Pushcroll · B2C · push-ups to unlock social media
Sell the app openly in videos instead of hiding the ad
Full-ad videos converted far better than a cinematic version
What they did
What happened
- Stage
- growth
- Effort
- One cinematic video vs the repeated ad format
In their words
Mario Manero & Alejandro Sanchez - Our App Makes $30K/Month Profit Using This Simple Strategy (copy us)
Joseph ChoiCuz it it's an ad, it like kind of feels like an ad, but not really. Like, you're obviously talking about the product, but I guess enough curiosity is there, and enough novelty is there to where the viewer's not really used to this type of video. It's like, okay, this kind of feels like an ad, but I'm just so intrigued that I'm just gonna watch the rest of the video.
Alejandro SanchezAnd that's also like what's so beneficial about our app. People actually want to quit doomscrolling, so they don't care if it's an ad, right? If If they feel, "Oh, this might actually be able to solve my problem. This is interesting," you can like go full ad mode, and and this also increased conversions like crazy. Because I I did have a cinematic video, I can actually show this, too, where it it didn't feel like an ad, but this one like didn't have nearly as much conversion as the one where I had no shame in like, you know, selling the app basically.
VideoMy bro is doing push-ups to scroll on Reels.
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New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- Post a 'Should I build this?' video about the app before building itBlew up on TikTok; MVP shipped 2 weeks later to a waiting audience
- Launch with a video giving free lifetime premium to anyone who installs this week~20K downloads from ~175K views (~10%); only ~$1-2K revenue afterward
- Move your launch followers into a Discord for feedback, bug reports and videos3-4K members; best feature ideas and user videos came from it
- Let your community vote on designs, and build what they ask for 20+ timesPicked a better logo and shaped features; 'minute debt' was asked for 50+ times
- DM 2,000 influencers and pay $800 flat for 4 videosDidn't work: ~138K views drove only 200-500 downloads; lost ~$2K
- Rebuild push-up tracking to work from the front so faces show on video
- Film a stranger-style 'what is this guy doing?' clip, then demo the appKept going viral; the main driver of $30K/month profit
- End videos with 'comment app' and auto-DM the download linkUp to 62K comments on one video; ~90K DMs sent, 33% clicked
- Put 80% of effort into the hook; aim for under ~18% skippingTheir breakout video had a ~19% skip rate; 30% means switch format
- Build onboarding as a conversation: goals, pain, past attempts, then your fixConversion rose from ~7% to ~16%; paywall reach ~70%
- Let people try push-up counting and pick workout times before the paywallFounders say it builds trust and lifts paywall conversion; no numbers
- Pay founders you admire to review your onboardingFounders call it their highest-ROI spend; 'completely changed our trajectory'
- Test a 7-day free trial against a 3-day one7-day trial won clearly
- Test a weekly plan against a monthly oneWeekly won, but only slightly more ARPU
- Put a short video of someone using the app on the paywallWon its test, but by a small margin
- Offer about 80% off when someone closes the paywallCalled one of their two biggest tests; no result given
- Build an Android version if most of your viewers are in EuropeAndroid earns as much as iOS or more; 120K vs 40K users
- Post from a remote-controlled US phone to reach American viewersDidn't work; shadowbanned even with the remote US phone
- Pay US students about $1,000 a month to post your winning formatJust started; no results shared
- Let people close the paywall, then charge when they want more scroll time
Tags: instagram, creative, hard-sell, cinematic