MySwimPro · B2C · swim coaching app
Hand off blog, email, then editing so the founder only films
5-person in-house team now; paid for by ad and sponsor income
Workedteam-processcontent
What they did
For ~2 years the founder did everything. 2018: first hire (now VP of marketing) took over the blog and email; then a video editor took editing so the founder only concepts, films and reviews. Now: filming on location (pool deck, swim camps) with a videographer, ~2 weeks to publish, two full-time editors managed by the VP of marketing, a part-time commission brand-deal manager, and a social media poster.
What happened
More expense but more AdSense and brand-deal revenue and a stronger app.
- Stage
- growth
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Building a Content Marketing Flywheel — Fares Ksebati, MySwimPro“Eventually, we hired a video editor to take the editing off my plate. So, all I had to do was come up with the concept, and then just go and film the video, and then upload it, and then I would do a review.”
“So, we have two full-time video editors, our VP of marketing manages that team.”
“So, now it's more team, more expense, but we're also making more money through the AdSense, the brand deals, and the app is in a stronger position.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- MySwimPro: Send swimmers found on Twitter to a mockup page that collects emails200 email sign-ups in a couple of weeks for an app that didn't exist
- MySwimPro: Write one article a week answering common swimming questions people search forHundreds of articles over 3 years; traction compounded slowly, no sudden spike
- MySwimPro: Answer the questions users email you in a weekly whiteboard videoEarly videos got 75-4,000 views; years later some have millions
- MySwimPro: Cut each long video into short clips and post them everywhere~500K Instagram and 300K+ TikTok followers; TikTok hits didn't drive many downloads
- MySwimPro: Earn from your YouTube videos with ads and sponsor shout-outsContent pays for itself even ignoring app installs; funds two full-time editors
- MySwimPro: Film yourself training with the app on screen instead of pitching it~30% of videos feature the app for 60+ seconds; no conversion numbers
- MySwimPro: Post videos of customers' big swimming wins on the company channel
- MySwimPro: Give each social channel its own App Store link to track revenueCan now tie revenue to each channel; only set up in the last few months
- MySwimPro: Try paid ads before you can track what the spend producedFirst two rounds failed; third round in progress with better analytics
- MySwimPro: Host in-person swim camps to reach new swimmersWorks but doesn't scale; limited by how many people can attend
- MySwimPro: Keep raising the yearly price, from $100 to $180, while conversion holdsConversion barely changed at each step (the app kept improving too)
- MySwimPro: Ask free and paying users four price questions to find what they'd payAverage matched current price (~$100-120/year); a segment would pay $200-300/year
- MySwimPro: Move free features behind the paywall as the app shifts to paidBuilt user entitlement and complaint reviews; guest would package it differently
- MySwimPro: Join a university startup accelerator for first funding and pitch practiceRaised $50K; learned customer discovery, built a network and a tight pitch
- MySwimPro: Raise money from your community through equity crowdfunding roundsAbout $1.2M raised in total, mostly from crowdfunding
- MySwimPro: Test in-app invites with rewards for your most active usersStill being tested; no results yet