Client Overview
Our client is a pioneering aquatic fitness app based in Carson City, Nevada, offering professionally guided water exercise programs accessible to people of all physical abilities. The app features 5 distinct ability levels—from individuals with limited mobility to highly fit athletes— providing customizable aquatic workouts designed by certified trainers with 30+ years of experience. With a mission to empower people with mobility challenges, chronic pain, arthritis, or post-surgery recovery needs, the client sought to build awareness in the digital wellness
space and drive app downloads among target user segments.
Challenges
- Niche Market Education: Aquatic fitness remains an underutilized fitness category, requiring significant education to help potential users understand its benefits over traditional land-based exercise.
- Multi-Generational Targeting: The app serves diverse age groups—from seniors with arthritis to athletes seeking low- impact recovery—each requiring different messaging approaches and platform strategies.
- Limited Brand Awareness: As a startup app in the competitive fitness tech space dominated by established players (Peloton, Apple Fitness+), the client faced significant visibility challenges.
- Complex Value Proposition: Communicating the app’s unique 5-level ability system and professional aquatic instruction required more than standard fitness app marketing.
- App Store Competition: Standing out in crowded app stores (iOS/Android) and driving quality downloads required strategic user acquisition campaigns beyond organic reach
Objectives
- Build brand awareness and establish the brand as the leading aquatic fitness solution for people with mobility challenges
- Increase Instagram and Facebook followers by 120% within 12 months to build a community
- Generate 1,500+ app downloads through social media-driven user acquisition campaigns
- Create educational content that positions aquatic exercise as a viable fitness alternative
- Achieve cost-per-install (CPI) below $4.50 for paid app install campaigns
- Build an engaged online community of users sharing their fitness journeys
LakeB2B’s Solution
Market Research & Positioning Strategy: Conducted comprehensive analysis of fitness app
competitors and aquatic fitness market. Identified key differentiators—professional instruction,
accessibility for limited mobility, and science-backed benefits—to position the brand uniquely
in the wellness space.
Multi-Segment Audience Targeting: Developed personas for four primary user segments:
- Active Seniors (55-75 years): Arthritis, joint pain, seeking gentle exercise
- Post-Surgery/Injury Recovery (30-65 years): Rehabilitation needs, physical therapy alternative
- Chronic Pain Sufferers (35-70 years): Fibromyalgia, back pain, seeking pain-free movement
- Athletes & Fitness Enthusiasts (25-50 years): Low-impact cross-training, active recovery
Content Pillar Development: Created strategic content framework:
- Educational Content (35%): Benefits of aquatic fitness, comparison with land exercise, scientific research
- User Success Stories (25%): Before/after transformations, testimonials, user-generated content
- Exercise Demonstrations (20%): Sample workouts, technique videos, ability level explanations
- Trainer Spotlights (10%): Behind-the-scenes with Starr Nixdorf and Susie Bargmann
- Community & Motivation (10%): Challenges, inspirational quotes, wellness tips
Platform-Specific Strategy:
Facebook (Primary): Long-form educational content, active senior engagement, community
building
Instagram: Visual workout demos, Reels showing pool exercises, user transformation stories
YouTube: Detailed ability level explanations, workout previews, trainer Q&As
Pinterest: Infographics on aquatic fitness benefits, exercise guides for discovery
Professional Content Production: Produced high-quality video content including
- 25 exercise demonstration videos across all 5 ability levels
- 12 user testimonial videos featuring real app users
- 8 trainer interview videos explaining exercise science
- Branded graphics and templates for consistent visual identity
Integrated Campaign Execution:
Organic posting: 5-6 posts per week across platforms
Instagram Stories: Daily content showcasing exercises and user wins
Facebook Groups: Created private community group for app users to connect
Email capture: Gated content (free workout guide) for lead generation
Paid Advertising Strategy:
- App Install Campaigns: Facebook/Instagram ads with carousel format showing ability levels
- Lead Generation Campaigns: Downloadable guides on “Benefits of Water Exercise” to build email list
- Retargeting Campaigns: Re-engaging website visitors who didn’t download app
- Lookalike Audiences: Targeting users similar to existing high-value customers
Community Management: Daily engagement with comments, direct messages, and user-
generated content. Highlighted user success stories weekly to inspire community and
demonstrate real results.
Influencer Partnerships: Collaborated with 4 micro-influencers in senior wellness and chronic
pain communities (15K-50K followers) for authentic testimonials and app reviews.
Performance Tracking: Provided monthly reports tracking follower growth, engagement rates,
app store traffic, download conversions, and return on ad spend.
Results
Strong Follower Growth: Total followers increased from 3,200 to 8,900 across platforms (178%
growth), significantly exceeding the 120% objective
Platform-Specific Success:
- Instagram: Grew from 1,800 to 5,400 followers (200% growth)
- Facebook: Expanded from 1,200 to 3,100 followers (158% growth)
- YouTube: Increased from 200 to 400 subscribers (100% growth)
Excellent Engagement Performance: Achieved 4.2% average engagement rate on Instagram
(3.5x the 1.2% fitness industry average), with educational content and user testimonials
performing strongest.
App Download Success: Generated 1,847 app downloads directly attributable to social media
campaigns, exceeding the 1,500 target by 23%.
Cost-Effective User Acquisition: Achieved $3.85 cost-per-install (CPI) on paid campaigns,
performing 14% better than the $4.50 target and 35% below typical fitness app CPI
benchmarks.
Community Building: Facebook community group grew to 620 active members sharing
progress photos, asking questions, and supporting each other’s fitness journeys.
Strong Video Performance: YouTube channel reached 18,500 total views with 6:45 average
watch time, indicating high viewer interest in educational aquatic fitness content.
Lead Generation: Captured 2,340 email addresses through gated content downloads, building
valuable nurture audience for future app promotions.
User-Generated Content: 180+ users shared workout photos/videos using branded hashtag,
providing authentic social proof.
App Store Rating Improvement: iOS rating improved from 4.1 to 4.7 stars as social media-
acquired users left positive reviews
Client Testimonial
“LakeB2B understood that our app serves a unique audience often overlooked by mainstream
fitness brands. Their thoughtful approach to educating people about aquatic fitness benefits,
combined with authentic storytelling from real users, drove exceptional results. The 1,847 app
downloads and engaged community they built proved that strategic social media isn’t just for
mass-market fitness apps—it works for specialized wellness solutions too. Their team’s
sensitivity to our users’ challenges and ability to translate that into compelling content made all
the difference.”
— Co-Founder & Director, Aquatic Fitness App
Capital Connect 