A complete analysis of the app’s customer acquisition strategy by bringing in new customers through old customers!

The friend invitation mechanism is a standard form of promotion for apps. Currently, almost all apps use the friend invitation mechanism as a means of social fission during their growth stage, using a lower customer acquisition cost to achieve the goal of attracting new users and promoting activation.

How to position yourself in the AARRR funnel

In the AARRR hourglass model that studies the product life cycle, we can even regard Referral as an important factor in stimulating activity and improving retention, because many times these five stages are not necessarily a step-by-step conversion, and the links are often in a state of parallel penetration and mutual reinforcement.

What we need to think about is how to rationally plan the communication and recommendation links to achieve healthy funnel conversions. In practice, the most direct approach is to work on the App’s friend invitation mechanism.

How to create fission through invitation mechanism

First of all, we must realize that the essence of the invitation mechanism is a kind of fission marketing. Unlike traditional marketing, fission marketing relies heavily on social platforms as a communication medium, and fission creativity and reward design that are in line with product characteristics are the key to motivating users to share and convert.

Let’s look at a few classic cases:

Dropbox: Dropbox is the world's largest cloud storage website today. In the early days, it achieved explosive growth through three strategies: "users get 250MB for each successful invitation", "users get 128MB for each confession to Dropbox on social platforms", and "users get 250MB for registering using a friend's invitation link". The total number of users increased from 100,000 to 4 million in 14 months, with almost no excessive marketing costs during this period.

Shenzhou Private Car: Shenzhou Private Car has long had an "Invite and Get Gifts" interface in its App. Old users only need to invite friends, register and take their first ride to get three 20-yuan reward coupons. There is no upper limit to the more coupons they invite. This page has brought at least 70% of new users to Shenzhou Private Car.

Pinduoduo: The secret of Pinduoduo's success lies in its viral social fission strategy, which allows users to obtain discounts through sharing, and constantly stimulates users as traffic centers to spontaneously invite social circles to participate in "group buying and bargaining". Relying on this social + e-commerce invitation mechanism, Pinduoduo has attracted nearly 300 million users in less than three years.

Different product tones adapt to different promotion strategies. These three groups of cases have respectively grasped the characteristics of " low cost, sustainability, and easy fission " under the invitation mechanism, created diverse fission ideas in the invitation method, and brought them to the extreme in practice. When users find themselves in a cycle of "sharing" and "rewards", they have become seed users of fission marketing. At this time, every participant and beneficiary is a disseminator of the brand.

The form and gameplay of the invitation mechanism

1. Invitation code

The invitation code format was created to solve the problem in the invitation logic that the system cannot automatically identify the invitation relationship between A and B. Only when the user writes in the exclusive channel code can the system recognize and issue rewards to both parties. However, this method requires users to register and fill out forms in the App, which has high operating costs and a certain risk of user loss. It is only suitable for products that guide users to download and use the App.

Basic logic:

Old users share the invitation link (H5 landing page);

New users open the page and download the App;

New users open the App to register an account and enter the invitation code given by the inviter;

After successful registration, the system will recognize the invitation relationship and issue rewards.

Gameplay Analysis:

(1) Toutiao (Extreme Edition): Invitation + Reading Reward System

Last year, Toutiao launched the express version. The biggest highlight was the invitation sharing function and the appearance of the reading reward system. It mainly adopted the continuous reward method and divided the 32 yuan reward into three parts:

"You will get gold coins if your friends read for three consecutive days", which can motivate old users to supervise and ensure that new users continue to be active;

"Friends earn coins by reading three articles every day" can cultivate new users' usage habits and encourage new users to become sticky to the App;

"If a friend reads every day, he can earn double the gold coins", which protects the interests of both parties and is mutually beneficial, giving both parties the motivation to share.

In addition, in the App, invitation entrances and induced sharing can be seen everywhere in the [Task] and [My] interfaces. The main words used are "make money" and "cash", and the color tone is also red, which can produce psychological hints and strong visual temptations for users.

