On this episode of the Prompt Jockeys podcast, we were treated to a 45-minute crash course on guerilla marketing from two pros who’ve been crushing the game for a long time.
Cody Schneider is the CEO of Swell.ai and Yoann Pavy is the CMO of Nude and was formerly head of growth at Deliveroo and DePop.
I went through the transcript and pulled out my favorite highlights below.
Link to the full pod can be found here.
9-5s are cool?
Jobs get a lot of hate these days. But the boys made some good points that prove you can get a lot out of them before jumping ship to do your own thing.
Both Cody and Yoann gained invaluable experience working at agencies early in their careers. They were exposed to vast amounts of data, allowing rapid learning without the risk of using their personal funds. Instead, they leveraged other people's money to gain insights and hone their business acumen.
Being the go-to person in a company for a particular niche, like deciphering growth metrics, gives you massive corporate clout. It can quickly place you in discussions with top decision-makers like the CEO.
Recent grads entering the marketing world should recognize the power of interpreting data and weaving it into a compelling narrative. It's like having a superpower in a startup.
Biker Gang
While at Deliveroo, Yoann’s team struggled to find enough drivers to deliver all the food people had been ordering.
After a meeting with the CEO, he had an idea. People with bikes could deliver too.
He immediately crafted a Facebook ad campaign targeted at potential riders. Using images of riders with their gear, the ad copy read, "You have a bike. You've got a job."
Anticipating that a lot of hustlers owned bikes and were looking for job opportunities, the ad was a guaranteed lock. Its landing page was straightforward, designed for lead gen, and they acquired leads for less than a pound each.
Within a week, the company's office was buzzing with potential recruits holding their CVs, all drawn in by Yoann's ad, effectively solving the shortage of riders.
Cody mentioned this ad quickly became one of the most iconic campaigns of the last decade.
Good Products Drive Growth
Yoann recalls a period at DePop where, in just six months, he increased ad spend from 0 to 500K per month.
The CEO would often pull him from his desk, impressed and curious about the results he'd achieved, particularly on platforms like Snapchat. They asked him how far he could take the campaign.
He responded, “As far as you want to go!!”
This campaign ultimately led to their Series C round of funding.
Upon Yoann's departure, they strategically scaled back, trimming expenditures to present the best possible metrics to investors.
Cody mentioned he’d done that at previous startups as well. Whenever they sought funding, they'd drastically cut their ad spend by around 80%.
This made them look profitable for a few months, sending a powerful message to investors that profitability was within reach whenever desired.
Throughout these experiences, Yoann always maintained a clear perspective on one thing: the underlying product's quality. In his mind, none of his campaign success was possible without a good product behind the ads.
Attention Arbitrage
Cody emphasized a recurring theme from Yoann’s experiences.
Attention Arbitrage.
In the case of Deliveroo, the arbitrage leveraged was Facebook Ads. With Depop, Snapchat served as the arbitrage opportunity due to its early adoption.
The key to being a successful marketer lies in identifying channels that provide the most cost-effective traffic and acquisitions at the moment of launching an application or product. Strategies that succeeded previously might not yield the same results now. The goal is to remain at the cutting edge, anticipating the emergence of new platforms.
Throughout their careers, they’ve observed that these nascent channels often offer inventory at significantly lower costs than earlier periods as they seek to entice new users.
Recognizing and aligning this arbitrage potential with a specific product is key – something referred to as channel-product fit or channel-market fit. This involves pinpointing which product suits which channel perfectly. Once this synergy is established, it's all about investing the available resources wholeheartedly into driving growth through that channel.
Send Nudes
As CMO of Nude, Yoann realized early on he’d be competing with outdated legacy companies with a bland marketing approach.
After surveying the ad landscape, he decided to focus on TikTok.
He connected with micro-influencers and paid them to create videos promoting the product or discussing their home-buying goals.
Yoann's strategy evolved further as he repurposed the content. The viral videos were repackaged into native ads on TikTok and Instagram. He later rode the trend of “street interviews,” which yielded a treasure trove of content for editing and distribution.
This approach capitalized on TikTok's cost-effective ad environment, leveraging the viral nature of the content for more efficient CPCs and epitomizing the arbitrage principle at play.
What if I don’t have a million-dollar ad budget?
The boys had some good tips for those of us who are self-funding our marketing efforts.
To grow his new podcast, Yoann sent personalized DM’s to all of his LinkedIn followers. Despite the daily limit on messages, it has the potential to generate thousands of downloads for his pod.
Another tactic involves joining relevant Slack groups – a cost-free approach – and individually messaging each member with an intro to your brand.
He also went to the Apple Store with his wife and started downloading the podcast and leaving 5-star reviews! (I’ll be trying this one out myself ;)
Cody highlighted the potential of combining learning a skill set with a productized service approach. This involves offering services like SEO content or specialized social media assistance and pairing it with a unique offering the business lacks expertise in.
This approach can facilitate early cash flow, covering expenses and establishing initial financial stability. This blend of skills and specialized services provides a swift and impactful way to start generating income, particularly for newcomers looking to make their first online earnings.
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Okay, I feel like I went through the full transcript, but the info was too good. I had to throw it all in there!!
I missed some great insights, so check out the full pod.
