What is the structure of the user introduction program that increased Airbnb users by 300%?

You can lend and borrow your own room with people from all over the world "Airbnb"Continues to grow. Airbnb, which currently operates in more than 190 countries worldwide, has become one of the drivers of its success by acquiring new users based on real user reviewsReferral programIn fact, there was also an effect that showed growth of 300% of users. It is described in detail by Airbnb's blog about what the method was actually like.

Hacking Word-of-Mouth: Making Referrals Work for Airbnb - Airbnb Engineering
http://nerds.airbnb.com/making-referrals-work-for-airbnb/

The mechanism of this introduction program is such that existing users introduce services to acquaintances and when the new users complete the first use they will be given $ 25 (about 2,600 yen) coupons for both It is. Actually, Airbnb said that it was the second time to implement such a program, which means that when it was first performed, it did not get any effect, and it was getting ridiculous. In this initiative, based on such previous reflections, a more detailed framework making and evaluation system was designed.

◆ 1: Setting evaluation axis
Before actually preparing the evaluation system, work to clarify "what kind of success aims" first was done. Airbnb sets the following numerical values ​​as a criterion for introduction program evaluation whether it is evaluated as success with anything. The number of target users decreases from top to bottomFunnel shapeThe point that is arranged is also one point.

· Number of active users per month sending invitations
· Number of referrals per introducer
· Conversion rate to new user registration
· Conversion rate to new guest use
· Conversion rate to new host registration

In addition, we decided to carry out the following three forecasts against the above criteria.

· Succeed (Good)
· More success (Better)
· Best success (Best)

And at the time of actual verification, it is decided to benchmark introduction programs of other successful companies such as Dropbox as a benchmark.

◆ 2: Take data
Next, according to the above evaluation system, a mechanism was designed to track the movements of users and use them for analysis.

Within Aurbnb's system, our own logging platform called "air_events" which records and keeps track of the movements that have occurred is implemented, and if you use it you can call the same method from anywhere and get it The event log that is done is to be stored in the centralized Hive. He said that he created client libraries in Ruby for the back end of the web, Javascript on the front end side, Objective-C for iOS, and Java for Android.


In actual logging, it is rich to classify user events into 20 or more logsTaxonomyDefine, detailed recording from introduction to actual use. With this tracking system running, it will be possible to follow all actions from the viewing of the first introduction page to the actual use, and it will be possible to record user's behavior more precisely and evaluate it.

It was a high ability of Airbnb's engineering department that became a major force of this data harvesting. Mr. Vaughn Kos, the most excellent engineer among them, designs a taxonomy and approach, and Mr. Kos also wants to monitor dataDashboardWhenGraph display systemI am designing.


◆ 3: Start work on the occasion of training
And finally started actual programming. Airbnb has a training program that actually borrows properties near the office and keeps them there for several days of work. In constructing the introduction system, we decided to borrow two properties near San Francisco and do the work.


When developing, the web version, the iOS version, and the Android version page were simultaneously advanced in parallel. Two of the engineers wanted to study iOS and Android, so we assigned to each desired field. Airbnb seems to be utilized for such opportunities as a program that provides guidance in the field of hope for education of engineers while corresponding to actual work.

As we continue to develop, several new functions will be added as below.

· Introducing your own introduction code and dedicated page
When you send a referral to an acquaintance, a screen with your name, icon picture, and dedicated introduction code is displayed, and you will be strongly encouraged to new users.


· Click on an introduction link from an acquaintance → Install an application → display the introducer exclusive landing page at startup
When installing the Airbnb application with someone's introduction, we display a page showing that introducer users and coupons for $ 25 (about 2600 yen) can be obtained. For example, here is the startup screen when installing an application in the usual way.


On the other hand, when the introduction triggered the installation of the application, the startup screen is as follows. Although it seems that display is distorted if it is Japanese version, it can be confirmed that a mechanism to make new user more motivated is being constructed.


◆ 4: Conduct verification
These preparations are in place, introduction program is started. Elegance seemed to be good from the first day, and in some areas the number of bookings showed a 25% increase. In addition, all of these reactions were able to be grasped in real time by the original developed dashboard, so it seems that the following improvements were added sequentially while looking at the reaction.

· Increase number of referrals for each introducer by loading contacts from address book
· By increasing the exposure of introduction program, "Number of active users who sent referrals" increased
· Enabling "Reminder" function for referrals increases "Conversion rate to new users"

◆ 5: Improve by gaining feedback
Several months have passed since the program started, but Airbnb further strengthened its efforts. For example, when the existing user is "reserving a room" or "when evaluated well in a review", the user's feelings are positive and the timing at which it is thought that it is more likely to participate in the introduction program A more powerful promotion activity is adopted that it aims and announces.

Also, change the text of the introduction mail and see the reaction "A / B testIt is done also. In the following e-mail, in the text on the left, the content is "invite a friend to get $ 25!", Whereas on the right the content is changed to "invite friends and get $ 25 together." I will. As a result of seeing the reaction in this test, the result that common results in the latter "share type" in the whole world remained good results have been obtained.


Moreover, from the results of the verification, it is also understood that there is a difference in the reverberation for each region of the world. It is Airbnb's service thought to have been born because of the development of the net, but its verification method seems to be also unique to the net.