Sample plan · Generated in 5 minutes
EarnIt — Marketing Plan
This is a real marketing plan generated for EarnIt — a fitness app that makes you earn your screen time. This is what SuperLaunch produces in 5 minutes.
Every purchased plan includes unlimited section regeneration for 24 hours, plus a 30-day check-in to amplify what's working.
EarnIt is a mobile app that makes you physically earn your social media time — complete a workout, unlock your feed. It uses iOS/Android screen-time controls to actually lock TikTok, Instagram, and similar apps until fitness goals (steps, workouts, active minutes) are met, then releases proportional screen time as a reward.
Business model context: Freemium shapes everything here. Your entire job in 90 days is to get a critical mass of free users and convert the most engaged 2–5% to paid. The free experience must be compelling enough to use daily and just limiting enough that the upgrade feels obvious — not punitive. The conversion event is likely: free tier caps at 2 locked apps or basic step goals; paid ($4.99/mo) unlocks unlimited app locks, custom time ratios, streaks, and deeper analytics.
Launch stage context: You have no users and no audience — which means you're not optimizing yet, you're acquiring. Everything in the first 30 days is about getting strangers to download and use the app once. Days 31–90 are about finding what made them stay and doing more of that.
Assumptions
- ●EarnIt is mobile (iOS and/or Android). If web-only, ASO drops out and SEO moves up.
- ●The app actually enforces the lock (not honor-system). This is a key differentiator and must be front-and-center in all messaging.
- ●The free tier offers meaningful functionality — at least 1–2 locked apps and step tracking.
- ●You're able to publish content consistently (3–5x/week minimum on one channel).
Goal framing
Goal: 50 paying users in 90 days — $249.50 MRR. That's not a vanity metric — it's proof that strangers will pay for this without being sold to. That $250/month is also your paid ads seed budget for Month 4, which is when you move from organic reach to targeted acquisition on Meta or TikTok Ads. This plan is designed to get you there through organic content and community seeding alone.
One honest flag: 50 paying users from zero audience at $0 budget in 90 days is achievable — but it requires one piece of content hitting meaningfully (10K+ views) in the first 30 days. It's not guaranteed. If nothing catches by Day 45, reset expectations to 20–30 paying users and treat that as the real validation milestone. The MRR framing still holds — 20 users at $4.99 is $100/mo, which proves the model.
Channel 1: TikTok — Priority: High
Why EarnIt specifically: The irony of using TikTok to promote an app that makes you earn TikTok time is the content. This is not “fitness app posts on TikTok.” This is a founder demonstrating a compulsion loop being broken — on the platform that creates the compulsion loop. That meta-tension is what gets shares. The target user (18–35, doomscrolls, feels guilty) is TikTok's core demographic.
Expected conversion benchmark: 1 viral video (100K+ views) should generate 500–2,000 profile visits, 200–600 app clicks, 50–150 installs. Paid conversion from install: ~3–5% in first 30 days = 2–7 paying users per viral hit. You need 5–8 pieces of content that land.
Positioning angle: “I built an app that won't let you scroll until you move your body. Here's what happened when I used it for 30 days.” Not “productivity app.” Not “fitness tracker.” The angle is: self-imposed consequences that actually work.
Format: 30–60 second POV videos. Phone screen recordings showing the lock screen, then the unlock moment. Real-time reaction content.
Frequency: 5 posts/week minimum for the first 30 days. Drop to 3/week once you identify what's working.
Hashtags: #doomscrolling #screentime #digitalwellness #phonedependent #fitnessapp #nosurf #scrollingtax #earnit #productivitytok #gymtok
First TikTok post — written out in full
Hook (on screen, first 2 seconds): “This app locked my TikTok until I did 20 minutes of cardio.”
Voiceover: “I'm a founder and I was spending 3 hours a day on here. So I built an app that physically won't let you scroll until you earn it. This is what my first morning looked like.”
