Coconote · B2C · AI note-taker for students
Mix a known game (2048) with studying and promote a catchy URL in videos
One video reached ~2M views; no conversion numbers
What they did
What happened
In their words
Brett Bauman & Zack Hargett - COPY this ai app's $6.7m/yr marketing strategy
Joseph ChoiOkay, and then this was another like core page or brand page. This one got 2 million views. This one says um it plugs the URL 2048buthelpmestudy.com, and then that just redirects to Coconote, it seems like.
Zack HargettYeah, so at the time, we were experimenting with a lot of study games. It's still something that we're excited about, something that Quizlet has as a broader category of study games, but there are a lot of good things to say about this video. One, it's a novel concept to take a, you know, proven game that a lot of people have recreated, and to integrate, you know, studying in between these little quick dopamine hits of playing, for example, 2048.
Zack HargettThe second thing is Allie, who was doing the content on this, did a phenomenal job. There's so many small details in terms of the hook and the script and, you know, fast forwarding in certain parts of the video. I think we did a great job building the team to attract the best creators that pay attention to those little details.
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More from this episode
- Build a novelty free tool (text to brainrot video) and push it on TikTok100-200M views and 3,000 trials in days, but only ~$25K revenue
- Post short videos that show the app solving a real student problemSeveral ~20M-view videos, ~99% organic, converting far better than viral novelty content
- Build hidden app screens only creators use, made to look good on cameraUsed in the 18M-view video; no separate numbers
- Keep a small team of 10-12 part-time creators, led by a proven oneLead creator drove hundreds of millions of views; founders say it worked
- Recruit creators who aren't influencers via Handshake, DMs, email and referralsA Spanish tutor with no content experience became a top creator in 9 months
- Double onboarding from 5 to about 13 screens in one big changeTrial conversion up 16%; one-or-two-screen tests had only given small wins
- Let people pay before creating an account; move login after the paywallFounder calls it significant; no separate number
- Let users record a whole lecture before asking them to payCalled a big win; no number given
- Put a little ad money behind organic videos that already went viralNot much success; ~99% of views stayed organic
- Pitch the app as great for ADHD in videos and the first App Store screenshotUsers say it helps their ADHD; no numbers
- When trial users cancel, offer them 7 more free daysKeeps 27% of cancellers in their trial; a smaller share later pay
- Hire an investment bank to run the sale so you keep buildingSold to Quizlet ~18 months after launch; bank ran it end to end
- Hire engineers who can also do backend or a second platformSmall engineering team ships a lot; with 50%+ EBITDA margins
- Post creator-style TikToks and Reels to drive app signupsHundreds of thousands of signups for an earlier app
- Track each creator's results with a dedicated tool (viral.app)Only one of 5-6 tools tried that worked for them
Tags: instagram, tiktok, study-games, microsite, vanity-url, hooks