How to Hit 4 million Users in 6 months – A Startup Case Study(startupremarkable.com)
startupremarkable.com
How to Hit 4 million Users in 6 months – A Startup Case Study
http://www.startupremarkable.com/grow-startup-to-millions-of-users
19 comments
I don't think inviting your friends and get a reward should be tied to Zynga (and/or frowned upon) - this tactic has been used by many companies, ie: Dropbox. I personally like it.
It's Zynga's pay-to-win/continue concept that I have a problem with. That's the reason why I think Zynga is 'evil'.
It's Zynga's pay-to-win/continue concept that I have a problem with. That's the reason why I think Zynga is 'evil'.
Dropbox offers more of a functional reward, vs. the more intangible, arbitrary rewards that Zynga offers.
That and using their size to rip off the designs of smaller companies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zynga#Intellectual_property_con...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zynga#Intellectual_property_con...
This is a sperm telling you how to fertilize the egg. Swim fast, be fit, etc.
How about all the other companies who try the same (completely obvious) tactics and don't reach 4M users in 6 months?
How about all the other companies who try the same (completely obvious) tactics and don't reach 4M users in 6 months?
Agreed. I found this article generic. Actually most articles of the like are. It would be more interesting to know how companies get their first 500 users.
They must have had some other differentiator. Looking at the product's home page it looks like they had support from Nike and several well known football clubs to promote and legitimize the app:
http://iamplayr.com/
Now, obviously, they still had to build a compelling product and plan & execute a marketing strategy. They needed to be ready to succeed. Most people don't have a personal or professional network that includes access to decision-makers in large, influential organizations. Even so they still need to be prepared for that opportunity if and when their network expands.
http://iamplayr.com/
Now, obviously, they still had to build a compelling product and plan & execute a marketing strategy. They needed to be ready to succeed. Most people don't have a personal or professional network that includes access to decision-makers in large, influential organizations. Even so they still need to be prepared for that opportunity if and when their network expands.
That's why if you're going to present this as a case study (which it is not) the title should be "How 'I Am Playr' Hit 4 Million Users in 6 Months - A Case Study."
Hey Diego
Thanks for the comment. In my opinion the reason 'other companies' don't hit reach 4M users in 6 months using the same tactics are:
A) Their product just isn't good enough
B) They may not have the marketing budget to spend on Facebook ads for the initial boost to help Viral marketing kick in
Hence why you haven't heard of them. Hope that helps Howard
Hence why you haven't heard of them. Hope that helps Howard
[deleted]
As the saying goes, they are shit out of luck.
Hey Zabar
Yeah although 4 million users is awesome, I totally appreciate that 4 million is nothing compared to Zynga who have 290 million MAU's (you'll see I refer to this in the blog post in 'caveats', bullet point 2
Cheers
Howard
[deleted]
Thanks for sharing!
What exactly is social in the game ?
On a side note, 4M users for a game in 6 months is great but not that extraordinary. Looking at successes like Draw Something and SongPop, from small developers too, it's more in the 50+M but it's in the mobile social space, not sure if I Am Playr is mobile or not.
What exactly is social in the game ?
On a side note, 4M users for a game in 6 months is great but not that extraordinary. Looking at successes like Draw Something and SongPop, from small developers too, it's more in the 50+M but it's in the mobile social space, not sure if I Am Playr is mobile or not.
"4M users for a game in 6 months is great but not that extraordinary"
Seriously, you think that's not that extraordinary...
Seriously, you think that's not that extraordinary...
I had the same reaction! For anyone who's actually attempted to grow anything, that traction is astounding. The draw-something's of the world did something that doesn't even register. It's so outrageous it doesn't even count.
Doing this effectively is absolutely remarkable all on its own.
Doing this effectively is absolutely remarkable all on its own.
No it's not. Look at the appdata traffic http://www.appdata.com/apps/facebook/155727011143809-i-am-pl...
Around 150k daily active user, it's nice, especially for a first game, but with that you are not even in the top 300 of the facebook platform.
Keep in mind that games are very different from other products. You tend to have lots of them for a short amount of time, then they move to something else. It's not like a service like Dropbox where once acquire you have a very good retention.
Around 150k daily active user, it's nice, especially for a first game, but with that you are not even in the top 300 of the facebook platform.
Keep in mind that games are very different from other products. You tend to have lots of them for a short amount of time, then they move to something else. It's not like a service like Dropbox where once acquire you have a very good retention.
It's the same logic as, "Lebron James totally sucks."
Great article! Thanks for sharing
Seriously though, hopefully this well shed some light on why Zygna uses the techniques they are known for -- they work. Amazingly well. Anyone who spends time in this industry discovers that pretty quickly. And it's really hard for upper management to see those upward kinks in the graph and say "please stop doing that."
The problem is that you have to become pushier and pushier over time and this leads to a slippery slope.