Screen recording: TikTok shows lock screen — “Complete 20 min walk to unlock.” User walks. App unlocks. User scrolls.
Text overlay: “Lost 4kg in 6 weeks. Still addicted to TikTok. Just… earned it.”
End card: “App is called EarnIt. Link in bio.”
Channel 2: Reddit — Priority: High
Why EarnIt specifically: r/nosurf and r/digitalminimalism are communities built around people who actively hate that they can't stop scrolling — and have tried everything. EarnIt's enforcement mechanic (actual lock, not willpower) is the exact solution this community has been asking for. Conversion rate from a well-received Reddit post is higher than almost any other organic channel.
Expected conversion benchmark: A top-10 post in r/nosurf (3K+ upvotes) generates 500–1,500 profile clicks. 15–25% install rate for a free app with a compelling pitch. Free-to-paid from Reddit users: ~5–8% (higher intent than TikTok).
Positioning angle: “I got tired of willpower-based blockers failing me, so I built something that forces the behavior swap instead of just blocking.” Lead with the problem, not the product.
First Reddit post — r/nosurf — written out in full
Title: I've tried every screen time app. They all failed me for the same reason. So I built a different one.
I've used Opal, Screen Time, Forest, Cold Turkey. They all work the same way: they make it slightly annoying to open Instagram. And I always found a workaround within 48 hours because the friction wasn't high enough.
The problem isn't that I don't know scrolling is bad for me. The problem is that at 11pm after a long day, I don't care. Willpower is gone. The blocker is a speed bump, not a wall.
So I built something different. EarnIt physically locks your chosen apps until you hit a fitness goal — steps, a workout, active minutes. It's not asking you to resist. It's enforcing a trade: you get your scroll time, but you have to move first.
I've been using it for 6 weeks. I'm not going to pretend it's fixed my relationship with my phone. But I've walked 40+ minutes every single day because I wanted to check Reddit after lunch. That's… new.
The app is in early access. Happy to share if anyone wants to try it — and honest feedback only, I'm still building.
Channel 3: Instagram Reels — Priority: Medium
Why EarnIt specifically: The before/after format — “phone addiction brain” vs. “earned scroll session” — maps perfectly to Reels. The hook isn't fitness content; it's the guilt-to-permission transformation that this audience recognises immediately.
Expected conversion benchmark: Reels with 50K+ views yield ~200–400 profile visits; ~8–12% click bio link; ~30–50% of those install the app. Lower intent than Reddit but wider reach.
First Reel — text overlay sequence
Frame 1: “I wanted to scroll Instagram for an hour today”
Frame 2: “My app said: earn it first”
Frame 3: [screen recording — lock screen with step counter: 4,200/5,000 steps]
Frame 4: [screen recording — “Goal complete. 60 min unlocked.”]
Frame 5: “Built this myself. It's called EarnIt.”
Channel 4: X (Twitter) — Priority: Medium
Why EarnIt specifically: The “I built a thing to fix my own problem” narrative is native to builder Twitter. The product concept is compact enough for a thread. The indie hacker/builder community will share this — and that community has crossover with your target user (productivity-obsessed, fitness-adjacent, self-improvement motivated).
Launch thread — written out
Tweet 1: “I built an app that won't let me open TikTok until I've walked 5,000 steps. Here's what happened after 6 weeks: 🧵”
Tweet 2: “The problem wasn't that I didn't know scrolling was bad for me. It was that at 11pm my willpower was gone. Every blocker I tried had a workaround. I needed something with teeth.”
Tweet 3: “So I built EarnIt. It enforces a trade: fitness goal first, screen time second. The apps are actually locked — not inconvenienced. Locked.”
Tweet 4: “Week 1: I resented it. Week 2: I started gaming the system. Week 3: I just… started walking because I wanted my lunch scroll. Week 6: Down 4kg. Still on TikTok. Just earned it.”
