Startups.com
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Startups.com is a B2B company that provides courses, software, and startup advice to help small businesses grow. After running structured growth experiments, Growth Division validated 3 of the 6 channels tested. This engagement turned out to be the start of a long-term partnership, and we’ve since collaborated with the Startups.com team on several exciting projects and events.
10%
2x
3
The Challenge
Startups.com’s CMO had limited in-house marketing personnel and was looking for a dynamic team to come on board to help test new channels to market. They were hesitant to hire yet as they wanted to have the breadth of skills needed to run marketing experiments across multiple channels, and the flexibility to move resources around depending on what was working.
THE GROWTH STRATEGY
We collaborated with Startups.com to set a multi-channel strategy for 4 of their products (Subscriptions, Zirtual, Founders Groups, and Bizplan) using the Bullseye Framework, as well as developing ICPs.
01
Developed ICPs and a multi-channel strategy using the Bullseye Framework for Subscriptions, Zirtual, Founders Groups, and Bizplan.
02
Validated and invalidated key growth channels through structured experimentation — confirming Facebook and Instagram ads as scalable (2×+ ROAS for Zirtual).
03
Proved LinkedIn outreach as a high-performing channel, achieving a 10% conversion rate.
04
Disqualified LinkedIn Ads and Affiliate Marketing as viable routes to market after testing and managing campaigns via PartnerStack.
THE CHANNEL MIX
We initially tested direct outbound email and LinkedIn campaigns, and made good headway in learning what messaging was resonating and which target personas were working. However, the time investment in email marketing made getting an ROI on the channel a challenge.
By taking these learnings and setting up automations for our LinkedIn direct outreach, we were able to see strong results. We also tested Instagram and Facebook ads.
"Finding a group that brings agility AND depth and specificity of experience is rare."
“Finding agile generalists isn't hard. Finding deep-diving, myopically focused experts isn't either. Finding a group that brings agility AND depth and specificity of experience is rare.
We run a $100M company - and they brought both the speed to solution and the quality of outcomes we needed. If they can do it in our multi-brand, multi-industry environment, they can do this anywhere.”
THE IMPACT
We validated direct outreach via LinkedIn as a channel to market (~10% lead generation). Our Facebook and Instagram ads also saw good success, and we were able to validate this as an additional channel (2x ROAS). Just as importantly, we were able to show which channels didn’t work right now, and give an indication of when that might change in Startups.com’s future.
The focus of our work with Startups.com was experimentation. Every second mattered to this small and busy team – and they couldn’t afford to be investing time in channels that didn’t work for them. After working with us, they knew exactly where to focus their efforts going forward, and have continued to grow and thrive.
10%
2x
3
The team that made it happen
Startups.com’s CMO had previously struggled to find external support that was capable of doing both strategy and delivery well. And with 8 different brands under the Startups.com umbrella, they needed a certain degree of flexibility.
Working with Growth Division meant they could quickly tap into different expertise depending on what they needed at the time, and the results from the channels we tested. The core growth team flexed over time, but here’s the collection of experts that made this happen.
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