2026·9 min

Apple Search Ads vs Google UAC vs TikTok: A Channel Playbook

Three channels, three jobs. How I sequence Apple Search Ads, Google UAC and TikTok as an app scales.

ChannelsASAUACTikTok

March 2026·6 min

What Does a User Acquisition Manager Actually Do?

Beyond ‘running ads’, what a user acquisition manager owns, and how to decide between hiring, fractional, or an agency.

UA ManagerHiring

Feb 2026·9 min

SKAN in 2026: Measuring iOS User Acquisition Without Losing Your Mind

SKAN will never give you the clean last-click you miss. Here’s how to set it up, read it, and triangulate around it so you can still scale iOS with confidence.

SKANMeasurementiOS

Feb 2026·7 min

From iGaming to Subscription Apps: What Transfers in Paid UA

High-stakes verticals teach you fast, because every mistake is your own money. Here’s what crosses over from iGaming and arbitrage into subscription-app growth, and what doesn’t.

VerticalsMedia buyingStrategy

Dec 2025·6 min

What Is User Acquisition? Definition, Examples & How It Works

A plain definition of user acquisition, how it works, the main channels, and the metrics that decide whether it’s profitable.

User acquisitionBasics

Dec 2025·8 min

User Acquisition Strategy: A Framework for Mobile Apps

Most UA “strategy” is a channel list. Here’s the framework I actually use: economics first, then channels, creative, measurement and disciplined scale.

StrategyUser acquisition

Jan 2026·7 min

User Acquisition Cost Benchmarks for Apps (2026)

What does it cost to acquire a user in 2026? Directional ranges by vertical, the healthy thresholds, and why your own numbers beat any benchmark.

Jan 2026·7 min

How to Lower Customer Acquisition Cost for Apps

CAC comes down in a predictable order. Chase a cheaper CPM before fixing creative and you just buy the wrong users faster. Here’s the right order.

CACOptimization

Sep 2025·7 min

LTV Modeling for Mobile Apps: A Practical Approach

LTV is the number that sets your allowable CAC. Model it wrong and every bid is wrong. Here’s a practical way to do it.

Nov 2025·7 min

Apple Search Ads: A Practical Guide for Subscription Apps

Apple Search Ads is the highest-intent iOS traffic there is, and usually the place to start. How to run it and where it fits.

Apple Search AdsChannels

Nov 2025·7 min

Google App Campaigns (UAC): A Practical Guide

UAC spreads one campaign across all of Google with the models doing the targeting. Here’s what you control and how to keep it profitable.

Google UACChannels

Oct 2025·6 min

TikTok User Acquisition for Apps: A Creative-Led Channel

TikTok creates demand rather than capturing it, which makes it a creative game above all. How to win it.

TikTokChannelsCreative

Oct 2025·6 min

Mobile Game User Acquisition: What’s Different

Game UA plays by slightly different rules than subscription apps: faster signal, more creative, and a D7 ROAS mindset. What carries over and what doesn’t.

GamingUser acquisition

Sep 2025·6 min

ASO for Subscription Apps: A Practical Guide

ASO isn’t separate from paid UA, it multiplies it. Better store conversion lowers the cost of every install you buy. The practical version.

Aug 2025·6 min

Paywall Optimization for Subscription Apps

The paywall is where UA turns into revenue. Small changes here move LTV, which moves your allowable CAC. How to optimize it.

PaywallMonetization

Jul 2025·8 min

Best Traffic Sources for Mobile App User Acquisition (2026)

There is no universal “best” source. The best one is wherever your payback clears. Here is how I rank and weight them for subscription apps.

ChannelsSourcesStrategy

Jul 2025·7 min

Meta App Install Campaigns: A Practical Guide

Meta is still the volume workhorse for broad-appeal subscription apps. With Advantage+ doing the targeting, creative is your real lever.

Jun 2025·6 min

Pinterest Ads for Mobile Apps: When They Work

Pinterest is a quiet, intent-led source for the right verticals. Lower volume than Meta or TikTok, but cheap incremental reach when the creative fits.

PinterestChannels

Jun 2025·6 min

Snapchat Ads for App User Acquisition

Snapchat reaches a young, mobile-first audience other channels miss. For the right verticals, vertical-video creative makes it a real incremental source.

SnapchatChannels

May 2025·6 min

Pop Ads for Mobile Apps: Does Pop Traffic Work?

Pop traffic is cheap and high-volume, but low-intent and quality-risky. It works for specific funnels with ruthless tracking. Here is the honest version.

Pop AdsChannelsArbitrage

May 2025·8 min

Ad Networks for Mobile App UA: AppLovin, Unity, ironSource & Mintegral

SDK ad networks and DSPs are the programmatic backbone of app UA, especially for games and hybrid apps. Here’s what the big four do and when to use them.

