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Couldn't crack monetization; founder was wary of charging for faith content
What they did
What happened
In their words
Lotanna Ezeike - He Built a Simple $120k/Yr App, Then Sold It For Multiple 6 Figures!
HostAnd then you grew through some weird marketing channels, like Twitter ads.
LottsSo I found that hardcore Christians normally have an affinity to like one pastor, or like one like celebrity pastors. So I was kind of like, "Okay, if you follow that pastor, that's probably like a good indicator that you're Christian." So Twitter at the time, I don't know if they do that now, they allow you to target the followers of specific accounts. So I think I just went on and I was like, "Okay, cool. Who the top 20 or 25 most famous pastors? Okay, cool. What are their Twitter accounts?" And then just like target their followers. This is one of the first apps that I created, so like I found it very hard to find how to monetize it. So we happened we started doing ads at first, which was more like banner ads, I remember, but at the time we didn't do the interstitial ones. I couldn't crack how to monetize it properly. I think maybe I was just more afraid. I was kind of like, "Oh, God, if I monetize like Christianity, is that bad? I don't know." So that kind of like my first one. I think I definitely took a lot of learnings from that.
HostI'm just trying to look at if the follower ads are still a thing. I think they are. I think I was looking in the Twitter ads dashboard the other day. Oh, there it is: follower look-alike.
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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
- In videos, flash the app's opening animation, then the main screen and the success screenFounder says it brands the video without showing onboarding; no numbers
- 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
- 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: ad-monetization, banner-ads, monetization-fear