3 MINUTES BULLSHIT WITH GEORGE #45: App Launch Mistakes to Avoid with Michelle Murcia                 

Episode #45 of 3 MINUTES BULLSHIT WITH GEORGE featured Michelle Murcia, Head of Growth at Storybeat.  We discussed how to avoid common mistakes during app launching.

In this episode of 3 MINUTES BULLSHIT WITH GEORGE, George Natsvlishvili is joined by Michelle Murcia, Head of Growth at Storybeat. Storybeat is the app for creating social media stories and reels. 

Michelle shares his experience as a Mobile Growth Expert regarding the app launch mistakes to avoid. 

Check out all the other episodes of 3 MINUTES BULLSHIT WITH GEORGE on our website or on Youtube channel. 

Connect with Michelle and Storybeat here:

• Michelle Murcia's Linkedin

• Storybeat

Timestamps:

00:00           Dance

00:15           Michelle’s Introduction

00:28           App Launch Mistakes to Avoid

03:28           Bloopers

Transcript & Key takeaways from the episode:

Here are list of mistakes to avoid when launching a new app:

• Skipping Product-Market Fit Testing

  • Ensure the product meets user needs before scaling.

  • Gather user feedback and refine before investing heavily.

• Spending Budget Too Quickly

  • Avoid blindly testing multiple platforms just because you have funds.

  • Validate strategies before making large investments.

• Neglecting ASO (App Store Optimization)

  • Optimize app listing to target the right audience effectively.

  • Prioritize organic channels before paid campaigns.

• Choosing the Wrong Advertising Channels

  • Some platforms (e.g., Google, TikTok) require high budgets to be effective.

  • Start with small, strategic tests to ensure ROI.

• Ignoring Free Tools for Early Growth

  • Use Firebase, App Store data, and other free analytics tools first.

  • Scale to paid platforms (e.g., MMPs) when growth justifies the expense.

• Failing to Align Strategies with Growth Stage

  • Recognize the stage of your startup and grow sustainably.

  • Focus on hypotheses, research, and incremental scaling.

George: When you have a new launch of the app what mistakes shall you avoid? 

Michelle: Okay, first of all, I will avoid just you going out there to test a bunch of like platforms or channels just because you have money. I mean a lot of people forget that: the first thing you really need to be focusing on, is testing the product and making sure that your product and market fits, it's actually the right one, getting some user feedback, and starting slowly. Because pretty much a phase in which you need to prove that you're adding some value and that your strategy is going to work. So you don't want to spend all your budget. So first, I will avoid that. 

Second, I will put a lot of focus on the ASO that you're listing so that, everything really sends the right message to the target that you want to reach. And put some like organization in your organic channels first. And if you have like, a good sense of, you know, you feel confident and you want to go there, start testing slowly. Also choose very well the channels because sometimes, people don't know that to really fully get the most out of Google or Tiktok your daily budget and the amount of data that the platform needs to be very high. So sometimes their small budgets are going to be you know like spend super fast and that's it. So sometimes it's not the right way. You really need to explore what is the best for your product to test a real hypothesis that you are aware of, that you have the data to support it, and that you will really have an idea about what you're doing. 

On that… Additionally, I will start to choose tools that mainly are free. Maybe rely on the Firebase, rely on the App Store data, or try to get your own data, your first daily data. And then, as soon as you can grow, you may be considered to maybe go for, you know, other kinds platforms and MMP, etc... Yeah, a bigger one with more capacity and also more advantages. But be careful and never understand, never forget the moment that your startup or your app is, and go slowly. 

George: Got it. So the first is to make sure that to have some hypotheses. The second is that don't throw all the money. Do research. Third is that full push also organic and app store optimisation. And then, of course, rely on free tools.

Michelle: Si, first of all, before you make an investment.     

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