RoboKiller · B2C · spam call blocker app
Publish your own spam call data so reporters and regulators cite you
Repeated WSJ, FT and cable news mentions; a brand halo that drove many organic installs
Workedpr-launchcontent
What they did
As the largest US spam blocker, RoboKiller had unique data on spam calls and texts. It published regular reports (how many spam calls Americans get per month, how it is growing), worked with reporters to help them cover the issue, and shared data with the FCC and FTC, which lacked good data. No single article drove installs directly, but accumulated coverage built brand and organic lift.
What happened
Multiple Wall Street Journal and Financial Times articles referencing RoboKiller plus cable news placements; guest says this drove significant user acquisition and 'a lot of success'.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Why Most Apps Hit a Revenue Ceiling (and How to Plan for It) — Patrick Falzon, The App Shop“And we started publishing reports and working with reporters to basically help them report on the issue, to say, "Here's how many spam calls Americans are getting every month. Here's how it's growing." We worked with the FCC and the FTC to get them data, too”
“but like when you start accumulating multiple Wall Street Journal articles that reference you, and like multiple Financial Times articles that reference you, and you're getting placements on cable news and things like that, that starts building a brand and an organic halo”
Related topics
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More from RoboKiller
All 6 RoboKiller tacticsMore from this episode
- Mosaic Group: Only buy or build apps that could reach tens of millions without outspending giantsBuilt one of the leading app portfolios; sold to Bending Spoons
- Mosaic Group: Build several $30M apps instead of pushing one app past its ceilingGuest's answer to the $10-30M ceiling; three $30M apps can beat one $90M app
- Mosaic Group: Launch a new app for a new use case instead of piling features into oneGuest says slim apps segment users better and can earn more; no numbers
- RoboKiller: After the base subscription, offer data broker removal as a paid add-onReally successful; a good way to raise revenue per user (no numbers)
- Mosaic Group: Estimate lifetime value as a range of weighted guesses, then narrow it monthlyLets new products act on LTV before years of data exist; no numbers
- Mosaic Group: Count only 2-4 years of revenue per user and require fast payback early onConservative at worst; high LTV:CAC shows how much more spend cash could unlock
- Mosaic Group: Before rolling out a price test winner, check it still wins if retention drops 10-50%Annual-heavy price calls sometimes proved wrong a year later; this guards against it
- Mosaic Group: Raise prices about 10%; retention usually drops only a couple of percentNet LTV wins most of the time across the portfolio, if conversion holds
- Mosaic Group: Use early subscription cancellations to predict who will churnDidn't work: few cancel early; most cancel near the renewal reminder
- RoboKiller: Track whether each user is getting the core value, and step in when you fail themA wrongly handled call was highly correlated with churn, triggering fixes
- RoboKiller: Tell users how many millions of spam calls you blocked for everyone this month
- Mosaic Group: Move ad designers to a different app every couple of monthsMore varied creatives, so winning styles became clear; no numbers
- Launch one ad channel at a time and change one bid per monthGuest's post-ATT method; new channels almost always underperform early forecasts
- Apalon: Switch apps from one-time paid downloads to in-app subscriptionsPhenomenal growth after the switch (no numbers)