Paul Gray

From Acquisition to LTV: Why the Smartest eComm Apps Are Playing the Long Game. 🚀 Having led growth at mobile-first startups and scaled revenue past $100M, I’ve seen the playbook evolve — and the latest AppsFlyer eCommerce App Marketing Report makes it crystal clear: growth today is fueled by retention, not just acquisition. • Remarketing budgets rose 29% YoY in 2025, with iOS up 42% and Android 16%. • China-based apps, already dominant in iOS UA, ramped up remarketing globally. • But the real shift? Owned channels now outperform paid media for both conversions and retention. 🔥The old playbook — pouring budget into paid UA and hoping for retention — is broken. Today’s leading eComm brands are aligning around one goal: maximize long-term LTV through smarter user journeys. That starts by acquiring high-value users early with intelligent bidding tools like tROAS and app-conversion bidding — and keeping them engaged with AI-powered personalization, loyalty offers, and seamless web-to-app experiences. As Lee Jones from Google puts it: “Leading eCommerce brands are using intelligent bidding to find high-value users early, knowing they’ll drive stronger retention and order value.” Winning teams are asking: • What signals from the first session predict high-value behavior? • How do we unify KPIs across web and app to align teams and journeys? • How can AI optimize not just acquisition—but re-engagement and loyalty too? 📊 Standout stat: iOS users convert 1.3 days faster than Android, with a 39% higher first-time purchase rate and 68% stronger re-purchase performance — reaching that critical second conversion faster and proving the power of loyalty-driven growth. 💡 adidas saw 2.4X higher ROAS from app users compared to mobile web. This shows what happens when retention becomes the strategy, not the afterthought. Mobile apps are key to long-term retention, with app users delivering higher order values and stronger brand loyalty than web users. To succeed in today’s landscape, growth must be: • Predictive, not reactive • Product-led, not channel-led • Focused on lifetime relationships, not just installs The long game belongs to companies that align data, product, and performance marketing from day one. That’s where real LTV is won. 👉 Want more insights? Read the full AppsFlyer eCommerce report here: https://shorturl.at/GSxwv #LTV #Retention #Growth #Marketing #MobileMarketing #ProductLedGrowth #AI #eCommerceStrategy #Sponsored AppsFlyer

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🚀 Exciting news from Klaviyo. We've acquired Gatsby, a powerful social automation product that helps brands grow their customer lists directly through social media DMs. 📲 💬 This acquisition gives us a capability that no other CRM platform has and is a huge leap forward in our goal to help brands meet their consumers wherever they are through truly omnichannel experiences. As the role of social media in B2C growth continues to explode, we're building the tools to connect the entire customer journey, from discovery to checkout, with unified data. Big thank you to product creators Brett Bernstein and Kellen Barber. We’re looking forward to having you on board and building together 🙌✨ We're incredibly excited about what this means for our customers and the future of Klaviyo! Check out our newsroom for more: https://lnkd.in/gE47GHQZ.  

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I can’t stop thinking about this new role. It blends AI, automation, and creativity — and it’s scaling quietly across top GTM teams. Meet the GTM Engineer 👋 Let’s break it down, and why it’s realllllllly got my eye for impact ↓ ------------ What is a GTM Engineer? ⤷ A GTM Engineer builds revenue systems using AI, automation, and data. ⤷ They’re not coding products — they’re coding growth.. Imagine if someone could: • Automate all your lead research • Pull custom signals on every account • Score, sort, enrich, and route your inbound • Spin up 1:1 outreach with zero manual work …so your team could focus on strategy, selling, and creative execution. That’s a GTM engineer. ------------ There are 2 major shifts that happened to spark the creation of this role: 1. Stale sales outreach playbooks aren't cuttin' it Your inbox is proof — generic emails don’t break through anymore. The best teams are rethinking systems from the ground up. What worked in the 2010 era is falling flat today. 2. AI unlocked a new level of creativity You no longer need an engineer to build your GTM motions. AI + no-code + tools like Clay = launch targeted experiments fast, then scale what works. Think days (even hours) vs. quarters. ------------ What does it look like in practice (to spark some inspo!✨)? Companies are using Clay to power GTM engineering workflows like: ⤷ Anthropic enriches + scores every lead, generates prep notes, and flags fraud — 3x their data coverage. ⤷Vanta tracks 4 buyer signals at once and triggers personalized outreach. ⤷ Cursor scans YouTube, Reddit, X, and LinkedIn for customer mentions in real-time. ⤷ Rippling uses Google Maps + commute distances to optimize direct mail. One GTM engineer = 10x multiplier on sales and ops. These aren’t hacks. They’re repeatable systems built by modern GTM teams. One GTM Engineer = 10x multiplier on ops and revenue execution. ------------ Cool, cool, cool. But how big is this, really? ⤷ 400+ GTM Engineering roles posted in 4.5 months ⤷ $160K median salary — 20% above RevOps roles (Pave) ⤷ Dozens of GTM Engineering agencies scaling to $1M+ ARR in under a year …. & Clay just announced yesterday they raised $100M Series C round at a whopping $3.1B valuation after more than 2x growth this year to power GTM engineering – powering this profession with turning ops teams into growth architects. 😱 (Kudos to the team!) If you’re in Demand Gen, RevOps, Sales Ops, or Marketing Ops — you won’t just consider hiring for this role in the future. You’ll need it to stay competitive. I know I'm constantly in deep research mode figuring out how to apply this mindset to how to implement for scaling my work. #ClayPartner

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Super excited to announce that UserEvidence has acquired Zealot, and raised an additional $7M (bringing our total to $21M) to fuel our product development and help B2B enterprises deliver customer proof across the entire funnel - from customer evidence, to advocate engagement, and 1:1 references. When Ray Rhodes and I met Sam Farber, Srikar Chava, and Brandon Jakobson back in May - we were instantly stoked on the potential. Their product instincts, speed, creativity, AI-native approach to building, and the incredible traction they had made in a short amount of time blew us away. Big congrats to the Zealot team! Customer content, advocate engagement, and reference management are not inherently distinct concepts. In fact, they are inextricably related and supportive of each other. Yet - there were different technologies in each of these 3 pillars, and arms-length integrations often fell short of their potential. Bringing these 3 pillars together under the same platform creates a massive opportunity for #customermarketers to holistically engage and harness and organizations most important asset - their customers. In an age of increasing noise and complexity when it comes to choosing the right vendor - substantive, credible, specific proof - whether delivered as content or delivered through live connection with a reference - is going to be the key to inspiring buyer confidence. Customer Marketers will be at the center of the organization, and UE + Zealot will power the future of #customermarketing Read more about the news here - https://lnkd.in/gd5Dygu8

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I’m excited to announce that Klaviyo has acquired Gatsby a longtime partner helping brands turn social engagement into lasting relationships. Social commerce is expected to surpass $100B by 2026, yet many brands still struggle to capture that momentum. Bringing Gatsby into Klaviyo is another big step toward building the best B2C CRM - so every interaction, from a like to a purchase, helps you grow faster. Welcome to the team, Gatsby. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gGzcZW3Y

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