Summary of "Instagram failed until it made THIS simple change"

Instagram’s Turnaround and Behavioral Design Principles Driving Business Success

This video explores how Instagram transformed from a failing app into a global success by applying BJ Fogg’s behavioral model, focusing on motivation, ability, and prompts. It also highlights four key prompting principles used broadly in business and marketing to influence user behavior and drive growth.

Instagram Case Study: Applying BJ Fogg’s Behavioral Model

Initial Failure: Instagram’s original version, Bourbon, was a check-in app with many features (location sharing, video/photo posts, points) but failed due to low user motivation and complexity.
Behavioral Model Components (BJ Fogg):
- Motivation: Users need a strong reason to act. Instagram boosted motivation by enabling social approval through likes and comments.
- Ability: The action must be easy to perform. Instagram simplified the app to focus on photo sharing and added easy-to-use photo filters, increasing user ability.
- Prompt: A trigger to initiate behavior. Instagram used notifications (likes/comments) and leveraged intrinsic prompts—life events naturally encouraging users to post (e.g., holidays, meals).
Outcome: This behavioral redesign led to Instagram’s rapid growth, culminating in a $1 billion acquisition by Facebook within a year.

Four Key Prompting Principles for Business and Marketing

Curiosity Drives engagement by creating a desire to learn more.
- Example: Stockholm’s “world’s deepest trash can” increased litter collection by 150% by attracting curiosity.
- Marketing tip: Frame headlines/questions to trigger curiosity using “How,” “Why,” “This,” or numbered lists.
- Case: Changing a blog headline to “This is what work will look like in the future” increased clicks by 180%.
- Personal test: Changing one word in a newsletter subject line increased open rates by 4.5%.
Exceptional Benefit Offering a unique or scarce value that users cannot get elsewhere.
- Example: Netflix’s framing of a free trial as “watch unlimited blockbusters for free” feels more valuable than just “free trial.”
- Case: Beer 52’s “free” trial (pay postage only) attracted 200,000+ signups despite mixed reviews, generating $50 million annual revenue.
- Note: Exceptional benefits often come with trade-offs (e.g., hard cancellation processes).
Simple Question Asking straightforward questions compels users to respond and engage.
- Case: Dutch e-commerce giant Bol.com increased clicks on review surveys by 200% and total reviews by 400% by replacing “Write a review” with a simple question “How did you like it?” with easy answer options.
- Key: Questions must be simple and easy to answer to maximize engagement.
Unfinished Journey (Zeigarnik Effect) People remember and feel compelled to complete interrupted tasks.
- Example: Airbnb prompts users to write reviews after their stay, leveraging the unfinished task to increase engagement.
- Combining this with curiosity (e.g., “See what your host said about you”) further boosts user action.

Key Metrics & Business Impact

Instagram (2018):
- Revenue: $55.8 billion (ad revenue basis)
- Active monthly users: 2 billion
Bol.com:
- Revenue: approx. $8 billion
Beer 52:
- Revenue: $50 million annually
Behavioral changes impact:
- 150% increase in litter collected (trash can example)
- 180% increase in blog clicks
- 4.5% increase in newsletter open rates
- 200% increase in survey clicks and 400% increase in reviews (Bol.com)

Actionable Recommendations for Businesses

Simplify products/services to increase user ability.
Build social approval mechanisms to boost motivation.
Use prompts strategically—notifications, intrinsic triggers, or external nudges.
Frame marketing messages to spark curiosity using tested linguistic patterns.
Offer clear, exceptional benefits to stand out in competitive markets.
Use simple questions to increase customer feedback and engagement.
Leverage the Zeigarnik effect by creating “unfinished” experiences that prompt follow-up actions.
Combine multiple prompting principles for stronger user activation and retention.

Presenters / Sources

Kevin Systrom (Instagram founder)
BJ Fogg (Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab founder, behavioral scientist)
Bass Faus (Behavioral design expert, co-founder of Cialdini Institute)
Case studies mentioned: Instagram, Bol.com, Beer 52, Volkswagen Fund theory project (trash can), Airbnb

This summary highlights how Instagram’s pivot using behavioral science principles and the broader application of prompting techniques can be leveraged for product design, marketing, and customer engagement to drive significant business growth.