Mobile App Success Story: How Lyft Did It -

Mobile App Success Story: How Lyft Did It

It appears that many great apps reached their success by offering trustworthy solutions for all users who live or travel in big cities. For example, whenever you need a ride you can take advantages of the services provided by Lyft. For this reason, it is a good chance to explore interesting strategies with the help of Lyft app.

Brilliant Idea

It is not a secret anymore that this type of apps was born of necessity. Zimride, the company created by John Zimmer and Logan Green in 2007 was focused on offering ride sharing facilities for students who wanted to go home during holidays and for all persons who needed long distance transportation services. Because they were facing some challenges, these young entrepreneurs started to consider mobile opportunities for the growth of their business. Initially they wanted to build an app and to name it Zimride Instant, but the new product had nothing to do with the core function of their company since it was designed to create a connection between a person who needs a ride and another person who is nearby and offers that service. This was the reason why the app was called Lyft and it is available on the market since 2012. Carstache, the pink moustache is the symbol adapted by Zimride owners for a more joyful experience. After a year, John and Logan decided to sell off Zimride and to focus on Lyft growth. Let’s see how they did it.

Image Source: https://techcrunch.com/2012/08/25/lyft-san-francisco-launch/

How Lyft Did It

We all know that there are many popular apps similar to Lyft but we will focus our story on the strategies created by the team behind Lyft for winning their users’ confidence.

Image Source: https://www.humansynergistics.com/resources/content/2017/07/18/culture-and-hyper-growth-ron-storn-on-keeping-lyft-s-values-alive

It Is All About Safety

The concept that differentiates Lyft from other tools is that the app is based on community meaning that when a user needs to get somewhere another member of community will take him there. The main idea of the app is expressed as finding a friend with a car. But all the process involves a lot of work for convincing riders to trust their drivers. This is why users receive all the information needed before the car reaches their location. Besides that, they have the opportunity to rate the person who took them to the wanted destination. Only the ones who receive high scores will continue to be drivers for this company.

Make It Affordable

The second factor which convinces users to try Lyft is that the services provided represent an affordable alternative to the expensive taxi rides. When customers complete the form to get from point A to point B they discover the price before deciding to request Lyft. Knowing the costs from the beginning makes the entire procedure very transparent. Additionally to that advantage, riders have the chance to pay in the app, which is very handy when you don’t want to deal with cash. Not to mention that this feature allows them to save time.

Referrals

The main advantage generated by the customers’ satisfaction is that they can become your brand ambassadors. Who doesn’t want to talk about a platform which makes his live easier with the people who live in his home city? Beyond that he receives money and special bonuses. Loyal users prefer to be part of this app’s growth especially when they have so many advantages. And this is no wonder because Lyft is the solution chosen by many users when they want to go home safely after a party or when they need to get in a place as soon as possible. On the official page specially created for Lyft fans you can observe that it is mandatory to believe in the mission of “uniting humanity and technology to make every day rides welcoming, affordable and memorable” if somebody is interested in the referral program.

Image Source: https://www.lyft.com/ambassador

Video Ads

It is a true culture behind Lyft and the community is an important factor for the growth of this brand. It is a great strategy to create video ads which expresses the relationship built between riders and drivers in a specific manner that engages users and make them understand the fundamental belief behind Lyft. All experts recommend that promotional clips should be less than 30 seconds. But when the video is created by an Oscar Award Winner like in case of June, 7 minutes doesn’t seem so much because you can watch it for hours. Take a look and let yourself be inspired by the originality of this idea.

Image Source: https://medium.com/@johnzimmer/introducing-june-a-short-film-inspired-by-the-lyft-community-aa38613e0bff

Autonomous Technology

Wouldn’t be amazing that all those cars we see on the street to become small robots who know how to drive, where to take us and how fast? Well, there are big chances that in a few years all Lyft rides will be made by autonomous cars. The partnerships announced by Lyft owners with General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover or nuTonomy have this main purpose: to test this driverless technology. Moreover, all the information gathered from riders will help these vehicles to reach their destination in an efficient mode. It remains to be seen how the future will look like for Lyft customers.

Image Source: https://www.recode.net/2016/9/18/12955162/lyft-gm-self-driving-cars

Bonus Tip: Support Charitable Causes

In a business it is vital to take care of all your customers, but when you help the ones in need you have the satisfaction that your company makes this world a better place. Lyft team promised to donate $100,000 dollars within a year for America’s military service members and in the same time they encourage their users to contribute to this cause. So, app owners take example and think about innovative methods to give back a part of your profit for bringing happiness into someone’s life.

Image Source: https://blog.lyft.com/posts/roundup-donate-uso

FINAL THOUGHTS

It is not very easy to compete with big competitors but you must expend your energy in communicating with users in an easy and friendly way. No matter how powerful your competitors are, if you remain loyal to the initial purpose and you help your audience, then you can be sure about that you will have your own place in the market.


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