Underrated growth tactic: customer education.
OK, maybe it’s not underrated.
It’s just hard.
Most marketers lack the patience.
It’s the same with most marketing tactics that don’t lead to an immediate bell curve in the revenue graph.
But here are some examples of brands that have used education to create better customer relationships, brand positioning, and growth.
Table of Contents
HubSpot
HubSpot coined the term ‘inbound marketing.’ The brand proved the value of organic, content-led growth in a way it hadn’t been done before.
They show so much more creativity than the usual boring webinar + blog template most B2B brands follow.
- Hundreds of articles on their blog
- Free tools on their website, from a website grader to an email signature generator
- Informative, engaging hybrid events (INBOUND)
- Free collection of courses via HubSpot Academy
They not only taught through the educational content they provided. HubSpot also created a new model for growth through the content and education-led strategy they demonstrated.
Within 8 years after launch, they passed $100M ARR and an IPO, proving the success of what they were preaching.
Misfit Market
This online grocery store claims an admirable mission: ending food waste by offering imperfect but still edible produce for sale.
They face the challenge of needing to communicate to customers why that mission matters.
Why else would anyone buy lumpy, dented melons instead of the sexy, shiny models available in your grocer’s organic section?
Check out their incredibly smart social strategy to see how this plays out there as well. Their entire Twitter is dedicated to educating and evangelizing their audience, one small bit of knowledge at a time.
TOPICALS
Standing out in the beauty and skincare industry is no easy feat, especially when you don’t have a celebrity founder.
But a brand offering solutions for an underserved segment of the market (ex: people with chronic skin conditions) stands out.
Their magic lies in their ability to communicate complex science and show an understanding for their customers’ concerns.
The co-founders also established credibility through their personal stories.
Both Olamide Olowe and Claudia Teng dealt with chronic skin conditions their whole lives, including hyperpigmentation and eczema.
Their success in positioning themselves and their brand as savvy experts paid off big time.
An exclusive deal with Sephora.
And the youngest Black woman entrepreneur to raise over $2 million (at only 23 years old!).
Squatty Potty
Squatty Potty faced the difficulty of trying to popularize a novel solution to a familiar issue. A foot stool to allow a squatted position while, well, pottying.
In the brand’s initial target market, the US, squatting toilets are a rarity.
Squatty Potty promoted the alternate potty position as a healthier, smoother way to poo. But they knew most people would think they were talking 💩.
Incorporating PR in their early marketing strategy helped them reach a large audience in a short amount of time. An appearance on TV show Shark Tank was a big win. It resulted in $1M sales in only 24 hours, plus lots of additional exposure.
The brand primarily captures attention with humor. But they also cut the crap 😂 and deliver straightforward facts.
It’s how they lower audience inhibitions about a sensitive, kinda gross topic.
The pinnacle of their strategy?
A poop-pular ad campaign starring a rainbow colored unicorn mascot. 🦄 The cute character demonstrates the use of their product without showing any actual human waste.
Memorable and creative, but also educational.
