Mobile app advertising, monetization, and insights company Liftoff is bringing together inspirational women from across the mobile industry to share their stories. In this series, we’ll explore their achievements, the challenges they’ve overcome, and their vision for the future — offering insights from the experts shaping the world of mobile apps and technology.
This month’s article focuses on Catherine Beattie, Director of Programmatic at WeatherBug.
Can you start by walking us through your career path — how did you get to where you are today?
My first job out of college was in consulting, which I did for six years, ultimately focusing on project management consulting. After tiring of the travel involved in consulting, I found a Chicago-based role at Tribune Publishing where I was a Project Lead.
The first project I did there was an order management system implementation for their digital advertising operations team, which was how I first learned about digital ad operations. Once the project was completed, the main project stakeholder pulled me onto her AdOps team (shout out to Barb Healy for setting me on this path!). I ended up supporting their direct sales teams across the country for nine years at Tribune.
Then, an opportunity to move from supporting direct sales to programmatic came up with Encyclopaedia Britannica/Merriam-Webster. I worked there for six years, monetizing the company’s websites and mobile apps. About two years ago, WeatherBug reached out to inquire whether I’d be interested in further exploring mobile app programmatic strategy, and I jumped at the opportunity.
How would you describe your role at WeatherBug?
I’m the Head of Programmatic Revenue at our company, with programmatic accounting for over 80% of our annual revenue target from all sources. Our main focus is on iOS and Android mobile apps, which make up approximately 93% of our traffic, but we also support the WeatherBug website.
In your own words, what is WeatherBug, and what makes it unique?
WeatherBug is a leading weather consumer brand with over 20 million users. We have extensive weather observation networks and unique severe weather detection (check out our Spark lightning alerts!). Our mission is to provide environmental intelligence for all aspects of people’s lives.
Our programmatic team consists of one other team member and me, while the whole company is only about 50 people. I am regularly impressed by how much we get done and what we offer our consumers with such a lean team.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the app/mobile industry?
Over the last 24 years, it has felt organic to move from company to company. Each change came with an opportunity to expand my skillset and influence, from project management to direct sales, AdOps to programmatic web to programmatic in-app. I was always working for brands with content I believe in—from the Tribune’s journalism, Britannica & M-W’s reference information, or WeatherBug’s insights. I was always working with managers and team members whom I respect and enjoyed collaborating with.
What challenges have you faced in your career, and how have you navigated them?
I was laid off from my first job early in my consulting career. I did start a new role with another consulting company a couple of months later, but it was a formative experience early on in my professional life. It gave me empathy for others in the same position, and I have actively tried to help wherever I can: mock interview practice, resume reviews, mentoring programs, making introductions between people in my network, and the like.
I have made a conscious effort to maintain a great network of current colleagues, former colleagues, industry friends, and others. Making and keeping connections is something I find genuinely fulfilling.
What misconceptions do people have about programmatic advertising?
There can be a misconception about programmatic that it is “set it and forget it”. Once you’re in the weeds yourself, you’ll know that’s not the case!
I take a very active approach to managing our 37-plus programmatic demand partners. I pull monthly Share of Voice reporting, showing each partner’s portion of the pie and how that is changing month over month. It’s a helpful indicator for identifying drop-offs. We can then contact our partners to ensure there isn’t a technical issue at play. If they’re becoming less competitive in the stack, flagging for all parties is worthwhile.
I also created a Quarterly Partner Evaluation Matrix, where I stack rank all of our programmatic partners, applying weight-based criteria for several categories. For example, spend, timeouts, reporting automation and ease, iOS participation, responsive customer service, and healthy eCPMs. We typically give new partners that we onboard about three months to hit their stride. Every quarter, I may have a partner or two that fall into what we call the “Danger Zone” (yep, a Top Gun reference!), and then we have a conversation with those partners about how to turn things around.
Sometimes partners can’t hit the mark, even if they’ve been live for a while, and we deactivate them from our stack. This regular monitoring and “pruning” helps us optimize our programmatic revenue and keep things running smoothly.
