The Ultimate App Growth Playbook: Inside the World of App Marketing, AI and Super Apps with a mobile app expert [VIDEO]

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It feels like mobile apps have always been stitched into our lives. Banking, shopping, travel—we navigate our days one swipe at a time. But cast your mind back to pre-June 2007, before the iPhone existed, and mobile experiences were clunky, limited, and frankly, rubbish.

In the early app days, I can still see myself mesmerised by the Carling iPint app—a classic that would now have anyone under 30 staring at me like I’d just cranked up a gramophone in the pub. Still, those simpler times paved the way for what became a booming industry.

And who could forget this gem from that golden age of apps and sky-high valuations?

That’s right. A $1.5M raise at a $10m valuation. For an app that lets you send “Yo” to a friend. Wild times. Thankfully, or not for some, we’ve mored to a much more sophisticated time and apps are a big business in 2025.

With an estimated 1,913,605 apps in Apple’s App Store and 2,062,857 in Google’s Play Store, lets just say we’ve come a long way from goofily drinking a fictitious pint at your desk at work.

Creating a great app is only half the battle—the real challenge lies in getting it seen, engaged with and a vehicle to drive revenue. Since the launch of the App Store and Google Play Store back in 2008, brands and indie developers alike have been locked in a race for attention, disrupting industries, eclipsing household names, and turning mobile gaming into a multibillion-dollar juggernaut.

So how do brands, agencies, and independent developers cut through the noise, boost visibility, and turn installs into revenue?

To answer that, I sat down with Artsem Melnik—an outstanding app marketeer with a track record of building high-performing teams and delivering growth strategies that drive serious results.

Artsem recently launched ASO One Minute on LinkedIn—a brilliant, bite-sized app marketing series delivering actionable insights on a regular basis. If you’re looking to sharpen your app marketing game, it’s well worth checking out.

Inside the Mobile Growth Machine: Artsem Melnik on super apps, ASO, and the future of app marketing

There’s an intensity to the way Artsem Melnik talks about app growth. It’s tactical, data-led, but human. He’s not just throwing around marketing buzzwords—he’s operating like someone who has spent years in the trenches, engineering growth in an ecosystem that’s as complex as it is competitive.

In a landscape with over 1.9 million apps on the App Store and more than 2 million on Google Play, standing out in 2025 is an exercise in precision. Melnik has been perfecting that precision for well over a decade.

We caught up to unpack the strategies shaping app marketing today—and where things are heading next.

Super apps are just getting started

“First of all, I'd like to say that mobile app markets have grown really rapidly and competition is high right now,” Melnik begins, noting how app stores are saturated with products all vying for limited attention.

One trend catching fire? The rise of super apps.

“I'm sure you know about this—super apps like WeChat, Revolut. Uber now offers multiple services too,” he says. Melnik points out that bundling multiple functionalities—payments, trading, food delivery, hotel bookings—into one app isn’t just convenient for users, it’s a huge advantage from a visibility perspective.

“From an app marketing perspective, that's a really good thing because you can promote your app with different keywords and custom product pages,” he explains. “You can promote taxi, you can promote food, you can promote trading—all from the same app.”

And Melnik believes the super app trend will only grow: “Maybe in the future we will have only one or two applications where you just spend all your time.”

AI-Powered marketing is here

It wouldn’t be a marketing chat without discussing AI. Melnik has been watching AI-powered app strategies evolve closely.

“On the App Store, I see many applications based on AI technology—that's popular right now,” he says. “And I see that keywords related to AI are growing as well.”

Interestingly, AI doesn’t just improve apps—it also boosts how they’re marketed. “Conversion rates are growing when we put ‘AI’ on app screenshots,” Melnik reveals. “If we put AI on the screenshots or banners, people engage more.”

His team is also exploring AI-powered tools for campaign management. “There’s a tool for Apple Search Ads where AI will analyse your previous performance, your keywords, everything—and give you auto-bidding strategies,” he says. “You save time and still optimise campaigns.”

iOS vs. Android: How do you win across both?

