Facebook most likely didn’t need to advertise to show their product. And let’s assume they did have to, even though we can’t be able to point exactly.
Instagram surely didn’t have to do that. They launched the app in October 2010 and sold it to Facebook Inc in April 2012 — a year and a half later.
In their first two months, they garnered a million users. So clearly there was no need to advertise. Why? Because the network effect was enabled.
But it’s not all dreamy and pinky when it comes to enabling the network effect. Much like Uncle Ben’s quote, with great power comes great responsibility. And in this case, with the power of not having to advertise comes the responsibility of the service.
One fuck-up can cost more than the saved costs of advertising. One mistake can take you off that path that enables this effect.
So before you’re aiming to make this happen (the effect), let’s first make sure we’re ready for handling it. The world is not short of examples where too much power (if we get to that) can come down crashing — aka the Icarus effect.
When you’re ready, it’ll be given to you.
About Ch Daniel
I run Chagency_, an experiences design agency — we help SaaS CEOs reduce user churn. I write daily on this topic and in similar areas. Here are my best pieces.
If I’ve helped you, follow me here and reach out: LinkedIn | Twitter | Email | Quora | YouTube
I’ve also founded an app that went 0-200K users in its 1st year — chdaniel.com/app
If you want a more of a personal connection, here’s how to have that.
Illustration credits: Saeb Al-Haddad
