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Achieving global expansion: Vived’s product management success

6 minutes read

case-study
ClientVirtusLab

VirtusLab created Vived, an app for software developers. It simplifies their lives by offering IT news, customized articles, and remote job opportunities, all in one place. VirtusLab’s product management team decided to expand globally and reach an audience beyond Polish borders three years after the app's launch in Poland.

The product management team faced the challenge of rapidly developing new functionalities, gaining visibility and market share, and maintaining user engagement. Following a well-executed roadmap, a successful marketing campaign quadrupled the user base, with 71% of the new users coming from outside of Poland.

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The challenges

VirtusLab encountered three primary challenges:

  • Exceeding market share in Poland
    • The Polish market prevented the expansion of remote job offerings and subsequently the monetization of the application.
    • VirtusLab started collecting developer content from all over the world, leading to the chance to expand its market share in Europe and beyond.  This move required adding new features to showcase the content to a wider public.
  • Getting to know new markets to increase visibility
    • The global expansion demanded an extensive and efficient marketing campaign to gain said visibility.
    • This move necessitated extensive research and development to accommodate developers worldwide and consider their individual needs.
  • Gaining user acquisition & retention:
    • Vived needed a clear execution plan to ensure a smooth project timeline and delivery for success.
    • The app’s functionality required language settings, notifications, and content personalization enhancements to establish itself in the target markets.
    • Users required the option to browse jobs customized to their profiles and set up accounts using devices at hand.

The solution

VirtusLab’s product management team divided the global extension process into three major phases:

  • User research: 
    • They chose to promote their app initially among developers from Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, and other countries. Later, they expanded to France, Germany, the United Kingdom, as well as various countries in Asia and Africa.
    • Countries were selected for user acquisition based on developers’ requirements for new projects, their ambitions for rapid growth in IT, and their desire for high-quality content.
    • The team pinpointed target markets with a high demand for skilled developers, sourcing job offers for users from these countries.
    • VirtusLab researched the IT markets in several Central and Eastern European, Asian, and African countries. Through desk research, they identified developer specializations, salaries, employment structures, and relevant job boards. They also conducted interviews with global recruiters and personas workshops to gather insights.
  • Development: 
    • VirtusLab successfully developed new features in under six months.
    • They conducted a thorough UX/UI design process for the new functionalities and tabs.
    • Notifications were tailored to users’ time zones, enhancing the user experience.
    • Job offers tailored to users’ profiles were introduced using AI and a self-built scraper.
    • To accommodate diverse content preferences, Vived created a desktop version, making it easier to access complex articles and increasing new registrations.
  • Marketing: 
    • Using research data and recent app updates, VirtusLab launched an international marketing campaign.
    • VirtusLab approached each market with tailored communication strategies, utilizing paid advertising, social media, and online discussion groups.
    • VirtusLab also conducted numerous A/B tests to select the best variants for promotional material.

The results

Vived’s user base has grown significantly and its user acquisition costs have fallen, demonstrating the success of its global expansion initiatives. Recognizing the different needs of different user bases, adapting the platform accordingly and fostering user engagement play a key role in this journey and have resulted in:

  1. Within a year, Vived’s user base had quadrupled to over 20,000 developers and showed no signs of slowing down, indicating its high potential for scalability.
  2. The global expansion strategy led to a significant shift in the user base. Within weeks of the launch of the new campaign, 71% of registrations came from countries surrounding Poland.
  3. The team achieved a 50% reduction in ongoing marketing costs, allowing them to focus on development, attracting new editors and building partnerships.
  4. The average app rating on Google Play & App Store has increased from 4.5 to 4.7 since the global launch, a testament to user satisfaction, user engagement and content quality.
  5. Daily, dozens of new users from different countries continue to register in the app to receive custom content.
  6. Vived’s current position in the personalized IT news content market is undeniably stronger.