Building Trust with Users to Drive Revenue and Retention – Ryan Beck, Pray.com

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Oct 30, 2024

Ryan Beck, Co-founder and CTO of Pray.com, shares insights on navigating the challenges of faith-based app development. He discusses strategies for reaching older demographics, emphasizing the importance of trust built through traditional TV and radio ads. Ryan highlights that a unified roadmap across teams fosters agility and collaboration. He also dives into innovative monetization strategies, combining subscriptions and ads to enhance revenue while boosting customer loyalty through empathetic engagement. Discover how technology can harmonize with faith in the digital age!

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INSIGHT

Reaching Older Demographics

Older demographics, while sometimes slower to adopt new technologies, represent a high-value user group.
Their trust in traditional media like TV and radio can be leveraged for effective marketing.

ADVICE

Leveraging Traditional Media

Meet your target demographic where they are in their technology adoption journey.
TV and radio advertising can be effective for reaching older demographics who trust these mediums.

ANECDOTE

Pricing Feedback as a Signal

Negative feedback about pricing can be a positive signal, indicating value creation and user interest.
If no one complains about the price, it might be too low.

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On the podcast: the risk of ad creative concentration, how to reach older, high-value demographics, and why the ultimate KPI is revenue.

Key Takeaways:

🛠️ A unified roadmap eliminates silos - Operating with one shared roadmap ensures alignment across product, marketing, and engineering, promoting collaboration and agility.

💡 Monetization might require more than just subscriptions - Post-IDFA, blending subscriptions with ads and one-time purchases maximizes revenue and reaches non-subscribers.

📺 TV and radio ads still build trust - Older audiences trust TV more than digital ads. A diversified media mix and real-time tracking can make these channels highly effective.

📊 Creative testing prevents costly surprises - Diversifying creative assets across platforms reduces risk and ensures consistent ad performance, even when policies change.

🎯 Empathy boosts customer loyalty in niche markets - High-touch, personal responses to customer feedback—especially in sensitive sectors—can build trust and long-term loyalty.

About Ryan Beck

👨‍💻 Co-founder and CTO at Pray.com — an app with a mission to grow faith, cultivate community, and leave a legacy of helping others through faith-based content and community-building features.

👥 Ryan Beck is driven by innovation in technology for the faith space, successfully navigating the complexities of building digital platforms that resonate with older, high-value demographics while maintaining exceptional retention rates.

💡 "We saw a space that was underserved, where technology could bridge the gap between faith organizations and their communities, making faith more accessible in the digital age.”

👋 LinkedIn

Resources

Pray.com

David Barnard - @drbarnard
Jacob Eiting - @jeiting
RevenueCat - @RevenueCat
SubClub - @SubClubHQ

Subscribe to the podcast → https://www.subclub.co

Follow Us:
• David Barnard: https://twitter.com/drbarnard
• Jacob Eiting: https://twitter.com/jeiting
• RevenueCat: https://twitter.com/RevenueCat
• Sub Club: https://twitter.com/SubClubHQ

Episode Highlights:

[00:57] Digitizing faith: Pray.com’s mission to modernize faith organizations with digital platforms.
[02:49] Better together: The challenges and benefits of building a platform for diverse faiths with shared goals.
[04:47] Generation gap: Addressing tech adoption and user retention challenges with older demographics.
[06:47] Traditional values: How Pray.com used TV and radio ads to reach older, high-value users.
[09:16] Say your prayers: The devotional content that strengthened Pray.com’s user engagement and retention.
[11:52] Keeping the faith: Introducing subscription models without losing the trust of a faith-driven community.
[19:59] Lessons in diversification: The risks of relying too heavily on a single ad creative.
[31:08] Faith meets tech: Blending technology with spirituality to create accessible digital content for all.
[41:26] Data-driven decisions: How the Pray.com team optimized their TV and digital ad strategies for maximum impact.