If you have multiple paywalls and the user doesn't go for the first one, I wonder if they'll just tell their friends to cancel out the first one to get a better price on the second paywall?
Might be an unpopular opinion here, but I think if you need to spend so much time on perfecting a paywall just to get people to spend, your app is probably lacking in other areas. By the time the user reaches your paywall they should already be beyond being sold to, and have the intention to make a purchase. Too many apps now pop up these paywalls way before the user even has a chance to evaluate the app. The best time to do this is if the user attempts to use a locked feature. Even better if you allow the locked feature to work a few times first, so they can SEE the value in it. If your app is providing value, you shouldn't need to employ tricks/tips to get people to follow through on a purchase. I think the advice here mostly applies to services/apps that are priced at the limits of the market, and it feels kinda scammy to me if you have to employ tactics to convince a user to make a purchase. Let the product sell itself. User manipulation/psychology sucks.
I follow your logic, but… that’s just wrong. “If you build it they will come” isn’t true in most businesses. You may hear stories about success “just happening” but it’s rarely the case. There’s enough competition across every category that you have a very short amount of time to get the hook, and features aren’t necessarily how you do that. The idea that you *must* create an amazing app is perfect for creating a great app, but that same amount of effort you put into making your app great you also need to put into marketing if you want to be successful.
@@appfigures I agree, though I'm not saying if you build it, they will come. You still need sales/marketing to get people INTO the app. There's certainly a slope here. At what point does it go from having a nice looking easy to use payment screen to employing dark patterns, hiding the cheaper option below the fold, using true but misleading language in your copy, and so on? All sales in general makes me feel gross though, even when I take out ads for my own apps. It's probably why I'm not that successful. It's my philosophy that any product ever made should offer value greater than the cost to the customer. If you can do that, it should be an easy sell, and you'll likely have happier customers too! If you can't sell it, then the product just isn't for them, and you move on. People work damn hard for their money, and these days you may just be competing against their next meal. All the top apps on the App Store are employing these tactics in one way or another. That's business I guess. Sure you'll see more success with some manipulation, but for me that's not worth it. It ends up being this arms race with scrutinizing every little thing, endless A/B testing, and eventually you lose sight of why you made the product to begin with. A mini rant I guess I've had bottled up for a while. Good content all around, just wanted to offer a different perspective. (I may be a little anti-capitalist)
@GetSwifty as a product guy I agree with most of what you’re saying. You must build a great app that provides a great value and price it well. But saying marketing/sales is gross means you haven’t fully captured the essence of marketing and sales and refer to what some bad actors are doing as what everyone is doing, which isn’t true. None of the tips we discussed today are shady, hide any value, or aggressively take money from users. Quite the opposite - we spent a lot of time talking about how important it is to showcase the free trial so users can see the app in action. Some devs force users to go through a paywall that has a barely visible x button. That doesn’t make every paywall optimization evil. The really successful developers try to figure out what their users want and display that value through the paywall just like a landing page for the app. That should be your goal - show the value quickly.
@@appfigures 100% keep it simple. Don't employ shady tactics. Show value, and make it as easy as possible. OMG I HATE that barely visible X button tactic. If you've gotta do that to get sales, your app MUST be lacking. Thanks for the conversation, and there's lots of great tips in the video.
If you have multiple paywalls and the user doesn't go for the first one, I wonder if they'll just tell their friends to cancel out the first one to get a better price on the second paywall?
I think so. That’s why it’s important not to give a discount but rather a different offer altogether (annual discount, lifetime price, longer trial).
Might be an unpopular opinion here, but I think if you need to spend so much time on perfecting a paywall just to get people to spend, your app is probably lacking in other areas. By the time the user reaches your paywall they should already be beyond being sold to, and have the intention to make a purchase.
Too many apps now pop up these paywalls way before the user even has a chance to evaluate the app. The best time to do this is if the user attempts to use a locked feature. Even better if you allow the locked feature to work a few times first, so they can SEE the value in it.
If your app is providing value, you shouldn't need to employ tricks/tips to get people to follow through on a purchase. I think the advice here mostly applies to services/apps that are priced at the limits of the market, and it feels kinda scammy to me if you have to employ tactics to convince a user to make a purchase. Let the product sell itself. User manipulation/psychology sucks.
I follow your logic, but… that’s just wrong. “If you build it they will come” isn’t true in most businesses. You may hear stories about success “just happening” but it’s rarely the case.
There’s enough competition across every category that you have a very short amount of time to get the hook, and features aren’t necessarily how you do that.
The idea that you *must* create an amazing app is perfect for creating a great app, but that same amount of effort you put into making your app great you also need to put into marketing if you want to be successful.
@@appfigures I agree, though I'm not saying if you build it, they will come. You still need sales/marketing to get people INTO the app.
There's certainly a slope here.
At what point does it go from having a nice looking easy to use payment screen to employing dark patterns, hiding the cheaper option below the fold, using true but misleading language in your copy, and so on?
All sales in general makes me feel gross though, even when I take out ads for my own apps. It's probably why I'm not that successful.
It's my philosophy that any product ever made should offer value greater than the cost to the customer. If you can do that, it should be an easy sell, and you'll likely have happier customers too! If you can't sell it, then the product just isn't for them, and you move on. People work damn hard for their money, and these days you may just be competing against their next meal.
All the top apps on the App Store are employing these tactics in one way or another. That's business I guess. Sure you'll see more success with some manipulation, but for me that's not worth it. It ends up being this arms race with scrutinizing every little thing, endless A/B testing, and eventually you lose sight of why you made the product to begin with.
A mini rant I guess I've had bottled up for a while. Good content all around, just wanted to offer a different perspective. (I may be a little anti-capitalist)
@GetSwifty as a product guy I agree with most of what you’re saying. You must build a great app that provides a great value and price it well.
But saying marketing/sales is gross means you haven’t fully captured the essence of marketing and sales and refer to what some bad actors are doing as what everyone is doing, which isn’t true.
None of the tips we discussed today are shady, hide any value, or aggressively take money from users. Quite the opposite - we spent a lot of time talking about how important it is to showcase the free trial so users can see the app in action.
Some devs force users to go through a paywall that has a barely visible x button. That doesn’t make every paywall optimization evil.
The really successful developers try to figure out what their users want and display that value through the paywall just like a landing page for the app. That should be your goal - show the value quickly.
@@appfigures 100% keep it simple. Don't employ shady tactics. Show value, and make it as easy as possible.
OMG I HATE that barely visible X button tactic. If you've gotta do that to get sales, your app MUST be lacking.
Thanks for the conversation, and there's lots of great tips in the video.
@GetSwifty Exactly. And lots of apps do (unfortunately). You just have to do it better.
🙌
What about the mug? :D
I knew I forgot something! I'll add it to the video description.