“We don't really view ourselves as just being an app so we don't behold ourselves to the traditional app marketing channels like our users are everywhere and so we feel like our marketing should be everywhere and I think we found pretty early on as we were experimenting with different marketing channels that we had struck a on some offline channels.”

Stop Thinking of Your Business as "Just an App" — That Mental Shift Unlocks Every Marketing Channel

Babbel's offline marketing success started with a reframe: they're a language learning service, not an app company. This seemingly small distinction changes everything. If your users are everywhere, your marketing should be everywhere — not constrained to channels that happen to have an 'install' button. Stephen's advice: most subscription companies are trying to serve their customers beyond a download anyway, so the metrics and channels should reflect that broader mission.