💎 Growth Gems #131 - Onboarding and Activation, Paid UA and Creatives

Sep 09, 2025

Gems from Elise Zareie (Performance Marketing + Growth consultant, previously UA strategist for Runna, Praktika & Paired), Ioana Iordache (Product growth consultant for Blinkist, Blacklane & more), and Marcus Burke (App growth & Meta Ads expert) in Web2App Quizzes: From Side Project to Profit Engine by FunnelFox

Hi, fellow growth practitioner!

This week, I’m bringing you insights on Onboarding and Activation, Paid UA and Creatives.

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Web2App/Web funnels have seen a lot of adoption from apps the last couple of years, and by now you’ve probably tested it as well.

I’ve been working on web funnels for more than 5 years now.

Still, some of the insights in the webinar below made me rethink a few things and gave me new ideas.

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stage: growth / scaled

💎 Use web-to-app funnels as an audience expansion strategy, particularly to reach older demographics with higher purchasing power that you can't effectively target through traditional app campaigns.
(04:44) by Ioana

Marcus mentioned that placement distribution for web2app tends to skew more towards Feed, which allows to target an older audience.

Elise later recommended using web-to-app as a scaling solution when traditional app campaigns hit CPA inflation. Web funnels access different algorithms and audiences, allowing growth without cannibalizing existing campaign performance.

On this topic, last week I saw Nick Candler mentioning Threads as having potential right now, which are apparently only available for web ads. However, it seems that it’s not that straightforward (I haven’t tried).

💎 Web onboarding funnels allow to better demonstrate your value proposition, ultimately leading to higher LTV users.
(05:36) by Ioana

💎 Web funnels can be used for product validation and to validate what kind of audience you can get before building the product.
(07:08) by Marcus

I recently did this and it is pretty awesome to be able to validate an idea before you invest more effort into building (even though it’s now faster than ever to build an MVP). You also get data from your onboarding answers to inform how you build the product, and even a few customer interviews of actual purchasers.

This can also be used by scaled companies working on new features or products. In fact, it’s even more relevant because building often takes longer when company size grows.

💎 You might want to have a different creative strategy for web2app vs. app campaigns if the audiences are different.
If you have strong creatives you still want to test them across the board
Consider adapting some creatives. For example, you could show older creators in creatives for web2app.
(11:57) by Elise

Beyond the age of the creator, one example Elise mentioned is Runna changing the CTA for web2app to "Sign up online" (vs. Download) so as to not disappoint.

💎 You can take the web funnel content itself and test it as an ad to create a coherent experience full-funnel in terms of messaging and visual style.
(12:58) by Elise

Marcus mentioned he has seen success with this as well.

This gets even more impactful when you deliver real value in the quiz that you can then "pitch" in the ad. Example: Rise Science with the sleep debt, etc.

💎 Test quiz-specific messaging in creatives to improve the experience even further. The most important screen of your web2app funnel is the first one, so start there.
(13:50) by Marcus

He did mentioned that over time this might lead to having many different flows.

With a tool like FunnelFox you can use utms to customize funnel screens, but it does increase complexity.

💎 Web onboarding must do an even better job than app onboarding since it lacks app store credibility (ratings, reviews, etc.). Technical-only flows (sign-up, permissions) won't convert cold traffic - you need to build trust and demonstrate value before asking for conversion.
(17:11) by Marcus

If you adapt/re-use a bad app onboarding, you'll have a bad web onboarding!

💎 Approach web funnel creation like creative research - you need a deep understanding of your users, but also don't reinvent the wheel. Study existing successful flows in your vertical and adapt proven structures with your unique value proposition rather than starting from scratch.
(18:07) by Elise

💎 Design web onboarding with two primary goals: build trust and demonstrate deep understanding of user pain points.
Ask questions with purpose: personalize in real time and show how the answers contribute to the solution
Demonstrates the value proposition by "rewording" what users tell you and showing trust signals
(21:35) by Ioana

💎 Look for ways to give a snapshot of the app value based on your vertical, a sort of "gamified" version of your main app feature.
(23:42) by Elise

This is true for the app onboarding of course, but even truer on the web.

Marcus expanded on this and shared you want to create this 'aha moment' before the paywall by delivering genuine value: assessment, mini-product, personalized insights. This transforms the user experience from interrogation to value delivery, making conversion feel natural.

