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How to get your first 100k active users

blog.winnie.com

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Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#31

Post by adventured »

danielskogly wrote: post #23

This evening we got our 171st user for our wishlist-service. When we launched it 1 year ago we tried to get it out on different channels like Reddit and HN without much success, while we _did_ see success in just talking about it to friends and family, and had just over 100 users in January this year. Since then, we've done close to zero marketing, and it's been amazing to see new signups, wishlists and items being c…

I have a suggestion for wishy (if you're not doing this already of course).

Extract out the most popular items that people are sharing (no identifying information connected, only extract out super items that you can identify well, like "Wonder Woman on blu ray"), or similarly build your own curated lists based on what's popular right now (eg a new PS4 game). Build some categories that they belong to ("video games" or "clothing"). Then enable people to quickly browse for things within those segments to add to their wish lists. It should boost wishlist item adding substantially over time and give people new ideas. You could also build a gently curated top 10 or 20 item list in a given week or month (manually reviewed for potentially inappropriate items). You can track various metrics for what's moving socially right now for a link/item to get an improved idea on what matters to provide some further ranking (eg facebook sharing acceleration or deceleration).

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#32

Post by annekate »

mkalygin wrote: post #25

This is very interesting strategy. Thanks for the good article. Could you elaborate on the content-growth strategy? I'm really curious since in some business ideas I'm usually stuck with "chicken and egg" kind of problem. I believe there is no universal strategy here, but what worked for you except this special onboarding flow for users in new markets?

It's in the article. Provide the supply yourself (content) while you build demand (users). Do things that don't scale.

One specific example is that we saw a lot of demand for information on child care, so we researched over 5000 local daycares & preschools and created very comprehensive pages for all of them. This sounds like a lot of work but it actually wasn't that bad. Once we had done that we were instantly the best place in the SF Bay Area to research daycares and find open spaces. Word spread like wildfire and we climbed the Google rankings quickly as well. Now, we no longer have to collect data manually, because the daycare providers come to us to reach their audience of customers. So it delivered growth on both sides of the network in a sustainable, ongoing fashion, and only required a one-time upfront investment in content creation.

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#33

Post by notaboutdave »

Best takeaways from the article (no particular order):

  - Retool ads as a way to test for and identify demand.
  - Bait people with truly useful content where they're already looking, and then direct them to your app.
  - Simple changes in wording or flow of UX can increase shares dramatically.
  - Get featured in app stores. How?
    - Integrate with latest device features being pushed
    - Adhere to vendor design standards
  - Email is still very effective, so use it.
  - Have 10 enthusiastic users that will spread their enthusiasm before you start.
That last point is good to know, and perhaps the most important, but it's way easier said than done. Especially if you aren't a social butterfly.

Also, the "don't use cross platform" preached in the article isn't very convincing. You can get excellent performance with well-coded cross-platform build tools, and in far less time.

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#34

Post by danielskogly »

annekate wrote: post #27
danielskogly wrote: post #23

This evening we got our 171st user for our wishlist-service. When we launched it 1 year ago we tried to get it out on different channels like Reddit and HN without much success, while we _did_ see success in just talking about it to friends and family, and had just over 100 users in January this year. Since then, we've done close to zero marketing, and it's been amazing to see new signups, wishlists and items being c…

You can't get from 0 to 100k without passing through 171 first. :) Congrats and good luck!

Very true! :) Thank you, and likewise - pretty sure there's more than 100k information-hungry parents out there, so wouldn't be surprised to see the "100k to 500k"-post in the not too distant future!

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#35

Post by mkalygin »

annekate wrote: post #32
mkalygin wrote: post #25

This is very interesting strategy. Thanks for the good article. Could you elaborate on the content-growth strategy? I'm really curious since in some business ideas I'm usually stuck with "chicken and egg" kind of problem. I believe there is no universal strategy here, but what worked for you except this special onboarding flow for users in new markets?

It's in the article. Provide the supply yourself (content) while you build demand (users). Do things that don't scale. One specific example is that we saw a lot of demand for information on child care, so we researched over 5000 local daycares & preschools and created very comprehensive pages for all of them. This sounds like a lot of work but it actually wasn't that bad. Once we had done that we were instantly the b…

Got it. So it was mostly manual investigation and content generation at first, and then users started to add their own content. Great, thanks for the answer.

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#36

Post by quickthrower2 »

annekate wrote: post #27
danielskogly wrote: post #23

This evening we got our 171st user for our wishlist-service. When we launched it 1 year ago we tried to get it out on different channels like Reddit and HN without much success, while we _did_ see success in just talking about it to friends and family, and had just over 100 users in January this year. Since then, we've done close to zero marketing, and it's been amazing to see new signups, wishlists and items being c…

You can't get from 0 to 100k without passing through 171 first. :) Congrats and good luck!

Maybe you can if you get multiple users sign up at once :-)

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#37

Post by samschooler »

annekate wrote: post #22
ythn wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Go true native, not hybrid What about for games? Unity is extremely tempting, especially when the alternative is to write the game twice in two different languages...

Games are the exception to this rule. Apple and Google have no problem featuring games built in Unity as long as they are performant and polished.

Isn't this true for all apps? If an app is performant and polished, while also following UI/UX guidelines, it has just as good of a chance to be featured if is React vs Native? Is there anything that goes against this? Or is the idea its much harder to follow UI/UX guides while using a hybrid system?

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#38

Post by amitmathew »

"Grow even before you launch" and "Go big or go home" really resonate with me.

We were able to sign up a few thousand people to our new product waitlist through two main channels: exhibiting at conferences and answering questions on Quora. In the past, I would have just done a small beta with friends, but I guess I'm getting a little wiser over the years :)

Going big from the beginning is really a tough one. I already got burned at a previous startup by not narrowing the focus enough, but it really depends on the market and the type of product you are building. We're building a product for college students, which is a big group, so it's a toss-up whether to go after a certain category of students or go after them all. We're casting a wide net for now with the idea that our product will resonate with certain subgroups which we can focus later.

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#39

Post by samschooler »

dboreham wrote: post #6

"Relying on push notifications alone" Yeah no. Apps using push notification for marketing/dark purposes is super irritating and for that reason I block notifications by default from all apps.

You say that, but you are in a minority. Most users just mindlessly click Allow. Its an amazing power - being able to appear on someones home screen instantly at anytime with any message - but a privilege. So having each notification be useful and actionable is key. In addition to not flooding them with too much frequency.

Re: How to get your first 100k active users

#40

Post by annekate »

amitmathew wrote: post #38

"Grow even before you launch" and "Go big or go home" really resonate with me. We were able to sign up a few thousand people to our new product waitlist through two main channels: exhibiting at conferences and answering questions on Quora. In the past, I would have just done a small beta with friends, but I guess I'm getting a little wiser over the years :) Going big from the beginning is really a tough one. I alread…

I was an early employee of Quora and can vouch for it being a good place to do content marketing! I really love that site.

The idea that you should have a small scope and narrow focus is the one very common piece of startup advice I struggle with. In my experience at Winnie, whenever we "thought small" growth would stall out. I think if your product is just better with higher numbers of users, get as many people into it as you can.

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