In terms of the invitation mechanism, the more invitations you make, the more rewards you get, with no upper limit. The more invitations you make, the more rewards you get, which means that one invitation code can be used unlimitedly, but it also stipulates that a mobile terminal can only be used once, which can avoid the behavior of some freeloaders.

(2) NetEase Planet: Hunger Marketing + One-Way Rewards

1) When NetEase Planet was first launched, filling in the invitation code was a required option when registering, which meant that the invitation code became the entry threshold. NetEase intended to make the invitation code a scarce resource and spread it to the target population through old users.

After screening a group of target seed users through early invitation code hunger marketing, NetEase Planet has now begun to expand its user base, gradually opening up invitation code restrictions and making the invitation code an optional item on the registration page. This invitation code system is very suitable for products that have a usage threshold or require a strong community atmosphere in the early stages.

2) It is worth noting that NetEase Planet adopts a rare one-way reward system. If the invitation code is successfully used, only the inviter will be rewarded, and an account has only 50 opportunities to use it. In fact, it is not particularly friendly to new users, especially when the invitation code becomes an optional item.

3) Adopting tiered rewards, higher rewards can be obtained after successfully inviting users more than 10 times. In fact, this only mobilizes the enthusiasm of old users, and the rewards are upgraded after obtaining 10 new users. This threshold is a bit high and is not suitable for the promotion strategy of most apps.

(3) Million Heroes: Game experience + props

Million Heroes relies on platforms such as Douyin, Xigua Video, and Toutiao to attract traffic in the form of a quiz game. The invitation method is simple and crude, using the user's gaming experience as a bargaining chip. In the 10-question game, you can use a resurrection card to immune to one wrong answer, but the resurrection card needs to be obtained by having friends fill in an invitation code.

The game conditions are set so that the resurrection card can only be used once in a game, which means that heavy users need to obtain the resurrection card by inviting a new user to join each game.

A user can only fill in the invitation code once, which means that the user who fills in the invitation code is a new user to a certain extent, and it also ensures the scarcity of the resurrection card.

Allowing the invitation code to be used by multiple people encourages old users to share the invitation code to public social platforms such as WeChat groups, Moments, and Weibo.

2. Invite link

The invitation link is usually in the form of an H5 landing page. The main method is to require users to register an account using their mobile phone number or email address, and then guide them to the App to complete designated operations to issue rewards. This method is suitable for a step-by-step reward system, which is relatively easier for users to accept, but it requires detailed planning.

Basic logic:

Old users share the invitation link (H5 landing page);

New users open the page and fill in the specified information, such as mobile phone number, email address, etc.

Guide new users to download the App, open and log in to their accounts, and complete designated operations;

The system recognizes the invitation relationship and issues rewards.

Gameplay Analysis:

(1) Luckin Coffee: Diversified social fission

Luckin Coffee’s fission methods are mainly the following two:

Invite to win a cup: Friends can get a free coupon + 6 50% off coupons by sharing the link and entering their mobile phone number. If the friend makes a purchase, the inviter can get a 24 yuan experience coupon.

Place an order and get a coupon: Purchase any product and you will get one of 20 coupons. The discount depends on your luck, and the rest can be shared with friends.

1) To get a cup of invitation, you must fill in the mobile phone number verification relationship on the invitation link shared by the old user. After the new user obtains the free coffee coupon, he only needs to download the App or mini program to use it. Compared with a free cup of coffee, this usage threshold is obviously very low, and users will have a stronger sense of gain.

2) It is also quite interesting to receive coupons when placing an order. The shared page comes with random game methods such as "slot machines, try your luck" to distribute discount coupons, which can trigger another wave of fission and form a second conversion among users.

3) Almost every step of sharing is mutually beneficial, but each time there is a focus on one side and is accompanied by a certain degree of randomness (slot machines, etc.). This method is very suitable for apps with social attributes.

(2) Didi Chuxing: Sustainable + Checkable at any time

Didi’s current rewards and subsidies are not as many as in the previous expansion stage, but it still retains the [Rewards for Recommendations] function, which shows that the invitation function is always a customer acquisition method worth continuing in Didi’s promotion process.