Ad networksDSPChannels

Apr 2025·6 min

OEM Traffic & Alternative App Stores for User Acquisition

OEM channels and alternative app stores reach users Google Play can’t. Cheaper and less competitive, but messier setup and measurement.

OEMApp storesChannels

Apr 2025·5 min

Rewarded vs Non-Rewarded App Installs: The Difference

Rewarded installs are cheap and high-volume but lower intent. Non-rewarded are higher quality and cost. Here’s when each makes sense.

RewardedUser acquisition

Apr 2025·6 min

Tier-2 & Tier-3 Geo User Acquisition for Apps

Tier-2 and Tier-3 geos offer cheap installs and enormous volume, but lower monetization. You win on fit and measurement, not blended metrics.

GeoStrategyUser acquisition

Mar 2025·6 min

User Acquisition for Health & Fitness Apps

Health and fitness UA is highly seasonal and intent-led. Apple Search Ads, Meta and Pinterest fit the audience, and subscription LTV is strong if you survive the January auction.

VerticalHealth & Fitness

Mar 2025·6 min

User Acquisition for Dating Apps

Dating UA lives and dies on liquidity. You need both sides in each geo, young-audience channels, and an economy built for short payback and high churn.

Feb 2025·6 min

User Acquisition for Fintech Apps

Fintech buyers are high-intent and high-LTV, but trust and compliance gate everything. Optimize to activation, not installs, and CAC takes care of itself.

VerticalFintech

Feb 2025·6 min

User Acquisition for AI Apps

AI apps scale fast on novelty, but CAC inflates and retention is the real risk. The winners turn hype into habit before the curve catches up.

VerticalAI apps

Jan 2025·6 min

User Acquisition for EdTech Apps

EdTech UA splits by buyer: the learner versus the parent paying. It’s seasonal and trust-led, so content and considered channels beat impulse creative.

Dec 2024·6 min

AppsFlyer vs Adjust vs Singular: Choosing an MMP

Your MMP is the source of truth for every UA decision. Here is how the big three differ and how to pick the one that fits your stack.

Dec 2024·6 min

Incrementality Testing for Mobile Apps

Attribution tells you which channel got the credit. Incrementality tells you which spend actually caused installs. They are not the same thing.

MeasurementIncrementality

Dec 2024·6 min

Media Mix Modeling (MMM) for Mobile Apps

As deterministic tracking erodes, top-down media mix modeling is back. Here is what MMM can and cannot tell a mobile app team.

Nov 2024·5 min

Payback Period: The Metric That Governs UA Spend

ROAS and LTV matter, but payback period decides how fast you can scale without running out of cash. The most underrated UA metric.

MetricsEconomics

Nov 2024·6 min

Cohort Analysis for Mobile Apps

Blended numbers lie. Cohort analysis groups users by when and how they arrived, so you can see what is actually working before it is too late.

MetricsAnalytics

Nov 2024·6 min

Unit Economics for Subscription Apps

Every UA decision rolls up to one question: do the unit economics work? How CAC, LTV, payback and margin combine into a business that scales, or does not.

EconomicsSubscription

Nov 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for E-commerce & Shopping Apps

Shopping apps do not win on installs, they win on orders. Catalog ads, retargeting, and a measurement model built around purchase value.

VerticalE-commerce

Oct 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Social Apps

Social apps grow on network effects, so paid UA is about seeding density and igniting virality, not just buying installs.

Oct 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Crypto & Web3 Apps

Crypto UA is hard mode: most ad platforms restrict it, the audience is sceptical, and incentives attract mercenaries. Where it actually works.

VerticalCrypto & Web3

Oct 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Food Delivery Apps

Food delivery is a hyperlocal marketplace. UA is about density per city, promo-driven first orders, and whether users come back without the discount.

VerticalFood Delivery

Oct 2024·5 min

UGC Ads for Mobile Apps

User-generated-style ads consistently beat polished studio creative on TikTok and Meta. Why UGC works and how to produce it at volume.

Oct 2024·5 min

Playable Ads for Mobile Apps

Playable ads let users try before they install. Standard for games, increasingly useful for apps. How they work and when to use them.

CreativePlayables

Sep 2024·6 min

A Creative Testing Framework for App UA

Creative is the biggest lever in modern UA. A structured framework for testing concepts, reading signal, and scaling winners without fooling yourself.

CreativeTesting

Sep 2024·6 min

In-House vs Agency vs Freelance UA: Which to Choose

Should you build UA in-house, hire an agency, or work with a freelancer or consultant? The honest trade-offs by stage and budget.

Sep 2024·6 min

How to Hire a User Acquisition Manager

A great UA manager pays for themselves many times over; a weak one quietly burns budget. How to tell the difference when hiring.

Sep 2024·6 min

How to Plan a User Acquisition Budget

A good UA budget is not a number you pick, it is an output of your economics. How to size and allocate spend from payback up.

