Strategies for Social Play and User Retention

Playful (and Authentic) Content is the Secret Sauce to Social Media ROI If your brand’s social media strategy feels a little *too polished*, or if you’re constantly chasing the “next big trend,” it might be time to rethink your approach. Playful and authentic content is more than just “fun and games”—it’s a high-performing strategy that drives real ROI. Here’s why: 1. Playfulness Breaks Through the Noise The average person scrolls the length of the Eiffel Tower every day. To get noticed, you need to surprise and delight your audience. Playful content—done right—stops the scroll. Tactical Tip: - Use unexpected humor or trending audio, but make it relevant to your brand. For example, a hotel could post a video of housekeeping staff showcasing their “towel animal folding championship” with a lighthearted tone.  - Tap into trends that align with your voice, like playful “day in the life” reels or behind-the-scenes bloopers. 2. Authenticity Builds Trust Your audience can spot “fake” a mile away. Being playful doesn’t mean putting on a facade—it’s about showcasing your brand’s real personality and values. Authenticity is what keeps followers coming back for more. Tactical Tip: - Share user-generated content (UGC) to show how guests or customers interact with your brand in real life.  - Let employees or team members be the stars of your content. This humanizes your brand and makes you relatable. 3. Playfulness + Authenticity = Engagement Gold When your content feels human and fun, it sparks conversations. And guess what? Every comment, like, and share brings you closer to ROI. Tactical Tip: - Use playful calls to action like “Caption this!” or “Which dish would you try first?” to boost engagement.  - Run interactive polls or quizzes in your Stories that relate to your brand. For example, a travel agency could ask, “What’s your dream vacation: a tropical escape or a mountain adventure?" 4. ROI Isn’t Just About Sales—It’s About Connection Sure, playful content can sell a room, book a cruise, or fill a table at your restaurant, but the bigger ROI is building a loyal community. A community that sees your brand as more than just a product, but as an experience they want to be part of. Tactical Tip: - Track ROI differently: engagement rates, saved posts, DMs, or even brand sentiment. These are precursors to revenue.  - Use playful content as a springboard to deeper conversations in the comments or through direct outreach. Here’s the Challenge: Look at your current social media content. Does it feel playful, authentic, or both? If not, it’s time to loosen the tie, let your brand personality shine, and start creating the kind of content that connects. And remember: being playful doesn’t mean being unprofessional. It means being real. In 2025, that’s what social media audiences want—and it’s what delivers results. What’s your favorite way to incorporate playfulness into your strategy? #Hospitality #SocialMedia

3 Pillars of Duolingo's community-led growth strategy and how you can implement those! Duolingo is known for its "unhinged" personality, dry humor, obsessive notifications and reminders. From celebrating streaks with duo bird cake, asking for help from other native speakers and seeking customer support, their app, Reddit, Inc. community and social presence all have a consistent theme. What did they do right? 1. Brand Personality  👉 Consistent brand personality across all the channels  👉 Crafted their own style and doubled down on what people liked 👉  Engaging with memes, tweets and reels created by users and going all out on that "unhinged" personality 2. User Generated Content 👉 Crowdsourced most of the course content in multiple languages from hundreds of volunteers 👉 Encouraged UGC. People love to share their duo streaks 👉 Used social proof (testimonials) to encourage users to continue learning 👉 Enabled learners to report errors on the app (200,000+ such reports come daily!) 3. Community Spaces (the biggest one) 👉 Multiple channels for users to interact + gain feedback (there is a monthly product feedback mega thread that you will see pinned on their subreddit) 👉 Built knowledge sharing forum/language clubs for learners to engage in various ways 👉 Hosted hundreds of volunteer-led events per week for improving retention (language learning is a social activity 🗣 ). 👉  Ran leagues on the app where users were able to compete with other learners. Now, how can you implement these for your brand? 🎯 Your brand should be simple and delightful to recall. Understand your audience and what they like. 🎯 Integrate user feedback. Branding without value add is pointless. Ask your community what they want and stay focused on value addition. 🎯 Build social features like knowledge forum, shareable streaks, community reporting, peer to peer chat, etc. to hook users in an engaging way. These strategies are very effective for businesses in any kind of habit building space - EdTech, investing, mental health and fitness (you can build these in a matter of days with LikeMinds - FYI 😎 ) Have you ever used Duolingo? Did I miss anything? Let me know in comments!

