- Riverside's Eliran Zagbiv shares insights on building viral products.
- Three types of virality: content, experience, and incentivized.
- Leveraging organic user behavior for exponential growth.
- A 40% increase in guest-to-paying-user conversion.
In the competitive landscape of product development, achieving organic virality is often considered the 'Holy Grail'. Eliran Zagbiv, Growth Product Team Lead at Riverside, sheds light on how his team successfully built a robust viral engine by deeply understanding user behavior and strategically integrating virality into the product experience. This isn't just about referral links; it's about a holistic approach to growth.
Zagbiv emphasizes that virality isn't a one-size-fits-all concept, categorizing it into three distinct types: content virality, experience virality (which Riverside calls 'guest virality'), and incentivized virality (referrals). At Riverside, a platform enabling high-quality remote recording for content creators, the journey began by observing subtle signals. They noticed a significant number of guests, up to 150,000 monthly, were asking about the platform. Crucially, data revealed that approximately 12% of their paying users had initially experienced Riverside as guests before signing up – a compelling lower bound for their organic reach.
The core strategy for Riverside involved a 'double-down' approach: identifying organic behaviors happening outside the product and then replicating or enhancing them within the platform. A prime example is content virality, where users would organically share 'selfies' of themselves recording, inadvertently promoting Riverside. By creating a feature that automatically generated polished, shareable 'snapshot' images with the Riverside branding, they amplified this natural behavior, proving far more effective than generic watermarks. Similarly, for guest virality, the team identified the 'end of call' moment as a critical window. Instead of interrupting the recording, they offered guests a 'magic moment' post-session: an automatically generated, ready-to-publish clip of their segment, complete with transcripts and quality enhancements. This immediate, tangible value demonstrated Riverside's unique proposition, leading to a remarkable 40% increase in guest-to-paying-user conversions.
While incentivized referrals (like coupons or rewards) are a common approach, Zagbiv stresses that they are just one piece of the puzzle. The true innovation lies in solving user pain points and showcasing that solution at the opportune moment. For instance, by providing a 'before and after' comparison of audio/video quality, Riverside vividly illustrates the superior output guests receive, making the value proposition undeniable. The process also involves continuous testing and prioritizing user experience over immediate viral pushes. Ensuring a seamless upload and feedback process always takes precedence, with virality strategically integrated into the user journey rather than forced upon it. This hierarchical approach ensures that the core value of the product is never sacrificed for growth metrics.
Ultimately, Zagbiv's insights highlight that effective product virality stems from a deep empathy for the user. It's about recognizing their dreams, challenges, and natural behaviors, then crafting experiences that not only solve their problems but also empower them to effortlessly share that positive experience with others. By focusing on content, experience, and incentivized loops, product managers can build resilient growth engines that extend far beyond traditional marketing efforts.
“I think it's like the Holy Grail for product managers, that someone actually used my product and it was so good for them, that they caused other people to come to the product.”
- Eliran Zagbiv, Growth Product Team Lead at Riverside
