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Iris Hu is Marketing Manager-User Acquisition at Jump Ramp Games—but she’s also much more than that. As her nominator for the MGS mBolden Women of the Year Awards said, “Iris is an integral member of my team. She consistently digs into the data and asks probing questions to partners around very detailed performance metrics. I am always amazed at how much her insights lead to us making very detailed optimizations to not only achieve our ROAS goals but surpass them. Iris has really taken on a ton of responsibility and has moved through the ranks very quickly as she is seen as someone who you can count on to get the job done.”
It’s for this and so much more that MGA would like to congratulate Iris on winning the MGS mBolden Women of the Year Rising Star Award. We chatted with Iris about how she got started in mobile marketing, the trends she’s watching, and what UA managers can do to help marketers. Iris Hu will accept her award at MGS NY in July.
Q: Congratulations on winning the MGS mBolden Women of the Year Award! Can you tell us a little about how you got to where you are now? Did you have any mentors that helped you along the way?
A: I have always been interested in digital marketing, which motivated me to pursue an MBA in Marketing—I finished in 2014. After that, I started my career in this field, but was mostly web-focused. There has been a trend from businesses moving web-to-mobile and that spans across all industries, globally. Two years ago, I decided to jump out of my comfort zone and get exposure in mobile. I am very thankful for the trust and opportunity given to me by my employer and all of my vendors and colleagues. Three colleagues at Jump Ramp Games—Alex Tarrand, Kate Palmer, and Jesse Hurwitz—have been particularly helpful to me. They have really given me some great guidance and have a wealth of experience which I was able to draw upon.
Q: Have you seen the industry change for women over the years?
A: Yes, definitely! I have seen more and more females jumping into the mobile field recently. At my current job, I work with over 35 ad-vendors, and more than half of my account managers and other people I interact with are females. I’ve also seen more females at the executive level, which is very encouraging.
Q: What industry mobile growth trends are you watching in 2020?
A: Games make up 72% of all App Store spend and it will be interesting to see how that number holds up moving forward. Subscription models are also becoming more and more important for non-gaming apps and could be a huge opportunity for companies who are able to capitalize on it.
Q: If you could share just one tip with other mobile growth marketers, what would it be?
A: Marketers are not alone. There are many things UA managers can do to bring on quality users, while understanding that there are limitations on how deep and far a UA manager can reach. Sometimes it takes collaboration with different departments to develop long-tail users. For instance, we can work with the marketing team to develop specific messages targeting different sources for retention purposes. We might also work with the product team to develop different on-boarding processes for rewarded and non-rewarded traffic. BI teams work with granular data every day and might have more readily-available data-driven insights than someone in UA. It’s not a bad idea to have a discussion with the BI team before making significant UA changes.
Q: Let’s end this on a fun note! Tell us a little about yourself outside of the office. What do you do in your spare time?
A: Getting exercise is important and I go to the gym or do a spinning class a few times a week. I like to go for walks and enjoy nature when I can. I try to visit a new country every year. I love to cook and try new restaurants. I also play clarinet in a local NYC orchestra.
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