Even as it faces accusations of poor build quality, paywalled features and other missteps, you cannot argue that Tesla enjoys a level of loyalty few companies do. Do you dream of creating the same level of fanboyism that Tesla enjoys, boosting customer loyalty, word-of-mouth marketing, and overall engagement?
Fostering a sense of ownership among your early adopters is key to achieving this.
By making early adopters feel like they have a stake in the product’s development and future, you can build a loyal and enthusiastic customer base. Let’s explore how companies like Tesla, Slack, Dropbox, Notion, GitHub, Superhuman, and Woodchuck have successfully cultivated this sense of ownership among their users.
Involve Them in the Development Process
One of the most effective ways to create a sense of ownership is to involve your early adopters in the development process. Think of them as your product co-pilots, ready to steer the ship towards success.
Invite early adopters to participate in beta testing new features. Make them feel like insiders who have a direct impact on the product’s evolution. Picture them as your product ninjas, slicing through bugs and adding their secret sauce to make it better.
Conduct regular feedback sessions where early adopters can share their thoughts and suggestions. Use their feedback to make visible changes, showing them their input matters. It’s like a group therapy session where everyone leaves feeling heard and valued.
Slack’s development process heavily involved user feedback. Before its public launch, Slack conducted numerous rounds of beta testing with real users, incorporating their feedback to refine the product. This inclusive approach made early adopters feel integral to the product’s success and helped build a strong, loyal user base.
Highlight the Endowment Effect
The endowment effect suggests that people value things more highly simply because they own them. It’s the same reason why that old t-shirt you’ve had since college feels priceless.
Allow users to customize certain aspects of the product, making it feel more like their own. Customization is king—just ask anyone who’s ever used an emoji in their Slack status.
Offer early adopters exclusive access to features or content. This makes them feel special and valued, enhancing their attachment to the product. It’s like being part of an exclusive club but without the weird handshakes.
Dropbox successfully utilized the endowment effect by offering extra storage space for users who invited friends to the platform. This strategy not only personalized their experience but also incentivized users to become more invested in the product.
Woodchuck, a company dedicated to sustainable products, empowered its customers to customize their wooden products. By integrating a real-time virtual sample tool, customers could personalize items like journals and phone cases with text and graphics. This customization not only enhanced customer engagement but also supported Woodchuck’s mission and growth.
Create a Community
Building a community around your product helps early adopters feel part of something bigger. It’s like forming a band of merry users who sing your praises from the digital rooftops.
Set up forums or social media groups where early adopters can interact, share tips, and provide feedback.
Host exclusive events or webinars for your early adopters. This not only provides value but also strengthens their connection to your product and company. It’s like a VIP concert but for product geeks.
Notion built a strong community of users through forums and meetups. By fostering a sense of community, Notion ensured that early adopters felt a part of the product’s journey and success.
Recognize and Reward Contributions
Acknowledging the contributions of your early adopters can significantly boost their sense of ownership. It’s like giving them a gold star sticker, but way cooler.
Publicly recognize early adopters who have provided valuable feedback or contributions. This could be through social media shout-outs, mentions in newsletters, or a dedicated section on your website.
Implement a rewards system where early adopters earn points or receive perks for their contributions, such as discounts, free upgrades, or exclusive merchandise. Think of it as a loyalty program on steroids.
Transparent Communication
Keeping your early adopters informed about the progress and challenges of your product can foster trust and a sense of partnership. Transparency isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the secret sauce of user engagement.
Send regular updates on product development, including both successes and setbacks. Transparency builds trust and makes users feel like they are part of the journey.
Implement a system where users can see how their feedback is being used. This could be a public roadmap or a feature that shows which user suggestions have been implemented. It’s like giving them a backstage pass to your product’s development.
Superhuman, the fast email client, used regular updates and transparent communication to keep their early adopters engaged. We have talked about Superhuman before when exploring some behavioral techniques to get the most actionable customer feedback. By involving them in the journey, Superhuman was able to iterate and improve their product significantly .
Driving ownership in early adopters is about making them feel valued and integral to the product’s success. By involving them in the development process, leveraging the endowment effect, creating a community, recognizing contributions, and maintaining transparent communication, you can build a loyal base of users who feel deeply connected to your product.
About the Author
Angkan Mukherjee works in growth strategy for high growth companies and is a graduate of the ESADE business school in Barcelona. Outside work, he volunteers as a mentor at incubators like eWorks and loves getting involved in every aspect of building ventures. He gets excited to talk to others like him and you can set up a short call with him here.
References
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- Daniel Kahneman. “Thinking, Fast and Slow.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011.
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- Chip Heath, Dan Heath. “The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact.” Simon & Schuster, 2017.
- Kim Scott. “Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity.” St. Martin’s Press, 2017.
- “How Slack Harnessed the Power of Early Adopters.” TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/02/slack-story
- “How Dropbox Uses the Endowment Effect to Drive User Engagement.” Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-dropbox-uses-the-endowment-effect-2015-7
- “How Notion achieves 95% organic traffic through community-led growth” Bandan Jot Singh. https://productify.substack.com/p/how-notion-achieves-95-organic-traffic
- “GitHub’s Recognition and Reward System.” GitHub Blog. https://github.blog/recognition-rewards
- “Superhuman’s Transparent Communication Approach.” First Round Review. https://firstround.com/review/superhumans-transparent-communication-approach
- “Woodchuck’s Ecommerce Product Customization Success.” Artifi Labs. https://www.artifilabs.com/customers/woodchuck-product-customization