Bloom · B2C · learn-to-invest app for Gen Z
Add a 15-second app demo ending 'download now to flex on your friends'
Founder says these ads worked pretty well; no numbers
What they did
What happened
- Stage
- growth
In their words
Jae Hwang - This App Makes $2M/Year With This Viral TikTok Strategy
VideoYou downloaded Bloom when you were a freshman. And now you're a junior with the only Tesla in the parking lot. Bloom teaches you how to invest
Jae HwangRight, so the first part is organic video that went viral by using organic growth method, but then the latter part actually explained the app. So we would start with organic growth video that would capture users' attention and then would transition into the download. These worked pretty well for us, and some of these brain rot-style video of the maze runners, right?
VideoUnderrated iPhone apps. The Bloom app lets you buy stock, while also holding your hand through the process. You can also get rewarded with free stock when you complete their educational materials. Some of my friends were smart enough to take advantage of this and already have made tens of thousands by tea-
VideoHow to invest, make money, and earn passive income. It even gives you stocks for completing quizzes. Download now to
Jae HwangSo we add these um, you know, last 15 seconds of video by showing our apps uh which it didn't exist on, you know, initial organic virality. But then we added this so we can lead to a better CTA, cuz in the end, you're paying for CTA, right? It's exposure as well. But then it's got to lead to a CTA with the paid ads, so that's why we add a little bit. But if you read the verbiage a little carefully, like it's not download now um to be successful or to grow,
Jae Hwangright? It's download now to flex on your friends, so it still has a feel of a little bit of organic growth um and organic contents instead of a super direct CTA. But we still lead to CTA by using a little bit variations of uh contents.
JosephThis is super helpful. Let's think about like This is the full funnel, right? So you're you're looking at TikTok. Maybe you see an organic video, maybe you see an ad. You're like, "Oh, this app seems really cool. I want to make more money." You download the app. And then what you said in the beginning is like, you know, you have this broad big claims and, you know, very exciting ad or organic content. And then how do you actually convert those …
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More from this episode
- Scale TikTok ads hard, then switch focus to organic when costs climbCustomer cost worsened from mid-2023; organic became the 2024 focus
- 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
- 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, creative, soft-cta, app-demo