How to use waitlists to build buzz
“Give me a product that a few people I know have or use, that doesn’t want me as a customer yet, and I’ll run through a wall to get my hands on it, just show me the way (: !”
– Ali Abouelatta
“My motivation for writing this piece comes from observing my own behavior; my reaction to a waitlist has always been extreme.
I either go crazy to get access to products during their invite-only phase. For instance, I donated $50 x 3 for a chance to “win” a Clubhouse invite, I wrote a handwritten snail mail begging the founder of a certain productivity app to give me access and, of course, did the whole referral thing, getting people to sign up to get earlier access…many many times.
Or, I swear off products completely cause of the mere fact they had a waitlist (I am looking at you, Amie!)
I took the time this week to reflect not just on why that is the case, but more importantly, study the extremely successful, kind-of-successful, and flops of the waitlist world.
My goal is to come out of this research with a better understanding of why I act the way I do, what makes a successful waitlist program and when it makes sense to implement a waitlist?“