PRAYERSONG → PRAYER ENGINE — structure mapping (2026-09-14)
Source: research/prayersong-fotw/ (16 lessons + live walk of prayersong.com on 2026-09-14). PrayerSong sells a custom AI song, not a photo. The mechanic differs; the structure is the target. Every row below is PROPOSED until Shaw confirms. Nothing here is built.
1. What PrayerSong actually runs (facts)
| Step | What they do | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Ads | Customer reaction videos are the top ads. Supply comes from a $50 Amazon gift card for selected videos, pitched on the thank-you page and in 4 emails. | 50k → 224.5k visits/mo in 3 months; 75% US, 7% CA |
| Landing | One testimonial headline ("This PrayerSong Brought Me To Tears!"), one CTA, hero = example deliverable player, trust line "Delivered in 7 days", "Loved by 1000+ families", FAQ with explicit AI-assisted + human-supervised framing | price on page: was $199, now $49 (75% off); Dec 2025 it was $99 |
| Survey | 5 steps before any price: who it's for + name, genre + voice, their qualities, memories, message. Progress bar. Back/Next. | 5 steps, 20% increments |
| Transition | Social proof screen: 5 example songs, guarantee box, press badges, "Continue to checkout" | new since Dec 2025 |
| Sales page | "Almost There! Complete Your Order". Order summary card with dynamic name + delivery date. Discount box named after the survey answer ("Limited Time Friendship Discount"). Price justified as subsidized ("thanks to generous donations and tips from customers"). Email capture here. 3 example deliverables with quotes. 30-day money-back box. What you get. Why choose us. | $49, delivery date = +7 days |
| Checkout | Embedded Stripe Elements today (hosted in Dec 2025). Scarcity line in description. Saved card. | one PaymentIntent |
| Upsell 1 | Product upgrade: 3rd verse. Countdown timer. "For most customers the 3rd verse is where someone cries." | $19.99 |
| Upsell 2 | Rush: 24-hour delivery instead of 7 days. Banner confirms upsell 1 first. | $59 |
| Upsell 3 | Unlimited edits for 14 days. "So many people asked us for this." | $32.99 |
| Thank-you | Recap card per accepted upsell. "I need to correct my email" button. What happens next (3 steps). Spam-folder warning. Track order. Cross-sell "create another for kids, friends, church". Reaction-video $50 reminder. | max order $210.98 as 4 separate charges |
| Emails post-purchase | Thank-you (with "order surge, may be late" note) → receipts → delivery → +1 day reaction reminder → +2 day $50 incentive + 1–5 star reply review → +5 day re-send. All at a fixed batch time (6:09 PM). | 9 emails |
| Emails abandoned | 3 nights in a row at 10:25 PM: social proof → "you forgot" + benefits → single example + guarantee as urgency | 3 emails |
| Ops | Email-only support. Separate mail subdomain. Track-order page. Review collection by email reply. |
2. Proposed prayer-engine ladder (PrayerSong shape, our mechanic)
| Step | Ours | Price | Change vs current docs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landing | Testimonial headline ("I Saw My Mother's Name Inside St. Peter's and Wept"), hero = example card-in-hand photo, "Delivered in 3 days", "Loved by 1000+ families" (stub until real), FAQ | anchor |
NEW anchor; hero becomes a photo viewer |
| Survey (5 steps) | 1 Who is this prayer for? (Myself, Mother, Father, Husband, Wife, Child, Friend, Someone who has passed, Other) + their first name. 2 What is it for? (Healing, Strength, Grief, Family, Provision, Protection, Gratitude, Other). 3 Your prayer (capped to fit the card, live counter). 4 Anything the Father should know? (optional, feeds the persona note). 5 Where should the photo go? your first name + email + optional gift recipient email. | free | REPLACES the single lead form. Step 2 drives the dynamic discount name and the monthly theme default. Email at step 5 keeps the abandonment sequence alive. |
| Transition | 3–5 example photos with quotes, guarantee box, "Continue to your order" | NEW page (replaces the loading interstitial, or follows it) | |
