[This is a continuation of Sean Parker's (co-founder
and president of Plaxo) discussion of Viral Marketing in Antiphony Insights.
Click here to view Part I of the discussion.]
Spreading the Word
Your product is either viral or it’s not. If it’s inherently
viral, you can do a lot in your marketing efforts to accelerate adoption
and spread. For example, at Plaxo we look at conversion rates and how
they might change by as small as ½ a percentage point based on
a simple wording change in a given email. But, a ½ percentage point
change in adoption can be significant across the large numbers we are
working with. We are always testing different ways to improve conversion,
even if each improvement is small on a percentage basis. But, you can’t
think like this unless the product is inherently viral.
If it is not inherently viral and is word-of-mouth viral,
the key is the invitation. The invitation has to be compelling.
Regardless, the initial user experience is critical. The slickness of
the user interface – and I don’t mean graphics – is
critical. The viral aspect will help grease the skids, but it will not
succeed on viral aspect alone. There’s nothing worse than finding
a clunky application under a slick interface. Even if it’s a good
application, it can’t be clunky in its user experience. The product
needs to be thought through from top to bottom. Easy to use. Have a clear
vision of the product from beginning to end.
If it’s word-of-mouth viral, the first key is the phone call. For
example, I might send out an application to others to use. But, it takes
an actual phone call, or additional level of interaction, from me to tell
someone it’s ok to install it and that they should. This is what
you are dealing with here. The first 200,000 users will take this kind
of prodding.
Then, once someone installs it, it needs to be a really cool experience.
It needs to be slick the moment you use it. You need a visionary for the
product. Someone with a top-to-bottom view – with one singular UI
vision. For example, someone like Winamp creator Justin Frankel (http://www.winamp.com/about/alumni.php)
gets it. I will always try his software. It’s got to be a person
with an inspiration who is responsible for the product.
|
|