How a simple marketing flywheel brought 18m users to Depop organically
Everyday 140,000 items are listed on digital clothing flea market Depop. In recent years the app has grown its revenue by 100% YoY, predominantly driven by the organic expansion of its user base.
Even more striking is Depop’s deep penetration within one particular demographic - 90% of its 18 million users are under 25. In the UK, where the company is based, ⅓ of people aged 15 to 24 are registered with the app.
Depop drive their own organic growth with a simple but powerful marketing flywheel. It goes like this:
- Marketing outreach to bring sellers to platform
- Educate sellers to create posts
- Incentivise them to share this content outside platform, attracting new users
- Turn these new users into buyers by marketing & community building efforts
- More buyers attract more sellers, and the cycle continues
This kind of growth is self sustaining and much stickier. The average user opens the app ‘several times a day’, whilst 'Depopers' collectively message & follow each other upwards of 85 million times a month.
With each turn of the wheel the community experience becomes richer for both buyers and sellers. Understanding this process of acquisition also allows Depop to identify inefficiencies in the cycle, and rectify them accordingly.
The result is a high organic growth company that’s getting a digital native generation hooked on thrifting.
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