How Purp Social increased paid user conversions by 47% using Mixpanel
Company
Purp Social is a Brazilian app-based social platform designed to help users make friends across the globe. By connecting people based on mutual interests, Purp encourages meaningful conversations between users. The platform operates on a freemium-to-premium business model, where users can either watch ads to unlock more interactions or upgrade to a premium subscription for an ad-free experience with enhanced features.
Challenge
Purp Social’s core goal was to increase user engagement by driving more conversations. However, their analytics strategy was focused primarily on monitoring app traffic, which left them with a fragmented understanding of their user journey. Without clear insight into the specific actions users were taking, the team struggled to identify what drove users to convert from freemium to premium.
“In GA4, we could see that people were searching for ‘X’ 100 times a day, but we couldn’t understand what happened after that. The most critical part for us was building a clear user journey and understanding exactly what actions users were taking within the app,” says Rafael Djuric, CEO at Purp Social.
Solution
Purp Social chose Mixpanel to gain deep, actionable insights into user behavior and make data-driven decisions. With Mixpanel’s powerful analytics platform, the team was able to map the complete user journey, identifying key touchpoints that drove engagement and conversion. This enabled them to focus their efforts on product changes that directly addressed user needs, leading to more impactful product iterations.
Results
- 47% Increase in Freemium-to-Premium Conversions: Since implementing Mixpanel, Purp achieved a significant 47% increase in paid user conversions. With better visibility into user behavior, they could identify and optimize key drivers of premium upgrades, turning more freemium users into loyal subscribers.
- 44.4% Increase in Daily Gem Collection: Mixpanel helped Purp track and improve in-app engagement by analyzing user actions tied to “gem collection”—a core feature that rewards users for specific interactions. Initially, daily gem collection was below expectations, so the team analyzed the app store’s layout and discovered friction points. By redesigning the layout and optimizing the display order of items, Purp saw gem collection increase by 44.4%, jumping from 1.17M to 1.69M gems daily.
- Improved Onboarding Conversions by Fixing Critical Bugs: Mixpanel’s data insights also helped Purp detect two critical bugs impacting their iOS onboarding flow:
- A button issue that caused users to prematurely leave the onboarding screen, significantly reducing engagement.
- An image upload bug where an error disrupted the process when users attempted to open the file picker.
By identifying these issues before a major release, the team was able to prioritize fixes, ensuring a smoother onboarding experience and boosting overall conversion rates.
When building a product, ideas only exist in the creator’s mind until they’re tested in real use. Without user data, it’s difficult to understand how users are actually engaging or whether they’re benefiting from the product as intended. By mapping the user journey, companies can identify key moments that drive user satisfaction and adoption. This process is essential for delivering an experience that truly resonates.Rafael Djuric CEO, Purp Social
Mixpanel empowered Purp Social to:
- Make Data-Informed Decisions: Instead of relying on assumptions, the team gained clear insights into user behavior and engagement patterns.
- Optimize Product Iterations: Continuous monitoring allowed the team to identify high-impact opportunities and refine their approach with every release.
- Drive Engagement and Conversions: From boosting daily gem collection to fixing onboarding bugs, Mixpanel enabled Purp to create a more seamless and engaging user experience.
