If you ever think about how to gain 200 new members, 50 paying customers and one massive energy boost in your community inside a single week, the answer is one word: challenge.
A challenge — a time-limited, gamified course that many people run through together — is the most powerful format we have as creators. It works because it taps three deep human levers: belonging to a group, social pressure to finish, and a hard deadline. Without any one of these three, you don't have a challenge, you have a course.
In this guide I'll show you how to set up a challenge on audienced in three steps. I'm not talking about magic formulas — I'm talking about the format creators like Doroteja from Fitmeal Slovenija, Ana Zrimšek from Prehrana za dva and Laura Ogrin from Zadnja dieta use. All three run 7- and 14-day challenges regularly and those bring in the bulk of their annual revenue.
Why challenges work so well
Quick theory first, so you understand why you'll keep coming back to this model.
- Hard deadline: "7 days" lands differently than "at your own pace". People respond to deadlines.
- Shared starting line: everyone begins the same day. That creates a cohort feeling that a regular course can't match.
- Daily rhythm: one lesson per day is short enough not to skip and specific enough to produce a result.
- Gamification: points, badges and streaks turn the routine into a game.
- Low-risk entry: challenge pricing is typically €19–49, which sits in the impulse-buy zone. After the challenge you can upsell to a longer programme.
audienced has challenge as a native feature, not a hack. Drip course + gamification + community + everything in one flow.
Step 1: set up the challenge as a drip course in Challenge mode
In the admin panel click Courses → Create course → pick Drip course.
In the course settings find the section Course mode and select Challenge. This unlocks challenge-specific features:
- Daily leaderboard.
- Streaks for consecutive days.
- Badges for daily milestones.
- Automatic posts in the community when a day is completed.
Basic settings:
- Challenge length: 7, 14, 21, 30 or custom days.
- Content release mode: relative to enrollment (recommended for evergreen challenges) or absolute date (for "live cohort" challenges that start on the same day).
- Sequence rule: the user must finish the previous day before getting the next (recommended for intensive challenges).
Enter title, description, price and cover image just like with a regular course.
Step 2: structure the daily lessons
Each challenge day is one module. Inside each day you have 1–3 lessons:
- 1 video lesson (5–10 minutes) — context, why this day matters.
- 1 action step (worksheet, meditation, workout — whatever the topic is).
- 1 community prompt — a question the member answers in the community.
Minimal example for a 7-day "Morning routine" challenge:
- Day 1: why a morning routine matters + first 5-minute ritual.
- Day 2: 3-minute meditation, journaling exercise.
- Day 3: water before coffee + 15 push-ups.
- Day 4: no phone until lunch + reflection.
- Day 5: cold shower + 5 things I'm grateful for.
- Day 6: full routine stitched together + energy log.
- Day 7: closing lesson + plan for the next 30 days.
Don't overstuff the day. Rule: if it can't be done in 20 minutes, you've gone too far. The challenge must be doable for busy people.
Step 3: turn on gamification and hook up the community
In Course settings → Gamification:
- Activate points per completed lesson (10 points recommended).
- Activate streak bonus (5 extra points for each consecutive day).
- Create badges:
- "Day One" (after lesson 1) - "Halfway There" (after day 4) - "Finisher" (after day 7) - "Perfect Streak" (all 7 days in a row)
In Community create a new space [Challenge] Morning routine and in the course settings turn on Auto-enroll in community. Every challenge buyer automatically joins the private space.
In the space, post a daily prompt:
- "Day 1: what was your first thought when you woke up?"
- "Day 2: send a photo of your workspace at 7:00 am."
- …and so on.
This is the main mechanic that lifts completion rate. In a regular course completion is 20–40%. In a challenge with a linked community it's 60–80%. Because the buyer publicly posts every day, which creates real social pressure.
Marketing a challenge: how to sell it
Challenges sell differently than courses. Three key differences.
Cohort launch (recommended)
Don't sell a challenge evergreen. Sell it in waves. "The next challenge starts March 14. Registration closes March 13." That creates deadlines and FOMO.
Launch flow:
- 14 days before: announce the cohort challenge, open sales.
- 7 days before: webinar or Q&A for the interested.
- 3 days before: "last chance" email.
- 24 hours before: close registration.
- Start day: welcome email + day 1 unlocked.
Low price, high volume
Challenges price best at €19–49. Below that it reads like a low-commitment lead magnet. Above €79 it stops being a "challenge" and becomes an "online course".
Upsell after completion
Day 7 (or Day 8) send the email: "Congrats, you finished. If you want to keep going, we've got a 3-month programme at 30% off for challenge finishers." Conversion is typically 15–30%.
Three creative challenge variations
30-day habits challenge
One micro-habit per day, 30 days. Fits: productivity, mindfulness, fitness basics. Price €29–39.
Food challenge (7 days)
A new recipe each day with a constraint (e.g. "7 days no sugar"). Fits: nutrition specialisation. Price €19–29.
Creator sprint (14 days)
Spin up an Instagram account and post content for 14 days. Fits: marketing / business coaches. Price €49–99 (higher because of the business value).
Frequently asked questions
Can a challenge be free?
Yes. A free challenge is a great lead magnet. In audienced you create a course of type Free with the same challenge settings. The user leaves only their email; after the challenge you upsell them to a paid programme.
How long does it take to build a challenge?
First one: 15–25 hours (script, shoot, edit, email copy). Each next one: 5–10 hours, because you have structure and partial content reuse.
How do I stop users from skipping days?
In the drip course settings enable "Require sequential completion". The user can't jump to day 3 before finishing day 2. Combined with a linked community, this enforces discipline.
What if the cohort has 1,000+ people — who answers in the community?
Two strategies:
- Recruit power users from previous challenges as moderators / ambassadors. They get a badge, a discount or a commission.
- Hire a community manager (2–4 hours daily). Cost ~€500–1,000/month, pays off through challenge revenue.
Can a challenge last longer than 30 days?
Technically yes, practically no. The challenge is strong because of focus on a short window. Past 30 days it loses the challenge feel and becomes a regular course.
How do I wire the challenge to Stripe payments and invoices?
A challenge is the same type of course as any other. Payment setup goes through the standard Stripe Connect or MoR flow — nothing special required. See the blog on Stripe.
Which badges work best?
Psychologically, badges for milestones (50%, 100%) and streaks work best. Decorative badges ("posted 3 comments") have a smaller effect. Stick to 3–7 key badges per challenge.
Closing thoughts
A challenge isn't just a product — it's a sales strategy. You can use it as a lead magnet, as a micro-product, as an upsell, as a membership retention mechanic.
If you've never run a challenge, the easiest path is to make the first one free, with a small cohort (50–100 people), with fewer features. Learn the format, then scale.
In three steps and one week of work you can have a first working challenge. A format that works.