StrategyBudgeting

Aug 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Travel Apps

Travel UA is high-intent and high-value, but usage is infrequent and brutally seasonal. The whole game is capturing intent and earning the next trip.

Aug 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Music & Audio Apps

Music and audio apps win on daily habit. Free tiers fill the funnel, but retention and conversion to paid are what build LTV.

VerticalMusic & Audio

Aug 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Utility Apps

Utility apps have clear task-intent demand but weak retention. ASO and search capture the need; Web2App funnels and sharp paywalls do the converting.

VerticalUtility

Aug 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Health-Tech & Telemedicine Apps

Health-tech UA is gated by trust, privacy and heavy ad-policy limits. High intent and high LTV, but you measure to activated patients, not installs.

VerticalHealth-Tech

Jul 2024·6 min

Meta vs TikTok for App User Acquisition

Meta brings broad reach and mature optimization; TikTok brings cheap, creative-led discovery. Here is how to choose, and why it is usually both.

ComparisonChannels

Jul 2024·6 min

Web2App vs Direct-to-Store: Which Converts Better

Direct-to-store sends clicks straight to the App Store; Web2App routes through a web funnel first. For subscription apps, control usually tips it toward Web2App.

ComparisonWeb2App

Jul 2024·5 min

Organic vs Paid User Acquisition

Organic is cheap and durable but slow; paid is fast and scalable but stops when you stop. The smart play is using each to amplify the other.

ComparisonStrategy

Jul 2024·6 min

iOS vs Android UA: The Key Differences

iOS has higher ARPU and CPI and SKAN-limited measurement; Android is cheaper with richer data and broader reach. How to prioritize between them.

ComparisonStrategy

Jul 2024·6 min

Retention Strategies for Subscription Apps

You can buy installs all day, but retention is what makes them pay. The levers that move it, and why small gains compound across every cohort.

RetentionSubscription

Jun 2024·5 min

Onboarding Optimization for Mobile Apps

Most churn happens in the first session. Onboarding is your one shot to get users to value before they leave, and it is one flow with the paywall.

RetentionOnboarding

Jun 2024·5 min

Push Notifications That Actually Retain Users

Push is the cheapest retention channel you have, and the easiest to ruin. Relevance and timing keep users; spam drives opt-outs and churn.

RetentionLifecycle

Jun 2024·6 min

Reducing Churn in Subscription Apps

Churn is the silent killer of subscription LTV. Attack it on three fronts, and do not ignore the cheap wins in failed-payment recovery.

Jun 2024·5 min

Re-engagement Campaigns for Mobile Apps

Reactivating a dormant user is cheaper than finding a new one. Retargeting, push, email and deep links, used to bring users back to real value.

RetentionRe-engagement

May 2024·6 min

Subscription Pricing Strategy for Apps

Price is one of the highest-leverage variables in a subscription app, and one of the least tested. How to think about it, and what to experiment with.

MonetizationPricing

May 2024·5 min

Free Trial Optimization for Subscription Apps

Trial design quietly decides both how many users convert and how good they are. Length, hard versus soft, and reminders all pull different levers.

MonetizationTrials

May 2024·5 min

Improving Trial-to-Paid Conversion

Trial-to-paid is where interest becomes revenue. Deliver value in the trial, make sure users feel it, and remove every bit of friction at the charge.

MonetizationConversion

May 2024·5 min

Annual vs Monthly Plans: Which to Push

Annual plans front-load cash and improve retention; monthly lowers the barrier to start. Most apps run both and anchor annual as the deal.

MonetizationComparison

Apr 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Kids & Parenting Apps

Kids apps have a child for a user and a parent for a buyer, wrapped in strict privacy rules. Trust and safety, not flashy creative, drive conversion.

VerticalKids & Parenting

Apr 2024·6 min

User Acquisition for Productivity Apps

Productivity apps have clear intent but live or die on habit and workflow lock-in. Search captures demand; becoming indispensable keeps it.

VerticalProductivity

Apr 2024·5 min

User Acquisition for News & Media Apps

News apps live on daily habit but fight low willingness to pay. Frequency builds the audience; paywalls and loyalty turn it into subscription LTV.

VerticalNews & Media

Apr 2024·5 min

CPI vs CPA vs CPM: App Ad Pricing Models

CPM, CPI and CPA describe what you pay for: impressions, installs or actions. Knowing where the risk sits is how you buy media that actually pays.

ComparisonMetrics

Apr 2024·5 min

In-App Purchases vs Subscriptions

IAP earns one-time revenue; subscriptions earn it again and again. That difference in predictability is why subscription apps can outspend on UA.

ComparisonMonetization

Mar 2024·5 min

Acquisition vs Retention: Where to Invest

Acquisition fills the bucket; retention stops the leaks. Pour users into a leaky app and you are just paying to lose them faster.

ComparisonStrategy

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