Surfline · B2C · surf forecast and cam app
Get brands to give subscribers exclusive discounts instead of showing them ads
Well received; outperforms banner ads for brands, no numbers
Workedpartnershipsad-monetizationretention
What they did
No ads behind the paywall. The ad sales team instead sells brands partnership deals where the brand gives subscribers an exclusive discount or early access (e.g. a Surfline-only discount or early access to a new surf park), which Surfline markets natively as a perk to subscribers. Runs alongside traditional media packages for free users; described as a big pivot.
What happened
Perks are very well received; native placement traditionally performs much better than banner ads.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · How to Succeed with Freemium and Hybrid Monetization — Paul Ganev, Surfline“It's not really easy to put ads behind a paywall. It's not a great user experience. I don't recommend it.”
“what we've been trying to do is find partnership deals with these brands where the brand will give the consumer some kind of exclusive discount or early access or something that the consumer didn't have before”
“And the brand wins, because we're monetizing in a native way, which is traditionally it performs way better than if we just put a banner ad somewhere.”
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
- Surfline: Give surfers free daily forecasts, then sell the full version to the keen onesGrows with zero paid ads; free-to-paid conversion up a lot over five years
- Surfline: Publish a surf report page for every beach so searchers land on youSEO is the biggest channel after word of mouth; no numbers
- Surfline: Let free users use a few features without limits instead of capping visitsTested both; guest prefers unlimited use of free features, no numbers
- Surfline: Keep adding paid features and new surf cams for free users to upgrade toShort spike from early adopters, then a higher baseline conversion
- Surfline: Play a short video ad before free users can watch the surf camEarns from free users; host remembers an ad years later
- Surfline: Cut market research down using your own free users' data and surveys
- Surfline: Aim the paid plan at surfers who go often; leave casual ones to free apps