How Speak4Me drove 27% higher conversion with a multi-step Duolingo-style paywall

Intro

Speak4Me is a text-to-speech app that provides users with premium voices, unlimited exports, and other specialized features. The team needed a paywall strategy that clearly demonstrated the value of their premium features during the purchase process.

Speak4Me tested two distinct paywall flows using Superwall to see if showcasing more features would lead to higher conversion rates and greater revenue.

The challenge

Speak4Me's main challenge was demonstrating their true value:

• Design complexity: The initial, simple paywall design was too basic to fully communicate the depth and value of the app's premium features.

• Hypothesis: The team hypothesized that adopting a three-step paywall would showcase more features and build a better case for the subscription.

• Testing precision: The test required a stable A/B environment to compare the performance of two paywall flows across metrics like conversion rate and proceeds.

The solution

Speak4Me conducted an A/B test to compare their existing paywall against a new, multi-step flow:

• Simple control paywall: A simple paywall design showing the offer on a single screen with a trial checkbox option.

• Duolingo-style variant: A multi-step flow designed to showcase more of the app and its features before presenting the pricing and trial options.

The core goal was to see if the increased friction and complexity of the Duolingo style were justified by a higher conversion rate.

The results

The experiment provided clear evidence that the multi-step, value-showcasing paywall flow was more effective:

• Conversion rate boosted: The Duolingo-style paywall achieved a conversion rate increase of +27% over the simpler checkbox-style paywall.

• Proceeds soared: The higher conversion rate resulted in a +36% increase in proceeds, proving that the Duolingo-style paywall was more profitable.

• Hypothesis validated: The results confirmed that guiding the user through the value proposition, even with added complexity, drives conversion.

Guiding the user through the value proposition, even with added complexity, drives conversion.