Is there life without marketing or PR of a social project?
Hi, Habr.
We make a simple and useful project. No one except for every second citizen needs it. But the project has no money. Not at all. Zero.
Understanding the long-term prospects of monetization of the service, we still took up its implementation. This decision was partly justified by our social responsibility, partly by dreams of a bright future and partly even by self-PR (which, by the way, was particularly successful). Everyone here knows: to make the technological component of the IT project is one thing; To show the result to everyone and to accustom the end user to use it is another. Two completely different activities that require very different specialists and solutions.
No financial investments were required by the development task - the whole team was motivated non-financially. Having created a miracle , we moved to its widespread planting. Here began what I want to talk about today.
With the ready solution, we received a public transport monitoring service for smartphones. The perfect Android app and almost ready for the perfect iOS app update. First - in Yekaterinburg, a little later - throughout the country. So, go to the marketing.
We were faced with the task of telling the whole city (and especially students) about the wonderful mobile application. We had no money for these purposes. Without hesitation, we came up with an uncomplicated plan and gradually fulfilled it, constantly inventing something on the go.
The main task we performed - we gave impetus. In the first month, we received 3,500 users, and then the mechanism that only useful products possess is included: word of mouth. Actually, no wonder we loved our audience, and she loved us in return.
')
We really loved our users. We responded to every review on Google Play. Generally for everyone. Often it came to irony.
The reviews were bad, but we still answered them well, so to speak, hawali. They were very fond of other users - who did not use the application due to the fact that there are not some routes in it, but they still praised - the product is excellent!
And this treatment gave its results.
We have never lost an audience for more than one week, and then - by the summer. Over the past two months, we have not produced any real action at all to advertise our product! All that was - came from the public. And we believe this is really the main indicator that we have guessed the needs of the audience.
But in this seemingly beautiful story (we estimate the limit of users of the android application in Yekaterinburg at 50,000), there is an important nuance . This is our native Yekaterinburg, where we all know. The exit to Kazan, for example, did not go away right away.
Immediately began to need money. There was a need to go to Kazan to distribute comments to the media. Or it was necessary to look for a man there, so that he would do all this for us. Publics reluctantly made contact, and when they went, they offered to pay for accommodation. The exception was the " Universiade Village ", but the publication did not give any effect due to the specifics of the public.
At the moment we were distracted from this problem and concentrated on another one, but, to be frank, our hands just dropped. We are waiting for either new forces, or assistance, or a round of investment.
Why is money still needed? To spend. And then ahead - Moscow, St. Petersburg and about 40 cities of Russia.
Here are a few comments if you do not have funds for promotion.
We, in turn, went to raise funds by public financing.
And in order not to violate the rules of Habr, I just leave it here.
I hope the post will inspire someone from this community and will give new forces in its bright idea to change the world ^ _ ^
Instead of introducing
We make a simple and useful project. No one except for every second citizen needs it. But the project has no money. Not at all. Zero.
Understanding the long-term prospects of monetization of the service, we still took up its implementation. This decision was partly justified by our social responsibility, partly by dreams of a bright future and partly even by self-PR (which, by the way, was particularly successful). Everyone here knows: to make the technological component of the IT project is one thing; To show the result to everyone and to accustom the end user to use it is another. Two completely different activities that require very different specialists and solutions.
No financial investments were required by the development task - the whole team was motivated non-financially. Having created a miracle , we moved to its widespread planting. Here began what I want to talk about today.
With the ready solution, we received a public transport monitoring service for smartphones. The perfect Android app and almost ready for the perfect iOS app update. First - in Yekaterinburg, a little later - throughout the country. So, go to the marketing.
What is “marketing” for us?
We were faced with the task of telling the whole city (and especially students) about the wonderful mobile application. We had no money for these purposes. Without hesitation, we came up with an uncomplicated plan and gradually fulfilled it, constantly inventing something on the go.
- Social networks and the effect of audience expectations .
We perfectly understood that having an application on the phone, which will tell you up to a minute how long the tram will wait at the bus stop for everyone whose phone allows it. We understood that we were preparing a demanded product.
