Sub Club Podcast: “How to Build More Successful Paywalls — Sylvain Gauchet”

Hosts: David Barnard, Jacob Eiting
Guest: Sylvain Gauchet (Director of Revenue Strategy US at Babbel & Chief Insights Miner at Growth Gems)
Release Date: March 14, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Sub Club centers on uncovering actionable strategies for paywall optimization in subscription apps, with a focus on lessons and trends emerging in 2024 and looking ahead to 2025. Host David Barnard interviews Sylvain Gauchet, an expert at identifying “Growth Gems” – bite-size industry insights on monetization and product strategy. Together, they discuss how the user journey leading up to the paywall, as well as the paywall itself, profoundly influences conversion and long-term app revenue. The episode breaks down top tactics, common pitfalls, notable app examples, and the nuances of monetization strategy—blending real industry data and practitioner wisdom.

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. The Pre-Paywall Journey is Critical

• Timestamps: 02:15–03:22
• Insight: The success of a paywall often depends more on what happens before the user ever sees it. Crafting an engaging onboarding experience and clear narrative is essential.
• Notable Quote:

  “Get your users excited about your product by telling the world story through the flows that present the paywall…so that when they see the paywall, it's contextualized.”
  — Sylvain Gauchet quoting Daryl Stone [02:15]

• Examples:
  • Rise Sleep: Excellent at building anticipation and investment before the paywall.
  • How We Feel & 222: Both use video or strong hooks in onboarding to set context before monetization.

2. Leveraging Loss Aversion for Higher Conversions

• Timestamps: 03:25–04:17
• Insight: Guide users to invest effort and set up premium features before the paywall, then communicate what they stand to lose by not subscribing (sunk cost fallacy, loss aversion). This can powerfully increase conversion rates.
• Notable Quote:

  “You have people set up features throughout the onboarding, then you present them with a paywall that's like ‘now get it.’ And if they don’t, you explain to them everything they're going to lose…it's that loss aversion that pushes them to convert.”
  — Sylvain Gauchet [03:25]

3. Multi-Screen Paywalls & Breaking Information into Steps

• Timestamps: 04:20–06:56
• Insight: Test both classic long scrollable paywalls and multi-screen (step-based) paywalls. Present benefits, trial info, and comparisons in digestible pieces. Multi-screen paywalls can dramatically improve opt-in rates.
• Industry Data: Mimo saw a 60% increase in trial opt-in rate by moving to a multi-screen paywall approach.
• Notable Quotes:

  “Instead of showing a long timeline, they actually break it down in multiple screens…telling you what's going to happen in two days, five days, etc.”
  — Sylvain Gauchet [04:20] “If you have a lot you want to communicate, communicating it in smaller chunks…is a great way to…step through in a way that…can just be so much more impactful.”
  — David Barnard [05:26]

• Testing Recommendation: Try splitting a long paywall into 3–4 pages and experiment with stepwise disclosure (David Barnard & Sylvain Gauchet [06:56]).

4. Distinct Paywalls for Different Contexts

• Timestamps: 07:13–08:57
• Insight: Conversion behavior varies between onboarding and post-onboarding moments. Optimize and A/B test paywalls separately for these stages.
• Notable Quote:

  “The conversion behavior of users during onboarding and post-onboarding is different. So you probably want a different paywall for the two.”
  — Sylvain Gauchet quoting Thoma Petit [07:13]

• Actionable Advice:
  • Use feature-centric paywalls after onboarding to resell premium functionality.
  • Early-stage apps can still benefit from low-effort implementations, even without advanced analytics.

5. Hybrid Monetization & Layered Offers

• Timestamps: 08:57–11:48
• Insight: Employ “hybrid monetization” by offering both subscriptions and one-off in-app purchases (IAPs). Present layered upgrades: first offer premium, then highlight the value of all-access, and finally, offer a la carte options if the user declines a subscription.
• Notable Quote:

  “If somebody is willing to pay for something but they're not quite ready to pay for the whole experience and subscribe…they might be enticed by single in app purchases...it can be a powerful unlock to get them to pay, experience the value, and then want more.”
  — David Barnard [10:25]

• Industry Insight: Google is seeing strong success with hybrid monetization, potentially more impactful for iOS apps as well.
• Caveat: Focus on core paywall and onboarding optimizations first; sophisticated hybrid strategies are best suited for mature, growing apps.

6. The Risk of Over-Optimization & Aggressive Tactics

• Timestamps: 11:49–14:58
• Insight: Aggressive monetization (free trial toggles, gamified offers, backup deals) can increase conversions but may harm brand perception and increase churn if overused.
• Notable Quotes:

  “Aggressiveness of monetization comes in many different shades. And those tricks often work...but you need to balance so you don't give an overall scammy feeling.”
  — Sylvain Gauchet quoting Thoma Petit [11:49] “If you layer on too many of these, it starts to feel like that used car salesman…you need to do that kind of with full realization of how you make your users feel and then what that means to the long term performance of the business.”
  — David Barnard [12:28]

• Analogy: Consider your monetization tactics like a real-world interaction—don’t follow users around the (metaphorical) store with relentless sales prompts.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “It blurs the line between what’s onboarding and what’s a paywall.”
  — Sylvain Gauchet, on multi-screen paywalls [04:20]

• “Go through your own onboarding and have a conversation in your head with the user...How does it feel going through all this?”
  — David Barnard [12:28]

Actionable Takeaways

• Narrative matters: Invest in onboarding that tells a story and sets up the value before your paywall.
• Shape the user’s journey: Guide users through meaningful setup and show them what’s at stake if they don’t upgrade.
• Chunk information: Test multi-screen paywalls versus long, single-screen paywalls—break up content to make it digestible.
• Contextualize paywalls: Tailor your paywall based on when and how the user encounters it (onboarding, after using a feature, etc).
• Offer options: Layer IAPs with subscriptions to capture different user preferences—but prioritize basics first.
• Don’t overdo it: Aggressive tactics can boost conversions but might cause long-term harm to user loyalty and retention.

Further Resources

• Sylvain Gauchet: Follow his insights at Growth Gems on Substack [14:58]
• The Sub Club Community: Join at chat.subclub.com