User Growth Framework Construction and Disassembly

The user growth framework is the first step in user operations. Only by relying on the growth framework to acquire users can we have subsequent user operations, form a healthy user operation system, and drive business forward.

So how do you build a user growth framework? Today we will start with the AARRR model and break down the specific steps of building the growth framework in stages.

1. Acquisition

For a new product, it is very important to find the right channel for user acquisition; the user acquisition process is like catching fish in a pond. In order to acquire accurate users, the selection of the target traffic pool must be as accurate as possible.

Some companies will assign this link to a dedicated marketing department or channel operation department; but for user operation colleagues, understanding the content of this part of the work is very helpful for building a user operation system. We must eliminate the boundaries between departments and actively participate in this link.

If there is a new K12 product that needs to acquire customers, what channels will you find?

The first thing we need to figure out is what kind of users we need; K12 users are students from preschool to high school education, with an age range of 4 to 18 years old, but in this age group, most of the time it is the students' parents who put forward more opinions; so, what we actually need are parents born in the 1980s.

Secondly, we need to figure out where to acquire these users. Parents born in the 1980s are in middle age, and they often appear on Kuaishou, Douyin, subways, buses, and news information. For these channels, we can place targeted product advertisements to attract parents to download the App and buy courses for their children, thereby acquiring users.

There are three indicators that need to be paid attention to at this stage: the number of new users (activity effect), user acquisition cost (cost estimate), and new user retention (channel quality).

During the user acquisition stage, word-of-mouth recommendations from old users are also a channel to bring new users to the product. We will discuss this in detail later.

2. Activation

After entering your product, new users do not have enough knowledge about the product itself and cannot be considered your users at this time. How to complete the conversion from new users to active users is the first problem we face.

Here, we can provide new users with a concise onboarding guide to help them quickly understand our App; e-commerce products can give new users exclusive benefits to allow users to complete their first order with a lower threshold; reading apps can give users free books to guide them to start using the App.

It should be noted that the threshold for user activation must be low enough . If the threshold is very high, it will be equivalent to shutting out most users, which will result in a very bad experience and will not be conducive to the development of the product. Taking online education as an example, before allowing users to pay for large classes, they will be invited to take trial classes with fewer class hours. This reduces the cost of trial and error for users and also eliminates invalid users for the product.

At the product level, by optimizing the registration page, improving the registration retention rate, and reducing user loss in the early stages, it is also very beneficial for the overall user growth.

3. Retention

After using the App for a period of time, if users cannot continue to obtain value, it will also cause user churn.

“Users come quickly and leave quickly,” which proves that the product itself has no stickiness and cannot generate long-term value for users.

So how to solve this problem?

First, we need to monitor the product’s next-day retention, weekly retention, monthly retention and other data ; observe the user’s churn cycle, and take corresponding measures within the cycle to encourage users to continue using the product.

Secondly, build a user growth and incentive system and make good use of users' sunk costs ; points redemption, content accumulation, and membership system can connect users and your products more closely and enhance stickiness.

There is also periodic product activity planning , function iteration and optimization; allowing users to continuously obtain freshness and value is basic work that needs to be done continuously.

4. Revenue

In addition to charity, the core of making products is to make profits. So how can we make users pay willingly?

Free apps combine advertising and props to guide users to obtain certain props by playing ads to achieve effects, and the products use this to obtain advertising revenue.

Compared with other paid apps, apps with similar functions provide better experience and different functions create irreplaceability, thereby charging users.

So how should the payment process be guided?

• Improve user perception: What privileges do I get from the membership I bought? How beautiful are the clothes I bought? How good are the effects of the cosmetics I bought?
• Create usage scenarios: combine the product with specific scenarios in life, for example: give Melatonin as a gift;
• Provide trial opportunities: Let users understand the product and gain awareness of it;
• Declare exclusive rights: Tell users clearly that this is mine alone and they can only use it if they pay. For example: exclusive resources on video websites.

5. Referral

In the user acquisition phase, we mentioned that channel placement is not the only way for a product to acquire users. Another way is through recommendation.

For example:

• After placing an order for Meituan Takeout, you can share red envelopes with friends;
• Get App allows you to invite friends to read paid content for free;
• Pinduoduo guides users to share with others through group buying prices;
• …

These features stimulate sharing through rewards , providing a channel for the product to continuously acquire users. Another type is that the product itself has good experience, good design, and good content, which leads to spontaneous sharing by users, which takes the product's internal strength into consideration.

VI. Conclusion

Why do we use the AARRR model to explain the construction of the user growth framework?

Because user growth not only includes the initial launch of traffic, user activation, user payment, and user recommendation and dissemination, all these links are motivating us to continuously optimize our products and improve service quality.

Only when we achieve the level of user recognition can we retain the users we attract and make them willing to help spread the product, thus achieving the effect of "one person tells ten, ten people tell a hundred."

Let’s review the steps of building our growth model:

1. User acquisition: identify the type of users needed, analyze user characteristics, and match corresponding customer acquisition channels;
2. User activation, lowering the threshold, allowing users to use and experience the product;
3. User retention: Use activities and product features to increase the frequency of user use of the product and cultivate user dependence on the product;
4. To gain revenue, create usage scenarios for users, enhance their awareness of functional selling points, or provide trials, clarify exclusivity, etc., to guide payment;
5. Recommended dissemination, guiding users to spread the word through the sharing reward function, and letting users spread the word spontaneously by optimizing the ultimate product experience and content.

In addition, building a dedicated user growth team that integrates user operations, marketing, product managers, event operations and other aspects into one; breaking down departmental gaps, collaborating to energize products, and expanding the user base, the impact on the company's overall performance is naturally self-evident.

Author: Bai Shuo Operation

Source: Baishuo Operation