App Marketing Strategies That Led to Headway's 27M Downloads

Headway's monetization (strategic discounting, quizzes, web-to-app) and app store optimization are analyzed, alongside broader ASO discussions covering onboarding, monetization strategies (paywalls, subscriptions), and effective app store messaging. Expert advice and app audits are included. Headway's monetization strategy prioritizes onboarding and paywalls, employing A/B testing with multiple discount flows and offers at high-excitement moments for users. Discounts are strategically used, often without trials, to capture a wider audience. The most popular subscription plan is often the non-discounted price, with discounts serving to attract price-sensitive users. Trials are avoided with discounted plans to maximize LTV. Headway uses long onboarding funnels with quizzes to personalize the user experience, increasing conversions and retention. This data informs targeted advertising and content personalization. Web-to-app campaigns are a significant growth driver for Headway, particularly in the health and education niches. Two main types are used: pre-landing pages (pre-app store) and web onboarding/subscription funnels. Pre-landing pages are simple, customized to ad creatives, and use conversion API to optimize for app purchases while sending different signals to Facebook. They focus on driving users to the app store. Web onboarding funnels are longer and more sales-oriented due to the higher friction of web payments. They utilize quizzes, interactive elements, limited-time offers, and social proof to persuade users. Deep links are used to personalize the app experience upon download. Optimizing app size (reducing it from over 140MB) and using subtitles on videos are suggested improvements for app store optimization. Clear, honest messaging in trial notifications is also recommended. Implement a paywall early in the onboarding process: Showing the paywall early, even before a free scan, significantly increases revenue. Make it skippable but highlight its benefits to generate interest. Utilize value-based messaging: Focus on the benefits and value proposition of the app, not just features. Highlight what users will achieve or gain by using the product. A/B test video vs. no video in app screenshots: Data suggests that videos in app store screenshots may negatively impact conversions. Test both versions to determine optimal performance. Prioritize high-value subscription plans: Offer multiple subscription options, but focus marketing efforts on the highest-value plan (e.g., yearly) to maximize LTV. Consider offering a free trial only for the highest-value plan. Optimize app store listing design and messaging: Use clear, concise language, avoid cluttered layouts, and focus on highlighting the value proposition and price savings. Use strong visuals and social proof. Leverage social proof and ratings: Positive reviews and high ratings significantly impact app store optimization (ASO) and user acquisition. Focus on revenue and downloads for ASO: While keyword optimization is important, revenue and downloads are key factors for higher app store rankings. Use a multi-pronged approach to user acquisition: Utilize both pre-install and web onboarding campaigns to diversify your audience reach. Apple Search Ads are a good starting point, especially for those with limited creative resources. Understand your app's strengths and weaknesses: Focus marketing efforts on your app's unique selling points to stand out from the competition. Lean into a niche to increase conversions. Test different paywall strategies: Experiment with different paywall placements and frequencies. Showing the paywall on every app open might be effective, as users who don't convert are likely to churn anyway. and so focused on one topic. So we never distracted the user with something else and it also worked really well. You know one of the things I've been thinking about Y as well is how do you use custom product pages as an attribution platform too? because now you can do a fre land send them to a CPP and that CPP. let's say it's just for meta can be your attribution if you don't have an attribution. So yeah that is that is a great thing that you that you uh remembered. Yeah, that's something that we do as well. Sometimes we don't really customize these custom product pages to the uh, creatives to the freelance, we just duplicate them. and in this way we can track the performance of of our ads better. Yeah. Cool. Oh, this one is one that I love too. So you can transfer a lot of information via this link to the app store. It can be a deep link and you can insert a lot of things about the user about the ads, uh, from there. So here it's an example of the create there was a creative with this book in guy the user clicked on it, then they saw it on the Prel Lance and then when they clicked and download the app, we saved this data that they are interested in this book and we show this book for them as the first one to read This is an amazing example of, you know, hyper customization and it works well and they're in that reading flow that we highlighted earlier, which I love that flow as well. And so it's, it must be a high converting flow because you know exactly what they want. You're asking them to pay if they say no on the first one you go, oh hey, give them you 70% discount. It's gonna work beautifully. Yeah. Okay, Now webing. Yeah. Okay, Web and boarding. it's another huge topic. You know, the payments, it changes everything. It might seem like a very small change. You know, the users pay in web what's difference, but the difference is huge. So here the main, the main thing is that the payment is processed on the web and not on the app. And the app is just another way for the users to use your product. They may stay on the web when you have a web version as we do, or then we go even to the Android app. if they don't have an ios app. So, they have multiple options to choose from. But this thing changes so much about your audience that gets here, that Facebook starts optimizing for. So, the flow of making a purchase on the web funnel is very different from what you do on the app. When you buy something on the app, you can just double click your button on your phone, and you have your card details already inputed, and tied to your Apple ID or whatever. On the web, you have to input your card details from scratch. every time, if you don't have the card, save. And for the user, this changes a lot. So, the user has to input their card details, to find their cards, to find everything to input their, you know, security code, which is a very sensitive information. And they start feeling So, so many uncertainties and doubts, and they don't trust your website. And other thing is that the app Store, and the, for example, Apple environment, they provide a very safe space for the user to buy. So, every apps page in the app Store is structured in a familiar way. Users can always find trustworthy reviews on the app store that they can read and kind of understand what the app is about. They know where to cancel. They know that when they go to their settings, no matter what they app does, they can always cancel their subcription. So, it, it's so easy for them to make this