How did Walnut Programming rely on the strategy of bringing in new users to attract 1 million paying users?

Some time ago, Walnut Programming announced that it had exceeded one million paying users, which really surprised me. I always thought it was a relatively small online education institution, but I didn’t expect it to have grown to such a size. It is necessary to understand how it achieved its growth.

I have dissected Walnut Programming as a case study, and at that time I focused on analyzing its core growth driver - the operational conversion logic of the 9.9 yuan group buying class. In fact, the 9.9 yuan group buying class is the core tool of Walnut Programming's self-growth system. Its entire closed-loop construction of old and new employees is achieved on this basis. Let's take a look at it today.

01 Product level

Many old and new products are mainly traffic products and experience products. Walnut Programming is no exception. Its old and new product promotion is designed around a 9.9 yuan trial class. This product is a training camp course consisting of 5 programming classes + 5 parent lectures. It is mainly experience-based and has dedicated teaching assistant tracking services, including group Q&A, one-on-one class reminders, etc. The class mode is recorded broadcast + computer operation. Because programming requires special software to learn, it will give students a strong sense of curiosity, and the effect is easy to see because it is operational content learning, which lowers the operational threshold for dissemination and conversion.

Looking at the packaging level, the copy focuses on "famous American schools" and "zero foundation" because "programming originated in the United States" and in the minds of parents, "programming is a very high-threshold subject", which makes it easy for users to choose to try the product. Later, with the popularity and market development, the copy focused on "children's first programming class", but "zero foundation" is still the main attraction. The other is the teacher packaging, with the "World Robotics Champion" as the main lecturer and teachers who graduated from famous schools such as Ivy League and Tsinghua University forming the teaching and research team. It is a typical application of authoritative psychology. Of course, there are other selling points, such as "fun interactive classroom", "super value gift package", "companion tutoring", etc. The logic is relatively easy to understand, so I will not elaborate on it.

02 Channel Level

Any online education company will spend money to promote its products. This is not within the scope of referral analysis because its impact on referrals is minimal. It is good enough for users to have the time to finish reading your product introduction, and they will not think of good things like you have invitation gifts (group buying is a promotional strategy on the delivery end and can be counted as a way for old customers to bring in new ones).

We only list the referrals that Walnut Programming has placed on its own channels.

In fact, there is a threshold for referrals of Walnut Programming. Only users who have registered for the course can participate in the referral activity. If you are a new user, there will be an obvious mechanism and it will be presented through technology. Specifically, if you are a new user, you will be identified as a new user after scanning the QR code on the invitation poster. The jump page will remind you that you are "not a Walnut Programming student", and then follow the official account, and a course purchase mini program will pop up to guide you to complete the conversion.

In addition, the menu bar for new users is completely different from the menu bar for old users. New users will see the registration entrance for trial classes, while old users will see the participation entrance for referrals. The purpose of the former is obviously to further increase conversions, while the latter is to promote sharing by old students. In addition, after following the official account, regardless of whether you are a student or not, the customer service message will remind you to participate in the referral, but when new users click on the referral link, they will be directed back to the page for following the official account, and the judgment mechanism will still be triggered.

It can be seen that Walnut Programming has put a lot of effort into distinguishing between new and old users, which is worth learning. Only by effectively distinguishing between new and old users can the respective operational effects be maximized. After all, new users should be converted and old users should be encouraged to share.

So, what are the specific channels for old users to share Walnut Programming courses? I have sorted out the following paths.

Let’s first look at the distribution of return traffic numbers (the so-called return traffic numbers are the public accounts followed by course-buying users)

• Customer service message/text message-invitation poster generation entrance/invitation event participation entrance
• Menu bar [Invite with reward] - Submenu [Invite with reward/Generate invitation report]
• Menu bar [Invite with Rewards] - Submenu [Points & Scholarship Inquiry] - Generate invitation poster/upload screenshot/redeem points for gifts
• Menu bar [Invite with Rewards] - Submenu [Points Mall] - Earn Walnut Coins/Activity Center

Let’s look at the distribution of activity account entrances (the so-called activity account is the public account that the course-buying users specifically participate in referrals)

• Customer service message/text message-invitation poster generation entrance/invitation event participation entrance
• Menu bar [Invite with reward] - Submenu [Invite with reward/Generate personalized poster/Generate invitation poster/Upload screenshot]
• Menu bar [Generate invitation poster]
• Menu bar [My Rights] - Submenu [My Rights] - Generate invitation poster/upload screenshots/exchange points for gifts
• Menu bar [My Rights] - Submenu [Walnut Coin Mall] - Earn Walnut Coins/Activity Center
• Menu bar [My Rights] - Submenu [Walnut Coin Details] - Earn Walnut Coins

I took a closer look and found that Walnut Programming has done an excellent job in productization. It is an organization that has a very smooth user logic that I have ever seen. Almost all referral-related functions have online participation entrances, which has significantly increased the referral participation rate. If I want to make a referral product, I can basically design it according to its architecture.

