S5E15 - How to leverage Social Media to become a $4B company with Chris Cunningham
Dec 31, 2024
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Chris Cunningham, Head of Social Media at ClickUp, shares insights from his journey of turning ClickUp into a $4 billion brand. He delves into effective strategies like merging humor with educational content to humanize B2B social media. Chris discusses the importance of authenticity, tracking engagement metrics, and leveraging employee-led content. He also emphasizes being agile and scrappy in marketing approaches, while building lasting customer relationships. Learn how strategic social media can drive impressive growth!
Chris Cunningham emphasizes the importance of creating unique and engaging social media content that evokes emotions to capture audience attention.
Building in public on platforms like LinkedIn fosters brand recognition and loyalty through transparency about goals and company progress.
A scrappy, proactive approach to leveraging social media insights allows ClickUp to convert competitor dissatisfaction into loyal customers effectively.
Deep dives
Engaging Unique Content
Creating engaging content on social media requires a departure from standard formats that users have grown accustomed to. To capture attention, it’s crucial to present something fresh and different, making viewers stop scrolling. Providing value early on is key—if content does not evoke emotions, users will overlook it. A notable example shared involved ClickUp employing humor and originality, such as rap videos, in their marketing efforts to amplify engagement and foster recognition among potential customers.
Building in Public
The concept of building in public on platforms like LinkedIn has proven effective for establishing brand recognition and accountability. Setting specific, audacious goals, such as achieving 200 million impressions monthly, allows followers to engage with the journey in a meaningful way. Regular updates on successes and setbacks not only humanize the brand but also create a sense of community. This transparency can encourage audience support and loyalty, making them invested in the brand's journey and accomplishments.
Scrappy Yet Strategic Growth
In the early stages of ClickUp, a scrappy approach focused on leveraging social media to track negative reviews and optimize strategies emerged as a crucial growth tactic. Tools like AppGator were utilized to reach out to customers expressing dissatisfaction with competitors, thereby converting them into ClickUp users. This proactive scraping of social media insights allowed for swift response to market needs and the allure of a new value proposition. Such strategies not only made ClickUp visible but also facilitated relationships that converted interested parties into loyal customers.
Content Testing and Adaptation
Testing different types of content on various platforms is essential for identifying what resonates most with audiences. Initially, ClickUp distributed content across a multitude of platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, to gauge where engagement was highest. Over time, a focus emerged on creating humorous content alongside educational material to keep engagement high while simultaneously guiding potential customers to valuable insights about the product. This iterative approach not only enhances content effectiveness but also clarifies the brand's voice in a crowded digital landscape.
The Role of Upscale Metrics
Monitoring the right metrics is vital in gauging a brand's social media success and adjusting strategies promptly. Initially, emphasis was given to impressions for brand awareness, but as ClickUp grew, the focus shifted to conversions and sign-ups measured via custom landing pages. This approach not only tracked direct traffic from social media but also enabled precise attribution of engagement efforts to resulting customer actions. Employing these tailored metrics not only solidifies the relationship between content and customer acquisition but also enables data-driven improvements in social media strategies.
In this episode of Grow Your B2B SaaS Podcast, host Joran welcomes Chris Cunningham, head of social media at ClickUp, a company that has grown into a $4 billion entity since its launch in January 2017. Chris discusses his transition from VP of Sales to leading ClickUp's brand and social media strategies, offering valuable insights into how ClickUp leverages social media to generate impressive monthly impressions and build a recognizable brand.
Key Timecodes
(1:23) - Chris Cunningham's Background and ClickUp Overview
(2:15) - Early Social Media Strategies for ClickUp
(4:12) - The Story of "Tyler" the CEO
(5:59) - The AppGator Tool
(7:13) - Using Social to Identify Competitor Weaknesses
(9:02) - Humanizing B2B Social Media
(10:30) - Combining Humor with Educational Content
(11:15) - Effectiveness of ClickUp's Content Strategy
(13:41) - Employee and Founder-led Content
(15:10) - Building Machines for Content Strategy
(16:53) - Impact of Funding on Social Media Strategy
(19:50) - Importance of Being Scrappy
(20:23) - Tracking Sign-Ups from Social Media
(22:02) - Deep-Dive Content for Niche Audiences
(27:47) - Mistakes and Lessons Learned
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