Sherina has nearly 20 years of experience working in marketing, with a strong focus on digital and performance marketing. Following university, she gained valuable experience by working in various digital agencies. Before joining Deezer nine years ago as an Acquisition Manager, she worked in the gaming industry. Her latest achievement is being promoted to VP of Performance Marketing at Deezer in 2023.
In your own words, what’s your role in the app business right now?
My role is 100% focused on reaching profitable growth by making sure every penny invested counts.
How did you end up working in apps? / get started?
I wanted to work in tech and innovation since I graduated in 2005! For me, it was really THE industry where anything could happen.
But my first “real” job was in a digital agency, where I worked as an affiliate consultant. I remember when we explained to advertisers that marketers could now calculate their immediate ROI on their media buy back then, it was an amazing shift for the whole profession.
After that, I joined the gaming industry – not the mobile one, but the one focussed on consoles and PCs. When the mobile app business started to rise, I wanted to be a part of it; and that’s when I joined Deezer.
What are you most excited about in apps right now? (tech, trends, people, verticals)
I’m going to use a buzzword, I know, but to me the next big thing for app marketers is AI. I’m excited to see how we will be able to leverage it to become “augmented marketers,” be smarter in our jobs and test even more new things that we could never do without AI.
Is there anyone you’d like to shout out to who has influenced your journey in the app industry? (mentors, team leaders, team members, people you look up to, etc.)
I really look up to Moritz Daan, co-founder of the Phiture agency in Berlin. He has incredible talent when it comes to app growth and engagement and has really helped me grow on the App Store Optimization front in particular.
Also a special shout out to Thomas Petit, our current ASA consultant, for being authentic, unconventional and always super relevant in his recommendations and advice.
What’s in your app tech stack? (tools, software, services)
For me, the two must-haves for any App Growth Marketer are Adjust (MMP) and AppTweak (Marketing and Intelligence platform). The combination of both will address a wide range of user acquisition needs for any application.
What do you like most about working in apps?
The people! I feel incredibly lucky to work in an industry where most of the people I meet are curious, open-minded, diverse, inclusive and don’t take themselves too seriously.
What one thing would you change about the app industry / market? Where do you think there’s an opportunity for apps / or unmet needs?
If I had a magic wand (which I don’t, let’s be clear), I would make the app environment open like the web is! It would provide developers with many more opportunities for growth and innovation.
If you weren’t working in apps what would you be doing?
It might sound surprising, but I’m fascinated by the cosmetic industry’s upcoming challenges. This industry has to adapt to environmental regulations on top of the significant shift in consumer mindset, led by GenZ. As a French person, I’d be curious to see how French luxury brands are approaching this shift. And if I weren’t working in apps, I probably want to be a part of this.
iOS or Android?
I’m Android, I love the freedom of choosing the hardware I want while keeping the same OS.
What app(s) have been most useful to you over the last year?
For my work, I’m a big fan of the Evernote and Slack apps. For my personal use, I’m very much into well-being apps like Zen or Petit Bambou, and Fastic (which also happens to be a great model for app growth).
What’s on your Spotify / Music party playlist?
I’ll obviously rather share with you my favorite Deezer party playlist: https://www.deezer.com/fr/
Any Netflix/ TV show recommendations?
If you haven’t seen it yet (it’s not super recent), I’d recommend watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix. It’s a funny, quirky series that is also politically engaged.
Is there anything else we should know about you?
On top of being a gamer and a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (best TV show of all time!), I’m also into old-fashioned role-playing games like Warhammer. 😃
Do you know someone driving change and growth in the app industry? Nominate an app leader here.
