Bloom · B2C · learn-to-invest app for Gen Z
Scale TikTok ads hard, then switch focus to organic when costs climb
Customer cost worsened from mid-2023; organic became the 2024 focus
What they did
What happened
- Stage
- growth
- Effort
- Massive TikTok ad spend through 2023
In their words
Jae Hwang - This App Makes $2M/Year With This Viral TikTok Strategy
JosephSo I actually want- wanted to ask like what what's working right now for distribution and how do you how are you getting users? Like what are the trends that you're seeing right now that are working really well for you guys?
Jae HwangYeah, I think 2024 has been a big year for us for organic growth. Um In 2023 we massively scaled TikTok paid ads and then we saw that, you know, CAC is actually not performing as well as, you know, mid-2023, and by 2023 end of 2023 it really tailored down. We doubled down on like scaling our organic growth, and I think 2024 narrative was how to get rich, I think, was pretty much the theme for us, right, like.
Jae HwangSo we would, you know, make HeyGen videos and a lot of videos where like, "Oh, what does the billionaire nanny do, right, for their kids?" And I think that narrative really, really did well last year. And then obviously the Reddit carousel did really well. But come this year, I think people realize that relatability is something big. So we're targeting a lot of study talk groups where like actually relatable for college students on how to get, …
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More from this episode
- Post TikToks on how billionaires raise their kids, ending on early investingRan about 6 months; founder says retention held despite the get-rich hook
- Post AI videos twice a day per account; copy any hit to 20 accountsFounder says it scaled views; no conversion numbers given
- Never say 'download' in organic videos; have a team name the app in commentsFounder says viewers flow into the app organically; no numbers
- Hire small creators whose videos look right, not ones with big followingsFounder credits it for scaling faster; no numbers
- Pay creators $500-$1,000 a month for 60 videos, plus $2-4 per 1,000 viewsPure pay-per-view lost many creators early; adding a retainer kept them
- Give each creator 2 accounts, then post both daily videos on whichever grows
- When a viral TikTok's views fade, run it as an ad to the right age and countryFounder says it flattened download spikes into steady growth; no numbers
- Add a 15-second app demo ending 'download now to flex on your friends'Founder says these ads worked pretty well; no numbers
- Post Reddit-story videos over gameplay listing 'underrated iPhone apps', including yoursFounder says the Reddit carousel did really well in 2024
- Post relatable study tips for college students that lead into investingGot views, but conversion was lower because the app isn't a study app
- Split one wordy onboarding screen into tap-through slides like Instagram storiesLifted signups from download to entering personal details; no numbers given
- Open onboarding with 'start at 18, have $1M at 65'; end with reviewsFounder says this order converts downloads to signups well; newest version not live
- Give $2-4 of free stock at signup; let users earn up to $75 moreFounder says free stock beat cash for building a long-term mindset; no numbers
- Test the headline free-stock reward at $40, $60 and $75Amount barely changed subscriptions; $75 now being tested
- Test Bible and self-care angles for investing on 1-2 TikTok accounts
- Aim ads and content at Christians while the app itself stays secularHost says the app recently hit $100-200K a month
- Make AI videos of dream houses and cars captioned 'if you invested in Netflix'
Tags: tiktok, cac-decay