GMAIL: THE POWER OF EXCLUSIVITY

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The most desirable clubs are always the ones you can't get into.

Humans love exclusivity.

To be somewhere others can't.

To be in the inner circle.

To be special.Today, having a Gmail account is a necessity.But back in 2004...

Gmail was THE exclusive club of exclusive clubs.Here's the story...

Company Overview

Valuation: 1.53T (Google - parent company)

Est. Revenue: $821M (Source)

We all know Gmail.In fact, 72% of you reading this right now just went into your Gmail to find this newsletter.

It's by far the most dominant email provider in the world. Now, you might just be thinking "Well of course it is, it's by Google". But, what you're forgetting is back in 2004 Google was merely a search engine. There was no Google Drive, Docs, Sheets or Slides. It was just a search engine. No one really knew if their email service was going to be any good.And honestly... there was no demand for their email service. Hotmail was the bee's knees and no one was looking for an alternative. So, Gmail had to create its own demand, and this is exactly how they did it...

Breaking Down The Strategy

If you gave the average marketer the task of launching Gmail in 2004... Chances are they'd head straight for the "classic" marketing tactics: billboards, paid ads, handing out leaflets. We've seen it time and time again. A marketing team forcing themselves on anyone and everyone. Gmail on the other hand, did the complete opposite. They didn't force their new service down potential customers' throats. Instead, they made it almost impossible to get into.

The keyword in this sentence is "almost". Google has a bunch of software exclusive to Google workers, but no one really cares for it? I'm not trying to get onto Google's Slack am I? But that's because we know it'd be impossible to get a hold of. Google made it possible to get onto Gmail, but exclusively through invite-only.

Their plan was simple. Roll out Gmail for a select few thousand people. Each user got 2 invites they could send out to have their friends join the service.

It was a treasure hunt, with the whole world trying to be in the exclusive club. A treasure hunt that had people scavenging far and wide to find THAT person who had an invite spare. People were so bothered about getting in that sites like 'Gmail Swap' emerged to match up those with invites, with those who desperately wanted them.

They even had people bidding for invites on eBay with prices shooting up to as high as $150 and beyond. If you don't believe me just take a look at these Tweets (below). Even today, people remember the moment they finally got access to the Gmail platform:

A situation arose where only the "coolest" people had Gmail. So much so that having a Hotmail or Yahoo Mail email address became embarrassing.

The perfect perception Google wanted to craft.

It's impossible to talk about the Gmail launch story without talking about the built-in mystery that came with it. Everyone who was able to use the service was bragging about how amazing it was - of course, that's what you do when you're in a sought after club. But the people who weren't in the club had no idea what was behind the infamous "Coming soon!" screen.

We humans were desperate to solve the mystery. We love them, mysteries, well solving them at least. Just think about the world of celebrities. We spend hours trying to depict what's going on behind the scenes. Who's sleeping with who? Who has started dating? Who is official? Who has broken up? Oh, the mystery! So, when it came to a behind closed doors email service (it was a much more exciting prospect back then; think Keeping Up With The Kardashians on steroids) They didn't need to sell how great their service was. They just created a mystery around their service and sold that.

The exclusive strategy wasn't just used for a quick few months to launch though. Google set exclusivity as a precedent for what Gmail was. For the following years, Google kept increasing the number of invites each user could issue. It allowed the platform's user base to expand, whilst making sure to keep the exclusive nature of the platform. In fact, they didn’t open up the service to all comers until Valentine’s Day, 2007 - 3 years after the initial launch.

We're now nearly 20 years later and that precedent still hasn't changed. How many times do you get asked "what's your Gmail?" rather than just asking for your email. That exclusive club theme still stands strong and Gmail remains THE email server that if you aren't using, you're mildly judged. If you think I'm wrong and you're sitting there with a Hotmail, just know you're the one being judged here.

It may seem simple, just keeping your service exclusive, but the strategy is genius. It's the epitome of a network effect. Google turned every single one of their users into a marketing machine. Just do the maths, if every person invites two people, the userbase of Google doubles RAPIDLY, all whilst maintaining the mystery.

If you've ever wondered what growth hacking is, this is it! Google didn't need a big marketing budget or to spend crazy money on ads. No traditional methods were needed. Marketing was built into the service. The service was built to grow rapidly. It was destined for success. Not because of how great the product was, but because of the perception Google crafted around the service.There is a reason 72% of us use Gmail. Their launch strategy is that reason.

How To Implement It

Launch your service as an exclusive offering.That's the No.1 takeaway you should have from reading this. Not just because it will generate more demand, but also because:

• You can test product-market fit

• You can get instant feedback

• Gives you time for iteration

• Allows you to perfect your product/service

It gives you a process that looks something like this (see below) with the testing and evaluation phase coming during your exclusive offering.

You may be thinking: "How in the world can I create a limited supply for my offering?"Simple.Let's say you are a start-up PR company. Then limit yourself to 3 clients to start and make sure to make it known!LinkedIn post day 1: "We're opening up 3 spots for clients"LinkedIn post day 3: "2 spots taken in just 48 hours, last spot still up for grabs"

LinkedIn post day 4: "WE'RE BOOKED UP. Miss your chance? Drop me your email and we'll add you to the waiting list."It will take you from a normal PR agency to one that seems really high in demand. Create a supply shock and you'll quickly see clients come out of the woodwork with urgency.

This has been a breakdown of Gmail's launch strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!