@CanadianAussie and users of this app - I'd like to understand your thoughts on this a little more :)

Regarding your point regarding privacy - what, in your opinion, would be the key differentiator with Tinybeans if the Instagram account can be marked as private so only approved followers could view posts? 

(I don't have any children and I haven't personally used this app.)

@CanadianAussie if you read the reviews on the App Store this is precisely what many of  them say. It appears the brand has built strong trust among its users. I think that's it's edge, and that's why people will pay a few bucks a month. 

@shadow for transparency I've never used the app. Even with Insta or FB set to private I still have many friends or followers who I don't need seeing my child's personal life but I may still want to remain connected with through social media. I also find it can be annoying when FB friends are posting pictures of their kids every day, that's not what I go on their to predominantly see. 

There's an app my daughters childcare uses called Storypark. Not only do I get to see pictures of her at daycare but the app gives articles on what they're learning, what stage of development they're in, how to manage bad behaviour, age appropriate activities etc. Not quite what Tinybeans do I imagine but it highlights how they can market to the narrow target audience vs a FB or Insta.

@jwrostagno27 I think you're on the money there regarding advertising and the level of understanding about the user base that already exists just from being a user i.e. parents or grandparents with kids/grand kids.

They are probably able to get some general location data as well, at least country level and maybe even state, so they aren't showing US adds to Aus users and vice versa.

If you look at the brands already advertising on Tiny Beans it's very obvious who their target audience is and why they are advertising on Tiny Beans. The user base is already highly defined and focused just due to what Tiny Beans is, no real need for further information like specifically how old you are, what sports teams you like or what pages you follow.

If I'm Lego, Toys r Us, Play-doh, Baby Bunting, etc then it's pretty obivous that my target market is Tiny Beans user base.

I agree with @shivrak. Was just reading that they have 130,000+  5 star reviews on the product with 4 million + active users. My inclination is that if it's loved that much then a large portion of those people will not hesitate to pay $5/month or $40/ year like most other apps demand these days. And only the primary user, i.e. the parent, has to pay. Other family members who have been invited to view the photo's don't. It's a small price, and people are willing to pay for genuinely good, safe/secure products.

The current climate of lockdowns and limited travel is also a tailwind for Tinybeans. If you read some of the reviews, people love it because they can share photos of their babies and kids with other family members who live in other parts of the country or overseas, particulary highliting key milestones like walking and birthdays etc, with a strong sense of security that they don't get  from other social media platforms. 

In sum I think this will prove to be a good move. 

Thanks for your reply Shivrak and I understand and agree what you're saying about what the additional revenue will do to accelerate the development of new features. If they get this right it will be great, but if they get this wrong then it will be a massive own goal.
Also think that the aims of Strawman and TNY are quite different as Andrew deliberately wants to limit the user base of SM due to the impact on the mainly small/micro cap stocks favoured vs TNY which wants to grow it's userbase as large as possible.

My main original point, wasn't that there was no free user experience left, but whether the free trial period would be enough.
In the trial time period can the user develop enough attachment to make the platform sticky and convert the user to the paid version?
Basically, is it long enough? That is a key question I will be wanting to see answered by management, what is the conversion ratio?

We'll all have to open free trial accounts once it's launched to see for ourselves!