The Power of Product Overhaul and Virality in Business Growth

The Power of Product Overhaul and Virality in Business Growth

Twitter, one of the leading social media platforms, has recognized the need to revamp its popular application, TweetDeck. The company's CEO, Beykpour, and the product team have acknowledged that TweetDeck has not received enough attention in recent times. However, they are actively working on a significant overhaul of the application, which they plan to unveil later this year. This move signifies Twitter's commitment to providing better experiences for its users and revitalizing its developer ecosystem.

Over the past five years, Twitter admits that it has not given enough support to its developer community. This neglect has resulted from past mistakes and a lack of prioritization. Twitter acknowledges that its success today is owed in part to developers who have created innovative features and functionalities. With this in mind, the company aims to redirect its focus towards supporting developers and encouraging them to continue pushing the boundaries of what is possible on the platform.

Building virality into a product is a powerful strategy for driving growth and expanding user base. Here are nine effective techniques to achieve virality:

• 1. Incentivize User Invitations: Create incentives for users to invite their friends and for their friends to accept the invitation. By rewarding both sides, the chances of successful user acquisition and retention increase significantly. LinkedIn successfully employed this strategy by prominently displaying the number of connections on users' profiles, encouraging them to invite more people to connect.

• 2. Collaboration and Communication: Design products that facilitate collaboration or communication between coworkers. Such products have inherent viral elements, as they provide additional value when used by multiple people. This encourages users to invite their colleagues, spreading awareness of the product within their professional networks.

• 3. Embeddable Features: Allow others to embed your product into their websites. This not only increases exposure but also demonstrates the expected content and behaviors associated with your product. By leveraging the reach of other websites, you can attract new users and expand your user base.

• 4. Social Sharing: If your product generates unique and interesting content, encourage users to share it on their social networks. Auto-sharing content onto other networks can be especially effective in creating a viral loop. By creating appealing artifacts that users want to share with their networks, you increase the visibility and desirability of your product.

• 5. Messaging Integration: Enable your product to generate artifacts or URLs that are meant to be shared via messaging platforms. By providing a rich experience around the shared information, you increase the likelihood of users spreading awareness of your product through personal messages.

• 6. Signature Lines: Consider implementing a signature line, as Hotmail did in its early days. Hotmail's signature line helped the email service grow from 20,000 users to 1.5 million users in just four months. This simple addition encouraged users to share Hotmail with every email they sent, leading to exponential growth.

• 7. Quality Matters: While viral loops are crucial for spreading awareness, conversion and loyalty ultimately depend on the quality of the product. It is essential to build virality into the core mechanics of your product from the start, rather than trying to add it as an afterthought.

• 8. Network Effects: Aim to create strong network effects within your product. When users find value in connecting with others or leveraging the network created by your product, they are more likely to stay engaged and invite others to join.

• 9. Seamless User Experience: Prioritize creating a seamless and user-friendly experience. If users encounter barriers or friction when using your product, they are less likely to engage with it or share it with others. Make sure that the user journey is intuitive and enjoyable, stimulating viral growth.

By combining the efforts of a product overhaul and incorporating virality into the core mechanics, businesses can experience significant growth and achieve widespread adoption. Twitter's commitment to improving TweetDeck and re-engaging with its developer ecosystem exemplifies the importance of continuously evolving and adapting to meet the needs of users and industry trends.

In conclusion, to drive growth and expand user base, businesses should focus on both product overhauls and building virality into their products. By prioritizing user experience, incentivizing user invitations, and leveraging network effects, companies can create a strong foundation for sustainable growth. Implementing these actionable strategies can help businesses reach new heights and foster a loyal user base.