🚀 How to build content loops?

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3 tactics to build content loops

🔁 Encourage users to create and share content

• Identify the kind of content that will drive your model, and be valuable for users and non-users alike:

  • Do you have any assets that's being created that you can lean into? 

  • Is there a natural way your product can create the content?

• Design tools for easy content creation and sharing that brings in new users (e.g. YouTube allows creators to embed their videos on any website or app)

• Identify communities where users already engage with or create content (e.g. LinkedIn for thought leaders, Hacker News for engineers, Reddit for hobbyists)

• Incentivize contributions that generate more discoverable content (e.g. boosting SEO or visibility)

• If users are not motivated to share by themselves, identify ways to share their content for them (E.g. Pinterest distributed popular boards to Google and Grubhub distributed information from restaurants to customers)

🎯 Align user intent with product value

• Personalize onboarding, recommendations, and CTAs based on intent, not just conversion funnel stage

• Trace traffic sources (e.g. search, social, referrals) and track behavior to align content, messaging, and next steps with what users expect to see

  • Misaligned content → increased bounce rate

  • Intent-matched content → increased growth

• Example: Pinterest saw low conversion from Google search users because onboarding showed content from their friends instead of topics they had just searched for

🔑 Convert, activate and add strategic friction

• Show the value of the platform upfront (e.g. no signup for viewing content); ensure users leave with a clear understanding of how the product can help them long-term even if they don’t sign up immediately

• Use small roadblocks to surface higher-quality users:

  • Show relevant content first, then introduce friction to encourage sign-up or deeper engagement (e.g. limit scrolling until users take action)

  • Run quick experiments to test what encourages meaningful interaction without blocking value

2 traps to avoid

🚨 Experimenting to “win” instead of learn

• Running experiments just to “win” kills insights

• Focus experiments on surfacing actionable learnings 

• Dive in and iterate, even with limited resources; each test should inform what to build next for the long term, not chase short term spikes

🚨 Wrongly using signups or traffic as the key metric for content loops

• Content is not just about reach; it needs to stop people from landing and leaving

  • Start of the loop: Focus on increasing traffic and conversion rates for new users

  • Later in the loop: Focus on increasing activation rates to engage and retain new users

• Identify the slowest moving part of the loop (e.g. top-of-funnel traffic, user conversion, driving sharing behavior, retention, etc), understand what is dragging, and then prioritize efforts there

1 tool to leverage

📖 Best practice on running experiments to build content loops

• Conversion optimization could be tested in a couple of days but experimenting on search engine traffic can take about a month

• Measuring activation rates can also be a slow process

• Look for big changes when you are working with a small number of users, especially in the early days

• Use tools like OptinMonster to help with creating targeted popups and onsite campaigns that encourages signups

Bonus: 1 trend to spark startup ideas

📈   Retailers are failing at personalization

• Retailers and consumers have a massive perception gap on personalized experience; 92% of retailers believe they deliver, but only 48% of consumers agree

• Two-thirds of retailers struggle with basic data integration while 74% of customers feel frustrated by poor personalization attempts

• AI that could unlock $570B in growth from personalization: 

  • Real-time behavioral AI: Dynamic recommendations adapting to browsing patterns, delivering better product discovery than generic bestseller lists

  • Hyper-targeted promotion engines: AI segments beyond demographics by discount sensitivity and timing, generating higher returns than mass promotions

  • Omnichannel identity resolution: Unified profiles connecting anonymous browsing to known preferences across every touchpoint