APP operation: How to operate the four life cycles of a product?

Let’s think about a question first: Do those successful products have anything in common?

To answer this question, we need to first look at some relatively successful products and their growth trajectory from their birth to the present. The growth trajectory mentioned here is viewed from the dimensions of time and number of users.

Let’s first take a look at the growth trajectory of the “ Get ” app (pictures and data are from Kuchuan). The horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is download volume. It can be seen from the graph that during the period from June 2015 to December 2015, the curve was very flat and the download volume was very small. Starting from January 2016, the curve gradually became steeper and the growth rate of download volume gradually increased.

Let’s take a look at the growth trajectory of the “ Didi ” APP.

Comparing the growth trajectories of the two apps, have you found any similarities? I believe you have already seen something. In the early stages of a product, the growth rate of users is very slow. However, at a certain period or stage, the growth rate of users is very high.

Therefore, the above two cases lead to the " product life cycle " that this article will talk about. What is the “Product Life Cycle”? This can be easily explained through the following picture:

The horizontal axis is time, and the vertical axis is the number of active users/active times. The growth trajectory of a successful product is consistent with that shown in the above figure. Every successful product goes through four stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline . The four stages are characterized as follows:

Introduction stage : users do not understand the product yet, user growth is slow, the product is still being explored, and the market prospects are unclear.

Growth stage : Users are already familiar with the product, the number of users is growing rapidly, and competitors are entering the market.

Mature stage : User growth slows down until it starts to decline. There are very few potential users, market demand is saturated, and competition intensifies.

Decline stage : New products or substitutes emerge, and users turn to other products, causing the number of users of the original product to decline rapidly.

Here, you may have a question: Why is the growth trajectory of a product like this?

To answer this question, we need to first look at the composition of users in the market. The user composition of the market can be roughly divided into the following categories: early adopters & innovators, mass users, and laggards . Let’s take a look at the characteristics of these types of users:

Early adopters & innovators : They are willing to try and use new products. The number of users is small and they are suitable for users who are the main target of the product during the introduction period.

Mass users : There are already many people around them using the product, so this group of users is willing to use it. There are a large number of users, and they are suitable as the main users of products in the growth stage.

Laggards : They are not very sensitive to new things, do not understand the Internet , and are small in number.

Corresponding to the user composition in the market, look back at the growth trajectory of a product. Here, I will take the product introduction stage as an example.

During the introduction phase of a product, its functions are not perfect and it is still in the exploration stage. Its market prospects are unclear. This stage can only attract early adopters and innovators. Early adopters are willing to try various products and have a small number of users. Therefore, when the product is in the introduction stage, the number of users is small and the user growth rate is slow.

So this is what the growth trajectory of a product would be like. This also answers the question we raised at the beginning: Do those successful products have anything in common? The answer is: Yes . Their growth trajectories are similar.

As an operator , you must carry out operations that are in line with the product life cycle . So the next question is undoubtedly what everyone is most concerned about: What should be done at different stages of a product?

Introduction period :

At this stage, the product's market prospects are unclear and its functions are not perfect. Therefore, we can only continue to explore, iterate quickly, and build user reputation. At this stage, it is enough to do just one thing: provide users with an experience that exceeds their expectations.

What did Xiaomi do for its users in the early days? Xiaomi will respond and reply to every user's question and suggestion as soon as possible, and once the problem is solved, it will stamp a "solved" stamp under the user's problem. Just imagine, if your suggestions were taken so seriously and were likely to be reflected in the product, how would you feel? This is how the experience beyond expectations comes about.

For example, you go to Taobao to buy a piece of clothing. After receiving the goods, you find that the clothes are packed in a very exquisite box and you are also given a few pairs of socks as a gift. How do you feel? For example, a company invites you to participate in an offline event and specially makes a very high-end electronic invitation letter for you. How do you feel?

After you have this kind of experience that exceeds your expectations, are you more willing to do more publicity for it? Would you prefer to stay here for a long time?

Growth stage :

During the growth stage, the most important thing is to increase user growth , and the rate of user growth is very important. At this stage, you will face many competitors, and if you are not fast enough, your competitors will occupy the market. By that time, you may never be able to turn things around.

There are many common means of user growth, such as subsidies, advertising , event planning, activities, finding benchmark cases for packaging and promotion, etc. The most important thing is to find a method that suits your product. For consumer products, subsidies are the most suitable method, such as Didi, Meituan , and Ele.me.

Maturity :

In the mature stage, the focus is on user activity and commercial monetization . Products at this stage will basically carry out refined user operations, building user incentive systems , building activity systems, advertising and e-commerce monetization, etc.

For example, refined user operations generally involve tiered user operations. Different operational measures are taken for users at different levels to achieve one's goals, which can be to convert low-value users into high-value users, or to increase GMV, etc.

Another example is the construction of an activity system. At this stage, the product generally has a special place to display activities. For example, Taobao and JD.com have set up many special places to display activities. And during operation, these places will have activity schedules and will be updated regularly.

Decline :

At this stage, the most important thing is to prevent user churn and retain users . You may need to define the criteria for user churn , establish an early warning mechanism, and then take appropriate measures to prevent user churn. This stage is very difficult. You may have done a lot of right things, but still cannot win back users. This may be the fate of a product. It has reached the end, and you just need to do your best.

A very important point in operation is to use your efforts in the right place and at the right time . This is also mentioned above, operations must be carried out in line with the product life cycle . Never try to increase users during the introduction phase, or explore products during the growth phase. This will undoubtedly push a product to the brink of collapse, leaving it with no chance of recovery.

Sometimes, there is nothing wrong with a specific operation method of yours, but it just doesn’t achieve the desired effect. You can stop and think carefully about whether you are using your efforts in the wrong place or at the wrong time.

Source: Jianshu