Zumba · dance fitness brand and app
Interview people who quit after one class, not just your biggest fans
Found many churners leave for live classes; shaped the beginner focus
Workedvalidationfeature-development
What they did
Talked to hundreds of students and instructors (plus many more by survey) via Zoom and phone, recruited from the customer database and in-person classes. Pulls users from data who downloaded then churned, or took one class then churned, and asks why they left. Also ran a check-in study where participants tried to work out more during the week and talked freely.
What happened
Found the shy-beginner niche; learned many churners leave for in-person classes, which still helps the business.
- Effort
- Hundreds of interviews over app development
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · Optimizing Funnels, Pricing, and Retention at Zumba — Nicole Page & Lucy Levy, Zumba“We spend a lot of time looking at our data and pulling out specifically people that downloaded the app and then churned, or took one class and then churned.”
“So we talked to hundreds of students and instructors over the course of the app development, also way more than that in surveys.”
Related topics
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More from this episode
- Zumba: Ask each user's goal, then put them in a matching workout programProgram users watched 2x as many videos; month-2 retention about doubled
- Zumba: Let people pick a plan in the app, then pay on a bare web pageSign-ups fell 25% (35% at first) but lifetime value rose 17%
- Zumba: On the web checkout, show Apple Pay or Google Pay first when availableHelped conversion a little; no numbers given
- Zumba: Make onboarding longer: ask about goals and level, show value, recommend a programMuch higher paywall conversion than the short flow; no numbers given
- Zumba: Show the paywall right after onboarding, before people see the appHelped overall conversion; no numbers given
- Zumba: Give non-payers one free beginner class, then show the paywall when they stopHundreds of thousands of views; that paywall converts well, but no numbers
- Zumba: Push new users to finish 3 classes: default weekly goal of 3 and a counterUsers who reach 3 classes are much more likely to stay
- Zumba: After each class, celebrate, ask how hard it was, and suggest the next classMore people come back for their next class; no numbers given
- Zumba: Send workout reminders at the day and hour each user usually works out
- Zumba: Add chat threads where users talk about classes and their health journeyUsers didn't engage; feature turned off
- Zumba: Drop the free trial on the monthly plan and cut it from $19.99 to $14.99Great results per the guest; annual mix rose from ~30% to ~60% (other changes too)
- Zumba: Give only a 7-day free trial on the annual plan, priced at $99Trial-to-paid rose from the 30s to ~56%; no drop in trial starts
- Zumba: Build the app for shy beginners with easy, high-quality classes70-75% of new users say they're beginners; credited as a big retention shift
- Zumba: Treat every launch as a test and check the numbers every morningGuests credit it for fast iteration; no numbers
- Zumba: Run one instructor training and continue only if 60+ people show upAbout 120 came, double the bar; became the core instructor business
- Zumba: Label the paywall button "Start Today"Won an A/B test of several button labels; no numbers
- Dipsea: Test sending paywall taps to a web checkout pageRealized LTV down 6% at first; fewer web subscribers turned off auto-renew