作者：John Koetsier

每个人都希望自己的网站，产品，应用或小工具能够像病毒般进行扩散。不幸的是，很多时候当人们这么说时，只是意味着“我希望整个世界都能帮我进行市场营销。”希望这些人好运！

让我们先看看2500年前古人的一些箴言：

“我又转念，见日光之下，快跑的未必能赢，力战的未必得胜，智慧的未必得粮食，明哲的未必得赀财，灵巧的未必得喜悦。所临到众人的是在乎当时的机会。”——《传道书》

换句话说，获得病毒式传播也需要许多运气元素。 也就是说，除非你的手机应用能够清楚地呈现在用户眼前，能够引起人们的广泛注意，或者产生一鸣惊人的效果。

还有一些元素能够帮助你改变应用的“命运天平”。

go viral（from venturebeat)

创造有价值的内容

你总是希望用户能够分享你的应用，如此去推动用户数的迅猛增长，然后你便能够在应用发布后6天将公司以5亿美元的高价出售给Zynga。但是你需要注意的是，在人们分享你的应用之前，你必须先提供给他们可分享的内容。

也就是创造出一些有价值的内容。

但是这个过程却不简单：你必须为用户创造出一些真正有价值的内容。但是一开始便尝试这一步也太过挑战性了。

你需要让用户在首次接触应用时便感受到它的实际价值，因为你不可能只面对一个首次用户：首次用户也有自己的社交圈，自己的同事，自己的城市圈等等。所以你必须确保你的应用对于这些群体来说都是有用的。

更好地结合在一起

任何事物都会因为吸引了更多用户，或者受到网络效应的影响而变得更有价值或更有用。传真机便是一个典型的例子：原本只是一个一点用处都没有的机器。社交网络，特别是Facebook也是如此，因为从根本上来看它们也只是一个让用户写日记的平台罢了。

要随着用户基础的发展而创造出更大的价值。主要通过两种方法：

首先，当用户分享了你的应用中的内容时，你就需要适当给予他们奖励。如给他一些小道具，说些好话鼓励他，或允许他能够向好友赠送礼物。

其次，让用户在与好友分享应用时能够感受到你更棒的服务价值。就像在90年代，当我们都在用hotmail电子邮件时，我们也能够很好地进行交流。而当你的所有亲人都在使用Path（游戏邦注：一个私密照片分享网络，用户可以通过Path跟好友分享照片）时，你便能够与他们保持紧密的联系。

viral-app(from mobileappsdesigners.com)

内置而非切入

社交并不是一种插件，也不是一个应用程序界面。社交是一个基本层面，或者说是一个病毒式应用的核心组件。

现在的《Draw Something》虽然似乎在走下坡路，但是不管怎样它仍是一个绝佳例子。应用总是要求用户进行社交互动，引导他们的用户邀请好友安装游戏。

这便是一种病毒式传播！

基本上来看，我们必须在一开始便考虑到社交性，而不是在完成应用的制作并开始进行市场营销时才后知后觉，将其不适当地插入用户体验中。

避免流失用户

这是关于你如何挽留住用户的劝诫。

用户流失可能直接毁灭你的病毒式商品。如此你将面临一个巨大的危险，也就是你最后将把整个业务投入不断获得并失去用户的过程中，而永远不能创造出成熟，稳定的用户基础帮助你获得盈利。

当然了，如果你的策略只是先获取大量的用户再谋求之后的出路，你有可能拥有更多影响力。但就像OMGPOP那样，你之后可能就会面临一些长期的发展问题。

为了避免过度流失用户，你需要确保应用不仅拥有最初价值，同时也具有长期价值。定时添加一些额外的礼物能够更好地调动现有用户的兴趣。这就像在宾馆的枕头下藏颗巧克力一样的效果。

构建游戏化基础

游戏化能够将游戏中的精华（游戏邦注：这时指目标，竞争，得分和奖杯）通过游戏过程和事件呈现在玩家面前，而这也是传统游戏所做不到的。但这并不意味着微软Word等实用型软件需要为你记得添加TPS报告备忘录的行为提供积分奖励。

如果你能够自然地呈现出游戏化策略，就能够让项目发挥最大效用。游戏化元素必须让人感觉它是应用的一部分，而不是事后才贴上的一种标签。例如，要提供一些实际的成就关卡或者一些真实可信的成就。

