Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Akhil Chandra: When I started in 2013, the app ecosystem was in its infancy and showed a lot of potential without the usual barriers like dependence on mobile carriers, capital investment and distribution challenges. I remember when I started, I wanted to build a business which would serve as a portfolio of widely accepted and appreciated apps that consumers love to use and of course, generate substantial revenue in the process. But after the 1st year, things didn't go quite as smoothly as I had planned and I pivoted to start offering consulting services related to mobile app businesses and became a solopreneur. Soon, my wife Chetna joined me and the consulting gig evolved into a growth-based marketing agency which has now delivered 500+ apps successfully for clients from all over the world. In that aspect, Studio Mosaic has developed into something different from what I had planned in the beginning. Though, my original vision of building a portfolio of apps is now being fulfilled by my other company called Epiphany Labs.
Great Companies: What are the various Services provided by Studio Mosaic
Akhil Chandra: Our core expertise lies in helping mobile app businesses achieve growth. We’re able to understand the app business as a whole and formulate a holistic marketing strategy to scale the app’s earnings or users. Our team of app store experts draws insights from analytics to create the ideal strategy tailored to meet our clients’ goals including long-term engagement, retention, profitability and return on investment. We offer a specialised suite of services that include the following activities:
Full-fledged App Audit for product improvement
Appstore Optimisation (ASO)
App Preview Videos
User Acquisition - Facebook, GoogleAdWords, Apple Search Ads
App Monetization Strategy to drive ROI
Great Companies: What makes Studio Mosaic different from hundreds of other Mobile App Marketing firms?
Akhil Chandra:
Our first differentiation is the fact that we focus on mobile app business only. A lot of other agencies offer digital marketing services and also do app marketing. This approach is not necessarily directly replicable. Our mobile-first approach helps us devise better and more effective product and marketing strategies for our clients.
Secondly, what sets us apart is our partnership-driven approach which prioritises the overall growth of the business in terms of revenue or users, through data-led decisions, over a unidimensional approach focussing solely on lower costs or higher downloads. Our endeavour is to provide true value to entrepreneurs & enterprises by enabling them to make a difference to this world with their mobile app ideas!
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Akhil Chandra: Two of the biggest hurdles that we face is hiring, and the opportunity to work with great products and product owners.
With regards to hiring, there is a severe dearth of trained people in the app marketing ecosystem because it’s a relatively new and niche industry. Therefore, it gets difficult for us to find the right people for the job.
As for products, sometimes a great idea does not translate into a great execution and it leads to a less than satisfactory uptake despite our best efforts. Finding well made apps is therefore a challenge. Also, since a lot of app owners do not understand the industry as well, they end up taking decisions which may impact the app adversely. And when they come to us, it is sometimes just too late to salvage the app.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What does 5 years down the line look like for Studio Mosaic?
Akhil Chandra: We would like Studio Mosaic to become the preferred growth partner for all mobile app businesses in the world. Studio Mosaic should be at the top when people look for innovation, deep domain knowledge and reliability in an agency, that’s our goal. Hiring the right people and bringing in automation in our processes would help us achieve that.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Akhil Chandra: A few things actually.
Get the idea right – Your ideas may be great, as per you but not so great as per your intended user. Don’t get blinded by your own conviction. Respect the user and give them what they want and not what you think they need.
Invest more in the product – Put in your time, resources, efforts into making a product that users would love to use. The only way a business can succeed is by offering a good product or service at its core. Look, feel (UI/UX) and functionality are all equally important for a good app. You may be able to acquire thousands of users through campaigns and other means, but a truly successful app is one that can retain its users and that will only happen if the app itself is enticing and sticky.
Analyse the data – Invest in a good analytics tool that can tell you what your users are doing and what their pain points are. Constantly optimise campaigns and product experience to reach out to a more targeted audience with a better product.
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