lessons learned from growing linkedin to 400m members - growth hackers conference 2016
TRANSCRIPT
Lessons learned from growing LinkedIn to 400M
membersAatif AwanHead of Growth & International Products at LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/aatifawan aatif_awan
A Brief History of Growth @ LinkedIn
Growth @ LinkedIn: 2003-2007LinkedIn Members
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
0.1M 2M 4M 8M 17M
LinkedIn Member Growth Product market fit. Growth built into product from the start.
Reid and early employees invited well-connected people in the industry.
Public profiles launch in 2006, became a second major growth channel due to SEO.
Growth @ LinkedIn: 2008-2011LinkedIn Members
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
0.1M 2M 4M 8M 17M33M
55M89M
145M
LinkedIn Member Growth Dedicated cross-functional growth team (~15 people) focused on acquisition.
Identified drivers for key channels and optimized.
International expansion. Saw 100%+ lifts in growth for most markets where we translated into local language.
I joined at the 100M milestone
Growth @ LinkedIn: 2012- todayLinkedIn Members
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
0.1M 2M 4M 8M 17M33M
55M89M
145M
202M
277M
347M
414M
LinkedIn Member Growth Expanded to cover acquisition, activation, connections, retention and resurrection, notifications.
Growth team’s growth: cross-functional team of 120+ people.
Invested heavily in mobile and partnerships.
Continue international expansion with focus on China and India.
Growth Team Organization
SEO & Public Pages
Network Growth
Onboarding L2M Comms
SEO, SEM, Conversion optimization, Public pages
Viral growth, PYMK,Connections
Onboarding,Activation,Intent discovery
Engagement through Email/Push notifications, Resurrection
International
Localization,Standardization,Focus on key markets
Principles vs. Tactics
Too much hype about Growth Hacks and Tactics
Focus on principles, not tactics
• Principles >> Strategy >> Tactics• Tactics have a short shelf life. • If all you know are tactics, you will likely apply
them incorrectly.• Once you understand the principles, you can
find the right tactics and even come up with your own.
What we’ve learned
Growth is about accelerating the realization of your vision, not moving metrics up-and-to-the-right.
• At LinkedIn, our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.
• Growth team accelerates this through creation of the economic graph that connects people, companies, jobs and schools.
• Taking this view led us to focus on quality signups
Pick one North Star metric, measure everything
• Define one north star metric that:• Is aligned with the success of your business• Measures value for users• Is summable
• Sometimes, one is not possible. Go for as few as you can.
• Measure everything and tie it back to the north star metric.
Good product comes first, growth second• Investing in growth before
you have a good product is a waste of resources.
• Measure product goodness
with long-term retention (curve should flatten over time) and through customer feedback
• If your retention isn’t good, nothing else matters. Improve it by delivering core product value early and often.
Good retention
Bad retention
%age of users engaging by weeks since signup
But that wouldn’t have worked for LinkedIn.
• For products with network effects or marketplace dynamics (LinkedIn has both), you need to achieve a good product and growth simultaneously.
• Products get better with more users and can be useless without a critical mass.
• We solved for this by building two powerful growth engines from the start.
Investing in multiple scalable growth channels multiplies your odds of success
• Being dependent on a single growth channel is a strategic liability.
• Have one core channel, invest in strategic channels like new platforms and have some venture bets.
• We developed two core channels: Viral growth through members building their networks by importing contacts and SEO of people profiles.
• Over time we have created more channels with mobile and partnerships.
User BehaviorIdentifying Growth Channels
• Do existing users share your product via word of mouth?
• Are people using search to find a solution?
• Do users have a high LTV?
Channels to explore
Virality, referrals
SEO, SEM
Paid acquisition
• Does having more users improve the experience? Virality
• Are your target users already on another platform? Partnership, Integration
Prioritize channels
and levers
Brainstorm hypotheses and ideas
Assess impact on north star
metric
Prioritize based on impact,
probability of success and effort
Build, A/B test and measure
Growth Requires Continuous Prioritization and Feedback
A/B Testing => Always Be Testing
• The more you experiment, the faster you learn and innovate.
• It can resolve long-disputed strategy questions and break down long-held myths.
• You can A/B test most things• We’ve done statistically significant tests to measure impact on customer
complaints on an issue with a volume of a few hundred/week• SEO A/B testing can be very effective
• As your user demographics change over time, repeating old tests can lead to new insights.
Not all beautiful Growth charts go up-and-to-the-right
WeeklyEmails
sentJan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
projected
-40%
• We heard loud and clear that our members were getting too much email.
• We built a central system for all emails called Air Traffic Controller (ATC).
• This cut emails we send by 40% and complaints by 53% with no negative impact on growth or engagement
Hiring the right people is more important than strategy
• Analytical
• Gets shit done
• Curious – asks why?
• Finds new ways to do things – asks why not?
• Prior growth experience is optional
Culture
• Data trumps opinions
• Set ambitious goals
• Move fast
• Learn continuously
• Celebrate wins
Thank you!Aatif AwanHead of Growth & International Products at LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/aatifawan aatif_awan