Ladder · B2C · strength training app
Offer a 7-day free trial without asking for a credit card
Users who finish one or two workouts convert at a very high rate
Workedpaywallproduct-activation
What they did
7-day free trial with no payment details collected at start, so the product (getting users through one or two workouts) does the selling. Chosen at launch on a hunch that it is a better consumer experience and to stand out in a crowded COVID-era fitness market.
What happened
Conversion is very high for trialists who complete one or two workouts; trial engagement predicts conversion, week-one workouts and month-one retention.
- Stage
- launch
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · How to Use Segmentation to Maximize LTV — Greg Stewart, Ladder“In the app itself, we have a seven-day free trial. We intentionally don't ask for a credit card upfront, which we didn't know was unique when we launched.”
“So, we use the product to convince, not getting them to pay, and then hoping that something happens after the fact.”
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from Ladder
All 46 Ladder tactics- Price the annual plan at $14.99 a month ($179), half the monthly priceAnnual take rate rose from 20% to ~30% of new paying members
- Sell monthly only until retention is clear, then show an annual option side by sideAnnual went from ~0% to 20% of new paying members
- Ask new visitors 15 fitness questions, then recommend three matching programsA million people have taken it in 18 months; fixed confused cold-traffic users
- Run a new coach's TikTok for them, using only videos already on their phone250K followers in 45 days, with million-view videos every week
- Send every TikTok ad click to a web quiz and track answers that mark ideal usersTargeting tightened within a week; payback in low single-digit months
- Run a big yearly user survey and use AI to read the answers7,500+ responses in a year; led directly to the nutrition feature
More from this episode
- Ladder: Make a separate ad and coach-led program for each type of lifterFounder says it brings in users more likely to stick; no numbers
- Ladder: Aim every feature at getting new members to 3 workouts in week oneHitting it in week one makes month-one retention very likely
- Ladder: Nudge members to cheer on others so new trial users get lots of cheersCheers received correlated with workout completions and long-term retention
- Ladder: Test annual prices, lead the paywall with annual, and add annual-only featuresAnnual members now outnumber monthly; payback periods very tight
- Ladder: Pitch annual only to trial users who worked out; offer others a cheap first monthHelped make annual the majority plan; no split numbers
- Ladder: Offer non-converted trial users their first month for $5, then $29.99About half stay into month two at full price; consistent across cohorts
- Ladder: Run 6-week workout series and pitch discounts to past leads before each startsFounder says deals work best at these moments; no numbers