Melissa Cash

"So whatever pops off organically, like I'm going to use the word organically, like very loosely, like quote-unquote organically because it's paid. Um, we'll often then use in ads."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 29:02 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"we try to everything's also super relationship focused at Pockbox. So like when we work with you, we like bring you into our family. Like we really try to build relationships because when A, it's the right thing to do. B, we're all just floating around on a big rock through space. So like, let's try to make it fun. And B, I think when you do find those gems, you have this you already have this wonderful relationship. So you can. It's easy to add to layer things on top. Once you once you like each other and respect each other and are kind.>> Um, but more practically speaking, >> how do we do it? So, uh, our like partnerships. Manager will spend a lot of time hunting on Tik Tok specifically. We usually start on Tik Tok and then go over to Instagram. Uh, for creators who make wonderful content and a very diverse types of content. So, with Pockpock, it could be like anything from like the Montasauri homeschooling mom to just like a even like crunchy mom or like a a a person who um just does like the day in the lives. It's like it doesn't even matter because on Tik Tok it's not about followers, it's about content and and so we we just really try to find unique creators who have a point of view and are creative and how they talk about uh and how they talk about the product"

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 31:55 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"So, I think we usually give people a one-month trial and say, like, let's, you know, make one video a day for a month and let's see if you hit certain viewership thresholds, then you can keep going. And if not, then we're going to have to part ways for now."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 34:58 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"So now we work way more with micro-creators who are not even necessarily influencers, but just really good content creators on TikTok and Instagram. Some of them have big followings, but most of them have like 2,000 followers or something. But they're really good at making content. And so we work with them on a per-video basis, usually, and they get bonuses depending on how engagement performs."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 28:03 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"And we don't give them too much direction in terms of like, you say this, and you have to list these seven values. Like, that's not how we, we used to try that, and it doesn't work. We find it comes across a little disingenuous. So we really trust people to just do what they think makes sense."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 33:45 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"But it all is layered on top of like fundamental obsession over growth and retention that we hold internally. And then when these like moments of serendipity or luck or or like big moments like winning an app store award, for example, when those things happen, your product is ready for it."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 16:11 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"So we offer a play kit to families. So if you sign up, we you can put in your address and we'll mail your kid a little kit in the mail for free. It's delightful and it's a really wonderful thing that we love to do. And um it's expensive though, but it does help impact retention. And so we want more people to request them. And most parents once they get into the app, they're not really hanging out in the parental area. So, we were like, "How can we get this in front of them?". And, you know, some people on our team were really advocating for a popup. They're like, "Let's just do a popup right away.". And and then the other half of the team were like, "Well, what if a kid sees that popup? How are they going to get rid of it? They can't read it.". >> Uh, and like it's going to ruin the flow. It's going to change the like the user experience."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 18:49 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

Sylvain's take:

Melissa gave the example of the play kit parents can opt-in to receive, and the company decision not to get that opt-in via a pop-up in the app.

Related, a presentation at Adapty's AIM last year from Bohdan Lopatiy at Flo (respond for the link): "Hack less, strategize more: build a growth system that really works"

"For us the unique thing we're like there are monatory products everywhere. What's unique about pockpock is that it's open-ended and creativeled. And so when we launched the company, we went really all in on those positioning pillars and no one gave a. So we were like, "Okay, that's not working. What do parents care about?". And we were trying to explain this thing that was really hard to explain cuz. It was the it's the first of its kind. Like there is no other kids app like Pock. So we were trying to explain a thing that it was like imagine you're trying to explain a new color to someone that they can't even see. Like it's just it's impossible. And then so what we what we realized at the time was that um.I think it was a customer had written a review or something saying like this feels just like Montasauri and we're like oh well. Maybe that could work because it is very Montasauri. So we tried that, and the word Montessori, it's funny, you probably know this, Phil, from when we worked together, but like, if you ask our users, "What does Montessori mean?" I think only like half of them have any clue."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 23:20 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"But like, what we're trying to do is add real value. So, we're like, we try to make the life cycle marketing truly special and like, why the mermaid your kid drew is important, or like, what's different about it... this is what your kid drew six months ago versus what, this is what they're drawing now. Like, look how their skills have evolved."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 50:46 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"I learned your price is never final. I once met Patrick Campbell and he was telling me he's like if you don't change your price every year, you're living wrong... we launched at $29.99 a year, which in hindsight was nuts."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 42:47 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

Why More Apps Need To Be More Than Just Apps at 45:56 · Featured in Growth Gems #83

"The main way that we do it right now is by giving a lot of parents, giving a lot of information upfront... We have to assume that they're never going to interact with us ever again. And so the, we do a lot of frontloading."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 44:30 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"We learned the hard way that sometimes you can grow really fast on Meta, but you're getting the wrong people. Um, and so we've we're like really trying to be mindful now about where growth comes from and who these and and target the right people in the right time."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 30:41 · Featured in Growth Gems #149

"We waited. It cost money and time and mental capacity, and like it just was not worth doing in the early days until we figured out a lot of the fundamentals of the business and the unit economics and product-market fit."

The Anti-Addictive Playbook Behind Pok Pok's 9X Subscriber Growth | Melissa Cash at 39:28 · Featured in Growth Gems #149