Whoop. Once simply an exclamation of excitement – or the first line of a popular 90’s hip hop song…now a household name for anyone who’s heard the word “wearable”.

Since launching in 2019, WHOOP has built a wildly successful business that’s bringing in $167 million annually, giving the Apple Watch a run for its money.

As a certified conversion copywriter and marketing strategist, I love analyzing what big brands are doing and evaluating what’s working and what’s not.

Today, I’m putting WHOOP under the microscope 🔬

In this Figma file ↓ you’ll find screenshots of each page with detailed feedback on WHOOP’s strategy and copy.

Check it out here

Here are my main takeaways.

What's working?

1. Brand positioning and value proposition

This is WHOOP’s homepage headline, and it’s great. It communicates a strong, differentiating message, which they build on throughout the entire website experience.

I for one have never been a fan of wearables like the Apple Watch because I just don’t find them stylish. (Proud owner of a gold Casio for many years now.)

WHOOP differentiates themselves to all other wearables by focusing on the customizability and beauty of their product. And the fact that there are no screens. They package up that message nicely in their homepage headline, building curiosity to find out more.

2. The offer

WHOOP states that they are the ONLY wearable that offers a free trial. This is huge.

Given that WHOOP is quite an expensive product (with an annual membership to the tune of €264 per year), offering a free trial month is a super smart way to reduce the feeling of risk surrounding the purchase.

3. Authority and social proof

WHOOP features famous athletes and scientists like Michel Phelps and Andrew Huberman across the site, building massive authority and social proof (2 of Robert Cialdini’s 7 principles of persuasion).

**What’s not working?**

1. Headlines

Besides the homepage headline, the other headlines across the website are what we copywriters like to call “placeholder headlines”.

They summarize what’s on the page without communicating any real benefit or problem they are solving for the customer.

Let’s take a look at a couple:

80% of people ONLY read headlines, making them the most valuable real estate on your page. So don’t waste it!

Changing this to something more customer-facing would start this page out stronger and compel people to keep reading.

Instead of “What WHOOP measures”, they could say:

^ I wrote this with my fancy schmancy website editing tool

2. Lack of trust-boosters on the homepage

WHOOP has impressive proof points and risk reducers, like…

Number of users
Media mentions
Scientific studies
Celebrities who back the brand
Lifetime warranty, and more

But what I find very strange is that they don’t include ANY of these on the homepage.

Your homepage is like a handshake. It’s your chance to make a fantastic first impression.

This is where you need to bring out all the stops and show that your company is trustworthy. And worth the investment.

3. The closers

Every webpage should have a close.

A close is the final section at the bottom of the page that wraps up why people should move forward and incentivizes them to take the next step with your brand. Whether that’s starting a free trial, joining your email list, contacting you, or making a purchase.

You shouldn’t end a page with a section explaining features or even with FAQs.

There are a few different strategies to close well (which I’ll cover in a future issue of HealthTech Hype).

Across WHOOP’s website, I only found a proper close on one page – the Join WHOOP page.

Which really doesn’t make sense, because if someone has already clicked “Join WHOOP”, they are close to converting anyway.

Since they have a strong starter offer (try WHOOP for a month for free), they should advertise this in the last section of EVERY page to compel people to convert.

Also, when you arrive on the membership page, it leaves a lot to be desired. It simply lists the membership options and their prices.

But think about it:

This is the final page people arrive at before becoming a customer.

Now’s where WHOOP needs to bring out all the stops to ensure nothing prevents prospects from moving forward.

Instead of “Choose Membership” as the headline, they need to communicate a strong benefit.

The page should also include plenty of social proof with data and testimonials. Finally, they need FAQs here, so people don’t have to go hunting around the site to get their questions answered (which may lead to them getting distracted and forgetting to convert).

That's all for now! I hope it was helpful :)