Anna Plotkina 
User Acquisition Manager at Awem
"Don't be afraid to ask for help!”
Anna Plotkina is User Acquisition Manager at Awem, a casual games developer based in Cyprus. She believes that everyone working in the gaming industry can grow both as an individual and as a professional, as this sector is so diverse.
We asked Anna several questions about her viewpoints, experiences and ideas that shaped her not only as a UAM but also as a person.
Q: What is the best thing about your job?
This industry is relatively young, but is immensely large. In fact, it is larger than the movie and music industries combined, and it is only growing. Though it doesn't get the same attention that the movie and music industry does, there are over two billion gamers across the world. That is 26% of the world's population. The best thing for me is to realize that I have a direct influence on the development of the product.
Q: If you weren’t in the tech industry, what would you be doing?
Something with numbers - I have had a love for mathematics since high school. But otherwise it would be the beauty industry. "Beauty will save the world!". Beauty is my professional hobby, and I can't imagine my life without creativity. On weekdays I am UAM, on weekends I am an MUA (makeup artist).
Q: What has been one of your biggest challenges as a leader, and how did you overcome it?The biggest challenge for me was task delegation. I used to do everything as much as possible by myself, and even on vacation I always took a laptop with me to control everything. But at one point I realized that my productivity and the productivity of the entire marketing department was suffering. It is much better to distribute tasks among all team members and give everyone the opportunity to grow. Don't be afraid to ask for help!
Q: What are the most important skills a User Acquisition Manager should have?
I will give examples of 5 basic hard and soft skills that every UAM should possess purely in my opinion.
- High level of time management, self-organization, as well as the ability to prioritize tasks.
- Excellent knowledge of Excel (Power Pivot, Power Query), experience with data visualizers such as Tableau. This will increase your ability to do analyze campaigns.
- English proficiency is super important.
- Correct perception of feedback. It's important to be grateful for any feedback. After all, every nuance that arises on your journey is an opportunity for growth.
- And of course, be aware of the latest updates in marketing. Monitor market news, reports and ROI indexes (for example, AppsFlyer, Singular, Adjust ROI index)
I read various marketing news on specialized sites. But the best way is to be active within the community. Look for UAM/gaming/marketing chats in messengers, go to webinars, listen to podcasts, and attend conferences. There you will always find out about any innovations.
Traveling inspires and energizes me. New cities, countries, sights. It is not even necessary to travel somewhere abroad. A change of location is always the best for relaxation, especially when working remotely from home.
Q: If you could teach a subject at school, what would it be?
Math. This was my first part-time job while I was at university.
Cradle of Empires, of course, it’s our main project. As well as Instagram and Slack.
Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?Have the ability to form a powerful shield to protect Ukraine, my homeland.
Now more than ever, I realized how important it is to stay strong and believe in peace no matter what happens.
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