Facebook, Instagram, Google, Youtube -- all of these have one thing in common. The costs to advertise on these platforms just seem to keep going up.
With big names entering the digital marketing scene in droves, it’s no longer easy for the small start ups, solopreneurs, and marketers on shoestring budgets to ef fectively campaign and show ROI to investors and employers.
This was an issue we faced at Rezi, more specifically the issue I (the marketer) faced.
(Shameless plug): Rezi is a SaaS company that offers job seekers an alternative to building resumes. Instead of the pretty, glamorous templates you see on most resume generators (which actually lower your chances of getting interviewed), you get access to simple, standardized resume templates that pass Applicant Tracking Systems - the hiring algorithm companies use to organize and track candidates.
Ok. Let’s get back into it.
Where were we.. that’s right advertising costs and the feeling of dread stemming from a failure of profitable marketing.
Here are some stats from Rezi’s ad account on Facebook:
All for a $9/mo product (LTV ≈ $37). Uh oh.
Being the incredible marketer I am, I decided to go to Google.
A little cheaper, but not by much.
Well eff that.Let’s target Pakistan..... just kidding.
Brainstorm time: if we have a referral program, then we can add some virality to it right?
Sure, there was an issue though. Like most startups, Rezi was understaffed. Meaning, there was only one person that can implement a project like that, and he was busy working on the app. Shit.
With no one to turn to and out of options, it was time to commit ritual suicide.
But then there was a knock on the door. It was Reddit.
The founder, being a huge fan of Reddit and active on the boards, posted an AMA titled “When I graduated college, I had interviews at Google, Dropbox, Goldman Sachs, and others because of my resume, despite a 2.2 GPA. Now we've built a software to make the same resume for free. AMA!”
Jackpot.
One person came in from Reddit, then 10, then a hundred.. until:
https://preview.redd.it/gciembucywa...bp&s=cddf8309c807a6c15079c48eddbb939b1ce2fee8
500 users were on the site at any given time. From the United States, Canada, UK, even Dubai, you name it.
https://preview.redd.it/7mohawieywa...bp&s=dfd9b87fe533e089b9c7ff3be006a51ab6c3e8fa
And suddenly the issue of acquiring users wasn't so much of a problem.
https://preview.redd.it/meufbn4gywa...bp&s=8be53077b99d20c7df2b4c158fc586d41e858fe8
Brand recognition helped with search engines as well. As people began to search for Rezi on Google, big G began to take notice and Rezi’s rank began to go up as well:
https://preview.redd.it/8ts2jpsiywa...bp&s=536d7052278d558e38e2c2582d311a98f7676b31
The days of 10 web search clicks per day were over, now it was time for 100 web clicks per day.
But the question still remains. What drove people to click? Is it replicable? And if so, what’s the formula?
First up, the headline.
In Shane Snow’s book, titled “Smartcuts”, he tells the story of Upworthy, then a fairly unknown new and media site, which eventually experienced viral growth in 2013.
Largely known for click-bait titles, almost to a fault, Upworthy was also a master of experimentation. Now dubbed the 25 Headline Upworthy challenge, the small news company would use a/b testing to see some of its article titles perform 165% better than others of the same article.
Their headlines would often hit on an emotional level, pulling heartstrings to generate clicks.
Of course that wasn’t the intent with our Reddit post title, but there was naturally a bit of a shock value:
Today Google receives over 3 million applications per year. To hear back from Google, well a near impossibility. But how was it that the founder was able to get a callback from Google, Goldman, and Dropbox… all with a 2.2 GPA?
Everyone wants to know.
Next is story.
Call it Star Wars, Harry Potter, even The Shining, you’ll always see the same recipe: story.
Here’s how the story brand framework (by Donald Miller) works:
There’s a hero, with a problem, who meets a guide, that gives them a plan, with a call to action, which results in success (or failure avoided).
Here we have the hero: people who are looking to write resumes (in case you forgot Rezi is a resume software) to land a job (some with horrible GPAs, myself included), who meets a guide (the founder), who gives them a plan and an action step (Rezi) which results in a 100% pass rate for hiring bots.
The story is there, and it’s a good one at that.
Trust
It’s the best way to build a relationship, without it we’re all just strangers. Case and point: Facebook - once the privacy issues started coming up, Facebook users became more and more wary of the product. In the eyes of the people, Mark Zuckerberg was just another evil mogul.
Here’s how Rezi built trust with the community, and how you can too. It all comes down to engaging with the community and sharing core values:
https://preview.redd.it/q4i52cukywa...bp&s=e2f32f7ec1dc91ffc5e4f0ffb4d4dc0f307bc3fa
Viral coefficient
There were two factors that contributed to this AMAs virality.