Tweet 5: “App is live. Freemium. If you doomscroll and hate yourself for it: [link]”
Channel 5: App Store Optimization (ASO) — Priority: Medium
Why EarnIt specifically: “Screen time” and “app blocker” are high-intent search terms with clear user motivation. ASO is a long-game channel but requires zero ongoing effort after setup.
- ●Target keywords: earn screen time, fitness reward app, screen time blocker, app locker fitness, workout to unlock phone, doomscrolling app, fitness accountability app
- ●App Store title: EarnIt: Fitness Screen Reward
- ●Subtitle (iOS): Earn your scroll. Lock apps until you move.
- ●First screenshot caption: “TikTok is locked. Walk 5,000 steps to unlock it.” — the entire value prop in one screen.
Days 1–30 · Launch
Week 1
- ●Set up TikTok, Instagram, and X accounts under the EarnIt brand. Bio copy: “Earn your scroll. The app that locks social media until you move your body. Free download ↓”
- ●Film and post the first TikTok using the founder screen-recording hook from Section 2. Post between 6–9pm local time.
- ●Write and post the r/nosurf Reddit thread from Section 2. Do not mention it's your own app until the third comment reply — lead as a user, confirm as the builder when asked.
- ●Submit app to App Store and Google Play. Optimize listing using ASO keywords from Section 2.
- ●Post the X launch thread from Section 2.
Week 2
- ●Post TikTok #2 — hook: “Day 8 using the app I built to stop doomscrolling. This is what my lock screen looks like at 7am.” [Time-lapse of morning walk. Unlock notification.]
- ●Post to r/digitalminimalism: “I stopped trying to resist my phone and started making it earn its keep.” Link to app in comments only if asked.
- ●Find 10 TikTok creators in the “doomscrolling/screen time” niche (10K–100K followers). Leave 2–3 genuine comments on their recent videos. Do not pitch yet.
- ●Post Reel #1 using the text-overlay sequence from Section 2.
- ●DM 5 Reddit users from r/nosurf who have posted about failing with other apps in the last 60 days. Message: “Hey — I saw your post about [Opal/Forest]. I built something that works differently — it won't let you open apps until you actually move. Happy to give you free access if you want to try it.”
Week 3
- ●Post TikTok #3 — hook: “My app told me I had to walk 6,000 steps before I could check Instagram. I did it at midnight.” [Short, funny, self-aware.]
- ●Post TikTok #4 — “What your phone looks like when EarnIt is active.” Pure screen recording, no voiceover, trending audio.
- ●Reach out directly to 3 of the TikTok creators you engaged with in Week 2. DM: “I built an app that literally won't let you open TikTok until you've hit a step goal. Would love to give you free lifetime access in case it's useful for content. No obligation at all.”
- ●Post on X: “Day 21 update: [N] people have downloaded EarnIt. Here's what I've learned about how people actually use it.” Make it specific — share a real, unexpected usage pattern.
- ●Reply to every comment on your TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram posts from Week 1–2. Prioritize questions — turn each one into a follow-up post idea.
Week 4
- ●Post TikTok #5 — based on your top-performing content from Weeks 1–3. Double down on whatever format outperformed.
- ●Post Reel #2 — repurpose your best-performing TikTok, trimmed to 30 seconds with a different caption.
- ●Post to r/loseit or r/fitness with the angle: “Unexpected fitness hack: I locked my phone apps until I hit my step goal. Here's what 30 days of that looks like.” Lead with the fitness outcome, not the app.
- ●Email/DM your 5–10 earliest free users. Ask one question only: “What made you keep the app after Day 1?” The answer shapes every piece of content in Phase 2.
Days 31–60 · Measure
Weeks 5–6
- ●Identify your single best-performing piece of content (highest saves/shares, not views). Make 3 more in the exact same format and structure.
- ●Post to r/selfimprovement and r/getdisciplined: “I built a system that makes me earn my phone time. 30-day honest review.”
