Word of Mouth Virality in the Real World

Last week David Sacks wrote a good post on real world virality, highlighting the importance of distinctive design in helping real world products go viral.

He described how the distinctive design of Square card readers, Bird and Limebike scooters, and Juul E-Cigs helped them stand out from other competitors and acquire more users. In particular, Juul shares many of the characteristics of a social network, which is why it has grown so fast.

Sacks describes a sort of “observational viral loop”. But the conversion rates from simply seeing a new product are going to be low. For a product to become viral it needs a K factor >1. This is a function of both # of invites and conversion rate.

In the real world (unlike online) you can’t easily increase the number of invites, so you have to increase conversion rates. This is also harder to do in the real world than online, but we’ve seen some examples of “word-of-mouth viral loops” for real world products.

If a user of a product has an actual conversation with a prospect, extolling the virtues of the product, the conversion rate can be much higher than from simple observation. But no matter how high your NPS score is, most of your users won’t recommend your product to their friends unsolicited. It’s just weird to start telling people about how great something you use is, out of the blue. If someone opens the door to a conversation about your product though, either through an inquiry or compliment, your high NPS can translate to actual product recommendations. I propose a slightly amended model for real world virality that takes into account the effectiveness of word of mouth

This model acknowledges the primary importance of distinctive design. But it regards the design not as the key driver of new user adoption, but rather as the driver of an observer precipitating a conversation about the product, either as an inquiry (What is that thing?) or as a compliment (Cute shoes!).

So of course, having a great product that people love is necessary for people to talk about your product. But its not sufficient. People are more likely to talk about your product if it makes them look good to do so. How can this happen? Here are a few ways that talking about a product can build ones social capital:

1. Virtue signaling. If your product aligns with a cause that the user believes in, she is more likely to talk about your product and emphasize how it lines up with that cause. This could be the environment, being “natural” or organic, being athletic etc. Allbirds, Cotopaxi and The Honest Company* are examples highlighted below. Others include Rothys* and Peleton. Given Millenials and Gen Z’s strong predispositions towards social causes, this explains why many new brands are so mission driven.
2. Being a connoisseur/having good taste. This can come about through a heritage/history story, or through some measure of product quality. Beats by Dre, noted below, is a good example.
3. Being “in the know”. Pop culture thrives on early adopters, and demonstrating that you are one of these early adopters can be very compelling. The way the early Snapchat* filters spread through word of mouth is a great example, as is Beats, both profiled below. Other examples include Dirty Lemon and using gifs in messaging or Slack.
4. They are inexpensive. It’s smart to save money and time. Bird scooters, profiled by Sacks in his original example, is a great example.

And of course, to complete the loop, the product needs to be used in public. Standout design is useless if no one sees it.

Lets look at some case studies of companies that have grown incredibly quickly with little marketing :

AllBirds makes extremely soft and comfortable shoes from wool and from eucalyptus. They come in different colors each season, and because of their unusual fabrics look very different from sneakers or other casual shoes. This tends to elicit questions, and wearers are happy to talk about their comfort and softness, as well as the lower environmental impact of their material.

Beats by Dre was one of the original examples of word of mouth virality. The brand virtually singlehandedly resurrected the “Over the Ear” form factor for headphones, which were very visually distinctive at the time. When asked, users would talk about the audio quality, signaling that they were music connoisseurs.

Cotopaxi’s color-blocked design on their recycled material backpacks creates unique looking product that gave users the opportunity to show off their commitment to the environment when anyone commented on their bright colored gear.

Dirty Lemon comes in very distinctive and Instagram-able bottles. Each flavor promises a different wellness benefit. You can only buy Dirty Lemon through SMS. When asked “what are you drinking”, drinkers can answer and talk about the health benefits as well as the uniqueness of the ordering mechanism.

Snapchat’s first filter was one that allowed snaps to be sent in black and white. When you received one, your first reaction was always to ask the friend who sent it to you “How did you do that?” At that time, you needed to know the secret code (type “B&w…” then delete and type your message)as there were no instructions or visible affordances that this was possible. People who knew the secret felt smart to know and were happy to be the first in their group of friends to share the secret.

The Honest Company makes baby and beauty products free of toxic chemicals. The diapers, the hero product, come in a wide range of cute prints. One mom might comment to another on the cuteness of the diapers, and hear about the benefits of a diaper made without petroleum byproducts, creating a real world viral loop.

In each of these cases, the vocal endorsement of an existing user is more likely to drive conversion to a new user. Word of Mouth Virality happens when you have a product that people love, used in public, with standout design, that builds a users social capital when talking about it.

A failure on any one of these dimensions can inhibit virality, requiring growth to come through paid channels.