Community Growth Hacks: Why Delighted Users are the Best Way to Grow - Jess Lee / Polyvore at Hustlecon 2014

1. Why Delighted Users are the Best Way to Grow
COMMUNITY GROWTH HACKS

2. Hi! I’m
Jess Lee
POLYVORE CEO & CO-FOUNDER /
GOOGLE MAPS PM / STANFORD CS /
MANGA / DRAWING / BACON /
jessyoko.com
@jesskah

3. Polyvore is a New Way to
Discover & Shop for Things You Love
3SOURCE: POLYVORE INTERNAL DATA
+
=
+

4. 20M
Visitors
Per Month
4
52%
20%
15% 13%
AGES
18-34 35-44 45-54 55+
77%
FEMALE
$70k+
AVERAGE HHI
24%
$100k+
SOURCE: UNIQUE VISITOR NUMBER: POLYVORE INTERNAL DATA; DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: NIELSEN RESEARCH, @PLAN Q3 2013; BASE = ONLINE ADULTS 18+

5. 2nd Largest
Driver of Social
Commerce Traffic
HIGH QUALITY SOCIAL
TRAFFIC THAT CONVERTS
BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE
5
0.7
0.9
1.0
1.6
5%15%20%60%$93K$2.1M$6.3M$10.7M
TOTAL SALES
FROM SOCIAL SESSIONS
AVERAGE SHARE
OF TRAFFIC
SALES TO TRAFFIC RATIO
$383 $58
$92
$199
SOURCE: RICH RELEVANCE 2013
AVERAGE ORDER
VALUE PER SESSION

6. 4M
Sets created
per month
6
OUTFITS, COLLAGES,
MOODBOARDS MADE BY A
GLOBAL USER COMMUNITY

7. The best kind of growth hacking is
cultivating a delighted community of users

8. Word of Mouth à GrowthDelight à

9. Delight à Traffic Growth

10. Delight à Funding Growth
I heard about you 3 times recently:
1) My assistant loves your site and
mentioned you at work
2) My best friend (CEO of a major
fashion brand) is an advertiser
and mentioned you at dinner
3) My old colleague (exec at an
investment bank) mentioned you
at a conference we were at
“

11. Community Hacks: How to Build a
Delighted User Community

12. 12
3 Principles for Delighted Communities
LEARN: LEARN FROM COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
LOVE: SHOW THE COMMUNITY HOW MUCH YOU CARE
LIVE: COMMUNITY STARTS FROM WITHIN

13. 13
LIVE: COMMUNITY STARTS FROM WITHIN
Your company has to truly care about your community. If not, it’ll show.

14. Make it part of your culture
BAKE IT INTO YOUR COMPANY VALUES AND NEW HIRE ORIENTATION
14

15. Decorate your office with community memorabilia
LOVE LETTERS AND COMMUNITY CONTENT AS WALL DÉCOR
15

16. Do a weekly email update about community
TOP FEATURE REQUESTS, LOVE LETTERS, MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
16

17. Hire a dedicated community team
THEY DO CUSTOMER SUPPORT + TOP MEMBER OUTREACH PROGRAMS
17

18. 18
LEARN: LEARN FROM COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
Listen to your community and incorporate their feedback into your product

19. Get feedback from your community early
FLINTO WORKS WELL FOR VERY EARLY PROTOTYPES
19

20. Write good launch announcements that explain why
ANTICIPATE CHANGE AVERSION
20
Today, we’re excited to share a new version of
the Polyvore iPhone app that makes it easier,
faster and more fun to find and browse what
you love. Here are some of the things we’ve
changed:
Simpler, cleaner design. Mobile apps are best
when they’re simple! We got feedback that
horizontal scrolling was confusing, so we
changed the Feed to scroll vertically. Based on
feedback from our many beta testers, we
found that this is much easier and faster to
use. While we were at it, we took the time to
make our design feel more streamlined and
modern..

21. Listen carefully to the feedback
COLLECT EVERYTHING INTO A GOOGLE DOC AND TALLY THE TOP REQUESTS
21

22. Respond quickly with updates
PROVE THAT YOU’RE REALLY LISTENING
22

23. Address problems head on
SHOW THAT YOU’RE HUMAN
23

24. Say sorry
SHOW THAT YOU’RE HUMAN
24

25. Say thank you
SHOW THAT YOU’RE HUMAN
25

26. 26
LOVE: SHOW THE COMMUNITY HOW MUCH YOU CARE
Make sure your community knows how much you love and appreciate them.

27. Spotlight community in your product & social media
INTERVIEW TOP USERS. FEATURE THEM IN YOUR PRODUCT. TWEET AT THEM.
27

28. Send your community gifts and handwritten thank you notes
PERSONALIZED GIFTS AND HANDWRITTEN NOTES ARE MORE MEANINGFUL
28

29. Help your community achieve their dreams & aspirations
FIND OUT WHAT THEIR DREAMS AND ASPIRATIONS ARE
29

30. Help your community achieve their dreams & aspirations
USE YOUR PERSONAL NETWORK AND COMPANY CONNECTIONS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
30

31. 31
3 Principles for Delighted Communities
LEARN: LEARN FROM COMMUNITY FEEDBACK
LOVE: SHOW THE COMMUNITY HOW MUCH YOU CARE
LIVE: COMMUNITY STARTS FROM WITHIN

32. Delight à Word of Mouth à Growth
As long as I have been a member of Polyvore,
the team has always been attentive and kept
the community their number one priority. I
always assumed that as Polyvore grew, the
genuine concern for the users' satisfaction
would take a backseat to other company
goals. Fortunately, I was very wrong! I am
continually amazed at how much of a family
atmosphere Polyvore is able to create all
across the world! I am so thankful to be part
of this community and I sing praises for
Polyvore every chance I get!
32
“

33. Thank you! Questions?