Playbook · Early fit
Early fit × Spread
Make normal use bring in other people: invites that carry real value to the recipient, and share asks placed right after a success. Let the friend, not the company, make the ask.
- M2 Early fit
- How do we put every new user on the path that retained users took?
- Spread
- Does normal use bring in other people?
M2 × Spread
The playbook
Goal. Satisfied users become a channel, and the viral cycle shortens.
Moves. Value-carrying invites, where using the product delivers something to non-users HK-TRG08 (Hooked Ch.2); user output that brings others in HK-TRG09 (Hooked Ch.2); asks right after a success INF-T-LK-21 (Influence Ch.5, p.146); a referral page that names the referrer and lets the friend make the ask INF-T-LK-02 (Influence Ch.5, p.128).
Guardrail. Referred users should retain at least as well as organic ones.
Lead with these moves
- TechniqueEvidence grade C. Limited evidence: few or small studies.
Invites that carry value to the person invited
value-carrying invites
Design normal use so it sends something useful to people who aren't users yet: a payment, a shared file, a finished result. The recipient gets value on first contact, and the sender's output carries a light, honest attribution.
- TechniqueEvidence grade C. Limited evidence: few or small studies.
Ask right after success
ask at the high point
Time reviews, referrals and upgrade offers for the moments right after a success: a task finished, a goal reached, an order delivered. Good feelings attach to whatever comes with them, so an ask at a high point is received more warmly than the same ask at a random time.
Also in season
- Evidence grade B. Moderate evidence: solid studies with some limits.Ask through someone they knowfriend or founder as the asker
- Evidence grade C. Limited evidence: few or small studies.Referral page that names the referrerinvite page from a named friend
- Evidence grade C. Limited evidence: few or small studies.Voluntary testimony from current usersask every user how they use it
- Evidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested.Brag Buttons (GT#57)share prompt at a real win
- Evidence grade D. Practitioner framework or anecdote: plausible, untested.Ask for invites and ratings after the first major winshare ask at the moment of success
Not now
- Cash bounty per inviteSmall cash rewards can backfire; make the reward more of the product.
- Pre-checked contact importInvites nobody chose inflate sends and spam reports, not activated users.
How to measure it
Questions to answer first
- When someone uses your product, does it deliver something useful to people who don't use it yet?
- Are share and invite buttons placed right at users' biggest wins, and are they easy to see there?
- Does the page an invited person lands on name the friend who invited them and put that friend's ask first?
- Can users share their best result in one tap, in a form that makes them look good to friends or colleagues?
- Are your invite and share flows fully voluntary, with no contacts or boxes pre-selected?
- Do you ask new users to invite others or contribute something before they've had their first wow moment?
- How long from a user's sign-up to the sign-up of someone they invited, and which everyday actions naturally involve other people?
Limits
What we don’t claim
- The Hook Model is a practical design tool, not a validated or complete theory of behavior.Hooked, Introduction
- Seasons are defaults for the cell. Evidence from your own product can move a technique in or out of season.
- A playbook names candidate moves; which one goes first depends on the binding constraint in your product.
Sources
Hooked · Nir Eyal
Ch.2
Influence · Robert Cialdini
Ch.5, p.146 · Ch.5, p.126 · Ch.5, p.128
Source IDs: HK-TRG08HK-TRG09INF-T-LK-21INF-T-LK-01INF-T-LK-02
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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