And one of them goes back to the trust mentioned earlier.
A while back, Rezi actually had another post on Reddit. It was the resume writing subreddit and found some traction there. Until one day, after one post to many, Rezi was banned. For life.
But Rezi picked itself up, and it soldiered on - learning from past mistakes - this time, it wasn’t going to happen again.
So before posting, the founder would reach out to the moderators of the AMA subreddit and ask their permission prior. Which the moderator appreciated.
When the post went live, it was a slow day in the subreddit. With no interesting posts in sight, the moderator decided to do the unthinkable. He gave his new friend.. a badge. Almost immediately, the post received more attention.
Now unbeknownst to the moderators, there was a certain trick up the sleeves. We knew the post would garner interest if people were able to see it. But how was the question.
It was through….. (*whispers*) the purchase of 50 upvotes. Yes, it may have been a bit of cheating, and maybe it wasn’t totally free. But 50 upvotes leading to 31.2K upvotes is money little and well spent.
Bonus Level: Timing
Every January, interest in resumes picks up. New year, new me? NO. New year, new resume. This interest picks up until November 18, at which point, interest plummets.
https://preview.redd.it/g8uunromywa...bp&s=e8322b7ec5b9cbd31beb2277dbdd4afdab90dc36
Having gone out on November 14th, Rezi would make it just in time to take advantage of the dwindling, yet existing interest. Always keep timing and customer interest in mind.
So what can we learn from all this? Simply put, Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Youtube can go fu--
Breathe.
There’s a platform for each business model and as marketers, it’s our job to figure it out.. and at the heart of it all is experimentation. Even if you fail once, twice, thrice, keep digging and one day a diamond might turn up. For us it was Reddit (and now you know how we did it), for others it may very well be Facebook ads, or influencers, or affiliates, and the list goes on. Any failure is just a beginning to success (as long as you keep experimenting).
Now before I end this on a corny note, I wanted to ask you, what are some innovative ways that you generated traffic? What were your results on Facebook/IG and Google/Youtube like?
Thanks for reading. And best of luck.
With big names entering the digital marketing scene in droves, it’s no longer easy for the small start ups, solopreneurs, and marketers on shoestring budgets to ef fectively campaign and show ROI to investors and employers.
This was an issue we faced at Rezi, more specifically the issue I (the marketer) faced.
(Shameless plug): Rezi is a SaaS company that offers job seekers an alternative to building resumes. Instead of the pretty, glamorous templates you see on most resume generators (which actually lower your chances of getting interviewed), you get access to simple, standardized resume templates that pass Applicant Tracking Systems - the hiring algorithm companies use to organize and track candidates.
Ok. Let’s get back into it.
Where were we.. that’s right advertising costs and the feeling of dread stemming from a failure of profitable marketing.
Here are some stats from Rezi’s ad account on Facebook:
- Cost per free trial at the top of funnel: $5.45 to $11.65
- Cost per free trial at the middle of funnel: $3.92 to $4.26
- Cost per lead at the top of funnel (free ebook): $16.55 (WTF?)
- Conversion rate of free to paid = 0.9%
- TLDR; We were projected to spend $600 for one customer.
All for a $9/mo product (LTV ≈ $37). Uh oh.
Being the incredible marketer I am, I decided to go to Google.
A little cheaper, but not by much.
Well eff that.Let’s target Pakistan..... just kidding.
Brainstorm time: if we have a referral program, then we can add some virality to it right?
Sure, there was an issue though. Like most startups, Rezi was understaffed. Meaning, there was only one person that can implement a project like that, and he was busy working on the app. Shit.
With no one to turn to and out of options, it was time to commit ritual suicide.
But then there was a knock on the door. It was Reddit.
The founder, being a huge fan of Reddit and active on the boards, posted an AMA titled “When I graduated college, I had interviews at Google, Dropbox, Goldman Sachs, and others because of my resume, despite a 2.2 GPA. Now we've built a software to make the same resume for free. AMA!”
Jackpot.
