Solved: App launched but unable to acquire any paying users

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! I saw your post and it's a really common situation for developers to be in. You're brilliant at building the product, but getting it in front of paying customers is a completely different skillset. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on how you might get StickerAI off the ground. No fluff, just some straight-talking advice based on what we see work for software and app clients all the time.

It's a tough nut to crack, but it's definitely doable. You just need a bit of a plan.

First off, we'll need to look at your offer and monetisation...

Before you even think about spending a single pound on ads, you've got to have your foundations sorted. A lot of people jump straight to ads thinking it's a magic bullet, but if the thing you're sending people to isn't right, you're just throwing money down the drain. I've seen it happen countless times.

Your main problem right now is getting paying users. So the first thing to get crystal clear on is your monetisation model. How does the app make money? Is it a one-off purchase, a subscription, or a freemium model with in-app purchases for premium sticker packs or advanced features? This is really important because it determines how much you can afford to spend to get a user.

For B2C apps like yours, we typically see a cost to get a new user (a signup or an install) land somewhere between $1 and $5. Sometimes it's a bit less, sometimes more, depending on how competitive your niche is. If your customer lifetime value (LTV) – the total amount of money you expect to make from a single user over time – isn't higher than that, then paid ads will never be profitable. You need a clear path to get your money back, and then some. I'd really sit down and map this out. For instance, if it costs you £3 to get a user, and your subscription is £5 a month, you're profitable after the first month (not accounting for other costs, of course). But if you're relying on one-off purchases, you need to make sure the math works out from that first transaction.

The other peice of this puzzle is what people see when they first encounter your app. This is either your landing page on a website or your page on the App Store/Google Play. This page has one job: to convince someone that your app is worth their time and money. I can't see your page, but I can give you some general pointers based on common mistakes I see.

You need to have really persuasive copy. Don't just list features, explain the benefits. "Create custom stickers with AI" is a feature. "Make your friends laugh with one-of-a-kind stickers you designed in seconds" is a benefit. See the difference? One is technical, the other is emotional. You're selling the fun, the creativity, the social kudos. We often use specialist copywriters for our SaaS clients because getting this right makes a massive difference to conversion rates.

Also, how easy is it for people to try it out? For software, a free trial is almost always the best way to get people in the door. It removes all the risk for them. You mentioned a struggle to get a paid user. This suggests people have to pay upfront. That's a huge ask for a new, unknown app. Think about your competition. Do they offer free trials or a freemium version? You probably need to as well. Let people use the app, create a few free stickers, fall in love with it, and then ask for money to unlock the really cool stuff. It's a much easier sell.

Next, I'd say you need to decide on the right channels...

Okay, so once your offer is solid and your app store page or landing page is looking sharp, you need to figure out how to get people there. There's a few ways to go about this, and you've probably heard of them all, but here's my take on them from a paid ads perspective.

Organic & PR
These are the "free" methods, though they cost you your time, which isn't really free.
-> Directories: I often see new apps get their first bit of traction by listing on sites like Product Hunt, Betalist, and Indie Hackers. This is great for getting in front of early adopters. You'll get some initial users, and more importantly, some really valuable feedback. The downside is that it's usually a one-off spike in traffic. It's not a sustainable, scalable way to grow. But for your stage, it's definitely something you shud do.
-> PR: This involves reaching out to blogs and publications that cover tech and apps. If you can get a story written about StickerAI, it can drive a lot of traffic and give you a lot of credibility. Again, it's not a predictable, repeatable process. You could send a hundred emails and get no replies. It's worth a shot, but don't bank your entire strategy on it.

Paid Advertising
This is my world. Paid ads are the most reliable and scalable way to grow an app. It costs money, obviously, but you see results quickly. If something works, you can put more money in to get more results. It's a predictable engine for growth, once you get it dialled in. For an app like StickerAI, you have two main routes to go down with paid ads:

1. Capturing Existing Demand (Search Ads)
This is for people who are already looking for a solution like yours. They're typing things into Google or the App Store search bar. These are hot leads, and you want to be there when they're searching.
-> Google Search ads & Apple Search ads: Apple Search Ads in particular can work incredibly well for apps. You bid on keywords, and your app shows up as a sponsored listing at the top of the search results inside the App Store. The intent is super high. Someone searching for "sticker maker app" wants a sticker maker app, right now. This is often the first place I'd start with a new app campaign because the traffic is so qualified. You'd want to test a bunch of keywords to see what works.

Here are some examples of keywords you could start with:

You'd start with a small budget here, see which keywords drive installs at a good cost, and then double down on the winners. It's a very direct and effective approach.

