Clear 30 · B2C · app to quit or cut down weed
Grow with paid Meta and TikTok ads once the app converts well
Became the growth engine; founders say they 'cracked paid ads' and are scaling
Workedpaid-social
What they did
After an uphill battle with organic, influencers, Reddit and SEO, moved to paid ads on Meta (Instagram) and TikTok. Realized the flywheel depends on the product converting well enough to earn multiple dollars per install, so they worked on onboarding and paywall to make paid profitable.
What happened
Paid acquisition 'began our flywheel'; now scaling
- Stage
- growth
This shipped together with other changes, so the result can't be credited to this alone.
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Asher Herbstman & Thatcher Clough - I Built a $30k/mo App That Helps You Quit Smoking“It hasn't really been since paid ads that really began our flywheel.”
“if you don't have a product that converts and you don't build that, then you can't have that flywheel, and you can't reach that point where you're getting, you know, multiple dollars per install”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Clear 30: Try organic posts, influencers, Reddit and SEO to get first usersUseful for early feedback, but hard to convert; the first $1K was the hardest
- Clear 30: Film your own funny ads that call out a very specific momentSpecific callouts grab attention; calm ads with an older speaker convert best
- Clear 30: Check which ages and quit reasons pay most, then aim ads at them26-30 year olds convert at almost double the 18-20 rate
- Clear 30: Ask users where they found the app, and also run proper ad trackingShows cost per trial by platform to rebalance spend daily; founders call it very helpful
- Clear 30: Track users from the first screen, not only after they sign inRevealed drop-offs; intro screen passes 85-90%
- Clear 30: Make onboarding a conversation: use their name, echo goals, show proof and quick winsPart of the 2-month push that took revenue from $10K to $30K a month
- Clear 30: Keep the slow 'what do you want to achieve?' questions in onboardingUsers spend 20-30 seconds on them with almost no drop-off
- Clear 30: Give users a free personal report on their habits before asking them to payFounders call it a big point of value; no numbers
- Clear 30: Ask new users which features they'd use, to show them off and learn
- Clear 30: Say up front the app costs money, next to what the habit costs themOnboarding conversion up about 3%; fewer 'it's paid' complaints
- Clear 30: Ask for a star rating during onboarding, right before showing reviewsReviews went from ~50 to almost 1,000 and keep climbing
- Clear 30: Sign users up by phone number and text them funny, personal messagesNo results given; founders cite ~95% of texts read within 5 minutes
- Clear 30: Open the paywall with a day-by-day plan for the first 7 days, not featuresPaywall conversion rose from ~20% to 30% with only this change
- Clear 30: Tell users 'no payment due now' and remind them 2 days before the trial endsMost users choose the yearly plan with the 3-day trial; no conversion numbers
- Clear 30: Test $30, $40 and $50 yearly pricesSettled on $30/year; no test numbers shared
- Clear 30: Run ads inviting people to take a quiz about their weed habitDidn't work; tried half-heartedly while onboarding was weaker
- Clear 30: Study which ads Meta and TikTok spend most on, and reuse their hooksAd with a woman beat one with a man; camera-shot look beat polished
- Clear 30: Offer the app to universities and addiction services, and add paid extras