- ●Set up a simple email capture for a free “Earn Your Scroll” 7-day challenge. Drive TikTok traffic to it. Goal: 200 email subscribers by Day 60.
- ●Post a “behind the build” thread on X — “Here's what I got wrong about building EarnIt and what I'd do differently.” Authenticity compounds.
Weeks 7–8
- ●Identify 3 newsletters in the productivity/wellness space (see Section 7) and pitch a free guest post or product mention in exchange for free Pro access for their audience.
- ●Post TikTok series: “I gave EarnIt to 5 people who doomscroll. Here's what happened.” Use your early beta users with permission.
- ●Audit your free-to-paid conversion: what is the in-app moment just before someone upgrades? If you don't know, add an in-app prompt asking why they upgraded. Fix the path to that moment.
- ●Personally reach out to your first 10 free users who haven't converted. Offer a 1-month free trial of Pro. Ask for a 5-minute call. The calls are more valuable than the conversions.
Days 61–90 · Scale
Weeks 9–10
- ●Double TikTok output on your best format — if screen recordings are converting, post daily for 2 weeks.
- ●Launch the “7-Day Earn Your Scroll Challenge” to your email list. Day 1–7 prompts sent via email. Goal: move challenge completers to paid conversion.
- ●Post a “60 days of EarnIt: honest numbers” thread on X. Include download count, retention rate, what's broken. Builders share this.
- ●Approach 2–3 micro-influencers (10K–50K followers, fitness or digital wellness niche) for a genuine collab — free trial in exchange for honest content, not a paid post.
- ●Submit EarnIt to ProductHunt. Time it for a Tuesday or Wednesday launch. Tagline: “Earn your scroll — the app that locks social media until you hit your fitness goal.”
Weeks 11–12
- ●ProductHunt follow-through — respond to every comment within the hour on launch day. Prep 5 follow-up posts showing user stories.
- ●Repost and repurpose your 3 best TikToks to YouTube Shorts. Lower competition in the digital wellness space.
- ●Launch a referral mechanic: “Give a friend 1 free month of EarnIt Pro, get 1 free month yourself.” Post about it everywhere.
- ●Review which Reddit communities drove the most app installs. Post a 90-day update thread in the top 2 communities.
- ●Run a manual “conversion sprint” — DM every free user who signed up in the last 30 days and hasn't converted. Offer 50% off first month. Goal: force 10–15 upgrades to hit your 50-user target.
Key metric to watch
TikTok video saves-to-views ratio. Above 4% = strong content, double down immediately. Below 1.5% = wrong hook — rewrite the first 2 seconds entirely. Saves signal intent to return to the content, which predicts install rates better than views alone.
Positioning statement: EarnIt is the only fitness app that physically locks your social media until you move — turning your screen addiction into your workout motivation.
Value proposition: You already know scrolling is a problem. You already want to move more. EarnIt doesn't ask you to choose — it makes the deal for you: move first, scroll second. The apps are actually locked, not just inconvenienced. Your phone works with your fitness goals, not against them.
Target persona: Alex
Alex is 26. Hybrid worker in a city. Works out inconsistently — gets to the gym 2–3x/week when motivated, skips it when not. Spends 3–4 hours/day on TikTok and Instagram and actively dislikes himself for it. Has tried Opal (deleted it when it got annoying), Forest (abandoned after 4 days), and the iPhone Screen Time limits (bypassed them immediately). He doesn't need another tool that relies on his willpower. He needs a system that removes willpower from the equation. He'll pay $4.99/mo without hesitation the moment EarnIt becomes part of his daily routine — because it's cheaper than the guilt.
Key differentiators
- ●Opal blocks apps. EarnIt trades them — a fundamentally different relationship with your phone.
- ●Forest gamifies focus. EarnIt gamifies fitness. Different behavior target, different user.
- ●Strava tracks fitness. EarnIt enforces consequences. Strava is a log; EarnIt is a deal.
