How MyFitnessPal Optimized Marketing Spend and Reduced CAC With Branch

About MyFitnessPal

Founded in 2005, MyFitnessPal is one of the most popular apps to track weight loss and nutrition, helping nearly 200 million members reach their health and fitness goals every year. MyFitnessPal empowers people to improve their health through better food choices. Members track what they eat, then enjoy personalized nutrition insights that help them measure the impact of their food — and their overall progress. With custom goal setting and dietitian-approved recommendations for all kinds of diets and lifestyles, members can make informed decisions that support their personal goals. Those looking for more motivation and accountability can also join community forums and connect with friends in the app.

Opportunity

As an app-first company, MyFitnessPal needed a one-stop-shop solution for attribution and media channel tracking to acquire subscribers. Amid the evolving digital marketing landscape and the industry’s limited access to consumer data, MyFitnessPal sought a reliable partner and dedicated source of truth to help it navigate the complex world of user acquisition and retention.

Solution

MyFitnessPal chose Branch as a strategic linking and measurement partner to help enhance its marketing effectiveness. By leveraging Branch’s comprehensive suite of tools, MyFitnessPal gains valuable insights into campaign performance and other key metrics, including customer acquisition costs (CAC) and conversion rates. With this increased visibility, MyFitnessPal can optimize user acquisition, engagement, and overall marketing performance.

Increase social engagement with Quick Links

Incorporating Branch Quick Links on social channels, particularly TikTok, has played a crucial role in improving the performance of MyFitnessPal’s influencer and creator partnerships. By equipping each creator with a unique Quick Link, MyFitnessPal can precisely measure campaign performance and understand which creators generate the most engagement, enabling data-driven optimization based on performance results.

In addition to influencer marketing, MyFitnessPal uses Branch Universal Ads to track and optimize paid campaigns across a diverse range of channels and partners. The collaboration extends to paid ad links on platforms like Meta, TikTok, Apple Search Ads, Google App Campaigns, programmatic, and connected TV (CTV).

Build brand and app awareness with QR codes

MyFitnessPal strategically incorporates Branch QR codes in its direct mail campaigns to grow app engagement. The mobile-optimized QR codes serve as dynamic entry points, providing users with seamless access to the app. Upon scanning, users are directed to the app store to download the MyFitnessPal app or directly into the app, depending on whether they have the app installed. This approach not only provides a seamless experience to existing users but also facilitates a frictionless journey for new users, boosting app engagement through efficient and personalized pathways.

Provide blog visitors with a seamless pathway to the app

Recently, MyFitnessPal began employing Branch web-to-app Journeys smart banners throughout the MyFitness blog to guide mobile web visitors to the app. These strategically placed smart banners allow MyFitnessPal to customize the call to action and user experience based on whether the reader is an existing app user. If the reader doesn’t have the app, tapping the banner directs them to the app store to download it. If they already have the app, they are taken directly inside the app to continue their journey. This personalized approach improves the user experience, ensures users receive tailored and relevant messages, and increases the likelihood of app downloads.

Establish a single source of truth

Branch’s attribution analytics capabilities offer MyFitnessPal an aggregated view of performance across all owned, earned, and paid channels. These insights play a vital role in the company’s weekly performance evaluations and enable the team to delve into channel- and campaign-specific data to identify successes and areas for improvement. This level of detail empowers MyFitnessPal to optimize its strategies at the campaign level and ensure marketing precision. With Branch serving as a valued source of truth for app data, MyFitnessPal makes real-time decisions based on the latest attribution data and swiftly adapts to the dynamic landscape of app performance.

Measuring success with Branch

Through its partnership with Branch, MyFitnessPal successfully reduced customer acquisition costs (CAC) by 4% YoY while scaling spend 20%. The ability to track app acquisition data in real time and attribute downloads to specific marketing channels has provided MyFitnessPal with newfound visibility into its campaign effectiveness. Moreover, the support and guidance provided by Branch, particularly in navigating the intricacies of SKAdNetwork (SKAN) and industry changes, has been invaluable to the MyFitnessPal team. 

With Branch’s extensive portfolio of partner integrations and product offerings, MyFitnessPal continues to explore additional avenues for growth and success.