Clear 30 · B2C · app to quit or cut down weed
Film your own funny ads that call out a very specific moment
Specific callouts grab attention; calm ads with an older speaker convert best
What they did
What happened
In their words
Asher Herbstman & Thatcher Clough - I Built a $30k/mo App That Helps You Quit Smoking
HostHow do you actually make that ad, like what do you think made it do well?
Thatcher CloughI would say one thing that's been super kind of helpful for us in terms of making content is getting really specific about the call out that we're having. Are you someone that hangs out, you know, in your basement after school and hit your pen until like 3:00 a.m. while watching skateboarding videos, like that type of thing is really helpful cuz we've seen that it really resonates with people, and yes you're going to get like a more narrow audience with that, but they sort of like, you know, noticed as a human because we are noticing them,
Asher HirschmanYeah.
HostThat's really interesting actually. So did you see any big differences in the actual conversion reasons versus what you guys thought would get people to convert?
Asher Hirschman… market on TikTok. Don't do this or that." Like if you look and you're seeing like 18 to 20-year-olds convert at 0.19, while you know even just a few years older at 26 to 30, it's almost double that. People say the meta in advertising is like switching off 18 to 25 on Meta ads or anything, or TikTok ads, because they don't want to target those people. And just continuing to think about balancing, like yes, we can make a funny TikTok ad targeted towards kids and they're going to laugh, you can't judge by how many likes you're getting or how cool a bunch of, you know, like 19-year-olds think you are, as much as I would love that world, but you actually have to build a business that survives. And sometimes the most converting, best ads are ones with my mom, who's talking in a very zen, not very exciting clickbaity way, but is just explaining the problem in a more mature way to an older target audience.
Thatcher CloughSomething that this is also helpful for is not only showing like what is working, but also what to work on. Cuz like one thing that sticks out to me, for example, is that like saving money is at, you know, 23% conversion, whereas like legal obligations at 29, our average user that comes in spends upwards of $55 a week on weed, and yet our program is $30 for a year, but not all of them are converting. In an ideal world, it's like, oh, you're …
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More from this episode
- Grow with paid Meta and TikTok ads once the app converts wellBecame the growth engine; founders say they 'cracked paid ads' and are scaling
- Try organic posts, influencers, Reddit and SEO to get first usersUseful for early feedback, but hard to convert; the first $1K was the hardest
- Check which ages and quit reasons pay most, then aim ads at them26-30 year olds convert at almost double the 18-20 rate
- Ask users where they found the app, and also run proper ad trackingShows cost per trial by platform to rebalance spend daily; founders call it very helpful
- Track users from the first screen, not only after they sign inRevealed drop-offs; intro screen passes 85-90%
- Make onboarding a conversation: use their name, echo goals, show proof and quick winsPart of the 2-month push that took revenue from $10K to $30K a month
- Keep the slow 'what do you want to achieve?' questions in onboardingUsers spend 20-30 seconds on them with almost no drop-off
- Give users a free personal report on their habits before asking them to payFounders call it a big point of value; no numbers
- Ask new users which features they'd use, to show them off and learn
- Say up front the app costs money, next to what the habit costs themOnboarding conversion up about 3%; fewer 'it's paid' complaints
- Ask for a star rating during onboarding, right before showing reviewsReviews went from ~50 to almost 1,000 and keep climbing
- Sign users up by phone number and text them funny, personal messagesNo results given; founders cite ~95% of texts read within 5 minutes
- Open the paywall with a day-by-day plan for the first 7 days, not featuresPaywall conversion rose from ~20% to 30% with only this change
- Tell users 'no payment due now' and remind them 2 days before the trial endsMost users choose the yearly plan with the 3-day trial; no conversion numbers
- Test $30, $40 and $50 yearly pricesSettled on $30/year; no test numbers shared
- Run ads inviting people to take a quiz about their weed habitDidn't work; tried half-heartedly while onboarding was weaker
- Study which ads Meta and TikTok spend most on, and reuse their hooksAd with a woman beat one with a man; camera-shot look beat polished
- Offer the app to universities and addiction services, and add paid extras
Tags: meta, tiktok, creative, hooks, self-filmed, callouts, older-audience