So instead of trying to "go viral," focus on acquiring customers through fans who already love your product.
THREAD: How to grow your startup through referrals, and word of mouth.
(Actionable tactics from working with 400+ startups)
So instead of trying to "go viral," focus on acquiring customers through fans who already love your product.
1. Product-led growth: Your product is built for sharing.
2. Word of mouth: Users proactively recommend your product to friends.
3. Referrals: You create an incentivized reward program.
Let's dive into each 👇
It's powerful: You don't have to artificially incentivize users to refer—you simply empower them & get out of their way.
E.g. To pay someone with PayPal, the payment recipient needs to first join PayPal—they're incentivized to sign up to receive their cash.
• Transact or collaborate w/ others (PayPal, Dropbox, Zoom, Slack). These products are only effective when others use them with you.
• Create content intended to be shared w/ others (Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Cameo)
But that's okay. You can lean into word of mouth or referrals.
It's a measure of how good your product experience is.
E.g. the product is so good that users proactively recommend it to others.
Every company should earnestly pursue WOM. An incredible product makes every part of growth easier.
• Removes obstacles or pain from people's lives.
• Gives people dopamine hits of delight or entertainment.
Some companies that get WOM right don't even need to spend on advertising—people can't stop talking about their product.
If you only sell to 10 people/month, you are unlikely to see runaway WOM—not enough kindling for the fire.
Tip: Consider testing ads to get an initial user base to fuel the WOM fire.
Transactionally incentivizing users e.g. "refer a friend and get $50 off"
The key is knowing:
• When to offer an incentive (easy—right after users experience the most delight from your product)
• Which incentive users actually value (explained below 👇)
Instead of cash, try rewarding users with more access to the CORE PRODUCT.
E.g. when you invite someone to Dropbox, you're rewarded with extra storage. Storage is what people signed up for—give them more of it.
• Physical goods: Offer the product for free once someone refers 5 other customers.
• Subscription services: Offer the service for free for, say, 3 months. Not just one month.
1. Reduce lag time between a user signing up —> referring someone
2. Increase the number of referrals made/user
3. Increase the percentage of new users who accept a referral invite
• Referrer's perspective: They're prompted to invite friends while signing up.
• Referee's perspective: Onboarding is the first step you experience after clicking an invite link & signing up.
So optimize your onboarding: https://t.co/slf8uGXNzV
THREAD: How to get users to use your app \U0001f447
— Growth Tactics (@GrowthTactics) February 12, 2021
Most SaaS apps lose 95% of new users within 90 days. That's insane.
They tend to lose those users during onboarding\u2014when a first impression is made.
Here's how to avoid this.
Build an amazing product that:
• Lends itself inherently to growth (users get more value from the product when others use it with them).
• People can't stop talking about.
Then accelerate WOM through a low-friction and enticing referral program.
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🌿𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 : 𝑫𝒉𝒓𝒖𝒗𝒂 & 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒏𝒖
Once upon a time there was a Raja named Uttānapāda born of Svayambhuva Manu,1st man on earth.He had 2 beautiful wives - Suniti & Suruchi & two sons were born of them Dhruva & Uttama respectively.
#talesofkrishna https://t.co/E85MTPkF9W
Now Suniti was the daughter of a tribal chief while Suruchi was the daughter of a rich king. Hence Suruchi was always favored the most by Raja while Suniti was ignored. But while Suniti was gentle & kind hearted by nature Suruchi was venomous inside.
#KrishnaLeela
The story is of a time when ideally the eldest son of the king becomes the heir to the throne. Hence the sinhasan of the Raja belonged to Dhruva.This is why Suruchi who was the 2nd wife nourished poison in her heart for Dhruva as she knew her son will never get the throne.
One day when Dhruva was just 5 years old he went on to sit on his father's lap. Suruchi, the jealous queen, got enraged and shoved him away from Raja as she never wanted Raja to shower Dhruva with his fatherly affection.
Dhruva protested questioning his step mother "why can't i sit on my own father's lap?" A furious Suruchi berated him saying "only God can allow him that privilege. Go ask him"
Once upon a time there was a Raja named Uttānapāda born of Svayambhuva Manu,1st man on earth.He had 2 beautiful wives - Suniti & Suruchi & two sons were born of them Dhruva & Uttama respectively.
#talesofkrishna https://t.co/E85MTPkF9W
Prabhu says i reside in the heart of my bhakt.
— Right Singh (@rightwingchora) December 21, 2020
Guess the event. pic.twitter.com/yFUmbfe5KL
Now Suniti was the daughter of a tribal chief while Suruchi was the daughter of a rich king. Hence Suruchi was always favored the most by Raja while Suniti was ignored. But while Suniti was gentle & kind hearted by nature Suruchi was venomous inside.
#KrishnaLeela
The story is of a time when ideally the eldest son of the king becomes the heir to the throne. Hence the sinhasan of the Raja belonged to Dhruva.This is why Suruchi who was the 2nd wife nourished poison in her heart for Dhruva as she knew her son will never get the throne.
One day when Dhruva was just 5 years old he went on to sit on his father's lap. Suruchi, the jealous queen, got enraged and shoved him away from Raja as she never wanted Raja to shower Dhruva with his fatherly affection.
Dhruva protested questioning his step mother "why can't i sit on my own father's lap?" A furious Suruchi berated him saying "only God can allow him that privilege. Go ask him"
