Why the Morning Brew is So Good at Gamification
(Credit: Morning Brew)
Two of my favorite follows on Twitter are Toby Howell, writer for the Morning Brew, and Alex Liberman, CEO and co-founder of the Morning Brew. Recently, they announced a competition — who would get to 10,000 followers first. The idea wasn't only a smart idea, but an idea rooted in authenticity.
If you are an avid reader of the Brew, a newsletter-firs media company, or a follower of them on social media, you'll notice a distinct voice. Their content is concise, playful, but always authentic. Here's an example:
“Zoom’s revenue grew 355% in Q2, because last year you hadn’t heard of the company and now you use it to watch your brother get married.”
A publication like the Wall Street Journal would've just reported the number. The Morning Brew adds their own voice to it that makes the content special.
Special content is hard to come by — that's why two million people subscribe to their newsletter. When you open their email, you'll either be informed or entertained, but never disappointed.
This quality isn't just present in their content, but in their employee's content. Morning Brew employees have done an excellent job of forging their own path on social media. Alex Liberman has built a LinkedIn following of over 40,000 followers. Austin Rief, COO and Co-Founder, of Morning Brew has built a following of over 18,000. Which brings be back to the Twitter game.
Many companies use referral programs and gamification to boost their following. It's been a common practice for years way before the internet. But there is a right way and wrong way to do it. In 2011, Google News introduced Google Badges, a reward system for reading the news. It was universally panned. Tech Crunch wrote:
“Whether you think gamification is the road that leads to a brighter future – or instead straight to the irreparable infantilization – of the Web, even the harshest of critics have to admit that there’s more to the concept than simply slapping some badges on a website, game or application, Foursquare-style. The more I read up on this new Google News Badges stuff, the more I think some people over at Mountain View didn’t quite get that particular message.”
But for Morning Brew, gamification has been at the forefront of their brand. Case and point is their referral program which has brought in more than 225,000 subscribers to their newsletter. Tyler Denk, the lead engineer behind the program, wrote an excellent summary of it.
You never doubted the authenticity of the battle when Toby and Alex launched this competition, Twitter users such as Anthony Pompliano, Polina Marinova Pompliano and Jack Appleby chose sides. This amplified it. Instead of it being a contest between Alex and Toby, it was a battle that enlisted the help of a variety of different Twitter users.
Authenticity rules the day. It's been a recurring theme in my articles. The companies that win tell the truth and remain consistent in their culture. Consider taking a page from the Morning Brew playbook. Figure out how to empower your employees, reward your users and have them buy into your success. Toby ended up getting to 10K followers first, but the real winner was Morning Brew.