As a social application based
on LBS, Momo enables people to search for and locate the other users or groups
nearby. By sending texts, voice and images, the users can build up connection
as well as starting interaction in the most efficient way. Until September, 2014,
the application has accumulated 180 million users, among which 60.2 million are
active and 1million are members paying for the fee. After launching the
business for 3 years, Momo has filed for IPO. While there is fierce competition
within the battlefield of social media, what has made Momo stand out?
Compared with other instant
messaging platforms such as Wechat and line, Momo has been the rebellious one
from the very beginning. By digging deep into the LBS technologies, Momo has provided
a playground for the strangers in cities and it has actually satisfied various
social needs of them.
As the CEO Tang Yan suggests,
what Momo has entered is the blue ocean. Although Wechat and Mitalk also
provide LBS services, their business is mainly based on the relationships
between people who are familiar with each other. On the contrary, what Momo
focuses and relies on is the relationship between strangers.
Before Momo, people may ask why
they should talk to people who are alien to them. However, Momo has sensitively
noticed the potential needs of people. When logging in to the platform, it is
surprising that people use Momo with diverse motivations: some of them would
like to dating partners; some of them would like to find groups according to their
hobbies; some use Momo as a marketing platform to sell different stuff, while
the others are simply curious about the strangers nearby.
Andersen suggests in the long
tail theory that besides the hit products, the Internet can provide people with
countless accesses to niche products. Once accumulated, the value of the niche
products may even surpass that of the mainstream market. The success of Momo
has proved that in the age of the Internet, if the companies would like to earn
a fortune, they should not only provide niche products but also niche services.
The start-ups will grow fast once they unearth those personalized consumer
needs and succeed in taking care of the segmented markets.
While innovations are crucial,
it is more important for a company to find the effective profit model. Momo has
not genuinely start to earn money due to its heavy cost on marketing and
advertising, but it seems like by taking the special needs of the users into
consideration, they have already stepped into the right direction. The revenue
stream of Momo firstly comes from the members’ fee. After buying the
membership, the users can enjoy several premium services provided by Momo such
as getting a discount when buying the expression applications. Meanwhile, Momo
also makes money by offering platforms for playing mobile games, by which
people can facilitate the fragmented time and interact with the strangers.
However, the most obvious advantage of Momo is still its LBS service. One
example is that by launching a new function called ‘Daodiantong’ this year.
This is a platform for business people to carry out accurate advertising based
on geographic locations, which can help them to interact with the users instantly.
By adopting the long tail
strategy and providing niche services, Momo has win its position in the fierce
battlefield of social media. Its success suggests that firstly, innovation is
the still of key to achieve users’ satisfaction and investors’ attention. Moreover,
the companies have to cultivate technological advantages and find its specific
profit model. Finally, in order to flourish in the competitive market of
Internet business, the small companies
need to seek strategic cooperation with the big ones, just like Momo has cooperated
with Alibaba.
Reference:
1.
ChinaSpectator. (2014) China’s Momo
raises US$216 million in IPO. Retrieved Dec
14, 2014 from:
2.
Techcrunch. (2014) Momo, a flirting app with 180m users, is latest chinese tech firm to
file for U.S. IPO. Retrieved Dec 14, 2014 from http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/09/momo-a-flirting-app-with-180m-users-is-latest-chinese-tech-firm-to-file-for-a-u-s-ipo/
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