Instagram failed until it made THIS simple change

What this episode covers

Instagram wasn’t always a runaway success. The first version of the app flopped. However, the Instagram founders were taught a behavioural science model that transformed their work. Today on Nudge, Bas Wouters, an expert behavioural science practitioner, explains Instagram's changes and how you can follow their model to improve your online marketing. You’ll learn: How a simple question can increase reviews by 400% Why “The World’s Deepest Trash Can” decreased littering by 81% How I increased email open rate by 4.5% (using Bas’s advice) And how Airbnb, Beer52, and Instagram use psychology to persuade you --- Sign up to Online Influence Academy: https://shorturl.at/vNYOU Bas’s book Online Influence: https://www.onlineinfluence.com/book-online-influence/ Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/ My email a/b test results: https://ibb.co/TBjBxTNr --- Sources: Fogg BJ (2019). Tiny habits: the small changes that change everything. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Wouters, B., & Groen, J. (2020). Online influence: Boost your results with proven behavioral science. Zeigarnik BW (1927). Das Behalten erledigter und unerledigter Handlungen. Psychologische Forschung, 9:1-85.

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This episode is 26 minutes long.

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This episode was published on June 9, 2025.

What is this episode about?

Instagram wasn’t always a runaway success. The first version of the app flopped. However, the Instagram founders were taught a behavioural science model that transformed their work. Today on Nudge, Bas Wouters, an expert behavioural science...

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