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Building mobile communities
1. Building Mobile Communities
Engaging users in a world full of apps
Emmanuel Bellity, Founder & CEO, HeyCrowd
Internet & Mobile World 2012, Bucharest
2. The surge of mobile
Macworld event 2007 : Steve Jobs announced the
iPhone
3. The surge of mobile
September 2012 : 700K apps on the App
Store
4. The discovery issue
In such a competitive space, getting discovered
has become increasingly challenging.
- Paid downloads / ads (Tapjoy, Admob, Flurry...)
8. App store analytics
Flurry : benchmarked retention stats (general)
and analytics on your app
76% of people stop using the app after 3 months
9. Retention is key
Many overnight hits have
quickly disappeared from
the app store rankings.
Need to improve
retention to build an
active and engaged
community of users.
example : Path => half
of the total user base
is active
10. Build a community
- Paid downloads acquisition. Few apps can
afford it and have positive ROI
- Best customer is the one we already have.
- An audience is people who interact with a
service / A community is a network of
people who interact with each other. You
can buy an audience but not a community.
11. Hits : patterns
Many successful applications
are replacements /
improvements from core
functions in native Apple
apps.
Instagram (Camera), Sparrow
(Mail), Whatsapp, GroupMe
(Message), Skype, Tango, Viber
(FaceTime / Phone), Brewster
(Contacts), Spotify (iTunes),
Dropbox (iCloud), Batch
(Photos) ...
12. Hits : patterns
Other successes like Foursquare
have managed to get their fan
base addicted and become part
of their everyday lives.
Recipe : Built a community,
game mechanics, leaderboard,
check in with push
notifications, fun, early
If not a core utility function
and doesn’t create a community
of users => it’s hard.
Example : Banters
13. User Interface
- Good UI, simplicity, fast
- don’t add features, kill
features
- One main screen
- Example : Instagram
14. User Interface
- Avoid signups when
possible
- Get right into the
core experience.
First impression is
key
- Tutorial is not
necessary
15. User Interface
- Use touch instead of
keyboard. Clear.
Onswipe. Sparrow. Grid.
- Don't make user write
too much. example :
Quora works better on
the web
- Short reviews (Yelp),
short messages (Twitter)
19. Interactions
Your toolbox to not
disappear :
- Push notifications
- email, SMS, facebook
- Do it from day one !
(blog: Lies that losers tell :
Ben Horowit)
27. Game Mechanics
Compete with friends : Draw
Something, Songpop, Zynga with
Friends...
Almost impossible to play alone.
Notifications + Retention + Chat +
Ego + Game + Simple + Fast +
Facebook => perfect combo
28. Focus on a niche
Get passionate
users who will
interact and
spread the word
Ex: Foodspotting
for foodies
29. Focus on a niche
Other ex : Runkeeper
for runners
(Here is the founder
running with his app
costume !)
30. Build the community
outside mobile
Lyft puts a pink
moustache on every
car to be clearly
recognized
31. Build the community
outside mobile
HipMunk logo is
also a real
mascotte in their
office !