Thread by @eric_seufert

Increasingly I'm seeing companies consider web onboarding flows to a) avoid Apple's 30% / 15% platform fees and b) allow for campaign optimization post-IDFA. This isn't a bad idea! But there are a few considerations as these are constructed: (1/X)

2/ Background: how does this work? Advertiser runs in-app ads (mostly / exclusively on Facebook) that lead to mobile web destination. User goes through some web-based onboarding process, registers, potentially subscribes via Stripe (or other CC processor), and is forwarded to app

3/ I think the best examples of this come from Calm and Noom. Calm has been doing this for a very long time. One thing to note: the web onboarding is *exhaustive*. Users must prove intent before being forwarded to the app.

4/ There's obviously an additional step of friction involved in this onboarding flow: rather than the ad leading to the app, the web destination has to forward user to the app. Since the user has presumably finished the long onboarding flow, they're likely to make that leap

5/ But some wont. How do the economics of acquisition change if that dropoff is 5%? 10%? Keep in mind that you can't optimize these campaigns for in-app events: you're optimizing for a web event. So you either optimize for registration or purchase, both of which take place on web

6/ Corollary: this is likely impossible to do for apps that monetize via sequences of IAPs (read: games). Subscription apps are the most logical beneficiaries of this approach. You have to push the user from within the app to the web for purchases (again, friction)

7/ Some users won't want to make purchases on the web: they have their CCs integrated with the App Store / Google Play and are accustomed to making app-based purchases that way. Consumers also dont care about the 30% platform fee! So more users will drop off at this step.

8/ While web-based flows have obvious benefits, they are no panacea. Many developers may conclude that app-based acquisition + monetization is superior from a conversion rate standpoint to the web-based flow.