appmarketingminds.com Welcome to App Marketing Minds’ series on how to create viral applications

My name is David, and today we’ll talk about appmarketingminds.com My name is David, and today we’ll talk about

Designing a Viral Loop & The Incentives to Share Your App appmarketingminds.com Designing a Viral Loop & The Incentives to Share Your App

You will learn: Why you need to pay extreme attention to marketing What is a viral loop Its stages How to optimize viral loops What apps tend to go viral and why What are the best incentives to share (+examples) appmarketingminds.com

appmarketingminds.com We will describe a number of techniques that underlie viral apps and can increase chances of your app going viral

appmarketingminds.com But, these processes can be applied also to software, SaaS products and others

In case you just tuned in, and don’t know what a viral loop is… appmarketingminds.com In case you just tuned in, and don’t know what a viral loop is…

appmarketingminds.com It’s a marketing concept that describes the process of a product becoming extremely popular

…through viral marketing, which happens by definition... appmarketingminds.com …through viral marketing, which happens by definition... When a product is passed from one user to another

appmarketingminds.com Essentially, your product grows at an enormous rate because your users share it between them

appmarketingminds.com It’s very important to know this, because getting out there and generating interest around your app is increasingly more difficult

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appmarketingminds.com But, you should thank yourself for being proactive and willing to learn how to push your app out there to acquire as many users as possible

appmarketingminds.com Because creating applications is getting also progressively cheaper and easier, the competition for users is of course increasing too

appmarketingminds.com Despite this, people seem to pay very little attention to how to engineer their marketing strategy in a way that would set them up for success

appmarketingminds.com One way to ensure your app takes off, is by designing a viral loop, which is essentially a cycle of acquisition and sharing between users, that looks like this

appmarketingminds.com 1. A potential user sees your application and decides to acquire it (download it)

appmarketingminds.com 2. The user likes what he / she sees and decides to interact (use) the application

appmarketingminds.com 3. Based on the use of the app, the user decides to share it, and actually shares it with their network of friends or other users

4. Lastly, a new user who saw the invitation accepts the invitation appmarketingminds.com 4. Lastly, a new user who saw the invitation accepts the invitation

New cycle starts for a new user appmarketingminds.com New cycle starts for a new user

appmarketingminds.com It’s important to understand that there are some elements that will influence your viral loop

One of these elements is time. appmarketingminds.com One of these elements is time.

appmarketingminds.com You will speed up the acquisition process of new users by shortening the time from seeing your app, to sharing it

appmarketingminds.com Because of this, think about when to introduce the element of sharing, and when to entice people to share your app with the combination of a compelling call to action and an incentive

appmarketingminds.com If your application is a game… think about after what progress in the game will you ask your users to share it

appmarketingminds.com If it’s anything else, what level of interaction do your users need to go through, to see the value in your app and to actually share it with their network

appmarketingminds.com The second element after time, are the barriers of entry you impose on your users. One of the most important barriers is the price to download and use your app

It’s important to think about the pricing model you decide to apply. appmarketingminds.com It’s important to think about the pricing model you decide to apply. But don’t worry, we will discuss the right pricing models in another video

appmarketingminds.com There are several techniques you can apply to create a viral loop, that will broadly influence 2 types of behaviour

To Acquire and use the application appmarketingminds.com The decision…. To Acquire and use the application 2) To share the app (provide enough incentive)

appmarketingminds.com Firstly, we’ll look at how to maximize the chances that your app will be acquired and used

appmarketingminds.com You can create an application which will create or represent a strong personal connection to the user. Think for example about…

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Next, viral apps tend create strong emotional connection. appmarketingminds.com Next, viral apps tend create strong emotional connection.

appmarketingminds.com For example Facebook allows friends and family to connect and share information instantly. From anywhere in the world.

appmarketingminds.com Next, viral apps tend to be designed in a way, that they are very easy to understand and grasp what they are about

appmarketingminds.com It’s a known fact in marketing that complexity tends to diminish conversions

An example of this ‘easy’ concept is Dropbox. appmarketingminds.com An example of this ‘easy’ concept is Dropbox. The end user needs to know only one simple thing – ‘I am able to store what’s important to me online’

appmarketingminds.com Lastly, viral apps – primarily games, create a very strong need to continue to use the app. A great example of this is Candy Crush

appmarketingminds.com Once you understand what types of applications tend to be popular, you need to create a strong incentive for your users to share

Now we will look at some effective incentives to share… appmarketingminds.com Now we will look at some effective incentives to share…

appmarketingminds.com 1: You can ask your users to share your app in order to gain more features

appmarketingminds.com ..such as Dropbox did. They offered more storage space to their users if they share Dropbox with their network

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appmarketingminds.com 2: Gamify sharing The incentive will to receive virtual currency, badges, any real or perceived value

3: Incentive is to share to make a statement appmarketingminds.com 3: Incentive is to share to make a statement Ethical, political, other (how good you are, score etc)

appmarketingminds.com An example of this is Timberman, where you can share your score with your network

appmarketingminds.com To share your application is a decision your users make based on what they receive in return

appmarketingminds.com There are many more incentives which work, simply based on how the human psychology works

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL BLOG POST appmarketingminds.com If you want the full list on incentives, make sure to check out our blog. It goes into much more detail on the research strategy for creating a viral app and designing a viral loop. You can also get a copy of this PowerPoint presentation and the full list of 10 different incentives to share. There’s a lot of value, and no opt-in required. Just click on the link below and get access now. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL BLOG POST