I have been working on a social network that focuses on a new system. So I want to learn where to start for scalable growth. I am already thinking of going to press for buzz and turn the buzz to viral marking (with a technique I have developed for African setting) and revenue.However, Onalaja, an editor on techcabal disagreed. Need your advice. what should I do?
After creating what people want , will it grow itself? most people do say create what people want; pinterest is a very nice app that people like , but it did not grow from the outset because its creator did not promote it. There are so many apps out there that people want but are folding up . So tell me necessary to scale growth after creating what people want.
Ay, @Ayobami_Ogundiran go with your guts and experiment, but not before understanding the various options you have. Press alone cannot give you virality, virality is enabled from within the product.
There are several free channels you can explore, before you consider a paid channel, except of course, the press is free.
Btw, you should checkout Growth Spartan.
Let me know if you need more information.
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@tjwizking, thanks for the link. I have plans but I think it is also very important to learn from those who are already doing it in the real world that is why I am here. Growth hacks have been built into the product. Thanks.
Hard to advice blindly. Different products require unique growth strategies, and @akindolu’s now deleted advice of making something people want is actually quite sound. You will realize that in maintaining your product, you are actually enhancing and improving the bits people use while slowly deemphasizing everything else. If people want to use it, they will definitely want their friends to as well and that’s where the growth hacks you say you have built in come into play.
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Buzz is good but that will not make it scale. Haven’t seen a social network that went down this route of paid advertisement from the onset. There is nothing stopping you from doing this. You can always experiment.
Having said that, social network can never go viral without users. See it as a shopping mall - it needs people and loads of them. The more the number of people going there to shop the more the number of people who ‘get to know’ about it.
When people use your app and when they see that it is ‘awesome’ they will invite their friends and families.
Advert alone can not be sufficient.
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In addition to my earlier comment, read this article supplied by @papaolabode on another thread. Thought it useful to post a relevant bit here
Full article for you to read - you will need it
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@akindolu has a good point by saying " create what people want", @xolubi, thanks for the point you raised. Anyway, what I want us to address is whether to go for press or not at the early stage of a startup development after creating what people want and the reasons why we choose our positions. For me, going to press and not going really bring problems; what we choose should depend on our technical abilities.So I believe that a startup should go for press release after reaching its market fit and should not concentrate its development time on just press.
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I’m not sure if there’s a right or wrong in that context. Some startups go to press even before they have a soul testing their product.
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Yes, I agree with you in that respect. Probably Onalaja tried to advise us not to concentrate all our time on looking out for press. Thanks a lot. @xolubi I will like to invite you to be one of our early testers when our webapp and app are live. Thanks .
Word of mouth is best but it can be driven by press so good idea to complement one with the other. Word of mouth is best to begin with tho because press often gets things wrong.
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@iaboyeji. Thanks for raising solid points
Yeah, there are no right or wrong approach. Try all or many, measure all and choose the best that works.
What can’t be measured can’t be done and what can’t be done can’t be improved
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Honestly, the best advice i would give is for you to read the book " The lean startup" atleast 2 times
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Word of mouth over press. Word of mouth validates press reviews and generates instant impact.
… then back it up with Traction by Gab and Justin