2. Creating New Demand (Social Media Ads)
This is for people who aren't actively looking for your app, but who are very likely to be interested if they saw it. This is about interrupting them while they're scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok and showing them something so cool they have to check it out.
-> Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram): This would likely be your biggest channel for scale. The targeting options are vast, and you can reach millions of potential users. The key is to get the targeting and the creative right. You're not just putting up a static ad; you need to show the app in action. A short, snappy video showing someone creating a hilarious sticker from a photo of their pet and then sending it in a chat – that's the kind of thing that grabs attention. We've seen User-Generated Content (UGC) style videos work wonders for SaaS clients because they feel authentic and native to the platform.

You probably should build a proper paid ads funnel...

Just running ads isn't enough. You need to think about the user's entire journey. In advertising, we talk about a funnel, which is just a way of thinking about different stages of customer awareness. A simplified version for you would look like this:

Top of Funnel (ToFu): Reaching New People
This is your cold outreach. These are people who've never heard of StickerAI. The goal here is just to get them to your app store page and install the app.
-> Platform: Meta (Facebook/Instagram) is your best bet here.
-> Audiences: This is the most important part. You need to test different audiences to find your sweet spot. Don't just target "people who like stickers". That's way too broad. Think deeper. Who would really love this? I'd structure my testing around different themes. For a new account with no data, you'd start with detailed targeting based on interests. Here's how I might break it down:

You'd run these tests, see which audience gives you the lowest cost per install, and then put more budget behind the winner. Once you have enough data (at least 100 installs, but ideally more), you can start creating Lookalike Audiences, which is where Meta finds new people who are similar to your existing users. This is where you can really start to scale.

Middle/Bottom of Funnel (MoFu/BoFu): Retargeting
This is about getting back in front of people who've shown interest but haven't become paying customers yet. It's so much cheaper to convert a warm lead than a cold one.
-> Audiences: You'd create custom audiences of people who have:
-> Visited your website or app store page but didn't install.
-> Installed the app but haven't signed up or used it.
-> Used the free version but haven't upgraded to paid.
-> The Ads: The messaging here is different. For someone who didn't install, you might remind them of the key benefit. For a free user, you might run an ad showing off a premium feature they're missing out on, maybe with a special offer like "Upgrade today and get 20% off your first month".

Building out this full-funnel structure takes time and expertise, but it's the foundation of every successful ad campaign we run.

You'll need realistic expectations for costs and results...

So, what should you expect to pay? As I mentioned, B2C app installs are often in the £1-£5 range. It's impossible to give an exact number without running the ads, because it depends on your specific app, your ads, your targeting, and the countries you're targeting.

For example, running ads in developed countries like the UK, US, or Germany will be more expensive, but the users might have more money to spend. Running them in developing countries will get you cheaper installs, but the quality and purchasing power of those users might be lower. It's a trade-off. We usually advise clients to start in the country where they expect to find their best customers, prove the model there, and then expand.

I remember one software client we worked with, we drove over 45,000 signups at a cost under £2 per signup using Meta, TikTok, Apple Search Ads and Google Ads. Another software client saw 5,082 trials at about $7 per trial using Meta ads. It shows what's possible when you get the targeting and creative right. But it doesnt happen overnight. It takes testing and optimisation.

Here's a rough idea of what costs can look like, just to give you a ballpark.

As you can see, the range is huge. Getting your cost towards the lower end of that range is what we do. It comes from constant testing of audiences, creatives, and optimising the landing page to convert a higher percentage of the clicks you're paying for.

So, this is the main advice I have for you:

That was a lot of information, I know. It can feel overwhelming. To make it easier, I've broken down my main recommendations for you into a simple table. This is the step-by-step process I'd follow if I were in your shoes.

Getting professional help...

Look, I know this is a massive amount to take on, especially when your primary passion and skill is in building the app itself. Marketing is a full-time job, and paid advertising is a specialism within that. It's not just about pushing a few buttons on Facebook; it's about deep research, strategic planning, constant testing, data analysis, and creative development.

Trying to do it all yourself can lead to a lot of wasted time and money, and even worse, it can lead you to believe your app isn't good when the real problem was just the marketing. Getting expert help means you have someone who can build this entire structure for you, who already knows which audiences are likely to work, what kind of creative performs best, and how to interpret the data to make your campaigns more and more efficient over time.

We do this day in and day out for software and app companies. If you'd like to have a chat and go through your specific situation in more detail, we offer a free initial consultation. We could have a proper look at your app and your goals and give you a clear, actionable plan. There's no obligation at all, of course.

Either way, I hope these thoughts have been genuinely helpful and give you a clearer path forward. You've done the hard part by building the app; now it's just a case of getting the marketing engine running.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh