Invite-Only Apps (Clubhouse, Dispo, and Their Strategies)
Clubhouse has taken the nation by storm during the first quarter of 2021 with their invite-only signup model. Similarly, Dispo, which is David Dobrik’s old-school picture taking and “developing” app, has an invite-only model. What’s the advantage to restricting users from joining an app they want to join? Let’s talk about it.
In the early days of apps, access was everything. Clearing the path to an easy download, signup, and onboarding was crucial for apps to edge out others. This is why companies made it possible to sign up with your Facebook account. The chances of you using your existing Facebook account to sign up were much higher than you creating an entirely new account on an unfamiliar app.
Now that there’s endless competition in the app space, startups are being a bit more strategic with their rollout processes. According to a study by Business of Apps, the 2020 average cost per app install in the US between iOS and Android was $1.89. Want one million users? Be prepared to spend close to $2 million. Want one million daily active users? Be prepared to spend a lot more than that.
I had a peculiar experience with my introduction to Clubhouse, and I’ve heard others are having a similar experience. I had never heard of clubhouse until a friend texted me an invite. I assumed it was just a voice chat app, similar to Marco Polo, so I ignored it. Then, within the next 2 days, I was sent 5 invitations by other people. They were all people I trusted and spoke to fairly often. It felt like everyone was on this app except for me, so I downloaded it and jumped right in.
This experience is purposefully designed by Clubhouse based on their access to your contacts. When you sign up for clubhouse, they request access to your contacts. Then, when enough of your friends share that they have access to your contact, Clubhouse will simultaneously suggest that they all invite you. This leads to many invites for each individual within a short period of time. Is it manipulative? Possibly. Does it work? Oh yeah.
People have raised a number of security concerns with Clubhouse’s contact farming, but I’ll leave those discernments up to you.
The lesson here is that exclusivity and access are likely to become the new wave of app marketing. In this way, apps can bootstrap their development and growth among niche audiences by letting the rollout be organically led by users. Even if you’re not working on an app, you can take these principles into your own marketing efforts. I wrote about this strategy months ago for small businesses and DTC brands.
In the information age, a little exclusivity can go a long way.
P.S. Want an invite to Clubhouse? I have 8. DM me on Instagram and I’ll send you one.
