Practitioner pattern · Jonathan Parra (Sells paywall design and A/B-testing services to app companies (mentions sales calls and customers 'working with us'))
For week- or month-long programs, show step by step how users will change
Works across categories for journey-style apps, per the guest; no numbers
What they did
What happened
In their words
Jonathan Parra - I made 4,000 app paywalls and learned this
Joseph ChoiMm, I see. So annual, weekly and then you Mhm. click a small button that says "View all plans," and then the the monthly is like also there. But you don't want to put it on because it's too much information.
Jonathan ParraYep. Uh I also have another example where this is a little grey hat, and lately I've been doing a lot more grey hat type of paywalls um that I can share with you. So this is a paywall that I created for a customer. So this is a Clear 30 paywall that I saw in The Superwall Podcast, actually. And this is really good for paywalls that are uh they transform the user over the course of a week or a month, or, you know, some other uh timeline.
Jonathan ParraAnd so it has like really nice steps on kind of how you're going to be in after you're kind of done with this plan. And so it positions the user as the hero in their story, which is great. You always want to have a hero's journey funnel if you can have it.
Joseph Choi… just a daily action thing, there's one where it's like you know, a one-time thing. Like there's just so many different types of apps. So do you feel like these Like when you do find these gems that are like, "Oh, this this just seems to be the best one," does that Does that last forever, or is there also kind of like a consumer psychology, culture, and trends thing where once everyone starts using the same paywall, it just doesn't work anymore?
Jonathan ParraThat doesn't seem to be the case for what I've done. So um I thought maybe with the Clear 30-inspired paywall uh it's it's a good paywall that works across app categories, but it's very specific to apps that um they have a clear USP and a and a clear hero's journey.
Jonathan ParraSo for paywalls that are, you know, targeting that archetype, yes, there's there are state-of-the-art paywalls that you can test, uh whereas you other paywalls you may have to get a little bit more creative and and try to test things. But if you're targeting a specific um thing or or or your product follows the roadmap of like other products, um then you can have similar state-of-the-art paywalls that do work fairly well um without any like …
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More from this episode
- Shorten plan names, add 'No commitment, cancel anytime', and label the button 'Continue'+10% conversion over the wordier paywall
- Cut the monthly plan; offer annual plus a weekly plan with 3 free daysBig conversion jump per the slide; exact number not read out
- Put 'No commitment, cancel anytime' on almost every paywallSmall but steady conversion bump, per the guest
- Show two plans, hide the rest behind 'View all plans', preselect annualGuest's standard setup; no numbers given
- When users close the paywall, show cheaper plans, then a 33%-off yearly dealNo result given; guest's go-to for apps that already test a lot
- Keep one-time offers at 25-33% off; save big sales for Black Friday
- Swap the feature table for 'Try it for 50% off' and a big screenshot+111% conversion; revenue per user also rose
- Make the paywall button about 65 points tall, with big text and an arrowGuest says bigger buttons and the arrow bump conversions; no numbers
- Start with a one-page paywall: headline, bullet list, reviews, buttonOne of the few layouts that performs well across categories, per the guest
- Test paywall design and plan mix first; leave price tests for laterGuest says design tests give the most mileage; no numbers
- Put a short video of the app in use on the paywallWon its A/B test; no numbers given
- Make the paywall look like a plain Apple settings screenBeat more custom designs 'by quite a long shot'; worked again for a second app
- Give the top plan a dark, premium look that switches when users pick itMore users chose the top plan; no numbers
- Show the free trial as a timeline: today, day-5 reminder, day-7 billingStill a very high performer after years of copying, per the guest
- Charge about $20 a month for an AI chat app tuned to one nicheUsers pay for it, per the guest; no revenue shared
Tags: transformation, hero-journey, timeline, clear-30-style