Giulia Porter

Q&A with Giulia

Giulia is the VP of Marketing at TelTech, part of IAC’s Mosaic Group. In her role, Giulia leads the marketing strategy for RoboKiller, the best-in-class robocall blocker app (yes!) that fights back against spam calls using robots and machine-learning. Her background is colorful with roles at Harvard, Deerwalk (healthcare and data analytics), and marketing automation giant, Hubspot. Giulia has a passion for automation, branding, and data science.

In your own words, tell us about the apps that you manage?

All TelTech products are built as privacy-first, consumer-friendly mobile applications that help users communicate more effectively on their smartphones.

Our leading product, RoboKiller, is the award-winning robocall blocker app that fights back against spam calls using robots and machine-learning. To date, RoboKiller has generated over 10 million installs, blocked 100 million plus spam calls, and maintained the number one top-grossing iOS Utilities app since 2017 (according to SensorTower).

I also manage TapeACall, the original call recorder app for iPhone, launched when the iOS App Store first opened. TapeACall is the highest-rated mobile app for recording phone calls, and is available in over 40 countries.

How did you get started in mobile marketing?

I started my career in mobile marketing back in 2017. Previously I had been working at HubSpot, consulting with 180 mid-market to enterprise companies on marketing automation and digital marketing best practices. I was put in touch with a recruiter during my time there who told me about a new app from TelTech called RoboKiller that was launching with a mission to stop spam calls. Ironically, my mom had just fallen victim to a Microsoft Tech Support scam the week before. Needless to say, I was inspired!

What do you like most about mobile marketing?

I love how instantaneous mobile app marketing is. Having worked in both B2B and B2C, the fast-paced environment is always interesting. I am generally an impatient person, so being able to understand if people are responding to ads, content, and copy quickly is very exciting to me. There is always something new to test or learn. Though the mobile app market has come a long way, the marketing landscape is still quite undefined; you can still make your strategy your own based on what works for your app/brand.

What does it take to succeed in mobile marketing?

Keep an open mind. The mobile landscape is constantly developing and changing. You need an appetite for trying new things, the mindset for constant strategic pivots, and the stomach for failure. If you stick to the status quo, your competitors will leave you in the dust. But, not everything you try is going to work; it's okay to fail and learn from mistakes.

What does a quality mobile user look like to you?

In the era of digital privacy, it is becoming more difficult to generate consumer trust in third-party apps. A quality user is a customer who is compelled to buy from our brands via good marketing. I believe a customer's quality increases as we increase the number of delightfully positive experiences they have with our products. Anyone can be a power user in a mobile app, but it starts with the well-designed experience you are delivering to that customer. You have to earn it.

What strategies work best to convert installs into engaged app users?

At TelTech, we have seen conversion rate optimization improvements by focusing on reducing as much friction as possible in the activation funnel, and pushing notifications for reactivations and abandonment.

For activation optimization, our focus on high-tempo testing has driven impressive scale for RoboKiller. We have improved paywall conversion rates 3x by iteratively testing button placement, copy, discounts, pricing, and plan length.

For push notifications, every consumer is looking for that abandonment discount offer. Send it to them! You would be surprised at how many people do not mind opting into push, and engage with push messages (email too). If requesting push permissions from users opening your app or activating your service is contextual, this is a huge revenue opportunity.

In the past year, what is one tip you can share which made the biggest performance difference with UA or re-engagement of your app?

Push notifications have been huge for us this year. Push is not only useful for generating reactivations or abandonment conversions, but offers enormous leverage for retention.

For reactivations, discount offers are key. A majority of our abandonments are due to price, which I am sure is not a problem unique to our products. If you can sell them on your initial price, give them an offer that makes them feel exclusive.

For retention, push can be valuable for increasing the number of customers that are in your highest retaining customer cohort. What features have those customers used and by when in their lifecycle? Try sending some push notifications to new customers and drive them to those features, to increase your retention.

How do you stay ahead of changes in technology?

I am a serial mobile app ad consumer on every social media site I use. I must be on nearly every lookalike audience, power-user, or retargeting list out there. I also enjoy checking out successful mobile apps; Hopper and Calm being a few to name. Sharing examples of new and innovative creative concepts, activation processes, or fun branding plays is a great way to spark ideation internally with your team.

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

Digital privacy. Because of bad actors and a lack of common understanding about data sharing, consumer trust in third-party applications has dramatically declined this year. This is especially tough for RoboKiller's marketing efforts when we are trying to block spam calls, and measure our campaigns along the way. I believe brands can combat this by just being open and honest about how they use data, and advocate for common data ethics in the mobile community.

What advice can you offer to help marketers combat mobile ad fraud?

Invest in a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP). When we were first getting started, AppsFlyer made a world of difference to our UA efforts and fraud protection. We immediately unlocked key insights into performance, and it improved our ROI within a matter of days.

For new channels that may have an unknown fraud risk, consider the opportunity cost versus time investment. Is your time better spent unlocking spend by improving your creatives? Or do you really believe this new channel will unlock incremental UA performance? These are just a few of the questions you should consider when combating mobile ad fraud.

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