Appi Camper is an interview series that shines a spotlight on today's mobile elite, showcasing their expertise and knowledge. Growth leaders share trends, strategies to navigate the current market, tips to overcome present challenges, and how they approach these impacts to successfully emerge as an Appi Camper.
Spotlight with Taya Franchville
Taya is an App Growth Consultant at AppTweak, passionate about helping apps boost their visibility and downloads. She provides support and ASO recommendations to AppTweak's clients, backed by AppTweak’s data. Taya has worked with apps in many verticals, including apps in the shopping, music, travel, and entertainment categories, as well as Fortune 500 companies.
What do you think is the key to making a brand successful throughout the many changes ongoing in the mobile industry?
A key part of staying competitive in a rapidly changing industry like mobile is monitoring your competition. This is one thing I always tell my clients to pay attention to, as competitor tracking can show you where you stand. Something I notice though is that oftentimes, brands monitor their competitors to follow them, not to surpass them, even in an environment where it’s growing even more important to be ahead of competition, rather than following their lead. It’s easy to watch competitors and mimic what they’re doing, but what really sets a brand apart is being a leader instead of a follower.
A key thing brands should be doing is maintaining innovative mentalities and staying steps ahead of their competitors. A big mistake brands make when trying to succeed in a rapidly-changing industry is being afraid of change or failure. Being ahead of the game, being an innovator, being a trailblazer - these all come with both change and failure, but the one key element is to keep learning and using the takeaways to stay ahead. A strong brand that’s adapted to coping with these difficulties won’t feel the impact of change as much as others would.
How important do you think events are for the success and growth of your business? Do you think there is a major difference between in-person and virtual events?
Events are important for any business in the mobile space, especially ones that are growing as rapidly as AppTweak. We perceive virtual events and in-person events on a more similar level than we would have pre-2020. In today’s world, with most people being accustomed to work-from-home in some sense, as well as virtual webinars and meetings, meeting people virtually and learning in this way has become our new norm; however, there’s still something special about in-person events that you just can’t get online. In the digital age, humans still crave authentic interactions, and in-person events can allow these real connections and business relationships that allow you to see someone for who they are as a person, and not just who their name tag says they are. Both in-person and virtual events are important for the way we work today, and companies should work to interact with a nice balance of both settings.
What advice would you give to work best with other cultures and time zone challenges?
Mindfulness is key when working with other cultures and time zones. Two major factors I keep in mind personally are effective communication and awareness of working hours. At AppTweak, we have offices around the world so it’s important for us to be mindful not only when collaborating across offices, but also when working with global clients. To stay conscious and considerate, I always double-check working hours when setting meetings to ensure I’m not accidentally asking someone to meet outside of their workday.
In addition, I place a strong emphasis on clear and efficient communication to avoid any potential misunderstandings - for example, sharing as much context and detail as possible. This is exceptionally important, as ineffective correspondence across time zones can waste days of time. Lastly, I would advise being open to new ideas and learning as much as you can from other cultures when working together! It's amazing how exposure to different work strategies and perspectives can influence creativity and enhance one’s skills.
What does personal branding mean to you? Any tips for someone trying to build their personal brand?
To me, personal branding is exceptionally important and can be the difference between having a good career and a fantastic one. Personal branding isn’t just about the companies and job titles listed on your resume, it’s so much deeper than that, and encompasses your identity, achievements, credibility, professionalism, etc. For someone trying to build their personal brand, my biggest piece of advice would be to always remember the value of soft skills. Hard skills can be learned and improved upon much easier than soft skills can, so really displaying and advocating for your soft skills can be a massive benefit when you’re looking to advance your personal brand and career.
