Do you know that feeling when you cannot remember a song and then all of a sudden it just hits you? That same feeling is what in marketing we would call aha moment.
We talked about this moment as the very first driver of activation. It’s about how and why the users engaged with your product in the first place, that lightbulb moment they recognized its true value, and took action on it.
Here’s how to find it:
First, you will need to find your fans, your product’s very supporters. Once you identified them you’ll have to map their journey, from the first interaction to loyalty.
The idea behind this is that if they became loyal means they experienced something that those who churned out didn’t. That’s the reason why you need to analyze their journey to find out what this group of engaged, loyal customers have in common. They took some actions, moved some steps to get to that moment and those actions and steps are going to be your new user experience blueprint.
What did Facebook loyal adopters had in common? They added 10 friends in the first 7 days after the signup. Twitter? They followed 30 users with a ⅓ follow/followed ratio. Bottom line is, there is always a turning point that makes the difference in user experience, usually a number of performed actions in a set period of time. Finding it, working towards that goal, and making sure others reach it is the key to exponential growth.
Watch out: “your” aha moment is not necessarily your users’
If you think you found your aha moment but your growth is still hitting a bumpy road, ask yourself: do your users agree on what you think is the aha moment? Breaking news: only because you think you know what it is, that does not necessarily reflect your users’ experiences.
You might be looking in a completely different place, chances are, they’re loving something you do not consider a core product feature, maybe you are even hiding it somewhere in the footer. Once you find out what it is and its importance, all your next efforts will be solely directed to bring more users to see it.
You don’t believe us? Ask Instagram’s founders. The market was so saturated with photo-sharing social networks that it took them some time to accept that the photo-sharing feature was the most loved one, and it ended up being the one that the product revolves around.
Fun Fact
If you google aha moment, we are quite sure we will be outranked by nothing less than Oprah Winfrey – it’s Oprah, we accept it. The reason why is that every year the Merriam Webster adds to its list new terms, those that became so popular to earn a spot on the dictionary.
Guess what term scored a place in 2012? Yes, aha moment. But still, what does Oprah have to do with it? Well, she might not have coined the term in the proper sense of the word but she is the reason why aha moment became somehow of everyday use. From something she would say quite often during the show to a new, officially recognized term.
“A moment of sudden inspiration, insight, recognition, or comprehension. A lightbulb moment, when the little hairs on your arms stand up.”
