2. Facebook
-Dominate your target market
-20% of students had to sign up before college would go
live
-Search email contacts at signup
-Recommend friends on demo data & school
-Add a photo (invested)
-"How to use" feature education once live
-First time back "Suggested Friends" in layout of newsfeed
-People you may know emails
Read more: Facebook Case Studies 1 and 2 (video)
3. Twitter
-Super Simple Signup
-Find Friends
-5-10 Auto Selected Follows
-People You May Know Retention Emails
-30 Followers Magic Number For Daily Use
-People You May Know Auto Suggest
Read More: Twitter Case Study
4. Youtube
-Built On Top of Existing Networks
-Leveraged Myspace and Facebook
-Created Embeddable Videos For Every Network
-Monthly Prize Contests
-Partnered with Content Creators
-Ease of Use / Ease of Shareability
-Subscriptions for Retention
-Let Users Make Money
-Comments for Engagement
5. AirBNB
-Stealing Craigslist
-Filled their marketplace with listings
-Posted native listings to Craigslist
-Created thousands of gmail addresses to fly
under the radar
-Scaled on top of a pre-built 2 sided platform
Read More: AirBnB Case Study
6. Paypal
-Scaled on top of existing platform (eBay)
-Created a bot that purchased eBay products
-Bot demanded to use Paypal for payment to
sellers
-Traditional advertising failed
-Spent marketing budget giving every new user
$10 to sign up
7. LivingSocial
-Scaled on Facebook and Twitter
-When Customer Buys It's Shared To Both
-When 3 Friends of Customer Buy, He or She
Gets The Deal For Free
-The Customer Could Also Send Out An Email
To Their Contacts
Read More: LivingSocial Case Study
8. Dropbox
-Sign Up Driven Homepage
-Easy Signup Process (Desktop or Browser)
-Referrals (500MB Increase in Storage)
-Social Follow (125MB Increase in Storage)
-Super Simple Sharing (Only a link needed)
-Gamification (Dropguest, complete puzzles for free
storage)
-Multiple Devices (Availability Everywhere)
Read More Here: How Dropbox Hacked
Growth
9. Hotmail
-Early Days of The Internet
-First Browser Based Email Service
-Free Service, Didn't Want To Spend on
Traditional Advertising
-Put, "P.S. I Love You. Get your free e-mail at
Hotmail.com" at the bottom of every email.
-Created A Viral Loop
Read More: Hotmail Case Study
10. Apple iPhone
-Took a huge risk
-Brand new mobile hardware
-New distribution model for software
-"Sent from my iPhone" at the end of each
message
-Helped them sell 316 million iOS devices
-Made consumer hardware a fashion statement
-Built exclusivity into the message
11. Zynga
-Built on top of existing platform (Facebook)
-Gamification
-Leveled Users Up When They Invited Friends
-Created Competition Amongst Friends
-Played To Vanity (Social Value)
Read More: Zynga Case Study
12. Linkedin
-3 Main Channels: (Email Invitations, SEO, and Homepage)
-Decreased Friction for Organic Searchers instead of Email
Invites
-Invite Drip Campaign Formula: (invites sent = % of new
users that invite x average # of invites sent/inviter)
-Focus On Strengths
-They Focused on Increasing Activity of Already Active
Users over Onboarding Inactive Users
Read More: LinkedIn Case Study
13. Instagram
-Public By Default
-Asymmetric Follow Model (Twitter vs Facebook)
-Used Speed As A Weapon
-Cross Network Posting
Read More: 4 Ways Instagram Hacked Early Growth
14. Hubspot
-Created an Entire New Marketing Strategy
-Best Content Marketing On The Planet
-Resources To Help Entrepreneurs (Self-
Generating Demand)
-Pioneered Webinars, Ebooks, and Blogging
-All Resources In Once Place (SEO, Landing
Pages, Analytics, and Blogging Platform)
-Attacked Conventional Marketing
15. Mint.com
-Solved A Real Problem (Personal Finance)
-Content Rich Personal Finance Blog
-Extensive SEO Strategy
-Traditional Public Relations
-Guest Blog Posting and Tons of Landing Pages
-Content Partnerships (Motley Fool)
-Consumer Advocacy Email Alerts (Retention)
-Leveraged Facebook and Twitter (Shareable)
-Created Anticipation through a 20,000+ Waiting List
Read More: Mint Case Studies 1, 2, 3
