A bit of background: I’m a monk and a prison chaplain in Canada. After years of sitting with people in very lonely places, I built Saati, an AI wellness companion. You talk to it out loud, and it’s designed to push you toward the people in your life, not replace them. Mission: detect early signs of mental health decline, addiction, and suicide, and help. We launched on October 10, World Mental Health Day, starting with young people. We had about 200 + inperson participants, and 300 + online. about 300 downloads.. Created this short video about my experience: https://youtube.com/shorts/Zf35FKp7nB8?si=6PUzuj5SzqE9_KC1
I’m not a marketer, so here’s what I’ve learned so far:
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Picking a launch date with meaning made outreach easier. World Mental Health Day gave journalists, schools and community groups a reason to share it. If your category has an awareness day, use it.
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Apple Search Ads: start narrow, then expand. We started in Canada and the US, then added the UK, Ireland, Australia and NZ, which are English-speaking markets with lower bids.
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Wellness apps get extra scrutiny, so trust is the product. We say plainly what we don’t do: no claim to cure loneliness, no audio stored, data stays in Canada, and “forget everything about me” really deletes. I think this matters more for conversion than any screenshot.
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TikTok and Shorts reward being a real person. A monk talking calmly about stress does better for us than polished app demos.
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What I’m still figuring out: marketing and finding appropriate distribution channels.
I’d love feedback on our App Store page from people who know ASO better than I do: saati.ai/download