Apps have long benefited from communities of dedicated users. But these communities and user groups haven’t always been central to growth. They’re often just a welcome side effect of a product-led strategy.
But that’s starting to change. Like-minded people have more options for connecting online than ever before. This lets marketers make communities central to development.
Mobile user acquisition and growth is expensive and intricate. The current average cost per install for iOS is $4.44 and $2.90 for Android apps. And that’s just for an install — getting users to make an in-app purchase will require additional funding.
What if you could save some of that money and get current users to bring in the next round of customers for you? How about establishing a free marketing channel to promote your new features or special deals to users who are already interested? This is what investing in an in-app community can offer.
Community-led growth is a go-to-market strategy in which companies build communities of enthusiastic customers. When done well, these communities add significant value to the product experience. This helps with customer acquisition, retention, and account expansion.
Flo, MyFitnessPal, and Airbnb are good examples of products that amplify growth with a community-led strategy.
Community-led growth doesn’t replace product-led growth—an excellent customer experience is still key to gaining enthusiastic fans. Instead, it builds on top of product-led growth by harnessing the power of existing customers and the natural desire we all have for the community. That’s why almost 70% of companies with communities say they will be investing in them further this year.
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Community as a powerful moat
Building a community brings a significant competitive advantage. It acts as a substantial barrier to churn, a sign-up incentive to new users, and protects you from new competitors. Peloton is an excellent example of a company with a powerful moat built with the community. While it's theoretically easy to create a similar product to Peloton, the company's existing user base means competing would be tough.
Community creates a growth flywheel effect
An active community takes your existing momentum and propels you further forward. In a traditional sales funnel, momentum ends when a prospect passes through the bottom and becomes a customer. Communities flip this model on its head. When users make a purchase, it's actually the start of a new journey, committed to helping users achieve their goals and become enthusiastic advocates of your business. You can use these advocates to boost all stages of the sales and post-sales process. Recommendations build sales, and feedback helps you make better products and support queries onboard new users.
Source: Tribe
Community increases industry exposure and authority
Heading a community can build authority and leadership within your industry. Hubspot hosts an annual event called Inbound, as well as various partner events around the world. These events benefit the community by helping members access the latest inbound marketing strategies. While doing so, they also help Hubspot position itself as a thought leader.
77% of mobile users say they downloaded an app because they heard about it through word of mouth.
Virality isn’t just a user acquisition lottery ticket that happens to the lucky few. It’s something you can plan for, test, and build into your product. Using viral loop marketing via your community can generate exponential growth for your app.