How to Build Virality into your Product: Insights from Pinterest's Pivot

How to Build Virality into your Product: Insights from Pinterest's Pivot

In today's digital age, building virality into a product is a key goal for many businesses. The ability to create a viral product can lead to exponential growth and increased brand awareness. However, achieving virality is not an easy feat. It requires careful planning, understanding user behavior, and incorporating unique features that incentivize users to share and invite others. In this article, we will explore nine ways to build virality into your product, drawing inspiration from successful examples such as LinkedIn and the Pinterest pivot.

1. Create an incentive for users to invite their friends
   One of the most effective ways to build virality is by creating an incentive for users to invite their friends, and for their friends to accept the invite. Rewarding both sides is crucial, as without an incentive, the viral loop won't catch. LinkedIn understood this concept early on by incentivizing users to invite more connections. By prominently displaying the number of connections on a user's profile, LinkedIn encouraged users to start thinking about inviting more people to connect. This simple but effective incentive helped LinkedIn grow its user base significantly.

2. Enable collaboration and communication between users
   Apps built for collaboration or communication between coworkers are inherently viral. While some apps may have a single-user mode, the true value is realized when multiple people use the product. By allowing users to collaborate and communicate with others, you create a network effect that encourages users to invite their colleagues or friends to join. This not only increases engagement but also expands the reach of your product.

3. Allow others to embed your product into their website
   Creating the ability for others to embed your product into their website is a powerful way to build exposure and attract new users. When users see your product being used on other websites, it models the expected content and behavior, making them more likely to try it out. This strategy can be particularly effective for products that provide unique value or solve a specific problem. By embedding your product, users become brand ambassadors, spreading awareness and attracting new users.

4. Harness the power of social sharing
   If your product generates uniquely interesting content, you can leverage social sharing to spread knowledge of your product to a wider audience. The most successful examples in this genre are those that automatically share content onto other networks. By creating a uniquely appealing artifact or experience, you make users want to share it with their networks. This "come for the tool, stay for the network" approach can help drive virality and increase user acquisition.

5. Encourage sharing through messaging
   Another effective way to build virality is by creating artifacts or URLs within your product that are expected to be shared via messaging. Whether it's sharing a link to an interesting article or sending a personalized message with a product recommendation, leveraging messaging platforms can help amplify the reach of your product. Additionally, providing a rich experience around the information that's shared can further incentivize users to spread the word.

6. Leverage viral loops to drive awareness and consideration
   Viral loops are a key component of building virality into your product. These loops involve users spreading awareness and consideration of your product to others. However, it's important to note that conversion and loyalty ultimately depend on the quality of your product. Virality is something that needs to be built into the core mechanics of your product from the start. It cannot be simply glued on later. Focus on creating a high-quality product that users love, and the virality will naturally follow.

The Pinterest Pivot: Insights from Ben Silbermann's Journey

Ben Silbermann's journey from Tote to Pinterest offers valuable insights into the process of pivoting and identifying unmet needs. When Silbermann initially pitched Tote, an app that aimed to replace bulky catalogs, he faced a major setback. The lack of a workable transaction system made it inconvenient for users to make purchases via the app, threatening its very existence. However, Silbermann noticed that Tote users were amassing collections of "favorite" items to share with their friends.

This observation led Silbermann to pivot from Tote to Pinterest, offering users a visually appealing way to display all their collections. He recognized an unmet need and a huge opportunity to create a platform where people could share their interests and collections. The pivot was not a drastic change but an iterative one, building on what Silbermann had learned from his first business. This highlights the importance of being adaptable and open to new opportunities.

In conclusion, building virality into your product requires a strategic approach and an understanding of user behavior. By creating incentives for users to invite their friends, enabling collaboration and communication, allowing others to embed your product, leveraging social sharing and messaging, and focusing on the quality of your product, you can increase the likelihood of achieving viral growth. Furthermore, the story of the Pinterest pivot demonstrates the value of identifying unmet needs and being willing to iterate and adapt. By incorporating these insights into your product development strategy, you can increase the chances of building a viral and successful product.