Don’t stop account sharing, use it for growth

Everyone quickly learned what account sharing meant when Netflix released their “crackdown” announcement. Any company with a high value product is victim to account sharing. It is essentially the tax you have to pay for a great product.

Companies can no longer ignore the issue. Account sharers can almost triple server costs without actually paying for the product.

One of the things that we learned very quickly after speaking with some of the market leaders in the streaming and publishing industry is that they actually encourage account sharing. While there is a significant loss of revenue there is also hidden potential in account sharing.

Companies want more eyes on their product and account sharing essentially provides free marketing through word of mouth. It enables companies to massively increase their user base without forking over marketing dollars.

As many technical professionals know a bigger user base means bigger costs. Companies need to leverage account sharing to grow their user base, while also implementing a growth strategy that works to convert account sharers.

Here is how companies can leverage account sharing to create growth opportunities.

1. The Negative Impact of Account Sharing

Before we go into how we can take advantage of account sharing, we must first look at how account sharing can take advantage of us. Your server costs can increase exponentially from account sharing, while your revenue remains consistent. This is why companies like Netflix have addressed the issue to safeguard their revenue streams.

2. Free Marketing

Account sharing at the end of the day is free promotion of your product through word of mouth. You can organically increase your user base without shelling out marketing dollars.

3. Crafting an Effective Growth Strategy

The only way to leverage account sharing is by implementing an effective and strategic growth plan. You have to target account sharers with the right messaging at the right time. The approach cannot be accusatory, but rather a nudge towards a paid account including the benefits they will receive.

4. Take Advantage of Analytics

In order to do the above step, crafting an effective growth strategy, companies need to understand their customer. What are their preferences? What are their usage patterns? What will lead them to convert?

By answering these questions with user data companies can create tailored and personalized offers that convert account sharers into paying users.

At first glance, account sharing seems like a challenge and loss of revenue; however, with the right strategy it can be an effective growth tool. By identifying, targeting, and converting account sharers, companies can both increase their user base and revenue simultaneously.

To learn more about how you can start your account sharing prevention effort, sign up here.