Melnik stresses that marketers often misunderstand how different Apple’s App Store and Google Play really are.

“In terms of algorithms, in terms of how it works, how Google Play looks at the metadata—that's super different,” he says. “We need to put more effort into descriptions, into text metadata on Google Play.”

While Apple rewards conversion rates—“If you have a higher conversion rate, you get prioritised in terms of search results,” Melnik explains—Google’s ranking system leans more on keywords in the title and description.

“The principles are similar, but the effort and prioritisation are different,” he adds. For example, Google Play offers more flexibility with custom store listings, letting marketers modify icons, titles, and even target specific regions.

“Google Play is really forward in terms of customisation and targeting compared to the App Store,” Melnik says.

Custom Product Pages (CPP): Your new best friend

For Apple Search Ads, custom product pages (CPPs) are now table stakes.

“The setup is super simple,” Melnik says. “You create a list of semantic clusters—like forex, stocks, or crypto—and then you assign a custom product page to each group.”

Why does it matter? “You can personalise your messaging to what the user is searching for,” Melnik explains. “And if you have a good tap-through rate (TTR), you get a higher share of voice on keywords.”

In his own campaigns, Melnik has seen “at least a 20% increase in TTR” when using custom product pages compared to a default listing.

How to A/B test like a pro

Melnik’s testing philosophy is simple but effective.

“First of all, you need to focus on the first three screenshots,” he says. “People see those and decide within two or three seconds whether this app is what they're looking for.”

He’s a strong advocate of single-variable testing. “If you’d like to run a good A/B test, you need to only change one thing,” Melnik insists. “Otherwise, you don’t know what influenced the results.”

Melnik’s team typically runs “about four experiments per month” using Apple’s Product Page Optimisation tool and Google Experiments. “For some apps, depending on traffic, we might run even more,” he says.

He’s also pragmatic about the duration of these tests. “I recommend running a test for at least seven to 10 days,” Melnik notes. “Shorter than that, and seasonality might skew the results.”

The underrated power of reviews

Ask Melnik about indirect ranking factors, and he immediately brings up app reviews.

“If you have a low rating, you won’t be featured on the App Store,” he says. “And on Google Play, users can filter out apps under four stars. So, visibility drops.”

His team encourages users to leave reviews directly within the app. “There are native tools from Apple and Google to prompt users,” Melnik says. “If you implement them properly, you can increase your average rating fast.”

This can make or break your app’s performance. “Low reviews will limit your share of voice on keywords,” he says plainly.

The paid + organic synergy

Melnik’s approach blends paid and organic efforts seamlessly.

“There’s a strong correlation between paid and organic traffic,” he says. “If you generate installs from paid campaigns, you’ll often see your organic rankings improve too.”

Running Apple Search Ads, for example, helps boost organic impressions via the App Store algorithm. “Apple sees your app is converting well and prioritises it more in search,” Melnik explains.

Post-install success starts with product

Of course, none of this matters if users don’t stick around after they download the app. Melnik’s team works closely with product and design to improve onboarding and in-app UX.

“We see where users drop off after installation, like during onboarding or the payment process,” he says. “Sometimes small changes—like adding a preferred payment method for a region—can massively boost conversions.”

This cross-functional approach also extends to collaborating with designers and machine learning specialists. “We have ML experts helping us optimise campaigns and product flows,” Melnik shares. “It’s not just marketing anymore—it’s the whole funnel.”

Final Word: Adapt or get left behind

As we close out, Melnik is reflective.

“AI, super apps, all of it—it’s changing fast,” he says. “But what matters most is testing, staying curious, and really understanding your users.”

It’s clear that for Melnik, mobile marketing in 2025 is about more than just installs. It’s about blending creativity with data, breaking down silos, and building integrated systems that help brands thrive across Apple and Google’s ecosystems.