Zoom users first skyrocketed in early 2020 when the COVID-19 lockdown forced every corporate meeting into the comfort of homes and living rooms. Since then, Zoom has become a household name. Do you remember your first-time using Zoom? We got acquainted with Zoom at the start of the pandemic to connect people virtually for meetings, classes, workouts, weddings, or farewells. Let’s here have a look at ‘Zoom Competitive Advantage’.
The 15-inch screen of your laptop has seen it all. Not just for meetings but Zoom has become an overnight armament for college and school students to attend classes as the virus continues to spread, it seems like there is no going back. Nevertheless, zoom dramatic success has been considered as a result of the pandemic however, the contention does not end here.
Zoom had seen tremendous growth since its launch in 2011, but its revenue spiked dramatically during the pandemic. To win out against strong competitors such as Microsoft, Google, and Skype, the company was built on a competitive advantage.
A brief history of Zoom
Zoom is cloud-based software that allows its users to video conference through any device from any part of the world via sharing a link. Zoom was founded in 2011 by Eric S. Yuan. The CEO of Zoom video communication. It is an American software company with its headquarters in San Jose, California.
The company provides services like videotelephony and chat services. Zoom meetings help people to communicate over long distances. Zoom meetings were launched in 2013 generating a revenue of $3 billion, a pretty good start at that.
The app soon became the talk of the town ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, and its users skyrocketed in the blink of an eye. However, in 2017 the company was worth a billion-dollar followed by 2019 overall revenue of $9.2 billion. With a history like that, it’s evident that Zoom was not an overnight success.
Zoom Competitive Advantage
Zoom business model is built on the freemium paradigm which means that anyone can download zoom and use it for free, however, there is a limit to the number of people who can join the meeting with free operations. Zoom offers a premium subscription that allows you to access all its. Here are 3 strategies on which Zoom has built its model.
1. It is a customer-driven platform
When Eric Yuan left WebEx, he already knew what the audience wants from his previous job experience and hence, built a platform that not only helps connect people but listens to their concerns. Zoom took off the market when the masses knew that most of the features on Zoom are free among the other video conferencing tools. A lot of people who are not tech-savvy find technology-driven platforms a bit complicated this is why Zoom came up with a simple and instinctual user interface, and unlike other platforms, Zoom works.
2. The app talks for itself
Heavy marketing is the key to reaching maximum masses, however, when you create a product that works so well, it speaks for itself. Over time, zoom has managed to capture a large chunk of an audience with its free features and easy-to-use interface. The app has earned so much value that people don’t hesitate to invest their money on add-ons and premium features. It is because of the trust that the company has created among its potential users.
3. Freemium marketing strategy
One of the most attractive traits of Zoom is its free plans and features. Wondering how Zoom generates revenue if it’s free? Well, most of the features that would require a subscription on another platform are free on Zoom. However, Zoom still has paid subscriptions. Apart from its free features, Zoom provides other paid plans such as zoom pro, business, and enterprise.
Pioneer of Zoom success
Many similar apps provide the same service as Zoom, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, and Skype. Where Microsoft Teams and Google meet entered the league in 2017, Zoom has been doing a decent business since its launch in 2011. According to the CEO of Zoom, he had the idea to develop an app like Zoom since his college days. Eric Yuan is the former executive at WebEx. At WebEx, he often noticed how frustrated WebEx customers were with the inability to solve their problems promptly.
Eric presented an overview of how multiple changes can make the WebEx platform better for communication, however, his request got rejected each time because other developers were convinced that the app is working just fine. In 2011, he decided to leave WebEx to start his own company, and the rest is history. Zoom’s competitive advantage is focused on delivering an easy-to-operate platform with a high-quality user interface.
Conclusion
If you will analyze the market, you will sure assume that Zoom turned into this big buff overnight. However, viewing the history, the app was very well settled in the corporate world. Due to the pandemic, all meetings and classes were pushed in the comfort of the home. However, it still needs to do a decent job for people to choose the platform. Zoom has everything that an ideal video conferencing should have. Simplicity, intuitive infrastructure, user-friendly meeting guide, and much more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Why are some unique features of Zoom?
One thing that makes Zoom the first choice for the corporate meeting is the breakout rooms. It allows the host to divide the group into many rooms. So, each department can have their meeting and the host can go back and forth respectively with disrupting the meetings.
Q2. Which app is more convenient? Microsoft Teams or Zoom?
When it comes to video conferencing, both Microsoft Teams and Zoom have potential as both tools offer high resolution and user-friendly features. However, Zoom has more features than Microsoft Teams and provides a free plan on those features where you would pay on Microsoft otherwise.