Praycreen · B2C · pray-to-unlock phone app
In videos, flash the app's opening animation, then the main screen and the success screen
Founder says it brands the video without showing onboarding; no numbers
What they did
What happened
In their words
Lotanna Ezeike - He Built a Simple $120k/Yr App, Then Sold It For Multiple 6 Figures!
HostI feel like finding viral formats like this is it takes a lot of tries for most people. How did you like find this? Cuz this is a perfect intersection of it actually shows the demo of the app, and then it's also kind of a controversial like viral hook.
LottsYeah, yeah, for sure. I think something that helped, I'd say is two things. I think what you need to do is find that one emotion specifically that you want people to feel after that content, and that one thing it is. And then number two, I actually am a very big fan of what make your splash page. The splash page is when you open the app first, that kind of like first animation you see. So for us it was a Praycreen kind of like halo thing coming up. Making that really nice, and then using that for the content. Because that helps kind of like brand things, and then you don't actually have to go through the onboarding process within the TikTok itself. It's kind of like, okay, you show it for like half a second or a second, and then the next time you show the phone, you just show like a screen that's like the one that's shareable essentially.
HostI feel like this is a really good app idea. Did you actually think about Opal? Cuz I know Opal makes like 5 million ARR. Did you specifically think like, "How do we get some of this market?"
HostWhen you actually show the app in these videos, is there any thought to like what part of the app you show inside the ad? Cuz you don't want it to look too salesy or like obviously like an ad, right?
LottsThe first thing is the splash screen, and the splash screen I care a lot about because it kind of shows that the branding, first of all. Number two is that the main part of the app, so for us was that prayer. And then the third thing was like the congratulations page, you've done your first prayer.
HostYeah, so that was like the "Let's pray" screen, congratulations, interesting. So you're kind of like showing the end result. And you said you were getting like 50 like less than $0.50 cost per install on these ads?
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More from this episode
- Copy a proven app idea and rebuild it for Christians~$120K ARR in 5-6 months; first 'Bible focus' app, then 70 copycats
- Post shock-value TikToks across 10-12 accounts to get people arguing in commentsEarly comments were angry, then turned to 'I needed this'; main driver of growth
- Put well-loved Christian songs under the TikToksViewers commented on the songs; founder says it helped
- Run the TikToks that already went viral as Instagram ads$0.39 best-day CPI, $0.70-0.80 average in the US; one video took 70% of spend
- Give non-payers a free version with an ad before each daily prayer~$0.05 per user per day; ad spend paid back in 14-15 days
- Start as a WhatsApp bot before building the appGrew at first, but WhatsApp's ~$0.02 per conversation got too expensive
- Run X ads aimed at followers of the 20-25 most famous pastorsHost calls it an underpriced channel; no costs or results given
- Earn money only from banner ads, skipping full-screen adsCouldn't crack monetization; founder was wary of charging for faith content
- Build an app around a new AI tool within 4 days of its launch
- Show a text that's only arguably a red flag so viewers argue in commentsFounder says the formats worked; 330 videos ready, ads never tested
- Tweet that the app is for sale and take a fast close over top priceBuyers DMed; sold within a week (3 days) to a past BibleBuddy suitor
- Don't translate your apps yourself; leave it as upside for the buyerBuyers usually translate first; founder says it makes the app easier to sell
- Get apps to $5-10K a month, sell them, and take many shotsSeveral exits; buyers and funders now come back to him
- Grow a simple first app with one TikTok and one Instagram account$8K MRR in about 4 months
Tags: tiktok, app-demo, splash-screen, creative, branding