1) Didi currently adopts a step-by-step reward system, similar to Luckin Coffee. The invitee registers a number on the invitation page to receive a coupon, which must be used for the first time in the App before the inviter can obtain the same reward. Splitting the reward link to encourage new users to download the App and make their first purchase is a common practice in the invitation link method.

The focus of the invitation code format is different from that of the invitation code format. The invitation code format establishes an invitation relationship and completes the task only when the new user fills in the invitation code; the invitation link generally completes the first step by filling in the mobile phone number on the invitation page, and then guides the new user to the App to complete the specified operation.

2) The distributed reward system can be considered like Didi App, where a details viewing page is set up on the [Recommendation Reward] page to facilitate the inviter to check the "number of successful invitations, reward distribution status, and specific operation progress of the invitee" at any time.

How to optimize the App invitation mechanism

1. No invitation code required

The essence of not having to fill in an invitation code is an application of channel source tracking technology. In the invitation logic, it can eliminate the manual steps of users such as "filling in the invitation code, filling in the mobile phone number on the page", and the operation cost is relatively low, allowing users to achieve the best experience in the invitation process. Domestic openinstall is already able to provide this technology, but specific business discussions and how to reasonably integrate it into business logic require everyone to explore on their own.

2. Make good plans and observe data

If you plan to develop the invitation mechanism as a long-term mechanism, you will need to do more testing and planning, and consider the balance between effect and cost. For example, Ele.me has launched a coupon campaign with coupons worth 3 yuan, 5 yuan, and 10 yuan. After trying it, it was found that the 5 yuan coupon was better balanced.

This also involves the issue of the feedback cycle. The feedback on the effectiveness of the invitation mechanism can be provided in the form of validity period, usage period, etc. A short feedback period is conducive to timely adjustment of product strategies and improvement plans, but specific products need to be analyzed specifically. For example, the free coupons for new customers received from Luckin Coffee are valid for one year. Since coffee is not a necessity, it is more reasonable to give a longer consumption period. Didi Chuxing's new customer coupons must be consumed within 7 days before rebates can be given to the inviter, and it is also a reasonable condition for the user to complete a trip within a week.

As for the evaluation method, you can build a funnel model and try to check the conversion rate from important indicators such as "page visits-number of shares-number of downloads-number of registrations-completion of designated tasks", evaluate the quality of the plan, and analyze the detailed reasons.

Summarize

The basic forms of invitation are: invitation code, invitation link, picture QR code, text link, free invitation code, etc. The focus of each invitation logic is different, and you can choose according to the product positioning and characteristics of the target population.

To summarize the above case, when setting up the invitation link, some issues need to be considered from different perspectives:

Should there be multiple or just one entrance for the friend invitation function? What kind of copywriting and interaction should be used to encourage users to forward.

Should users limit one-to-one invitations or allow one-to-many invitations? Is it necessary to limit the number of invitations and mobile terminals?

Should the product be designed to strengthen the community atmosphere or use fission marketing? Determine the invitation strategy based on the height of the product usage threshold.

Should we adopt one-way rewards or two-way rewards? Specifically, it also includes tiered rewards, continuous rewards, step-by-step rewards, etc.

At what stage should the invitation system be embedded, such as creating a sense of scarcity and bundling it with the rules of the game.

Should the invitation process be fun or ceremonial? How to enhance users’ sense of gain.

It is best to add step-by-step rewards to the invitation details viewing page to improve users' right to know.

It is best to set a feedback cycle (validity period, etc.) for the reward form to facilitate evaluation of improvement plans at any time.

Try to bundle rewards with consumption as much as possible, use consumer coupons, vouchers, points props, etc. to cultivate new users' consumption habits and convert new users into the core business of the product.

In short, the invitation mechanism is highly malleable. Combined with different product logics, it can create more new ways of playing. The solution that best suits your own product must be the one that best fits the product's tone. A good invitation mechanism can bring new users, exposure, retention rate, activity, and even fission to the product.

Author: Winter Dream Source: Jianshu