就像在2011年末，当Klout以连续三天访问Klout.com为由奖励给我一个新的成就，但是事实上我却从未打开过这个网站（除了授奖那次）。而另一方面，Nike+便是一个很好的游戏化典例，它能够直接表现出服务本身的核心价值。

时机

在你追求病毒扩散的同时，你还必须牢记古人的劝诱：“所临到众人的是在乎当时的机会。”好好利用病毒式传播效应，但是也别想着缩减市场营销预算！（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Make my mobile app go viral NOW (please)

John Koetsier

Everyone wants to make their site/product/app/widget go viral. Unfortunately, most of the time when people say that, they mean “I want the world to do all my marketing for me.” Good luck with that.

Let’s start with some wisdom from about 2500 years ago, when mobile apps were long, sharp, and nasty:

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

- Ecclesiastes 9:11

In other words, marketing dweeb, going viral has a lot to do with luck. That is, unless your mobile app jumps up and pokes users in the eye. Unless it makes a dent. Unless, in other words, it rocks.

But there are some things you can do to tip the scales of fate. Here’s a quick primer.

Works for one

You desperately want people to share your app, so that user numbers will skyrocket and you can sell the company to Zynga for $500 million dollars six days after launch. But before people share, there needs to be something to share.

That something is value.

Yeah, sorry, but this is the hard part: you gotta actually create something of value to someone. It’s very challenging to get around this almost-always-essential first step. (If you do find a way around it, however, be sure to share it with me, privately.)

You need to have actual value for the first use, because (oddly) there is not just one first user. There are many first users: the genuine first, the first in her circle of friends, the first in his company, the first in her city. Your app needs to be useful for each of these firsts.

Better together

Anything that gets more valuable and useful when there are more users or instances benefits from network effects. The classic example is the fax machine: one is completely useless. The same could be said of a social network — Facebook for one is pretty much a diary. Good luck IPOing that.

Build in value that grows as the user base grows. And do it in two ways.

First, make your user better when she shares something from your app. Give her props, give her warm fuzzies, make her seem hip and cool, or let her give something of value to her friends.

Second, make the service more valuable for every user when he shares with his friends. When we all got Hotmail email addresses back in the 90s (remember HoTMaiL), we could communicate better. When all of your family is on Path, you stay in touch easier.

Built-in, not bolted on

Social is not a plug-in, nor is it an API. Social is an essential layer or a core component of a viral app.

Draw Something may be going the wrong way right now, but it’s still a great example. The app absolutely requires social interaction, leading users to, in some cases, actually force their friends to install the game.

Now that’s viral contagion!

Essentially, this requires thinking of social from the beginning, rather than after you’ve finished your app and just started dreaming about marketing, and then building it in to the user experience.

Chuck the churn

This is not advice for your friendly milkmaid. Instead, it is an exhortation to keep the users you get.

Unless you want to run a continual pyramid scheme, losing users quickly will kill even a hot viral product. The danger is that you will spend your entire business existence running the hamster wheel of simultaneously acquiring and losing users, and never develop a mature, stable, and solid user base which can actually be monetized.

That may not be a problem, of course, if your strategy is just to get acquired in the mad-scramble-for-scale phase. If so, more power to you. Like OMGpop, however, you will have some long-term issues.

To prevent excessive churn, design your app so that it has not only initial value, but also long-term value. And update regularly with little extra gifts of capabilities that existing users will appreciate. Think of them like the chocolates on the pillow at the hotel.

Grounded gamification

Games are great, and gamification brings the best part of games (targets, competition, scoring, and trophies) to processes and events that are not traditionally games. But that doesn’t mean that Microsoft Word should give you points for every TPS report that you remember to put a cover memo on.

Gamification works best when it is not forced, when it feels natural. Gamification elements should emerge from the application rather than be pasted on in a “There, I fixed it” manner. For example, if there are actual achievement levels, or if the achievement is believably real.

I was not impressed in late 2011 when Klout awarded me a new achievement for visiting Klout.com three days in a row when I hadn’t even visited once (besides the time I was awarded). Nike+, on the other hand, is a great example of gamification that rises directly from the core value of the service itself.

Time and chance

In your pursuit of virality, remember the ancient wisdom: “time and chance happeneth to them all.” Position yourself to take advantage of viral effects, but don’t short-change the marketing budget!(source:venturebeat)