decision to buy on the app. and on the web the situation is different. The website, it is different from everything that they have seen before. each website is different, Then, you know, you don't have these trust signals like you do on the app store, The users are not sure whether your reviews are true or not. They don't have the same safety measures around them and they don't know how to cancel the subscription. They are not aware of, um, of the ways to do it. And a lot of products don't talk about this on their pay walls, like how to cancel our subscription. So yeah, on the web, it becomes much harder to sell something than on the app. And that is the reason that makes these funnels so long. So sales-oriented and so persuasive. Yeah, so here is an example of a web boarding funnel of headway. So the classic funnel is the landing. Then the quiz, the quiz might be very long. Can you guess how many questions we have? Uh, let's see. 15. Um, try higher. Oh, okay. 25 try higher. Oh my god. Okay, All right. I'm not gonna go that high. 25. Yeah, 30. I think around 30. Yeah, but we also have this screens between the questions which we can count or not count. And if you count them, it's even more So yeah, we have a lot of questions here. This is also something that that is a for your web funnels It works really well here. And if you have for example, X questions like another a different number on your app, then when starting working with the web you should try at least three X at least three times more. Oh, and then work from that. Yeah, Yeah, wow, of course, there is a a moment on in which, uh, you start getting diminishing returns, right? So the more questions, no difference. Um, I think we found that moment around 30 questions somewhere, there. I love it. Okay, 30 questions. Sorry, you me, you want me, you want me to stay here. Uh, yeah, I wanted to talk about the email step. you need this step here because to process the payment, you need something, at least a phone number or an email. and the number experience and email works better. So more people just have emails who buy on the web, um, point. Thank you. And then people go to the offer. And, um, uh, you know, compared to the mobile app offers the mobile app, pay walls, the web pay walls are much longer. And I think that this is something that is not utilized enough in mobile apps, something that we started doing recently, for our r&D products, testing, playing with long pay balls on the app and it works well too. So you know, maybe, maybe in a few years, we'll see more long pay walls on mobile apps than we do now. H. So here the offer, it shows the benefits and payment plans and FQs and user reviews and everything. And then the users can pay, pay with the different ways to do that. And also there's no screenshot here, but we have a discount after closing the checkout. So what we talked about works here too. Oh, that's awesome. I love it. Another point, but oh, than you, Yeah, I've been talking about long pay wall since 2019. I was like, look, guys, you know the reason why I started talking about it. I was like, I know it works better on the web. people read what they want to read. So I don't see why it wouldn't work well on mobile. Now people have tested this and I like this pay wall. I think the if you guys are doing long pay walls and you've been following our channel, the one thing that I would eliminate from my best practices is just the features table. Like what do you get with the free plan versus what you get with play? pan, just lean in kind of like what I love this by the way, it's just like with it or without it. Right? And then it's kind of like you go through this because I've seen these type of screens before the pay wall, but I like on the web, you just have it on the pay wall. So that's what I love here. you're leading with everything, all the benefits FAQs, why social proof, and then asking for the payment. So that's sort of, I love it. Yeah, you know, me too. And I think I think that it might work better on the web because of the reason that, uh, you have to sell more and users have more fears and doubts here. So on the app, it is just easier to, you know, just try to skip this screen, maybe even by taking a trial, you know, as easy as it can get. And here to enter card details, you have to be really persuaded and you have to read about everything. and users love that. So yeah. Oh yeah. tips here. Uh, I already talked about the quizzes, I won't talk about them more, but it works really well. The thing that I love to do is to interact with the user. So you have so many touch points with your user during the web funnel. It is so long. And one of my favorite examples is also the second screenshot here. So before this screen, we asked the user, are you a multitasker? And if they answered, yes, we say hello fellow multitasker, it's so great that we met each other. Uh, so they feel like we heard them and that we respond responded instantly to what they said to us And if they answer no, we say, okay, that is totally fine our, um, our product will engage all your sensit and you will be focused and it will be easier for you to use it, You know, so we're trying to sell even more at this point. but also we're relating to the user, we're trying to communicate with them and they feel heard and that works well too. Write that down. I have an idea for one of the clients we're working with. I said amazing and I what I love about this, these type of screens too. It gives a break. It's in long onboarding, right? Like so many questions and it gives a user a break a mental break to be like, ah, you know, you don't want to make it feel like it's work. so you want to make it fun? Yeah, at the same time definitely it. Okay. Yeah the next thing is also maybe obvious for someone but maybe not. So I will mention it always use limited time offers. So why this works, this trigger loss aversion, fear of missing out, um, urgency biases. The users tend to overlook their minor concerns that they have at the moment in order to get the best deal in order to buy right here. right now in our experience this 10-minute timer works well on the web but maybe it will be different for you. So, you should definitely test it too. I love it. Like we said before, dopamine hit happens right now before, instead of after. Yeah. And another thing that is, um, is very useful because one of the challenges that you face when you're having this web subscription flow is that it's hard for the users to log in to the app. They may not understand why they have just inputed their email and they have to do it again, and also create a password. And also, it all seems so overwhelming. and they want to go to your product. So if the user wants to continue using your product, for example, on the ios app or on the Android app, especially about ios, you can log them in via a diping. So you can kind of include their email in the diping and this way when they download the app from the app Store, they will be automatically logged in. And this will make this experience for them very seamless and easy and flowing. Yeah, love it. Okay. I think that's it, right? Nothing else on this. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yep. Okay, good. Thank you for all of that. All right,