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Back to Instant Pot CEO Robert Wang on how his small pressure cooker company cultivated a rabid community of "Potheads.", with Robert Wang.

What Did Instant Pot Founder Robert Wang Learn About Cooking and Word of Mouth?

Robert Wang tells Get Together that cooking is social. You cook for family, friends, and a party, and if the dish is good you brag about the tool. He cites Jonah Berger's Contagious for a split he remembers as about 7 percent of word of mouth online and 93 percent offline. By 2015 Instant Pot was on its fourth generation, with nearly 100,000 reviews, though a new model wiped the old listing's reviews. Support tickets outran the team, so he asked customers to help each other. A consultant who was already a fan helped build the official community. The Facebook page dated to 2010 with no strategy. He held off on a newsletter because it felt too in your face.

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Instant Pot CEO Robert Wang on how his small pressure cooker company cultivated a rabid community of "Potheads." ·

Get Together

More from this episode

  1. Who Is Robert WangHe is the founder of Instant Pot. More than 5.5 million people follow Instant Pot related accounts on Facebook alone.
  2. What Was the Best Selling non-Amazon Product in 2018On Black Friday, Instant Pot was the best selling non-Amazon product on Amazon. According to Walmart, Instant Pot was also their best selling item in 33 states.
  3. How Can You Build a Successful CommunityCommunity building comes down to shared ownership. It’s best to figure out what to do with your customers rather than do for them.
  4. What Was Wang’s Opinion of His ProductHe thought the problem wasn’t that it was going to be popular on the market, but that stores had limited coverage.
  5. Why Was Selling Instant Pot on Amazon the Winning StrategyRobert tried different marketplaces for selling his Instant Pot. eBay buyers were looking for bargain, so that wasn't a good long-term opportunity.
  6. How Did Instant Pot Attract His First Few CustomersOffline brick-and-mortar stores did not want to carry Instant Pot, so Robert Wang started to sell online out of desperation.
  7. How Do You Grow Influencer Marketing Without Paying a DimeThe team at Instant Pot was laser focused on only one thing - keeping the customer happy.
  8. How Did Instant Pot Use a Community to Get StartedThe company needed a place to talk about Instant Pot.
  9. What Have Customers Used Instant Pot for Besides CookingAccording to Wang, a customer used Instant Pot for an art project. Another customer used the product for planting during the winter.

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