How has working at WeatherBug shaped your perspective on mobile marketing?
Something that has been great to be a part of at WeatherBug is how directly we communicate with our consumers. The mission of our app is to keep people informed about current weather conditions and changing weather that might impact them.
Our marketing team diligently crafts useful and helpful push notifications and ensures that our severe weather alerts reach people in a timely fashion. The connection with your user base feels closer on mobile than it does on web, and WeatherBug treats that with significant respect.
What’s a career milestone or achievement you’re particularly proud of?
From a very specific app monetization point of view, I am proud of our 10% YOY growth from 2023 to 2024, largely driven by programmatic revenue gains. We want to continue building on that success and have ambitious goals for 2025. Q1 was a start in the right direction.
From a broader career history point of view, seeing team members or mentees grow in their careers, even when it means leaving my team, is exciting. I love seeing where people end up and succeed. I always tell them (whether they’re leaving, or I’m leaving) that they’ll never be rid of me now—we’re always going to be connected!
How do you stay up to date with changes in the industry?
I’m sure I get the same industry newsletters everyone else does — Beeler.Tech, AdExchanger, AdMonsters, Gareth Hates Ad Tech, Matthew Goldstein (msg), etc. The Beeler.Tech Community on Slack is a huge help to me. It is comprised of both ad tech partners and publishers looking to solve the challenges in our digital world. The Women in Programmatic Network is also an excellent resource for women in the industry.
Attending Beeler.Tech’s Base Camp and Navigator events are always super helpful, I come back with at least 20 pages of notes to digest afterwards. The Sell Side Summits hosted by AdMonsters, formerly the PubForums, have historically been a great place to connect with publisher peers and share wins and struggles. In the Chicago area, where I’m located, we have a monthly industry happy hour, coordinated by Sarah Wagner (Optimism) and Connie Walsh (Legacy.com), which is a great opportunity to meet new people in the industry and share stories.
The relationships I’ve formed with peers in the industry are invaluable. If I can recommend anything, it’s to cultivate those. Even if you can’t attend big events due to budget constraints or a pecking order at your company, get involved in the Slack communities, share your insights, and ask your questions.
What are the biggest trends in mobile programmatic advertising that you believe will have a major impact in the future?
I think all of us app publishers are waiting to see what will happen with the Android Privacy changes. We all took the hit when Apple rolled out ATT for iOS, and we’ve seen what happened to CPMs as a result. I’m personally hoping for messaging that is more positive and potentially open to customization.
What are some common barriers women still face in this space?
Women belong in every space and elevate the value in every space. I see women excel in operational roles time and again. If there is a barrier to entry, those of us in our roles now (men and women) should address it by actively seeking out and lifting women of potential into these digital roles.
How has the industry evolved during your career?
When I started in Digital Ad Ops, we called it “remnant” advertising, so programmatic has certainly come a long way since then! Header bidding has probably been the most significant development. I still remember standing in Lori Tavoularis’ office at the Tribune, where she enthusiastically drew a picture on her whiteboard detailing the new real-time header bidding auction workflow after she incorporated Index Exchange.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received as a woman in this industry?
I don’t recall where I’ve picked all of these up along the way, but a few things ring true to me. Ask questions if you have them. Have the confidence to believe that if you are wondering, someone else probably is, too. And even if they’re not, get your answers! Lift people up with you: life is not a competition, we’re all in it together. Stop apologizing for things that aren’t your fault or don’t need an apology. Finally, say yes to opportunities without feeling entirely ready—you’ll get there.
What initiatives would help create more opportunities for women in mobile?
Mentoring programs really help women, and they’re even more successful when men also participate in those mentor roles. WeatherBug has a corporate mentorship program I’ve been involved in, but there are also options outside your company. Beeler.Tech is one industry group that has run a mentorship program for years, and I have thoroughly enjoyed being a mentor for several people through their program.
