Fitbod · B2C · strength training workout app
Test App Store keywords early to rank in Apple search results
Founder says many early users found the app this way; no numbers
Workedaso
What they did
In the early days the engineering co-founder (Allen) took an analytical approach to testing keywords and tracking rankings in Apple's search results.
What happened
A lot of early users found the app through App Store search.
- Stage
- launch
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Product Lessons From a Profitable, $20M ARR Subscription App — Jesse Venticinque, Fitbod“I think ASO, App Store Optimization, actually was pretty important in the beginning, being able to kind of rank in Apple search results.”
“Allen more so is the engineer, the analytical approach, and he really spent time trying to like test keywords and ranking in those early days. So I think a lot of early users found us that way.”
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- Fitbod: Switch from a workout tracker to AI-picked workouts during betaFounder credits it with product-market fit; users emailed praise unprompted
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- Fitbod: Let subscribers share a link that gives friends 6 free workouts instead of 3Has driven users, per founder; built mainly to measure the word-of-mouth loop
- Fitbod: Measure retention as 3+ workouts a month, not just renewals
- Fitbod: Spot users about to go quiet and step in before they cancel
- Fitbod: Pay non-converting trial users for 30-minute interviews; ask if a feature would make them buy
- Fitbod: Before building a fix, ask users with a quick in-app yes/no where they get stuck
- Fitbod: Invest in a blog so content brings users whose revenue funds more content
- Fitbod: Raise from investors who back slow, efficient growth over growth at all costsCompany stayed profitable while venture-backed; no direct numbers tied to it