- ●No direct competitor combines fitness completion with actual app unlocking. This is the moat — for now.
Tagline options
Funnel map: Awareness (TikTok/Reddit/X) → App Store/Play Store page → Install (free) → First lock activated → Daily usage → Upgrade prompt → $4.99/mo
Realistic benchmarks at your stage
| Stage | Benchmark |
|---|---|
| Video views → App Store click | 1–3% (TikTok), 8–15% (Reddit) |
| App Store page → Install | 20–35% (organic search), 10–20% (social referral) |
| Install → Active Day-3 user | 25–40% (strong concept, frictionless onboarding) |
| Active user → Paid convert (30 days) | 3–6% (freemium, compelling free tier) |
To hit 50 paying users you need roughly: 50 ÷ 4.5% ≈ 1,100 active free users by Day 75. To get 1,100 active free users at 30% activation rate, you need ~3,700 installs. At 15% social referral conversion, you need ~25,000 App Store page visits from social. That's achievable with 1–2 TikTok videos hitting 200K+ views, or a combination of 5–8 solid posts across platforms.
Biggest drop-off point
Install → Active Day-3 user. Most fitness apps lose 70%+ of users before they form a habit. EarnIt's risk: if the lock mechanic is annoying before it's rewarding, users delete immediately.
What to do about it
The first lock a user sets must feel achievable — not punishing. Onboarding should suggest a starting goal that's easier than their actual screen time (e.g., “Start with 10 minutes of walking to unlock 30 minutes of TikTok”). The first success moment (unlocking the app after completing the goal) is the retention hook. Get users to that moment within 24 hours of install.
Freemium conversion note: At 2–3% free-to-paid (consumer app average), you need 1,700–2,500 free users to hit 50 paying users. At 5% (strong product with clear upgrade value), you need 1,000. Your single biggest lever on conversion rate is making the free tier genuinely useful but the paid tier obviously worth it (e.g., free = 2 locked apps, paid = unlimited + custom ratios + streaks).
15 pieces of content mapped to format and platform. Prioritise by saves-to-views ratio — not views.
| Hook / Topic | Format | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| "This app locked my TikTok until I did 20 minutes of cardio. Here's Day 1." — Screen recording of lock screen, walk, unlock | Short video (60s) | TikTok |
| "I've tried every screen time app. They all failed me for the same reason." — Personal story thread leading to EarnIt | Text post | Reddit (r/nosurf) |
| "What your phone looks like when EarnIt is running at 7am." — Silent screen recording, trending audio | Reel (30s) | |
| "Day 21: Here's what [N] EarnIt users have in common." — Founder insight thread | Thread | X |
| "I unlocked Instagram at midnight after a 9pm walk. Worth it." — Guilt-to-reward story | Short video (30s) | TikTok |
| "Opal vs. Forest vs. EarnIt — why the category is broken and what's different about the trade mechanic." | Long-form text | Reddit (r/digitalminimalism) |
| "Before EarnIt: 4.5hrs/day screen time. After 30 days: still 3.5hrs/day. But I've walked 40+ minutes every day." | Reel (45s) | Instagram + TikTok |
| "The moment I realized I was gaming my own app (and why that's actually fine)" | Short video (60s) | TikTok |
| "I built EarnIt because I failed at every blocker. Here's what I got wrong about habit change." | Thread | X |
| "Step count before EarnIt vs. after — 6-week graph." — Visual chart, trending audio | Reel (15s) | |
| "Give a friend 30 days of EarnIt Pro. Get 30 days free. Here's why I'm doing this." — Referral launch | Text + link | Reddit + X |
| "The psychology behind earning screen time (and why blockers don't work)" — Educational | Long-form post | Reddit (r/psychology) |
| "What I wish I'd known before building a fitness/screen-time app" — Honest indie hacker retrospective | Thread | X + HackerNews |
| "5 people tried EarnIt for a week. Here's their unfiltered feedback." — Real user quotes, screen recordings | Video (90s) | TikTok + YouTube Shorts |
| "The deal I made with my phone — and how it changed my mornings." — Narrative, aspirational | Reel (30s) |
Reddit communities
Tone: earnest, hates product pitches, loves personal vulnerability and system-sharing. The highest-intent community for EarnIt. Lead with your own story. Never mention the app in the post title.
