Pushcroll · B2C · push-ups to unlock social media
Put a short video of someone using the app on the paywall
Won its test, but by a small margin
Workedpaywallexperimentation
What they did
Paywall variant with a UGC-style video (starts with a face, shows the push-up detection) followed by a notification bell visual, so users picture themselves using it; treats the onboarding and paywall like a short-form video with a hook. Tests are split into three cohorts (US, non-US under 18, non-US 18+) because the young European audience converts very differently.
What happened
The video paywall was the winning variant, though improvements were not huge. Cohorts showed US ARPU ~0.7 vs ~0.3 for non-US under 18.
- Stage
- growth
“Yeah, the paywall which actually won is uh this video paywall, if you can show it real quick.”
“The improvements were not not like huge improvements, but they're still like the winning uh sort of variants.”
“We made uh three different cohorts. We made a US cohort, uh under 18, and like uh 18+.”
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 this episode
- Pushcroll: Post a 'Should I build this?' video about the app before building itBlew up on TikTok; MVP shipped 2 weeks later to a waiting audience
- Pushcroll: Launch with a video giving free lifetime premium to anyone who installs this week~20K downloads from ~175K views (~10%); only ~$1-2K revenue afterward
- Pushcroll: Move your launch followers into a Discord for feedback, bug reports and videos3-4K members; best feature ideas and user videos came from it
- Pushcroll: Let your community vote on designs, and build what they ask for 20+ timesPicked a better logo and shaped features; 'minute debt' was asked for 50+ times
- Pushcroll: DM 2,000 influencers and pay $800 flat for 4 videosDidn't work: ~138K views drove only 200-500 downloads; lost ~$2K
- Pushcroll: Rebuild push-up tracking to work from the front so faces show on video
- Pushcroll: Film a stranger-style 'what is this guy doing?' clip, then demo the appKept going viral; the main driver of $30K/month profit
- Pushcroll: End videos with 'comment app' and auto-DM the download linkUp to 62K comments on one video; ~90K DMs sent, 33% clicked
- Pushcroll: Sell the app openly in videos instead of hiding the adFull-ad videos converted far better than a cinematic version
- Pushcroll: Put 80% of effort into the hook; aim for under ~18% skippingTheir breakout video had a ~19% skip rate; 30% means switch format
- Pushcroll: Build onboarding as a conversation: goals, pain, past attempts, then your fixConversion rose from ~7% to ~16%; paywall reach ~70%
- Pushcroll: Let people try push-up counting and pick workout times before the paywallFounders say it builds trust and lifts paywall conversion; no numbers
- Pushcroll: Pay founders you admire to review your onboardingFounders call it their highest-ROI spend; 'completely changed our trajectory'
- Pushcroll: Test a 7-day free trial against a 3-day one7-day trial won clearly
- Pushcroll: Test a weekly plan against a monthly oneWeekly won, but only slightly more ARPU
- Pushcroll: Offer about 80% off when someone closes the paywallCalled one of their two biggest tests; no result given
- Pushcroll: Build an Android version if most of your viewers are in EuropeAndroid earns as much as iOS or more; 120K vs 40K users
- Pushcroll: Post from a remote-controlled US phone to reach American viewersDidn't work; shadowbanned even with the remote US phone
- Pushcroll: Pay US students about $1,000 a month to post your winning formatJust started; no results shared
- Pushcroll: Let people close the paywall, then charge when they want more scroll time