One person came in from Reddit, then 10, then a hundred.. until:
https://preview.redd.it/gciembucywa...bp&s=cddf8309c807a6c15079c48eddbb939b1ce2fee8
500 users were on the site at any given time. From the United States, Canada, UK, even Dubai, you name it.
https://preview.redd.it/7mohawieywa...bp&s=dfd9b87fe533e089b9c7ff3be006a51ab6c3e8fa
And suddenly the issue of acquiring users wasn't so much of a problem.
https://preview.redd.it/meufbn4gywa...bp&s=8be53077b99d20c7df2b4c158fc586d41e858fe8
Brand recognition helped with search engines as well. As people began to search for Rezi on Google, big G began to take notice and Rezi’s rank began to go up as well:
https://preview.redd.it/8ts2jpsiywa...bp&s=536d7052278d558e38e2c2582d311a98f7676b31
The days of 10 web search clicks per day were over, now it was time for 100 web clicks per day.
But the question still remains. What drove people to click? Is it replicable? And if so, what’s the formula?
First up, the headline.
In Shane Snow’s book, titled “Smartcuts”, he tells the story of Upworthy, then a fairly unknown new and media site, which eventually experienced viral growth in 2013.
Largely known for click-bait titles, almost to a fault, Upworthy was also a master of experimentation. Now dubbed the 25 Headline Upworthy challenge, the small news company would use a/b testing to see some of its article titles perform 165% better than others of the same article.
Their headlines would often hit on an emotional level, pulling heartstrings to generate clicks.
Of course that wasn’t the intent with our Reddit post title, but there was naturally a bit of a shock value:
Today Google receives over 3 million applications per year. To hear back from Google, well a near impossibility. But how was it that the founder was able to get a callback from Google, Goldman, and Dropbox… all with a 2.2 GPA?
Everyone wants to know.
Next is story.
Call it Star Wars, Harry Potter, even The Shining, you’ll always see the same recipe: story.
Here’s how the story brand framework (by Donald Miller) works:
There’s a hero, with a problem, who meets a guide, that gives them a plan, with a call to action, which results in success (or failure avoided).
Here we have the hero: people who are looking to write resumes (in case you forgot Rezi is a resume software) to land a job (some with horrible GPAs, myself included), who meets a guide (the founder), who gives them a plan and an action step (Rezi) which results in a 100% pass rate for hiring bots.
The story is there, and it’s a good one at that.
Trust
It’s the best way to build a relationship, without it we’re all just strangers. Case and point: Facebook - once the privacy issues started coming up, Facebook users became more and more wary of the product. In the eyes of the people, Mark Zuckerberg was just another evil mogul.
Here’s how Rezi built trust with the community, and how you can too. It all comes down to engaging with the community and sharing core values:
https://preview.redd.it/q4i52cukywa...bp&s=e2f32f7ec1dc91ffc5e4f0ffb4d4dc0f307bc3fa
Viral coefficient
There were two factors that contributed to this AMAs virality.
And one of them goes back to the trust mentioned earlier.
A while back, Rezi actually had another post on Reddit. It was the resume writing subreddit and found some traction there. Until one day, after one post to many, Rezi was banned. For life.
But Rezi picked itself up, and it soldiered on - learning from past mistakes - this time, it wasn’t going to happen again.
So before posting, the founder would reach out to the moderators of the AMA subreddit and ask their permission prior. Which the moderator appreciated.
When the post went live, it was a slow day in the subreddit. With no interesting posts in sight, the moderator decided to do the unthinkable. He gave his new friend.. a badge. Almost immediately, the post received more attention.
Now unbeknownst to the moderators, there was a certain trick up the sleeves. We knew the post would garner interest if people were able to see it. But how was the question.
It was through….. (*whispers*) the purchase of 50 upvotes. Yes, it may have been a bit of cheating, and maybe it wasn’t totally free. But 50 upvotes leading to 31.2K upvotes is money little and well spent.
Bonus Level: Timing
Every January, interest in resumes picks up. New year, new me? NO. New year, new resume. This interest picks up until November 18, at which point, interest plummets.
https://preview.redd.it/g8uunromywa...bp&s=e8322b7ec5b9cbd31beb2277dbdd4afdab90dc36
Having gone out on November 14th, Rezi would make it just in time to take advantage of the dwindling, yet existing interest. Always keep timing and customer interest in mind.
So what can we learn from all this? Simply put, Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Youtube can go fu--
Breathe.
There’s a platform for each business model and as marketers, it’s our job to figure it out.. and at the heart of it all is experimentation. Even if you fail once, twice, thrice, keep digging and one day a diamond might turn up. For us it was Reddit (and now you know how we did it), for others it may very well be Facebook ads, or influencers, or affiliates, and the list goes on. Any failure is just a beginning to success (as long as you keep experimenting).
Now before I end this on a corny note, I wanted to ask you, what are some innovative ways that you generated traffic? What were your results on Facebook/IG and Google/Youtube like?
Thanks for reading. And best of luck.