How we made it to a million users in 2 years

The​ ​adoption​ ​rate​ ​of​ ​mobile​ ​is​ ​twice​ ​that​ ​of​ ​the​ ​internet,​ ​three​ ​times​ ​that​ ​of social​ ​media,​ ​and​ ​10​ ​times​ ​faster​ ​than​ ​PCs. — Emma​ ​Crowe,​ ​Somo.

Two​ ​years​ ​ago,​ ​Zoto​ ​started​ ​out​ ​as​ ​a​ ​mobile​ ​recharge​ ​app. At​ ​the​ ​end​ ​of our​ ​first​ ​year,​ ​we​ ​were celebrating​ ​100k​ ​users.​ ​June​ ​would​ ​make​ ​it​ ​the second​ ​year,​ ​and​ ​we​ ​already​ ​celebrated​ ​1​ ​million​ ​users.

Exponential growth?​ ​In​ ​some​ ​way,​ ​yes.​ ​But​ ​we​ ​know​ ​there’s​ ​more,​ ​so​ ​we​ ​shared​ ​a slice​ ​of​ ​cake​ ​and​ ​are​ ​already​ ​looking​ ​on​ ​to​ ​the​ ​next​ ​target.

That​ ​isn’t​ ​the​ ​purpose​ ​of​ ​our​ ​post​ ​here​ ​today. Instead,​ ​we’d​ ​like​ ​to​ ​talk about​ ​the​ ​journey​ ​so​ ​far.​ ​The​ ​voluntary​ ​7​-day​ ​work​ ​week​ ​and​ ​sleepless nights,​ ​the​ ​unexpected​ ​crashes,​ ​making​ ​Android​ ​top​ ​charts, and​ ​that one​ ​time​ ​we​ ​got​ ​over​ ​200k​ ​users​ ​in​ ​a​ ​few​ ​days.

We’re​ ​looking​ ​to​ ​share​ ​the​ ​experiences​ ​we’ve​ ​had​ ​along​ ​the​ ​way,​ ​in hopes​ ​of​ ​others​ ​learning​ ​from​ ​our mistakes,​ ​and​ ​ourselves​ ​learning from​ ​your​ ​feedback.​ ​Because​ ​we​ ​understand​ ​that​ ​this​ ​is​ ​how​ ​we​ ​grow together​ ​as​ ​an​ ​ecosystem,​ ​and​ ​we’re​ ​here​ ​to​ ​stay.​ ​So​ ​why​ ​not​ ​start now?

Everyone​ ​who​ ​has​ ​had​ ​to​ ​market​ ​an​ ​app​ ​in​ ​Nigeria​ ​today​ ​knows​ ​that the​ ​journey​ ​is​ ​a​ ​tough​ ​one.​ ​For​ ​the most​ ​part,​ ​you’re​ ​competing​ ​with our​ ​“oyinbo”​ ​counterparts,​ ​and​ ​their​ ​apps​ ​already​ ​have​ ​like​ ​a​ ​gazillion
downloads.

And​ ​even​ ​when​ ​you’re​ ​able​ ​to​ ​carve​ ​out​ ​a​ ​niche​ ​market​ ​for​ ​yourself,​ ​like Babymigo​ ​did​ ​with​ ​their​ ​app (which​ ​we​ ​think​ ​is​ ​awesome​ ​by​ ​the​ ​way), getting​ ​the​ ​word​ ​out,​ ​driving​ ​early​ ​adopter​ ​downloads​ ​and
engagement,​ ​then​ ​pursuing​ ​growth​ ​is​ ​always​ ​a​ ​problem.​ ​We​ ​faced those​ ​same​ ​things​ ​and​ ​more.

So​ ​here’s​ ​what​ ​to​ ​expect​ ​from​ ​us​ ​in​ ​the​ ​coming​ ​months.

• Our​ ​first​ ​major​ ​fail​ ​in​ ​product​ ​scalability​ ​and​ ​what​ ​it​ ​taught​ ​us
• Driving​ ​a​ ​culture​ ​of​ ​growth​ ​and​ ​experimentation​ ​at​ ​an​ ​individual
  level​ ​for​ ​tech​ ​organizations
• Growing​ ​a​ ​social​ ​community​ ​that​ ​supports​ ​your​ ​brand​ ​through
  humanisation
• Data​ ​driven​ ​offline​ ​marketing​ ​for​ ​digital​ ​products​ ​and​ ​how​ ​it
  saved​ ​us​ ​millions
• Creating​ ​a​ ​service​-centric​ ​brand​ ​and​ ​how​ ​to​ ​get​ ​your​ ​whole
  organization​ ​involved​ ​in​ ​customer​ ​service
• What​ ​we​ ​learned​ ​from​ ​our​ ​first​ ​design​ ​sprint​ ​in​ ​building​ ​Zoto​ ​v3

Throughout​ ​this​ ​series,​ ​we’d​ ​be​ ​looking​ ​forward​ ​to​ ​answering​ ​your questions​ ​on​ ​anything​ ​app​ ​related. Our​ ​engineering​ ​and​ ​marketing guys​ ​will​ ​be​ ​following​ ​each​ ​post​ ​to​ ​make​ ​sure​ ​we​ ​answer​ ​every​ ​question we​ ​can,​ ​so​ ​don’t​ ​hold​ ​back!

If​ ​you’d​ ​like​ ​us​ ​to​ ​address​ ​anything​ ​more​ ​specific,​ ​start​ ​dropping​ ​your comments​ ​below,​ ​we’d​ ​see​ ​how​ we​ ​can​ ​fuse​ ​them​ ​into​ ​upcoming​ ​posts.

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On February 8, 2019, in Lagos Nigeria, Nerds Unite will expose IT professionals to the latest radical technologies available for business and their application to the Nigerian business landscape. Register now to attend.

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