Practitioner pattern · Trent Hommeyer (Works at Helium, the paywall builder/experimentation platform and paywall agency demoed in the episode)
For older users, ask 'Who referred you?' with options like 'My personal trainer' or 'TV ad'
Works well with older audiences, per the guest; no numbers
Workedonboarding
What they did
In onboarding, add a 'Who referred you?' question whose options signal legitimacy, e.g. 'My personal trainer' or a television ad, even if the app has no trainer partnerships or TV ads. Older audiences respond to authority; whimsical/gamified paywalls work for younger users instead.
What happened
Guest says it really works for apps targeting older audiences; host plans to add it to an App Masters app with an older audience.
“like one we've seen is like, "Who referred you?" And it'll say like, "My personal trainer" or um uh like a television ad or like something that seems really legitimate, even if you're not You don't have partnerships with personal trainers, you know? You don't have a TV ad.”
“Um, that really works with older audiences.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
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- Show the paywall half-empty, then slide the trial details in from the sideWins 'really aggressively' in Helium tests, per the guest; no numbers
- Keep small animations moving in the onboarding background to hold focusWith animations beat without in a Helium test; no numbers
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- In a sleep-sounds app, play the sounds during onboardingConverts better, confirmed by two competing apps; no numbers
- Test separate paywalls for users over and under about 35
- Run 8 or 9 paywall tests at once and keep the one that winsUsually 8 are a wash and 1 makes a difference
- Charge through Stripe with an in-app Apple Pay prompt, not a trip to SafariBetter trial-to-paid, retention and ARPU; first conversion slightly lower
- App Masters: Send buyers from the paywall to a web checkout page in SafariBig drop-off every time; did worse than Apple in-app purchase
- Build for iPad, where few competing apps bother to go$1.4M of a client's $2M ARR came from iPad
- Default to a 7-day trial; offer 14 or 30 days to people who close the paywallConverts better as a fallback, clients say; anecdotal
- Helium: Ask sign-ups for their revenue; call the big apps, let small ones straight in