Geoff Hladik

Q&A with Geoff

Geoff heads up monetization and growth at FlipaClip, a powerful and fun tool that makes frame-by-frame animation easy. His career started in digital advertising sales at AOL and Amazon, moving into the mobile marketing space in 2012. Geoff has since staked his claim in the publisher business, leading monetization and growth strategies at FlipaClip since 2019. 

In your own words, tell us about the app(s) that you manage?

FlipaClip is a unique product for creating and editing animations and trace-over video frame-by-frame. It is simple to use with a lot of firepower. 

Creators from all age groups use the app for different purposes, including 2D animations, self-publishing a series on YouTube, classroom work all over the world, memes and influencer work, and professional purposes.

How did you get started in mobile monetization?

I worked for years in publisher development on the supply side of mobile ad tech. I had the pleasure of partnering and establishing relationships with many of the great indie and top app and game publishers over the years. I eventually transitioned to the publisher side with FlipaClip in 2019. 

In ad tech, there's so much to learn about industry fundamentals, internal workings, and the nitty-gritty of mobile. Access to many great publishers gave me perspective on the different monetization and growth models for each app and game. I learned what it takes to be successful. 

If you could start in mobile monetization again, would you do anything differently? Why and what would you do?

I would have learned to prioritize initiatives. Instead of focusing on day-to-day ops that drive incremental revenues, prioritize critical infrastructure projects to move the business forward at a higher level and faster pace. 

What do you like most about mobile monetization?

My leading drive is helping our users become better at being creators. In mobile monetization, we achieve this by moving forward, pushing past a one-size-fits-all approach. I enjoy developing monetization and growth strategies that meet our users' needs and ambitions and that match their purchasing power.

What do you see as the next big thing in mobile app monetization?

I envision a more complex global economy with easier access to technology that leads to many different audiences for different apps. This accessible app economy maximizes revenue without sacrificing user experience and engagement. Different monetization strategies for various audiences will be necessary to scale responsibly. And these strategies would comprise a holistic approach to monetization and user growth—it’s possible to prioritize both as you scale.

How do you balance a positive user experience with the monetization experience in your app(s)?

FlipaClip is a simple-to-use but powerful product for developing animations from scratch. Our creators can spend 10-12 hours in a single day across multiple sessions, animating from scratch. Frame-by-frame animation in an open canvas without many natural stopping or transition points makes developing and testing monetization strategies challenging.

We often look to gaming logic to design strategies that improve user experience, engagement and revenue. Given that we're neither a game nor a traditional app with an established blueprint for success, we have to look at what others do and adapt solutions that might work for us. From there, we test many remote configurable strategies, segmenting by audience to meet the needs of all of our creators.

In the past year, what is one tip you can share which made the biggest performance difference for your monetization strategy?

We opened up features previously hidden behind a paywall in place of rewarded video. This change yielded more engagement for our freemium users. It also improved multiple core business KPIs and revenue without cannibalizing IAP and subscription revenue. 

What's a mistake you see get made all the time with mobile monetization strategies, even by smart people and smart companies?

They overlook audience segmenting. Seemingly small changes to a monetization strategy can have sizable impacts on other core business KPIs—this will impact the company's overall growth.

When you advise people on mobile monetization, such as "Do more of this" or "Do less of that," is there one lesson you share repeatedly?

Learn from the best in the business. Many wonderful, experienced people in mobile work for great companies and are willing to share their experiences. There is so much to learn every day, and networking and becoming friends with others who can help is the best way to do it.

What are your top 3 go-to resources for keeping up with the mobile ad tech industry?

1. Slack for mobile ad tech and publisher groups
2. Networking with old friends and colleagues
3. LinkedIn