Turn downloads into loyalty: Harut Amirkhanyan, Director of Growth Marketing at Appvertiser

Appvertiser is a leader in growth marketing, specializing in helping apps scale through a balance of user acquisition and retention strategies. Harut Amirkhanyan, General Manager and Director of Growth Marketing at Appvertiser, shares his journey in the app industry, the common challenges companies face when scaling, and how retention can drive long-term success. He offers actionable insights on optimizing user retention, navigating privacy constraints, and implementing holistic marketing approaches that blend acquisition and engagement for sustainable growth.

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My name is Harut, and I’m the Director of Growth Marketing at Appvertiser. My journey started about 15 years ago, when I first began working in gaming. At that time, I was building my own games, which was relatively easy. I could generate lots of downloads, but I didn’t know how to monetize them.

As I learned more about revenue generation, I started focusing on growth. Along the way, I encountered many challenges, which motivated me to seek more knowledge. That’s when I decided to work for gaming companies. My first role was with a local company in Armenia, Frismos Games, where I built the marketing department from scratch. We achieved millions of downloads per month.

Eventually, I realized that working with one company limited my exposure to different strategies, so I joined Appvertiser as one of its first employees. The beauty of Appvertiser is that we work with many clients—from gaming to non-gaming apps—allowing us to learn rapidly. What I’ve learned in just three to four months here is equivalent to five years of experience elsewhere. I love what I do and am happy to continue growing with the company.

A lot of people want to know how to transition from focusing on downloads to maintaining an active user base. You’ve worked with companies of all sizes—small, medium, and large. What are some common hurdles they face, whether they’re just launching an app or scaling and focusing on retention?

It really depends on the size of the company and the stage they’re at. For smaller apps or new launches, the biggest challenge is understanding where to start—what strategy to adopt and which marketing channels to focus on. Another major issue we often see is setting up the right attribution system to track user data properly. Without accurate attribution, it’s hard to measure success and optimize.

For larger, more established companies, the challenge shifts to maintaining their return on investment (ROI) while driving growth. They need to experiment with new channels and strategies to continue scaling, all while managing retention. It requires a balance of trying innovative approaches and scaling existing efforts.

When companies are getting started with user retention, particularly with strategies like retargeting or re-engagement, how do you explain the relationship between acquisition and retention? And why do you think retention is becoming increasingly important for app marketers?

Acquisition is important for growth, but retention is crucial for long-term success. Acquiring users is great, but if you’re not retaining them, you’re constantly paying for new users and missing out on the opportunity to grow. That’s why we recommend companies focus on understanding their in-app funnel and measuring user behavior.

For example, we worked with a game that had lots of users coming in at a low cost per install (CPI), but only 30% of them launched the game. We discovered a UX issue—the play button was hard to find. Once we fixed that, retention improved. So, you need to identify where users are dropping off and optimize each step of the funnel. Retained users have higher lifetime value (LTV) and are more likely to refer new users.

We’ve also noticed that retention is becoming more of a focus, even in verticals that traditionally concentrated on user acquisition. Do you have any additional strategies for apps just starting with user retention?

Absolutely. First, it’s essential to understand your retained users’ behavior—they behave differently from new users. Tracking and analyzing their behavior will give you valuable insights into how to attract and engage them. Retained users have a different LTV curve, so keeping them engaged should be a priority.

Push notifications are a great way to bring users back to the app. Another effective strategy is offering fresh content—seasonal updates, new characters in games, or exclusive features. Retargeting campaigns are also key because they can significantly boost retention and revenue by bringing users back at the right time.

Speaking of retention strategies, do you see a shift towards a more holistic approach, where teams combine push notifications, CRM, and programmatic retargeting to achieve a common goal? We often see these efforts managed by siloed teams. What’s your take?

Yes, combining these efforts is more effective. Push notifications are great, but they don’t allow you to showcase your content. That’s where retargeting comes in—you can re-engage users with personalized content that reminds them of the value of your app. When used together, these strategies amplify each other and increase the chances of retaining users.

We also see success with cross-promotion campaigns, especially for large studios or publishers with multiple apps. By introducing content from one app to users of another, you can keep users engaged across your portfolio.

You touched on attribution earlier. With privacy constraints impacting attribution and data visibility, do you have any advice for marketers on how to handle limited attribution?

Yes, privacy constraints have made attribution more difficult. Our recommendation is to focus on building a strong first-party data strategy. Invest in your own attribution system in parallel with third-party solutions to get more insights. It’s also crucial to communicate with users about why you need their data and how it benefits them. For example, showing them a pre-ATT (App Tracking Transparency) prompt can increase opt-in rates by explaining the benefits upfront.

That’s great advice. One final question: What lessons can non-gaming apps, such as those in e-commerce or entertainment, learn from the gaming industry, which is usually ahead of the curve?

Gaming is highly user-focused. Games are all about making the user experience as engaging as possible, which directly impacts retention. We’re seeing apps in other verticals start to gamify their experiences, and it’s working. Whether through mini-games or gamified rewards, these elements keep users engaged longer. It’s a trend worth paying attention to for any app looking to improve retention.