In our last article about InCharge, we talked about how these two founders used matcha + aesthetics as an emotional hook to grow their routine app.
Months later, they are still using the same aesthetic-first format: minimalist product storytelling shot like a luxury lifestyle ad, and it’s working.
29.4M views:
Four days ago, the founder @emmabfell shared the strategy behind how they reached 200,000 downloads and climbed to #11 on the App Store.
She is recreating the same visual style on her personal account, documenting her life as “the In Charge co-founder” and that personal storytelling loop is paying off: her account alone is now sitting at 58.3M all-time views.
Meanwhile, the other co-founder @meetmadeleine is already an influencer, but leaning more into wellness and lifestyle rather than app-centric content.
Their principles:
1. Obsess over branding early
- Make the product look premium from day one
- Font, colour palette, UI and tone must match the identity of the user you want to attract
2. Create content from day one (pre-launch)
- Don’t wait for a final product
- Bring people along the journey so they’re invested before you release
- This is how they built anticipation → App Store #11
3. Let users shape the product
- Every update came from user requests
- They didn’t “guess” UX — they co-created it with the audience
- Community → retention
4. Affiliates > Influencers
- They didn’t pay creators to promote it
- They built an affiliate program where only real users promote the app
- Authentic > sponsored
5. Show your face
- The founders ARE the marketing
- They sell the life behind the app, not just the app itself
- People buy the energy before they buy the product
6. Reinvest everything
- All profits go back into marketing, UX, and growth
- No early lifestyle cash-out
- “Scale comes from reinvestment, not comfort”
Track their accounts here: https://app.shortimize.com/c/2b10nGDL2SU9sZ
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