Some web funnel examples:

Moongate’s “recommended playlist”

Praktika.ai’s vocabulary test results
Shared by Elise Zareie
Ahead’s emotional intelligence profile
Shared by Gessica Bicego

And some app funnel examples (more common):

Noom’s "education" quiz
Rise Science's sleep debt and energy schedule (the latter below)
Soundscapes’ “make it yours’
Shared by Marcus

💎 Always give a sense of progression in long web funnels. Users need visual confirmation that their effort is valued and that they're making meaningful progress toward a worthwhile outcome.
(24:25) by Elise

One technique/screen I like and that Hannah Parvaz has talked about here is to tell them "You're 80% of the way there".

Moongate does something similar in their app with “Just a few more questions.”

💎 Avoid free trials in web funnels due to high cancellation rates and payment failures. Use paid trials or direct subscriptions instead to ensure genuine user commitment and reduce fraud.
(27:55) by Elise

I can confirm this first hand. Do not even attempt.

My take is that you can use offers (discounts or free trial) as a fallback. Elise mentioned challenges/friction to port the web free trial to the app but with FunnelFox and RevenueCat I have not experienced that.

💎 Web paywalls give you much more flexibility because you're not limited by Apple's approval, particularly when it comes to pricing psychology. Example: you can break down the price per day instead of weekly or monthly.
(29:15) by Elise

I'd say that "best practices" don't always work best (and depend on your audience) so still worth a test.

💎 Paid trials on the web instead of direct purchases have two advantages:
You get more signal/volume than with direct purchases, making it easier for Meta to optimize
You can leverage a cheaper cost per purchase (per free trial) for your creative testing
(30:30) by Marcus

💎 Treat web funnel development as a product initiative requiring cross-functional collaboration with product, CRM, and lifecycle teams. Not just a paid acquisition thing. The technical complexity demands a more structured, product-like approach than typical marketing campaigns and might require you to create a small cross-functional team.
(35:37) by Elise

Someone needs to own the web funnel project, and Elise believes it's best to have someone in paid acquisition.

Marcus also mentioned also having someone in QA...Which I second :)

💎 Web funnels offer faster iteration cycles than app development, allowing UA teams to bring agile testing methodologies to product teams and accelerate decision-making across the company thanks to faster feedback.
(38:37) by Elise

stage: growth / scaled

💎 Create dedicated CRM nurture sequences for this valuable web funnel segment. Don't neglect users who complete your web onboarding but don't convert - they're warm leads with high intent.
(40:18) by Ioana

This is true at scale, so assess carefully before going down the lifecycle marketing path for this only. You might want to start with a quick and dirty test.

Jacob has some good thoughts on this in Picking a mobile lifecycle marketing tool.

💎 If you have a web funnel that is converting well, leverage it in other ways or repurpose:
Organic efforts. Example: if an organic social post is going viral, direct users there
Discounts after cancellation
Simpler funnel for warmer leads
(42:10) by Elise

💎 To optimize your web funnel set up, you need to go back and forth between:
Optimizing the "top funnel": creatives, Meta campaign
Optimize the quiz/onboarding itself
(46:50) by Elise

Elise also mentioned it takes longer for web campaigns to exit the learning phase, one reason being that conversion events are more expensive if you use paid trials or direct purchases.

💎 Keep an eye on CPM trends, because with web campaigns you compete with eCommerce and not just apps anymore. This might make it harder to track some countries from the start.
(49:23) by Elise

💎 Don't forget to build a good experience after people purchase on the web. It's common to see subscribers getting lost, which will decrease your renewal rates.
(56:40) by Marcus

Marcus mentioned 20%+ of web subscribers to never open your app after purchasing.

He suggests using an MMP deferred deeplink on top of on-page instructions and an email summarizing next steps for people to go to the App Store and then to the app.

Ideally:

The App Store page shown is a Custom Product page
You get them right to a login screen once in the app

Now, this all makes sense and I’m all for a smooth purchaser experience. But be careful not to over-optimize an area that might not matter as much: check the data to understand purchase → app (open and key actions) drop-off, and act accordingly.

💎 If web funnels initially underperform on Meta, systematically test across multiple dimensions: creative formats, geos, audiences, and optimization events. The complexity of web funnels means multiple variables could be the bottleneck.
(01:01:53) by Elise

💎 Don't start your web funnel experiments by testing smaller messaging changes because you won't have enough data to make a decision. Test big swings that can affect conversion rate and ARPU: big changes in pricing, removing/adding sections, important paywall changes.
(1:06:46) by Marcus

Web funnels are appealing, but there are pros and cons. Check out the LinkedIn post below for more 👇