Strava
Exercising is hard right? It usually requires putting yourself under an immense amount of physical, emotional, or mental strain. So it’s no wonder that we have a certain amount of resistance to going on a run despite knowing it will have immense benefits for us. Breaking the barrier and making it more appealing for us to all do some exercise is no simple feat, but fitness tracking app Strava seems to have done it. Here are some thoughts, research, and personal experience I have on the topic matter.
Both Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath co-founders of Strava explained in the Rich Roll podcast that the number one reason why their app became the only one that mattered was because of the undeniable focus on emotional connection and community. "If it's not fun and entertaining, we've missed the mark because that's fundamentally what keeps us motivated" - Mark Gainey. I can testify to that rationale in the fact that when I don't want to run it is sometimes that social aspect, for good or for bad, that gives the extra push me to get up and get out.
In this social media age, likes are the currency we understand the most and upon reading the history of the fitness app it’s no coincidence to me that a prominent Instagram worker, James Quarles, became CEO of Strava. Curating the term 'kudos', you get a new sort of dopamine hit every time you upload something. Gone are the days you run for yourself. Maybe that's sad I don't know but I don't think we all have the capacity to always have the individual energy to want to do exercise. Strava is a social app more than anything and works well through curating inspiration from seeing challenges, your friends, and your personal times to push you on to be better.
But why does Strava work? Is it social media, is it a fitness tracker or is it its own beast? In a world saturated full of activity fads why would the formula be anything new. Reading Joe Lindsey's article on 'Why Strava is getting more social than ever, he shared insights on what he thought of the business' goals; "The goal is clear: in Strava's drive to own social fitness, it wants to be completely agnostic about what active means to its users". In other words, Strava isn't for the elite Olympians nor just for the hobbyists - it's for everyone! In addition to more features, social features, and an ever-growing list of sports it no longer can be classed as a simple running and cycling fitness tracker. It's this sleek styled, beautifully executed, motivational community sphere that draws people in whatever they are in their fitness journey.
However, not all is good for Strava. As a business model, it is somewhat confused about what it is. It's an app that offers the majority of its tracking features for free. The result of this was amazing growth, but that isn't a sustainable model. With this mix of free features and subscription elements the definition for what section of Strava is accessible for all and what is premium needs to be made without causing annoyance for the customer base. Looking into Strava Summit, the current premium package for Strava there has been a great number of changes occurring. Features previously free have been put behind this paywall leading to discontent. If a premium membership only gives you perks you used to have you need to change your business model. As someone who has used both the free and paid version of the app, I don't see a big enough distinction between the two to justify the £5.99 a month membership. For more info on the recent update to the Strava pay wall see DC Rainmaker's blog.
But not all is doom and gloom. In early February Strava reached 50 million athletes and 3 Billion Activity Uploads as quoted from their Strava Press blog. What this means is that the community is growing... and quickly at 1 million a month. So we can expect more features for not online free members but paid members too. The crux of any free app is how it can sustain itself by providing for all its customers; premium or not. Spotify is one of the best comparisons to how it didn't alienate either audience whilst still providing value for both.
June of 2021 brought about some big changes to the app, introducing various new social features, maps, and UI changes for both the free and paid version. The company obviously cares about the community and constantly aims to bring about updates, however, I personally don’t find the need at current and at the price point it is at. Who knows, maybe if I turn into a pro athlete I’ll invest, but until then I think I'm going to save my pennies and stick to the free version of Strava and enjoy the motivation it provides free of charge!