Over the last 15 years, I've had the privilege of working at incredible companies like thredUP, Fortnite, and Apollo. I've gotten to see a variety of successful multiplayer experiments. Here are 6 examples: — 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝟭 - 𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗧 ThredUp ↳ Problem Customers were “understandably” skeptical about buying secondhand clothing online. ↳ Solution We introduced social proof elements — showing likes, real-time views, and "sold" notifications. ↳ Result This small adjustment led to a 15% increase in conversion rates. — 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝟮 - 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗧 ThredUp ↳ Problem We needed a way to expand our customer base globally without breaking the bank. ↳ Solution We launched a referral program that allowed customers to invite friends through personalized links, offering discounts to both parties. ↳ Result This drove a 60% increase in referral acquisition. — 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝟯 - 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 Fortnite ↳ Problem Players were losing enthusiasm for squad play. ↳ Solution We increased battle pass challenges that required teamwork to earn rewards. ↳ Result This initiative boosted squad playtime by 22%, particularly improving retention among new players. — 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝟰 - 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗧 Apollo.io ↳ Problem Our sales teams were operating in silos, limiting efficiency and productivity. ↳ Solution We improved the IA for sales reps to collaborate on calls, share notes, and tag each other. ↳ Result This shift helped joint outreach win rates rise 20% compared to solo efforts. — 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝟱 - 𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗨𝗡𝗕𝗢𝗫𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗧 ThredUp ↳ Problem Customers loved sharing their unboxing experiences on social media, but we weren’t fully leveraging this excitement. ↳ Solution We created an "Unboxing" feature. ↳ Result This led to an 80% increase in user-generated content. — 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝟲 - 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗥𝗢𝗬𝗔𝗟𝗘 𝗜𝗡 Fortnite ↳ Problem We wanted to provide a space for players to socialize beyond the battle. ↳ Solution Entered Party Royale — a weapons-free island where players could hang out, play mini-games, and attend live events. ↳ Result This resulted in a 15% increase in daily active users during the event and a 20% boost in voice chat. — Disclaimers: 1. I was a (sometimes distant) leader for most of these, not an IC driving the work. Many amazing folks built these. 2. Numbers are rounded to not disclose any private data. — Interested in learning how to create scalable multiplayer features like these? I collaborated with Height to create a free breakdown. Link in comments.

The 4 psychology levers this company pulled to reach a $7 billion market cap. Getting people to use your product regularly is notoriously hard - but somehow Duolingo has cracked the code. In an event a few months back, Sean Colombo, Head of Growth at Duolingo, revealed their secret sauce. Let me tell you, it's a masterclass in user retention (and human psychology) (and a souped up version of Nir Eyal's "trigger, action, reward" framework). With 300 A/B tests running at any given time, they've optimized these four key strategies: ⭐ There’s a right time to ping - They like to send notifications right before bedtime to tap into our fear of breaking streaks - They also use machine learning to 1) maximize when users are likely to engage 2) personalize push notifications ⭐ Leverage guilt marketing - That cute-owl-turned-angry-owl isn't just adorable; it's playing psychological games on you - Duolingo creates cognitive dissonance when actions don't align with commitments. They're also playing on our loss aversion with streaks. ⭐ Set up competition by skill - You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with on Duolingo. - They leverage smart leaderboards so you’re competing with users of similar activity levels, instead of “friends,” who may make you feel bad (or unmotivated). ⭐ Reward the behaviors you want to see - They throw a lot of confetti - yes, we all think this is dumb, but we also can’t help but love it - Milestone celebrations, gems, and hearts reinforce progress and create a sense of achievement The results? An impressive 65% year-over-year growth (though it's slowing to 50% - still nothing to sneeze at!). -- Which of these four tactics do you think is most effective? Most controversial? -- Follow me for more inside scoops on business, AI, and growth 🙏