1.
Claudio Cossio
Director of R&D Nearsoft Inc
@ccossio
User Growth
Applying the Tipping Point thesis to growing a
user base
Adobe Mobile Barcelona 2015

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@ccossio
Mobile and Web companies
5+ years in Business Development & 10+ Online Marketing;
3+ user acquisition for mobile apps.
Director of R&D - Nearsoft Inc - 2015
Founder - Interesante.com - 2012-2014
Country Manager - Smartup - 2012
Director LATAM - AppCircus - 2011
Advisor - Startups & Agencies.Studies

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@ccossio
Where is your growth coming from?

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@ccossio
Mobile vs Desktop

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@ccossio
Mobile will continue to fuel growth

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@ccossio
80%
Search is
BIG on a
mobile
device
http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/

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@ccossio
But you need to catch them……

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@ccossio
Theory - The Tipping Point.
The moment where critical mass is achieved, when
ideas/products grow virally.
The elements are:
Connectors
Muses
Salesmen

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@ccossio
The connectors.
They have direct access to reach your client/user
-They will be the ones delivering the message.
-They need to have a physical network of people (+100).
-A strong digital presence (+1k followers/friends).
-They are multi-disciplinary in their connections.

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@ccossio
The muses.
They are always on top of trends and feed their network
with information.
-Feed off on helping and alleviating a problem of their
network.
-Your app/game/web needs to solve a real problem.
-Ease of adoption of your product is KEY to unlocking
this dynamic.

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@ccossio
Salesmen.
They persuade with their charm and negotiating
ability both on and offline.
- These people can convince with their actions then
their word.
- They have an audience waiting to consume their
message.
- In conjunction with muses they can start a word of
mouth campaign.

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@ccossio
- From 0 to 100+ users.
•Gather highly connected users (1k followers or
friends)
•You need to motivate them so they can talk
about your product organically.
•It is important that these users understand the
core functionality and use it for promote the
product.
- From 500 to 1000+ users.
•Polish your product until you get to a Beta
Stage.
•Target a specific event so you can launch the
Private Beta.
•Have a “surprise feature” under your sleeve so
your users can have something to share ;)

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@ccossio
Outside de Box
You have a chance to re-invent how commerce
is done. Take it!
- There is always room to innovate in the way users live
& share their information.
- For Developing countries it will be essential to target
middle and lower level cell phones, as your core
market.
- WeChat is a great example, messaging + commerce.
Remember going to a marketplace?

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@ccossio
Integrate change agents.
You have to allow for your users to have an
impact in their network.
- This will allow for easy self promotion of your app and
incentive the creation of evangelists.
- You have to provide social proof in a the users context.
- Your service needs to solve a problem, that way you
establish a pattern to evolve and cover other needs
(possibly in other verticals).

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@ccossio
Perception and behavior.
The users has to visualize the benefit of using
your service.
- Data + Emotion = relevance.
- With each interaction you have to understand how the
user behaves.
- It is key that you know how the users perceive the
usefulness, that way you know how to create stories for
word of mouth marketing.

16.
@ccossio
Feedback life cycle.
You have to learn in a short and quick way.
- The main goal is to have a small impact to better the
user experience in their daily activities.
- Ideally you want to make an impact in 10% of your user
base.
- Remember to start with one individual and move
forward until you find momentum.

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@ccossio
Evidence-> Relevant-> Consequence

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@ccossio
Evidence.
You have to make data external so you provide
transparency to your community.
- Find those KPI’s that pin point a breakthrough for the
community and individual user.
- Focus in connecting with the emotions of the user.
- Evidence can come in many ways: data analytics,
badges, likes, followers, klout's, peerindex, etc.

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@ccossio
- Notifications.
• It let’s you know which friends you have in common
(discovery-surprise).
• It’s social proof that “everyone” is there.
•Delivers the message organically to grow the
interactions between the users. Triggers word of
mouth.
- Partners and store owners.
• Analytics of user behavior.
• Crowd source recommendations.

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@ccossio
Relevance
There are 3 main points that are essential so that
your app is relevant to the user.
- Context.
- Intention.
- Localization.

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@ccossio

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@ccossio
Consequence.
All points of contact should be focused on
showing results to the user.
- All interactions need to sprout a feeling in the user. The
strongest ones are “joy” and “surprise”.
- Entertainment is still missing in most apps.
- Comfort is an apps strongest viral trigger.

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@ccossio

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@ccossio
Case Study:

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@ccossio
Personal branding
People want a story that resonates in their daily
lives.
Idea: Create a visual map of your environment.

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@ccossio
OpenStreetMap
The founders of Mapillary have contributed to the
community for a long time.
- Connector: OSM communities (mailing lists)
- Muse: OSM leaders.
- Salesmen: Geocachers, Geomappers, Cartographers,
Photogrammetrists and mapping geeks.
Note: The founders have a personal relationship with
the community.

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@ccossio
Viral mechanism
• Aggregating the data to OpenStreetMap.
• Helping private companies track there civil
engineering projects.
• A tool that lets people show to the world their
surroundings.
• Mapping cycling routes in Brazil & Mexico.
• Word of Mouth.

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@ccossio
Self-promotion.
Geocachers love to see their work on a map and
contribute to the platform:
Result: 100,000+ photos every week.

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@ccossio
Aligned with a feeling
They did not reinvent the wheel, there where a
lot Startups in the mapping industry, but none
aligned to the computer vision field.
Mapillary detects faces and automatically blurs
them. Also it can detect traffic signals.
Timing + Opportunity + Execution= Success

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@ccossio
Closing notes
There is still room to grow in any market, you just
need to understand:
• Why people create
• What they curate
• Where they consume
• How they share
Tip: The battle field of the future is done through
influencers.

31.
@ccossio
Claudio Cossio
@ccossio
ccossio@nearsoft.com