Hevy · B2C · gym workout tracking app
At launch, go after the same search keywords your competitors use
5-10 downloads a day at first, slowly growing
Workedaso
What they did
With 'very, very basic' ASO skills, Hevy just targeted the keywords everyone else in the workout-tracker space targeted. Guest calls this a good 80% approach for getting off the ground; co-host notes it at least beats apps doing nothing. No Apple Search Ads early.
What happened
5-10 downloads a day at launch that slowly grew; host credits ratings-driven ASO for later compounding.
- Stage
- Launch (Launch, 2019)
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Cultivating Organic Growth with Viral Loops — Guillem Ros Salvador, Hevy“During the early, early days, my ASO levels were very, very basic. We were just targeting the keywords that everyone else was targeting. And I feel like that's a good 80% approach for a lot of apps, just do what everyone else is doing.”
“And yeah, we were getting 5, 10 downloads a day, and it slowly started growing.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Hevy: Let users follow each other's workouts and suggest the most active users to newcomersStrangers formed their own groups in-app; main growth engine behind 2M users
- Hevy: Charge $24 a year and don't keep testing prices, so users happily tell friendsGrew to 2M users on word of mouth; guest admits revenue isn't maximized
- Hevy: Pick three core pillars and ship a bare version of each, cutting everything elseShipped 1.0 quickly; some features designed then are still unbuilt years later
- Hevy: Keep contacting Apple after launch to get featured on the App StoreGot 'Apps We Love' in the US; COVID closed gyms the next day, erasing the boost
- Hevy: Keep building the gym app through COVID instead of switching to home workoutsRough 2020-early 2021, then compounding growth to 2M users
- Hevy: Ask for feedback inside the app all the time and stay in email contact with usersGuest calls it a great way to gather feedback; no numbers
- Hevy: Live on unemployment benefits, then at your parents' home, until the app paysReached ramen profitability about 1-1.5 years after launching paid plan
- Hevy: Spend almost nothing on ads, then hire a head of marketing to test paidUnder $15K ever spent, mostly ad credits; paid ads not cracked yet
- Hevy: Hire support first, then devs, a designer and a marketer, instead of staying two foundersTeam of 10; bigger vision and far fewer co-founder arguments