Practitioner pattern · Trent Hommeyer (Works at Helium, the paywall builder/experimentation platform and paywall agency demoed in the episode)
Test separate paywalls for users over and under about 35
Unknownexperimentationpaywall
What they did
Identify the variables that drive conversion for your app (age is the big one; people above ~35 think differently) and run separate experiences and experiments per segment, so learnings from one group don't pollute the other. E.g. show a tailored paywall only to users over 45.
“the big one, I'm sure everyone knows this one by this point, but like age is a really big one. Like people of different ages, that's a really good way to think about groups of people. So like, above 35, they think pretty differently.”
“So, we say like, "Hey, like split up the data a little bit, and start to learn a bit about about the people using your app”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Put a Flappy Bird game in the paywall; higher scores unlock up to 50% offBeat the existing paywall in an A/B test on 10% of users; no numbers given
- Show the paywall half-empty, then slide the trial details in from the sideWins 'really aggressively' in Helium tests, per the guest; no numbers
- Keep small animations moving in the onboarding background to hold focusWith animations beat without in a Helium test; no numbers
- Add a 'creating your experience' screen near the end of onboardingConversions up 11%, a founder told the host
- In a sleep-sounds app, play the sounds during onboardingConverts better, confirmed by two competing apps; no numbers
- For older users, ask 'Who referred you?' with options like 'My personal trainer' or 'TV ad'Works well with older audiences, per the guest; no numbers
- Run 8 or 9 paywall tests at once and keep the one that winsUsually 8 are a wash and 1 makes a difference
- Charge through Stripe with an in-app Apple Pay prompt, not a trip to SafariBetter trial-to-paid, retention and ARPU; first conversion slightly lower
- App Masters: Send buyers from the paywall to a web checkout page in SafariBig drop-off every time; did worse than Apple in-app purchase
- Build for iPad, where few competing apps bother to go$1.4M of a client's $2M ARR came from iPad
- Default to a 7-day trial; offer 14 or 30 days to people who close the paywallConverts better as a fallback, clients say; anecdotal
- Helium: Ask sign-ups for their revenue; call the big apps, let small ones straight in