Tone: philosophical, skeptical of tech solutions to tech problems. Approach with nuance — acknowledge that EarnIt uses tech to solve a tech problem. Performs well with "I tried X and here's what actually worked" posts.
Tone: self-improvement focused, open to new tools, responds well to data and systems. Frame EarnIt as a behavior design system, not an app.
Tone: supportive, data-oriented, celebrates consistency. Angle: "I started walking every day because I locked my social media — lost Xkg as a side effect." Lead with the fitness outcome.
Tone: skeptical of gimmicks, respects evidence. Hardest room. Only post here after you have 30-day real user data.
Tone: open to systems, likes "I built this" content. Good for the founder-story angle.
Creators to engage with
Target profile: 10K–150K followers, content about phone addiction, doomscrolling, screen time, or “I deleted social media” experiments. Not traditional fitness influencers.
Search strategy on TikTok: “I deleted TikTok for 30 days”, “my screen time is embarrassing”, “doomscrolling at 2am”, “screen time check”, “phone addiction”. Sort by Most Recent. Look for creators who get comments like “I have the same problem.”
Approach: Spend 5–7 days leaving specific, non-sycophantic comments on their videos. Then DM: “Hey [name] — I built an app that literally won't let you open TikTok until you've hit a step goal. Based on your content I thought it might be interesting to try — free access if you want it.” Do not ask for a post. Ask for an honest try.
Newsletters
Science of productivity and mindful tech. Pitch: free guest post on "the psychology of earned rewards vs. blocked access." Lead with the idea, not the product.
Thoughtful tech and design. EarnIt fits the "intentional tech" angle. Pitch: "tool of the week" mention in exchange for free Pro access for their audience.
Pitch as a "founder built this app to solve his own doomscrolling problem" story angle to editorial teams via Twitter DM or LinkedIn.
Pitch a personal essay about building a product to fix your own habit.
Submit the EarnIt HN launch post ("Ask HN: I built an app that locks social media until you meet a fitness goal"). If it gets traction on HN, Hacker Newsletter picks it up.
Do not pay for newsletter placement
A 5% email-to-install rate from a 30K list = 1,500 installs; a 0.2% rate means you paid for nothing. Know your numbers before spending. Wait until you have 30-day conversion data.
KPI 1
App installs
KPI 2
Day-7 retention rate
KPI 3
Free-to-paid conversion rate
KPI 4
TikTok saves rate (leading indicator)
Tools to use now (free)
- ●TikTok Analytics (built-in) — track saves rate and profile visits from each video
- ●Instagram Insights (built-in) — track Reel reach vs. profile visits
- ●App Store Connect / Google Play Console — keyword search impressions and conversion rates
- ●Google Analytics (free) — track source of installs if you have a landing page
- ●Notion or Airtable (free tier) — log every post, its metrics, and what you'd change
Upgrade when paying users exist
- ●Mixpanel (free up to 20M events) — track in-app behavior, identify the unlock moment that predicts retention
- ●RevenueCat (free up to $2.5K MRR) — subscription analytics, churn tracking, conversion funnel
Red flag threshold
10 days of posting across TikTok and Reddit with zero free signups — stop and debug one variable at a time. (1) Is the App Store page live and functional? (2) Is the link in bio working? (3) Is the content reaching non-followers? Fix one thing, wait 3 days, measure again.
Win condition
One TikTok video hits 100K views before Day 30. If this happens — pause everything else. Make 5 more videos in the exact same structure within 48 hours. The algorithm is showing you something — feed it.
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