RockYou! Snap Summit 3-25-08

Metrics: Where Users Come From Eric Yieh, Director of Product Management

What is RockYou? RockYou is the leading provider of widgets on the web—we provide tools for people to express individuality and interact with friends.
Self Expression
Slideshows
Glitter Text
Fun Notes
PhotoFX
Voicemail
Countdown Timer
Corkboard
Voice Comment
Scratcher
Gizmoz
Games
Social Interaction: Connection & Discovery
Super Wall
Horoscopes
Hug Me
Likeness
Likeness Unrated
Zombies
Vampires
Werewolves
Emote
MyGifts

“ To engage the world through social applications”
The RockYou Mission

Source: eBay Investor Presentation, RockYou
eBay starts Q2 98, PayPal starts Q1’00, Yahoo! starts Q1’95, AOL starts Q1’92, Facebook starts Q4’04, and RockYou Starts Q4’05
Facebook data represents active users, which was disclosed on 12/05 and 12/06. Undisclosed active user data is extrapolated by applying an average active user penetration to global Unique Visitors (per comScore Media Metrix)
(2) Registered Users (MM) Fastest growing company ever by reach Facebook platform launch

How did we grow so fast?
Rise of open platforms + laser-like focus on metrics and viral channels
Flash Widget Era
Profile
Bulletin
Profile
Requests
Notifications
Email
News Feed
Profile action
Profile
Messages
Notifications
Email
Activity stream
Home surface

RockYou approach to product design
Apply advertising principles to user-facing web design
Each touch point equivalent to an ad pageview
Grow by increasing number of touch points and maximizing conversion on each touch point
Must consider implications for long-term user experience
Build fast and launch asap
Super Wall coded in a weekend
Iterate on original design
A/B test when in doubt
Let data guide product decisions
There are no user experts (we’re all too old)
Do user studies when you don’t have web metrics

Tenets of social application development
Accept the fact that channels >> features
Channels bring in new users and keep them coming back
Only the top 0.1% of features can accomplish this alone
Viral channels should drive product concept and feature development
Not the other way around!
Have a plan to maximize use of every channel
Tune the viral loop…then keep tuning to stay ahead of the competition
Build new features to keep users engaged and happy!

Launching winning application concepts
Half art, half science
Intersection of psychology & web analytics
Develop your concept around high-converting calls to action
Simplicity
Universal
Social persuasion
Novelty (art)
Potential for sustainable long term engagement
Nail down a killer viral loop
Timing is key
Be the first to market
Launch with maximum virality so competitors can’t carbon copy quickly

Metrics for your viral loop User Call to action to invite friends x = invited friends Accept? Yes y% = invite accept rate x * y > 1 gives you viral growth!

Hypothetical viral numbers
Install flow
x = 5 (friends invited on average)
y = 22% (acceptance rate for invites)
Viral factor = 5 * 0.22 = 1.1 VIRAL!
Engagement flow
Repeat users can generated additional virality!

Combine multiple flows and channels
Install flow
x = 5
y = 10%
Viral factor = 5 * 0.1 = 0.5
Engagement flow, request channel
x = 3 (invites)
y = 10% (acceptance rate for invites)
Viral factor = 3 * 0.1 = 0.3
Engagement flow, notification channel
x = 6 (notifications)
y = 5% (acceptance rate for notifications)
Viral factor = 6 * 0.05 = 0.3
0.5 + 0.3 + 0.3 = 1.1 VIRAL!

What to track
Requests sent & request CTR
Notifications sent & notification CTR
Feed events & feed CTR
Adds / removes
And everything else…platform tracking is not 100% reliable
How to track
… if you’re tight on resources (aren’t we all)
Paid or home grown if you’re serious about growing big
Get stats in real time instead of waiting a day
Store events that can’t be tied to a page (i.e. number of requests sent)
Slice and dice data however you want
Tuning the viral loop – watch your metrics

Using metrics to drive product decisions
A/B test entire user flows
A/B test calls to action
Base decisions off of statistically significant data
Flow A Flow B A n new users B n new users X% user dropoff Y invites sent/user Z% invites accepted

Making the most of viral channels
Graph and compare activity metrics over time to analyze trends
Focus resources on tuning the largest traffic drivers
All viral channels eventually decay – why?
Invites sent decreases due to saturation
Response rate decreases due to user conditioning
So keep tuning to stay ahead of the curve!
… and when you’ve exhausted your primary channels it might be time to explore some creative alternatives

Developer created growth channels
Advertising
Many ad networks exist to promote and monetize your application
Partner
Trade clicks with another app developer
Create your own!
Cross promote your own applications in creative ways
Super Wall API
Deep feature integration

Does it work in practice?
RockYou! worked with Yahoo! on the re-launch of the Music Videos application on Facebook.
After viral tuning—consultation on application flow and design—and cross promotion on the RockYou Ad network, app grew to 1.5M+ users

Questions? Email: eric@rockyou.com

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RockYou! Snap Summit 3-25-08

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RockYou! Snap Summit 3-25-08 — Presentation Transcript