On this episode: balancing mission and monetization, the challenges inherent to referral programs, and why Lose It! had to abandon a big push into paid user acquisition.Top Takeaways? Excellent free products need a large user base to upsell — messaging millions of users about special offers can deliver fantastic returns. (10:32)? Extend onboarding for increased trial engagement by asking more personalized questions to boost trial start rates and tailor the user experience. (14:43)? Celebrate user success to drive word-of-mouth marketing and organic growth, while strengthening the bond between users and your brand. (25:47)? Encourage setup of premium features during trials while carefully A/B testing each feature for user resonance. (31:49)? Identify key actions to boost user conversion with the power of data analysis: Target users with discounts or special offers to entice them to upgrade to a premium subscription. (36:29)About Erin Webster-Shaller?‍? VP of Marketing at Lose It!, one of the first health and wellness apps on the App Store.? Erin has been responsible for determining whether new features should be premium or free, as well as running A/B testing for messaging.? “There’s a lot of gimmicks in the weight loss industry: We try to be authentic and real with what this product can help you do — but also not oversell it [and] promise something that isn’t realistic.”?  LinkedIn | TwitterAbout Paul Apollo?‍? Senior VP of Operations at Lose It!.? Paul has been with the company for nine years and has spent nearly that entire time in growth marketing.? “We want to make sure that there is an excellent free product available for anybody who wants access to it.”?  LinkedInLinks & Resources‣ Check out Lose It!‣ Work with Lose It!‣ Connect with Erin on LinkedIn‣ Connect with Erin on Twitter‣ Connect with Paul on LinkedInEpisode Highlights[1:45] Mission-driven: Lose It! founder JJ Allaire was tracking calories on a spreadsheet when the App Store was born. Increasing satisfaction for happy users aligned perfectly with the app’s growth.[6:18] No monetization: The app went from being totally free to freemium. The team didn’t even dabble with ads until very late in the game.[7:28] Buying out Series A investors: Lose It! was so profitable it became fully founder- and employee-owned when it was acquired in 2022 by Ziff Davis.[9:22] The feature adoption journey: The team doesn’t test locking features, but they do A/B test messaging and positioning. Apps and Devices is a big crowd-pleaser, Paul explains.[14:02] Loss aversion onboarding: When Lose It! noticed inexplicably longer onboarding, they tested with more questions, which snowballed into significant success. Adding premium features to onboarding didn’t have the same effect.[20:58] 135 million-pound loss: 50 million users came primarily from consistent word-of-mouth growth and organic acquisition. Experimenting with paid acquisition in 2019 didn’t work out.[25:47] Pushing word of mouth: Erin explains how the company gets people to “spread the good word” to lose more, although experimentation showed that referrals aren’t a silver bullet.[31:49] Lifecycle messaging: Paul jumps into the strategy of exposing freemium users to premium and keeping premium users engaged.[38:07] In-app messaging: Lose It! experimented with in-app messaging versus email blasts.