Strava · B2C · running and cycling app
Show 'Follow back' on anyone who follows you, wherever their profile appears
Biggest jump in follow rate Strava has ever seen, despite data predicting little gain
Workedretentionproduct-virality
What they did
An engineer (Annie) ran it on Experiments Day: if someone followed you and you saw their profile anywhere in the app, the button said 'Follow back'. It had been deprioritized because data showed most Strava relationships were already reciprocal.
What happened
The biggest increase in follow rate Strava had ever seen.
- Stage
- Scale (scaling)
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Lessons From Building a 70 Person Growth Team — Jason van der Merwe, Strava“she really wanted to run a test where if someone followed you, and you saw their profile anywhere, it said follow back. And the data said the majority of relationships on Strava were were reciprocal.”
“And she ran it, and resulted in the most, um, the biggest increase in follow rate that we've ever that we've ever seen.”
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 Strava
All 23 Strava tacticsMore from this episode
- Strava: Put words like 'GO' on your icon-only record buttonsOne of the biggest wins ever for first uploads; new-user retention rose a lot
- Strava: Ask new users to add a profile photo during signupLater removed; it added too much friction
- Strava: Count a new user as active once they upload one workout and follow one person in 7 days
- Strava: Get more people to share workout links, then turn link visitors into signupsDrove new registrations, guest says; base of several hundred thousand shares a month
- Strava: Once a quarter, let every team member run any test they want on 10% of usersSurfaced ideas data had ruled out, including the biggest follow-rate win
- Strava: Split the big weekly test review into small team meetings once it passes ~70 peopleSmall meetings work great; cross-team learning still unsolved
- Strava: Build one tool for in-app tips, then test removing all tips once teams overuse itOnly growth used it for ~2 years; now so widespread a removal test is running
- Strava: Test which sport and gender appear in welcome-screen photos before signupRunners were put off by cyclist photos; women preferred seeing women
- Strava: Test the words on signup buttons, like 'Continue with' vs 'Sign up with'Copy changes had huge measurable impact; brand photos in product lowered conversion
- Strava: Keep crash-free sessions at 99.99% and ask happy users to rate the appGuest says more five-star ratings help ranking; no numbers
- Strava: Add videos to your store page that show clearly what the app doesVideos really helped, guest says; screenshot tests were hard to trust
- Strava: Test store page designs on a fake App Store web page firstTried; a lot of work, not kept
- Strava: Supply special artwork when Apple offers to feature you in a countryStrava benefits from these features; no numbers
- Strava: Start a growth team on new-user activation, then add teams where tests keep winningGrew from one team to five teams of 70+ people
- Strava: Report every test through one shared query and dashboardBecame the source of truth for nearly every experiment
- Strava: Give staff a switch to use the app as a free user
- Strava: Drive a van to local bike races and upload riders' GPS data for themHow Strava got its first cyclists; no numbers
- Strava: Launch a separate running app to win runners, then merge it with the main appHelped a lot in reaching runners, guest says
- Strava: Get pro athletes onto the app and support local running and cycling groupsMost growth is word of mouth, guest says; no numbers