Stronger · B2C · gamified workout tracker
Post a rough founder video of a fun app feature before launch
~15K followers in week one; then hit #3 in Health & Fitness at launch
Workedfounder-brandorganic-short-videopr-launch
What they did
Before the app was ready, co-founder Jack filmed a quick video on a work break panning up a Canva-made timeline that converts total workout volume into objects (Easter Island head, Stonehenge slab, '10 Donald Trumps'). It was clearly founder-posted. People followed the page to be told when the app launched; Jack then finished the app in 1-2 weeks.
What happened
Phone 'blew up'; ~15,000 followers within a week, organic recommendations in other videos' comments; at launch the app rocketed to #3 in Health & Fitness
- Stage
- pre-launch
In their words
The Superwall Podcast · Peter Gillan - My App Makes $600k/Year Using This Easy Growth Strategy (copy me)“And then we also had this little timeline thing we made in Canva, which was where we as you added up things, you could see like the Easter Island head you've lifted, a Stonehenge slab, different things like that.”
“Like all of a sudden, because the app wasn't available, people just started following the page because they were like, "I need this, like remind me whenever it's out." And we had like maybe 15,000 followers within the first week.”
Related topics
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New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- Stronger: Post the same 6-second fade-in app screenshot Reel over and overEst. 150-300M views, a 100M-view month; low conversion and now fading
- Stronger: Copy a winning video across many accounts, changing a few words or colors each timeAdopted after a rival did it with ~10 accounts; no separate numbers
- Copy a rival's viral video format and post it from 10 accountsDownloads visibly ramped up; out-scaled the team that invented it
- Stronger: Design every feature to look great as a screenshot for social postsScreenshots are the main money-maker; founder claim, no numbers
- Stronger: Post 2-3 slide TikTok carousels of real, unpolished app screensHistorically their best-converting channel; weaker in the past year as 20 rivals copied
- Stronger: Reply to comments with videos showing their lift as random objects in the appA series of viral videos; likely most of the account's 4.9M likes
- Stronger: Make everyone start a free trial first; free version only after they cancel~25% boost, their biggest ever; few complaints, but less sharing
- Stronger: Test when and how often the paywall shows before testing its wordingFounder says they now monetize per user among the best workout trackers; no numbers
- Stronger: Turn workout numbers into a strength rank users can show off12 months with no copycat; became the main marketing asset
- Stronger: Adapt viral video formats from other app niches, then test hooks by watch timeHow they find each new format; no numbers given
- Stronger: Keep content in-house; hire agencies only to scale a proven formatTwo founders make almost all content; few affiliates
- Stronger: Fund the app with government grants instead of investorsStayed bootstrapped; no amounts given
- Copy a rival's strength score and add game-style ranks for each musclePerformed 'brilliantly' per the guest; Stronger later added ranks too
- Runna: Give each running influencer their own workout plan in the appGuest says it built a strong brand and rocketed up the charts; no numbers
- Build the new app as a tile-based game that AI tools can't copy yet