Master of psychological tricks
Who ME+?
Hey there, it’s Jacob at Retention.Blog 👋
I got tired of reading high-level strategy articles, so I started writing actionable advice I would want to read.
Every Tuesday I share practical learnings you can apply to your business.
Me+ is a master of psychological tricks
Me+ uses a long onboarding flow full of questions, social proof, reassurance of value, gamification tactics, and more.
Will you want to copy and paste all of these into your app? Probably not, but there is 100% something you can try that will likely boost your conversion.
Let’s dive in.
Effective onboarding flows build excitement and emotion early
“Millions of users”, “4.8 High-rated app”, “5,000,000 goals achieved”
Repetition - they repeat these social proof messages twice in the first 5 screens
Testimonials from app store reviews engage
Tip: Use the “Laurels” graphic style since people associate that with Apple awards. Me+ “borrows” this positive association
“Join ME+ on a journey of self-love”
Don’t neglect copywriting, it’s a critical part of the UI
Who doesn’t want to go on a journey of self-love?!
Questions implicitly teach what the product is for
People will assume the app will help with the specific topics you ask about
Questions will educate new users on a problem in their life
And guess what? Your product is the solution!
If you ask a negative question, follow up in that question, or right after with reinforcement of the value prop and how the product will help solve that issue
Use stats to build more trust in your effectiveness
“3X times more successful than other to achieve the goal by behavioral science”*
Ideally, these stats are real, but you can easily create these through surveys
*Flawless grammar is not a requirement for a top-ranking app
Me+ has grammar mistakes throughout onboarding.
Do I recommend it? Of course, but it shows you how closely people actually read
This one is silly: Show a picture of a brain if you want your product to feel backed in science or research
Me+ and Impulse have a similar graphic showing parts of the brain
Headway’s entire mascot is a brain
Create a false loading screen to show your app doing work for them
Me+ uses a loader to show they’re, “Creating your personal journey”
They use this captive audience to insert more social proof and testimonials
People feel if the loading takes longer, it must be building something special just for them
Show an output of all the personalized questions
This can be a ranking, summary, next steps, or something else
We all want to feel like we’re being listened to, prove it to your audience
Try the “foot-in-the-door” technique before a paywall
Get a small “Yes” with a few easy questions to build up momentum and increase the chance of a “Yes” for the purchase
The entire concept of the long onboarding is an extension of the “foot-in-the-door” technique
Me+ builds up investment right before the paywall with a “Let’s make a contract” screen
Flo and Fabulous uses a similar style, Me+ asks you to write your signature
Check out my post on Flo here and the full Fabulous onboarding here
Guide people to your annual plan through your price points for lower churn
Their monthly price is 4x their annual price per month!
Only the annual plan has a trial
Continue the new user flow after your paywall and onboarding
Dropping people onto your home screen after onboarding can cause people to feel overwhelmed
Continue your onboarding after the paywall for better activation rates
Check out the Whimsical board below to see the full flow
Want to send a daily reminder push? Ask people to select the time
Giving the option to choose the time for a notification will boost opt-in rates for push
“Gimicky” gamification tactics can work
Me+ uses a price wheel spinner to offer a subscription discount
Everyone wins the “jackpot” of 50% off
You are building a brand here, so it’s okay not to use these tactics if you feel like it doesn’t fit with your product. This can lead to increased trust over the long term.
Sales need to be for a limited time and have a sense of urgency
When you tap on the 50% offer on the home screen, they start a countdown for 1 hour saying it’ll expire
Widgets can be powerful for retention
It’s unlikely that a majority of users will add the widget, but those who do have a powerful reminder on their phone home screen
ME+ has a strong early monetization flow, and it clearly works well for them.
The tricky part is now delivering on all your promises to build a business with strong retention and renewals.
I don’t know many gimmicks for creating a product that delivers tons of value…
Check out the Whimsical board here to see the full onboarding
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This is like they read Robert Cialdini’s Influence and took it too seriously. Another great breakdown, Jacob. Hats-off
Their name is also pretty clever “Me+”.
Join “Me” on journey to self-love.
Millions achieve their goals with “Me”.
So it’s like it’s not an app but a lovable person inviting you to take his hand and find the happiness you have always wanted.