| Sales page | "Almost There! Complete Your Order." Summary card: prayer for [name], placed by [date]. "Limited Time [Healing] Discount" box. Price justification in our voice: "Why only $34.90? Our monthly members keep the door open for everyone else." 3 example photos. Guarantee box. What you get. Why choose us. Persona letter stays as a section below. | $34.90 | dynamic discount + subsidy framing + example deliverables NEW; letter demoted from headline to section |
| Checkout | Own page, TagadaPay tokenization, one bump only: candle $4.99. Scarcity line under the summary. | $34.90 + $4.99 | rush leaves the bump slot |
| OTO1 — upgrade | Second prayer, textarea prefilled, Submit or Skip. Copy: "Most people who place one realize they were carrying two." Countdown timer. | $14 | unchanged, add timer |
| OTO2 — rush | 24-hour delivery instead of 3 days. Banner confirms OTO1 decision. | $19.90 (PROPOSED; PrayerSong charges 120% of base for rush, we charge 57%) | MOVES from bump to OTO |
| OTO3 — audio | Voice of the Sanctuary. "So many people asked us for this." | $9.90 | was OTO2 |
| Thank-you | Recap card per accepted OTO. Correct-my-email button. What happens next (3 steps). Spam warning. Track order. Cross-sell "place a prayer for someone else". Reaction-video $50 gift card reminder. Membership pitch stays at the bottom. | reaction incentive + correct-email + cross-sell NEW | |
| Membership | $9.90/mo, $79/yr. Unchanged. | ||
| Re-placement | $14 one tap. Unchanged. |
Max stacked order: 34.90 + 4.99 + 14 + 19.90 + 9.90 = $83.69, five separate charges on the saved card.
3. Email plan (their cadence, our voice)
Post-purchase: confirmation (with the "surge, may run a day late unless rush" line) → in-progress (24h) → delivery (photo + audio, reaction-video ask, review by reply) → +1 day reaction reminder → +2 day $50 incentive + "reply with 1–5 stars" → +5 day re-send ("here is your photo again") → day 7 membership invite → day 30 win-back → day 365 re-placement. Abandoned (status = lead, no purchase): +1 night social proof (3 example photos) → +2 nights "you started a prayer" + what you get → +3 nights one example + guarantee as urgency. Fixed nightly batch time. Members: rebill-upcoming reminder with intention field, member delivery, dunning ×3, lapsed win-back.
4. Growth engine to copy exactly
Reaction videos. Every delivery email and the thank-you page ask for a video of the buyer (or the person prayed for) seeing the photo. $50 gift card if selected. Selected videos become the Meta ads. This replaces "3 silent B-roll creatives" as the long-run creative source; B-roll stays for launch week only. Needs: /reaction/submit upload route, a gift-card ledger, a selection queue in the dashboard.
5. Decisions Shaw must make
- Guarantee. PrayerSong states a 30-day money-back guarantee on every surface. Our docs state none. Add a satisfaction guarantee (Divine Rev rule: satisfaction-based, never outcome-based)? Recommend YES, 30 days, on sales page, OTO pages, abandoned emails.
- Price anchor. Show
$69$34.90? Recommend YES. $34.90 is unchanged. - Rush as OTO2 at $19.90 instead of a $9 bump. Recommend YES.
- Delivery promise. PrayerSong sells 7 days and rushes to 24h. We decided 3 days. A longer standard window makes the rush OTO worth more. Keep 3 days (decided) or move to 5? Recommend keep 3.
- AI framing in the FAQ. PrayerSong discloses "AI-assisted, human-supervised" and still converts. Our docs describe physical carrying. Shaw's call; no change made.
- Reaction-video incentive at $50. Recommend YES, budget as a creative cost.
- Survey replaces the single form. Recommend YES.
6. What this changes in the docs once confirmed
- SPEC §2 funnel and §3 ladder, OPS §2 routes (/create multi-step, /transition, /reaction/submit, /track-order), OPS §3 (survey answers on prayers: for_whom, for_name, intention), OPS §6 email list, COPY-CREATIVES rewrite of landing, survey, sales page, OTO pages, thank-you, all emails, PROMPT-PACKS example-deliverable set (3–5 hero photos with fake-name stubs).