Autosync for Dropbox

The signup process is only a few steps and a user can sign up on their desktop—no web browser needed. Once a user signs up (either via web or desktop program) and installs Dropbox on their computer, Dropbox puts a photos folder and a ‘Getting Started’ text file to help get them started. This helps the new Dropbox user get a little acclimated to the product and some of its functions.

According to Houston, referrals increased Dropbox signups by 60%. Dropbox makes it really easy for users to tell one another about the product; even giving them incentives. For example, when one person who has Dropbox refers another, they both get a 500MB increase, pending signup. Dropbox makes it easy to refer: Via email: Link: Friend referrals instill more trust than an advertisement ever could. Furthermore , the sender has an incentive to spread the word about Dropbox—getting extra space. The referee also has an incentive for signing up—more space than if they just signed up through the normal process. This total costs Dropbox 1GB of space – far less than a Google AdWords buy

We’ve all seen the stores with a “Like us on Facebook” or the “Follow us on Twitter” decals on front doors. It’s becoming all too common-something that people mindlessly see. Some companies offer an incentive to Like them, such as announcing specials for Facebook fans only. Dropbox did something a little different. With each Follow on Twitter, Connect with Facebook or Twitter, Dropbox gives the user a 125MB increase: At the time of this writing, Dropbox had a little over 720,000 Twitter followers. While not all of them can be attributed to this hack, it certainly hasn’t hurt their quest to increase followers. Dropbox incentivizes users to connect with them on Facebook and Twitter – giving the user yet another platform to spread the Dropbox product

Dropbox makes it simple for people to share files. Both the sender and the receiver have little work to do. To share a gallery with people, all a user has to do is copy a link: This is very similar to Facebook’s ease of photo sharing: By sending people the photos that are hosted on the Dropbox website, Dropbox is getting more exposure (for free) to potential users. When unregistered people view the gallery, they see this short message at the bottom: Users also have the ability to copy the link from their desktop: “Zach Bulygo made this gallery by simply dropping files into a folder. Get your own public gallery with Dropbox.” Even in this promo, Dropbox is telling of their primary benefit – simplicity.

Dropquest is a contest run by Dropbox that makes users go through different puzzles and scavenger hunts. Those who complete and place in the top 176 get free space and/or free swag. The announcement on their blog generated quite a lot of Likes and Tweets. Dropquest has gotten Dropbox lost of publicity in the tech world for this (just Google dropquest). Takeaway: Contests can be a great way for companies to generate buzz about their brand and get users enthused about the product. If you haven’t already, you may want to try holding a fun contest with your users where they get more of your product in return. You just may end up generating some PR for your product.

The nature of the Dropbox product makes it important for them to be on multiple platforms. People need to access their products from anywhere at any time. Being available everywhere is key for Dropbox, according to Co-Founder & CEO Drew Houston. There are an estimated 20 million Ubuntu (Linux) users worldwide. Dropbox released their Linux program as soon as they launched to the public. These millions of Linux users did not have a free cloud storage solution at the time. By adding Linux support and continuing to this day to be on as many platforms as possible, Dropbox is making it easy for anyone who wants a Dropbox account to have one. There are an estimated 2.0% of Dropbox users who use Linux exclusively. Going by the 50 million user base number, there are a million Linux Dropbox users. These are a million people who can spread the product by sharing galleries, referring friends, adding them on social media, and all the other growth hacks Dropbox has done. Beyon...