Read on Twitter
How Robinhood turned a landing page into a 1M person waitlist
The strategies used to build a HUGE user base pre-launch
A thread:
The strategies used to build a HUGE user base pre-launch
A thread:
1) Robinhood was founded in 2013.
Their waitlist strategy was the catalyst for exponential growth.
Gaining 1M potential users pre launch is quite the target for any startup, however you can certainly boost your pre launch reach/waitlist by implementing Robinhoodâs strategies.
Their waitlist strategy was the catalyst for exponential growth.
Gaining 1M potential users pre launch is quite the target for any startup, however you can certainly boost your pre launch reach/waitlist by implementing Robinhoodâs strategies.
2) Strategy 1: FOMO
Simply making customers feel like they could be missing out on something can often influence an action. 56% of consumers admit FOMO impacts their media usage habits
Robinhood leveraged FOMO by creating an impression of exclusivity through a wait list
Simply making customers feel like they could be missing out on something can often influence an action. 56% of consumers admit FOMO impacts their media usage habits
Robinhood leveraged FOMO by creating an impression of exclusivity through a wait list
3) For prelaunch - they first invited potential users to gain invite only access to the private beta. Rather than an email list, they leveraged their interested fans desire to be one of the first to use Robinhood.
This got the attention of Hacker News, skyrocketing the waitlist
This got the attention of Hacker News, skyrocketing the waitlist
4) Strategy 2: Simple Signup
To capture this fomo, they made the sign up process as short as possible. All someone had to do was enter their email.
This was really effective given the short attention spans of users today (especially their target users).
To capture this fomo, they made the sign up process as short as possible. All someone had to do was enter their email.
This was really effective given the short attention spans of users today (especially their target users).
5) They designed a sign up page so straightforward that it could be completed before anyone had the chance to lose interest. It didnât have too much copy, no jargon that some may not understand. It had one powerful hook
6) Strategy 3: Gamification
People love playing games, especially with rewards they actually want. Robinhood created a referral-based viral loop with a fun game as itâs lever. The reward was tied to the reason they signed up in the first place, to get access to the beta
People love playing games, especially with rewards they actually want. Robinhood created a referral-based viral loop with a fun game as itâs lever. The reward was tied to the reason they signed up in the first place, to get access to the beta
7) Hereâs how it worked:
- The waitlist was first come first serve. The higher their position, the sooner they could use the beta
- After entering your email, you were sent to a thank you page were people could see their spot in line
- The waitlist was first come first serve. The higher their position, the sooner they could use the beta
- After entering your email, you were sent to a thank you page were people could see their spot in line
8) Strategy 4: Referral
Under their waitlist spot, was a referral offer to share Robinhood. The incentive was clear - the more you shared with others, the higher it moved you up the waiting list.
This was the key growth lever that grew the list from a few hundred to 1M.
Under their waitlist spot, was a referral offer to share Robinhood. The incentive was clear - the more you shared with others, the higher it moved you up the waiting list.
This was the key growth lever that grew the list from a few hundred to 1M.
9) They also made it as easy as possible to refer a friend. They included big green buttons to share by email and send across social media and also gave the option to send a unique link.
All aligned with the principle of ease and simplicity
All aligned with the principle of ease and simplicity
10) Robinhood's goal is to make trading as frictionless as possible. They embraced this and applied it to their pre launch strategy, making it an incredibly frictionless process optimized for conversions (signups) with referrals used as an acquisition lever to increase signups
11) Robinhood today:
- $20B valuation
- 13M users
- $350B total transactions
Key to growth success:
- Leveraged FOMO
- Simple signup process
- Gamification
- Referrals with direct incentives
- $20B valuation
- 13M users
- $350B total transactions
Key to growth success:
- Leveraged FOMO
- Simple signup process
- Gamification
- Referrals with direct incentives
12) I hope you liked this thread on Robinhood's pre-launch growth strategy!
Subscribe to my SubStack for a more in depth breakdown of Robinhood's early growth
https://thegrowthplaybook.substack.com/welcome
Follow me on Twitter @growth_student for a new thread like this every week!
Subscribe to my SubStack for a more in depth breakdown of Robinhood's early growth
https://thegrowthplaybook.substack.com/welcome
Follow me on Twitter @growth_student for a new thread like this every week!
