Zen and the art of ‘capturing mass audiences’
Story byReinout te Brake
Reinout is well connected within the online global gaming and media industry. Currently he is a partner/group strategist at SPILL GROUP and(show all)Reinout is well connected within the online global gaming and media industry. Currently he is a partner/group strategist at SPILL GROUP and focused on establishing the world’s largest online game-traffic company. Also Reinout is an advisor/boardmember of several companies and venture funds.
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What is simplicity?
So what is simplicity? Let me take a first shot at this. Google is a company that is committed to make “search” simple and because of that focus got mass audience. Of course they introduced several ways to “please” that mass with simple functions likeGoogleReader,GoogleNewsandGmail. FaceBook wanted to give people a simple way of showing and sharing their online profiles, which resulted that people also started to find each other and start looking for (old) friends and (old) collegues. Facebook got mass audience and a very nice valuation because of that. To keep to mass satisfied, Facebook opened up for developers who came up with “fun stuff” that the people on Facebook started to use. Simple, right?
Where am I heading? Well, both companies do represent a quite simple business model. Not only do investors understand this very well, but also for the users (read; the mass audience). There I said it! I believe that there are lots of companies right now with amazing concepts, but sometimes way too early for the public at large. Thesecompanies need development timeand it is very good that investors do “back” these companies, but at what price? Sometimes it is my believe that investors just don’t want to miss out and justinvest for the sake of it. I heard someone say once; ” Out of the 10 investments, we hope 3 of them will do very well”.
Aiming for the same users
So lots of companies do get funding, because the investors do hope that it might be the next big thing. This means that the internet gets more crowded with websites that do reach out for the mass audience. All of these companies aiming for the same users in general.The more, the better…but where to find them. You know the answer by now; Facebook and Google.Did those companies expected this; sure they did, Google came up with Adwords/Adsense and Facebook created aMarketplaceand opened up for developers that createdcomplete companies with ditto websitesbased on developing “widgets” for companies like Facebook. Overhere a nicecase-studyby the way. But in the end the mass audience stays at Facebook and Google. Better; their reach is growing more and more!
The audience’s contribution
Through the years people got a bit more used to pay online, or better said “order online”. To trust a computer that is going “online” and pay with your own real earned money, that is a bit scary. It takes time and these days it seems thatpeople are getting used to it. People that are spending money online will also drive the possibilities online.You need the audience’s contribution to become a (financial) success.For example I started to use more and moreFlickr. Flickr.com is growing but my guess is that this is because of the success of Facebook and more bloggers. In the end Flickr also has to rely on other sites and developers for their own growth and financial success.
Therefore I say, keep it simple and you will attract the mass audience.They will and can figure out what you offer, start coming back on a daily base and tell others about your offering.When you get this mass audience, you will also see new companies “floating” around your company and come up with new ideas to tease and please “your” audience. That will give you and your investors a nice return of investment. And I’ll bet you that those developers will get funding too. Only thing is, is that they are relying on your company and are in the back-seat. Question is for them“how long are you being the top-driver (of traffic)?”.
