How can an APP perform user growth operations in the seed stage?

The product operation cycle is generally divided into three stages : seed stage, explosive stage and platform stage, and the seed stage is the most important stage in APP operation; the seed stage is a process of user growth from 0 to 1 at the beginning of APP online operation, which is a relatively difficult operation stage.

How to understand seed stage users

1. Many people mistakenly believe that:

(1) Seed users = the first batch of users, initial users

(2) Seed stage pursues user quantity rather than user quality

(3) Every user in the seed phase is the operator’s responsibility;

2. What is a seed user?

(1) They are the first batch of users you acquire when your app is launched, and they are the ones who stay and bring in more users.

(2) They are your loyal fans (heavy users). They are willing to try out your product regardless of whether it is fully functional or not, and are happy to provide feedback and optimization suggestions for the APP product features.

(3) To grow users in the seed phase, products, operations, design, and development need to help each other and bring together seed users. This requires teamwork, not just operations alone.

If your product fails to provide value to users and fails to meet their needs, then why would users use your product?

What should products and operations do during the seed stage?

(1) For products:

① Understand the MVP principle. Don’t be afraid of bugs after the APP is launched. As long as the main process of the APP runs smoothly and there are no bugs, it’s fine. MVP plays a vital role in the seed stage operation stage and has a great impact on operations.

② APP functions do not need to be complex, but they must have core functions to gain user recognition and retain users;

When it comes to this aspect, I believe many people will think of the chestnuts often cited by many experts: WeChat , Momo;

PS: I won’t go into details about Box Fungus, you can go and read the book “User Power”;

(2) For operations: the most important thing is to identify the target user group;

For operators, they cannot use a "wide net" approach during the seed stage; ① they need to screen target users and study the characteristics of target users; ② they need to operate strategically to activate seed users and allow them to remain; they must clearly know who our users are? Where are they? How do we obtain them?

Box Fungus borrowed from the book "User Power" and summarized the characteristics of the seed user group as follows:

① Strong demand, the user group must be clear, and the smaller the group definition, the better;

② The user group loves to spread information, and the younger the better;

How to get seed users

(1) Invite users with sincerity

In the seed stage, user growth operations focus on quality rather than quantity. When the APP product is first launched, the product has a basic core positioning, and the operators have also identified their user groups. Then we can send product use invitations to our target groups through soft articles or one-on-one private message invitations.

Of course, the invitation process also requires skills. Users must understand what value the APP provides to them, how it is differentiated from other products, and how they feel lucky to be invited to use it.

Throughout the entire process, we must provide good user services to improve user retention ;

(2) Find user gathering places, cultivate a group of active vests, and solve user confusion;

In every industry and field, there is a user gathering place, such as Tieba , forums, Q&A, QQ groups, WeChat groups , etc. After finding the target user gathering place, use multiple accounts to be active: ① Ask and answer questions by yourself, ② Answer questions or posts asked by users, ③ Publish valuable content (soft articles, sharing);

For example, Activity Box is an intelligent activity SAAS management tool for APP applications, so the target users of the product are APP operators. Generally speaking, operators are active on some operation information websites and WeChat groups, so Box Bacteria should be active on these information websites and various WeChat communities to get to know everyone.

PS: I believe that many operators have heard of activity boxes to some extent!

(3) Use your connections to find well-known people/products in the industry to use. This is the so-called "celebrity effect"

Many products use celebrities to promote their products, and some products cooperate with well-known products to promote their products. For example, Zhihu and Sina Weibo are well-known examples. These two products relied on attracting celebrities to join the products in the early stage. However, not all products can do this, and it requires strong connections and energy.

(4) Commission articles, conduct interviews, and use some media platforms for exposure;

Box Jun has previously collected a large number of industry websites targeting entrepreneurship . Most of these websites have the functions of reporting, interviewing, and uploading products; for example: Chuangyebang , 36kr , Huxiu.com, ITjuzi, GeekPark, etc. These platforms have very high brand awareness on the Internet, and we can cooperate with these platforms to achieve product exposure;

(5) Offline promotion and publicity

When the product was first launched, the brand had not yet been established, so it was quite difficult to do marketing! A typical example is the O2O fresh food industry, such as food delivery apps and distribution platforms. There are no users at the beginning, so why would you attract users to your platform?

Therefore, marketing personnel need to spend a lot of time communicating with merchants and discussing cooperation one by one ! Hezijun has a friend named Fatty, who worked in marketing for a newly launched APP delivery platform two years ago. He ran around the streets all day, negotiating cooperation with merchants and providing daily user communication services, with the aim of getting merchants to become seed users. In the beginning, Hezijun heard Fatty say that he was very tired, running around several places and several stores a day. But later, as he became familiar with the business and the brand began to take shape, it became easier for him to negotiate cooperation!

This method of ground promotion is relatively hard! But if done well, the results are very good;

Seed stage user growth operation is a process from 0 to 1! Although this process is relatively difficult, as long as you do a good job in product business flow, product positioning, and identify target users, I believe there are many ways to help your APP product acquire seed users! Operation is a process of continuous experimentation. It’s never too late to try more and discover earlier! Of course, doing a good job of user group positioning is to help products and operations avoid detours!

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

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