How Ladder Nailed Product/Channel Fit on TikTok and Meta to Grow 2,000%
Jan 31, 2025
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Greg Stewart, CEO of Ladder, an innovative strength training app, discusses the company's incredible 2,000% growth. He reveals how Ladder pivoted its pricing strategy from $60 to $30 to better align with customer needs. Greg elaborates on the creation of the 'Ladder Quadrant' to identify high-value user segments and emphasizes the impact of turning in-house coaches into TikTok content creators for user acquisition. He also touches on the importance of community engagement and AI in enhancing the overall fitness experience.
Ladder successfully adapted its service during the pandemic by shifting focus to a home-centered strength training program.
The strategic restructuring of subscription pricing to $30/month allowed Ladder to align better with its target audience's needs.
By leveraging TikTok for organic user acquisition, Ladder turned its coaches into content creators, enhancing engagement and community building.
Deep dives
Identifying the Right User Persona
The podcast discusses how identifying a clearly defined user persona is critical for app success. The team first mapped out the entire user acquisition funnel, focusing on aspects from initial engagement to identifying the right program for users. A quiz was developed to gather insights about potential users by asking specific questions, allowing them to recommend suitable training programs. This strategic approach enabled the app to effectively match users with appropriate coaching styles based on their preferences and goals.
Adapting to Market Conditions
The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a significant pivot for the app's original strategy, which was initially centered on gym-goers with access to extensive equipment. Users suddenly found themselves confined at home with limited resources, requiring the app to adapt its programming to cater to these constraints. The team creatively addressed this by partnering with equipment suppliers to offer users hard-to-find fitness gear, incentivizing them to engage with the app. This flexibility during a crisis allowed them to maintain relevance and grow their user base despite changing circumstances.
Innovative Growth Strategies
Despite initial struggles with traditional advertising strategies, the app found success by shifting focus to TikTok as a primary user acquisition channel. The team conducted rigorous content analysis to identify what types of videos resonated with users and facilitated organic growth on the platform. This organic engagement laid a strong foundation, enabling them to further experiment with paid promotions based on proven content. By fostering a creative environment, they managed to grow their follower base rapidly and connect with their target audience effectively.
The Importance of Community in Fitness
The app emphasizes the creation of a community-centric fitness experience, where members can feel a sense of belonging and support. By structuring the app around 'teams' led by expert coaches, users enjoy camaraderie and engagement with others pursuing similar fitness goals. This social aspect enhances user motivation and retention, as members actively participate in discussions and share their fitness journeys. The app also employs gamification techniques, such as badges and cheers, to foster friendly competition and encourage consistent workout habits.
Future Prospects and AI Integration
The future vision of the app involves continual engagement with users to identify areas for improvement and expansion. They plan to introduce features like a branded apparel line and address additional user pain points such as workout tracking. The integration of AI technologies is paving the way for personalized experiences, ensuring users receive tailored workout recommendations. By harnessing these innovations, the app aims to sustain growth while staying committed to delivering exceptional value for their members.
Greg Stewart is the CEO of Ladder, an innovative strength training app that has grown subscribers by 2,000% over the last two years. He has a mix of startup leadership, company-building, and corporate finance experience. Prior to Ladder, Greg served as COO and a founding team member of Bungalo, an operationally intensive consumer-facing real estate technology platform he helped to build and launch from the ground up within Amherst Residential. Before Bungalo, Greg was COO and then CEO of a high-growth SaaS startup also in Austin. Earlier in his career, Greg served as a technology investment banker at Goldman Sachs, first in New York and then in San Francisco.
Key Takeaways:
After launching during the pandemic, Ladder pivoted its way to product/market fit with a coach and team centered strength training app for fitness enthusiasts.
When it realized its initial $60/month price point was too high, Ladder rebuilt its subscription pricing and packaging from the ground up until it felt confident its premium product and new $30/month price were aligned with its target customer.
The company built a framework to identify its highest-value user segments and worked backwards from their unique needs to recruit the perfect coaches.
Ladder cracked user acquisition on TikTok (and now Instagram) by turning in-house coaches and creators into short-form content creation machines, converting the best organic content into paid ads, using an onboarding quiz to predict each new user's LTV, and leveraging this pLTV data to continuously optimize its advertising spend.
Ladder’s innovative growth strategy, combined with category-leading subscriber retention rates driven by its coach- and team-centered approach to fitness, have helped it grow ~2,000% from 10k to 175k subscribers over the last two years.