In order to popularize our service, we first wanted to create a stir around the project. Throwing in the most popular community of Yekaterinburg in VK news that we are looking for "PERSONNEL!", "Beta testers!", We received more than a hundred applications in an hour. Total - more than 400. Made the selection of the 100 best. Total: 100 people became our fans internally, another 300 - in absentia. Plus, 120,000 Yekaterinburg (public coverage at the time) heard something about us. By the way, this way we also saved on testing the application: the already loyal audience to us considered it our duty to help the project and take part in the development. - Support traditional media .
Without it - no way. It so happened that in our team was a journalist. But it made the task easier only because he wrote the texts and knew the colleagues personally.
But a significant bonus to us was the acute focus of the project. It’s no secret that journalists have learned to make non-advertising plots from purely commercial events - you can simply not show sponsors banners in the plot and not call them off-screen. We immediately positioned ourselves as a non-profit project, and the picture is actually quite idealistic: five students made a very useful thing for the citizens. Everything!
Press release distribution day: 3 television stories, 4 radio stories, 5 informational notes. For Ekaterinburg this is good. - Outdoor advertising .
Despite the absence of a budget as such (all previous actions cost us absolutely free of charge), we understood that outdoor advertising was an expensive thing. Because continued to act as a student. Our solution was guerrilla marketing. Spending about 1000 rubles on different stickers and posters, we hung them at bus stops and in universities. Hands did not reach more interesting solutions like stencils and dorhengers in the dormitories.
We didn’t have enough of it, “outwardly” in the indicated quantity was perceptibly small, with our budgets we had to compensate with creativity. Error is noticed. - Again social networks .
This is our best promotion channel, which we continued to use. In the group we began to post interesting materials, painted all sorts of nice things, were proud of our success. There also appeared a video. But we did not work to increase the audience of the group, we worked to increase the loyalty of existing subscribers and their translation of our image further.
The main task we performed - we gave impetus. In the first month, we received 3,500 users, and then the mechanism that only useful products possess is included: word of mouth. Actually, no wonder we loved our audience, and she loved us in return.
')
Why users are the best marketing
We really loved our users. We responded to every review on Google Play. Generally for everyone. Often it came to irony.
The reviews were bad, but we still answered them well, so to speak, hawali. They were very fond of other users - who did not use the application due to the fact that there are not some routes in it, but they still praised - the product is excellent!
And this treatment gave its results.
We have never lost an audience for more than one week, and then - by the summer. Over the past two months, we have not produced any real action at all to advertise our product! All that was - came from the public. And we believe this is really the main indicator that we have guessed the needs of the audience.
Why money is still needed
But in this seemingly beautiful story (we estimate the limit of users of the android application in Yekaterinburg at 50,000), there is an important nuance . This is our native Yekaterinburg, where we all know. The exit to Kazan, for example, did not go away right away.
Immediately began to need money. There was a need to go to Kazan to distribute comments to the media. Or it was necessary to look for a man there, so that he would do all this for us. Publics reluctantly made contact, and when they went, they offered to pay for accommodation. The exception was the " Universiade Village ", but the publication did not give any effect due to the specifics of the public.
At the moment we were distracted from this problem and concentrated on another one, but, to be frank, our hands just dropped. We are waiting for either new forces, or assistance, or a round of investment.
Why is money still needed? To spend. And then ahead - Moscow, St. Petersburg and about 40 cities of Russia.
Instead of conclusion
Here are a few comments if you do not have funds for promotion.
- We sympathize with you.
- Working in an environment unusual for developers - communications - will have a lot.
- There are chances for quick success in two cases: if the territory of distribution is not great or you have a media action like Durov
- The sociality of your project now concerns each of the 7 billion (or at least those who have smartphones).
We, in turn, went to raise funds by public financing.
And in order not to violate the rules of Habr, I just leave it here.
I hope the post will inspire someone from this community and will give new forces in its bright idea to change the world ^ _ ^
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/206746/
All Articles