Case Study: Strava achieves 700% higher paid-plan upsell CTRs with Kevel's ad-serving APIs

Strava uses internal promotions and Kevel's APIs to upsell paid plans

Strava, the social network for athletes that adds about 2 million users per month, needed a way to increase conversions from its freemium model but lacked a flexible third‑party tool and the bandwidth to build an internal ads product. Strava turned to Kevel, using Kevel’s ad serving APIs and data management platform to run native, first‑party promotions that decide when to prompt users to upgrade.

Kevel enabled Strava to build a white‑labeled, server‑side promotion platform in weeks that serves targeted upsell content at the optimal time; the result was a 700% jump in click‑through rates on paid‑plan promotions, ad response times as low as 50ms (under 100ms), and expanded use of the system to promote app ratings, challenges, and clubs — all managed through Kevel’s APIs and automation.

Strava