Deezer · B2C · music streaming app
Make the free tier pay for itself with ads and use it to win subscribers
Free users now profitable; conversion from free 'not cracked yet'
Mixedpricingpaywallproduct-virality
What they did
Reworked the free experience and how Deezer works with advertisers so free users are profitable on their own, while subscriptions stay the main revenue and freemium is treated as a conversion tool. Also opening the product and sharing features to people on other streaming services.
What happened
Free users are profitable via ads, but guest says they haven't cracked freemium as a conversion tool yet.
- Stage
- scale
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Level Up Your App Marketing: Measurement, Brand-Building, and Taking Risks — Sherina Khalidi, Deezer“No, we actually reworked a lot the free experience and the way we work with advertisers to actually be profitable on the free users.”
“the way we see the freemium is more as a conversion tool. Even though we did not crack it yet, to be honest.”
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More from this episode
- Deezer: Take away most free features so free listeners are pushed to payDidn't work: free users left for other services instead of upgrading
- Deezer: Bundle your subscription with phone carriers, speaker makers and big retailersWider reach and better retention; partners weigh heavily in revenue
- Deezer: Run TV and billboard ads about what the brand stands for, then push buyers with adsTracked by brand studies, not revenue; no numbers shared
- Deezer: Check marketing results several ways and use lift tests to correct your mix modelMMM 'not fully satisfying' yet; lift tests confirmed hidden upper-funnel value
- Deezer: Keep paying for install and reach ads even when they don't show direct salesLift tests showed a much bigger boost to sales campaigns than expected
- Deezer: Let your ad team test risky ideas as long as overall return stays profitableLTV:CAC more than doubled in 2 years while volume grew
- Deezer: Launch the new brand-focused homepage even though it lost the test to the old oneLost the ABC test, but beat the old page a few weeks after launch
- Deezer: Ask users to draw your logo, then test new logos against it before rebrandingPurple heart won by far on every audience and KPI; guest credits better ad profits