03 Creative level

First of all, let's make it clear that Walnut Programming's referral ideas mainly include group buying and invitation gifts. Group buying for 3 people at 9.9 yuan is one of them, and the other is the tiered group buying for high-priced courses. If the established number of reservations is met, the corresponding preferential rights will be achieved. However, the actual purpose of this is for conversion and renewal, which is far from the core purpose of referral.

Let’s focus on how Walnut Programming’s real referral strategy is designed, and take out our formula: referral effect = sharing efficiency ✖️conversion efficiency ✖️sharing frequency. Because the conversion factor is the 9.9 yuan group class, which has been explained at the product level, this section focuses on analyzing how Walnut Programming can improve sharing efficiency and frequency.

In terms of improving sharing efficiency, Walnut Programming mainly focuses on sharing bait and sharing posters.

Sharing bait is generally used to reward both parties of the referral, and the number of old users must be greater than that of new users. This is a basic reward principle for referral sharing. Walnut Programming mainly uses four types of bait selection: Walnut Coin Points, Redemption Vouchers, Scholarships, and Physical Items (including Points Redemption). Among them, the two most important reward levers are scholarships and Walnut Coin Points. The former has long been the core driving force for Walnut Programming to drive old users to bring in new users, and the latter is the newly added "Walnut Coin" points system and redemption system. Although it makes users' sharing motivation no longer single, the driving name has not changed much. Sometimes there will be new names, which are specific promotions aimed at amplifying the volume of referrals.

Sharing posters provide multiple versions, including personalized posters, for users to selectively share according to their preferences. In poster design, the proportion of altruism and showing off is relatively low, and there are more posters promoting the advantages of experience classes. However, altruistic elements such as the recommender's portrait are embedded in them. It can be said that overall it takes into account both sharing and conversion.

Now let’s look at how Walnut Programming increases the frequency of sharing, which mainly relies on the design of a step-by-step incentive mechanism. First of all, Walnut Programming rewards sharing behavior. As long as you upload a screenshot to share, you can get 2,000 Walnut Coins, and you can get a reward once a week, which ensures a stable sharing frequency, and there is a double reward for the first share, which expands the user base of sharing.

Secondly, Walnut Programming has designed an infinite accumulation mechanism for Walnut Coins, redemption coupons, scholarships and other reward tools, that is, "the more you invite, the more you get, there is no upper limit", which has become a common means to increase the frequency of sharing.

Furthermore, additional tiered rewards can be designed based on the number of invitees, such as giving out different physical prizes based on the number of invitees, or tiered rewards can be designed based on the depth of the invited users' behavior (following, attendance, completing courses, purchasing different types of courses, etc.). For example, following the official account can get you a 10-yuan coupon, and friends can get different amounts of scholarships or walnut coins by signing up for introductory courses and premium courses.

Finally, designing a tiered incentive system for old users’ level of product usage is also a strategy to increase sharing frequency. For example, Walnut Programming has given old users a “1-3-3” free course quota reward plan based on the behavioral gradient of “purchasing regular courses - signing up for premium courses - achieving 100% completion rate of 1 level”.

04 Conclusion

The above is a complete introduction and breakdown of Walnut Programming. Let’s summarize:

• The 9.9 yuan group class is used as the core conversion tool for referrals, and the referral closed loop also revolves around it.
• The referral productization is relatively complete, enriching the traffic entrances from the user's perspective, thereby increasing the participation rate.
• The sharing bait is mainly scholarships, and by building a points system, it enriches the user's sharing motivation.
• Sharing posters are available in multiple versions, taking into account both sharing and conversion.
• The frequency of user sharing is effectively increased through the three strategies of sharing rewards, cumulative rewards, and tiered rewards.

Through disassembly, it can be found that this system is a relatively complete self-growth mechanism, and its excellent productization is a highlight. However, this is not enough to help Walnut Programming win millions of paying users. Channels, operations, retention, and coordination with other means are the real reasons for a company to achieve growth.

Author: Wild Solitary Mushroom

Source: Wild Sophora japonica