How to get Discord users to adopt your products? - Insights based on our proprietary data

After three months of developing Hype Engine, our new Discord engagement gamification tool that automatically gives and tracks communities quests, we've analyzed its performance and identified key factors influencing product adoption within Discord servers. While we've witnessed 12x growth in previously stagnant servers, we've also encountered challenges. We've looked into more than 20k+ data points to understand why some servers see massive adoptions while some dies down or never picks up. This post shares our insights into driving new product adoption, whether it's a Discord bot, a new game, an app, or even event tickets.

Key Lessons:

• 10%+ Volume and Repetition: Visibility is crucial. Aim for at least 10% of your server's daily messages to mention your product. Consistent messaging reinforces awareness and you need a certain volumes of these messages to make a difference. Note that this is not about repeating the same exact content, we notice a significant pick up in new users when members start to ask specific questions about our new features and get others to be interested.
• Multiple Advocates are Better Than One: Several members organically discussing your product is significantly more effective than a single, even highly active, user. While a single superfan might need to contribute 17% of server messages to drive noticeable growth, multiple advocates can achieve the same with only 10%. Focus on building systems, non-monetary incentives, and engaging activities that encourage widespread organic mentions. This also means that while mods should play a role in early awareness, the bulk of the work will truly be done with the help of your rest of the Discord.
• Strategic Timing: Server activity naturally peaks Monday-Wednesday, especially for commercial servers when it come to new product adoption. (If you are not sure when you are most active, check out our free analytics tool). This seems to be simply human natural. Capitalize on this by scheduling key announcements and activities during these days. Counteract the typical Thursday lull with a special midday event to maintain momentum. For example, if you see the same number of chatters on Thursday but with significantly less messages (you can obtain this data via analytics), make announcement on Thursday about new product. It will also be easier for you to hit the key 10% metrics.

• Meaningful KPIs: Track metrics beyond simple sign-ups. Focus on engagement. For Hype Engine, we found that users who complete a quest and earn 5+ points have an 80% retention rate. Identify your equivalent "stickiness" metric and optimize for it. We'd like to think that our hype engine is growing like crazy, but only when we discover this key KPI, we can be confident that our growth won't be wasted, which brings us to the next point.
• Conversion is Key: Growth without conversion is wasted effort. Design mechanisms to ensure users stick around. Different products require different mechanisms for conversion, but almost all products need separate design to encourage the first 5 mins of usages. For example, we pair a new player with a veteran to encourage completion rate during their first day.
• Taking Extra Care of Newcomers: New users often hesitate to ask questions and give up easily. For example, less than 5% of /quests commands are run by players beyond top 10. They check the leaderboard exactly once and don't want to see their lagging score EVER! Personalized outreach and support can make a huge difference in their comfort level and encourage engagement. In highly active servers, create dedicated spaces for newcomers to ask questions without feeling intimidated by veteran users. For example, match a super user with a new member so that the new member can feel being accounted for. This will also allow you to identify product onboarding problem.
• Identify and Cultivate Unexpected Enthusiasts: While early adopters are often superfans, look for less engaged members who show surprising excitement for your product. These individuals can become valuable advocates. They are your wild card and can be converted into superfans.
• Consistent Effort is Essential: There's no magic tipping point. Growth requires daily effort. This is partially because most servers will have a week over week retention rate less than 50%. Focus on converting a few new users each day (they make a huge difference), and with the right system in place, they will spread the word.
• Data-Driven Iteration: Data is crucial, but it's an iterative process. Start with a hypothesis, gather data (both automatically and manually), analyze, refine your understanding, and gather more data. It's a continuous cycle of improvement. For example, for the above insights, we've manually collected the initial sets of data points, understand them properly and form our hypothesis on why things the way they are and only then we programed to collect them automatically

Driving product adoption requires a multifaceted approach. By focusing on visibility, community engagement, strategic timing, meaningful metrics, and consistent effort, you can significantly increase your chances of success. Remember, every new user counts, and with the right system, they can become your most valuable growth engine.