How Blinkist Acquired 23 million App Downloads and Generating 30% YoY Revenue Growth?

Read time: 3 minutes.

Welcome to the 36th edition of The Growth Elements Newsletter. Every Monday, I write an essay on growth metrics & experiments and business case studies.

Today’s piece is going to 5100+ founders, operators and leaders from businesses like Shopify, Google, Sage, Hubspot, Servcorp, Zoho, Apollo & more.

Happy Monday!

Today, we have a case study on Blinkist - A book-summarising subscription service. Founded in 2012 and has 23 million downloads as of 2023.

In 2023, Blinkist reported revenue of $50 million, marking a 30% growth from the previous year.

But the question is, how did it transform the way people consume knowledge and insights from non-fiction books?

Three Growth Pillars

[1] Pillar 1: Identifying Target Audience and Value Proposition

► Blinkist targets busy individuals who value continuous learning but face time constraints.

[2] Pillar 2: Customer Acquisition Strategies

► There are multiple acquisition strategies, but Facebook Ads is the number one customer acquisition they focused on and yielded.

► The objective at this stage of the funnel was pretty simple - ask the user to:

Install the App > Registration > Start using the free version.

[3] Pillar 3: Product-Led Growth Strategies

► Here, enter the dark horse - PLG: Blinkist operates on the Freemium first model.

► Offer a limited version for free with the option to upgrade and a free trial offer.

► In-App Engagement: Providing personalised recommendations and curated reading lists.

► Usage Tracking: Utilising data analytics to understand user moves, preferences, likes, dislikes and deliver relevant content accordingly.

► Progress Tracking: Gamifying the reading experience to encourage user engagement, making the app adoption rate extremely high.

► Continuous Content Updates: Refreshing the library with new material to keep users engaged.

► Social Sharing: Enabling users to share content and achievements with their networks to drive organic growth.

Takeaways

► Blinkist's product-first approach, design beautification and data-controlled UX disrupted the book market, catering to the needs of time-strapped individuals.

► Through effective customer acquisition, PLG strategies, and retention initiatives, Blinkist has cultivated a loyal user base.

That's it for today's article! I hope you found this essay insightful.

Wishing you a productive week ahead!

I always appreciate you reading.

Thanks,
Chintan Maisuria