When people think about Zapier, a couple of things probably spring to mind: the no-code movement, a favorite integration, easy automation. If you’re not familiar, the principle is simple: Zapier automates information sharing between the different technologies you use every day, without the need for developers or coding expertise. In short, it makes business processes much more efficient. 

But Zapier’s meteoric rise as one of the go-to tech solutions for small and medium-sized businesses didn’t happen overnight. Marketing was key to not just Zapier’s rapid scaling but their continued success.

So how did Zapier rise to the top in the ever-competitive world of B2B SaaS?

From the beginning, the team at Zapier recognized that a great product is only as successful as the marketing behind it: they invested early in earned media and SEO, building out a strong foundation of optimized content for hundreds of integrations.

But Zapier was ready to branch out to new audiences by building on that organic success through a new channel: paid search. They needed an agency with experience working in the fast-moving world of Silicon Valley startups and the marketing expertise to match. More than that, they needed a true partner that could serve as a trusted extension of their team.

Zapier joined forces with Wpromote’s Growth & Innovation team, which specializes in managing and scaling performance marketing for hypergrowth companies. The G&I team were tasked with two main objectives:

• Expand Zapier’s marketing strategy by testing new channels and launching new campaigns to profitably acquire new customers
• Efficiently scale campaigns to build Zapier’s international presence and reach new audiences

Driving profitable growth in real time

Zapier already had a strong and passionate base of customers, from solopreneurs to business owners, marketers, and IT people at small- to medium-businesses across a range of industries. 

Wpromote’s G&I team recognized that there was still a lot of opportunity on the table: as a major proponent of the no-code/low-code movement, Zapier was uniquely positioned to expand their customer base beyond their core users, who were building out automations, to a broader group who could use the various integrations those core users were building. 

Paid search was an ideal fit for a B2B SaaS business that counted content and a sophisticated SEO strategy as its primary growth tools: partnering with Wpromote meant that Zapier could expand coverage and get their content to the top of the search results for extremely competitive keywords where an organic breakthrough was unlikely.

The G&I team also worked with Zapier to expand and test out new content, building out a holistic search strategy in which SEO and paid search campaigns worked together. Wpromote’s paid search campaigns focused on new customer acquisition, capitalizing on the accessibility of Zapier’s technology to spread the word and help the business level up the adoption curve.

Image Credits: Wpromote (opens in a new window)

Prioritizing agility to move fast and scale

One of the key components of the Wpromote G&I and Zapier partnership is communication: instead of the traditional structured agency-client communication channels, Wpromote’s G&I team are embedded in the Zapier marketing organization and collaborate in real time, sharing information, updates, and changes instead of endless, rote check-ins.

That element of immediacy is more important than ever in a time when so much is in flux, from covid-related behavioral shifts to the constant clip of updates from platforms like Google. Early this year, Google suddenly changed how they were treating some of Zapier’s non-branded keywords, necessitating an immediate re-organization of campaign keyword groupings.

Wpromote’s team moved fast, walking the Zapier team through the changes and laying out their strategy for rebuilding the affected campaigns. They were able to quickly adapt and act. That response was only possible because of the trust Zapier had in the G&I team; trust in their assessment, platform expertise, and strategy.

Growing the Zapier + Wpromote partnership

While many agencies focus on only strategy or only execution, the relationship between Zapier and Wpromote’s G&I team is based on their ability to do both. The results of the partnership speak for themselves: in the first two months, Zapier’s monthly registrations sourced from Google increased by 231%, while registration cost-per-acquisition (CPA) decreased by 67%. 

So, when Zapier turned its attention to social media, it made sense that they wanted to leverage Wpromote’s expertise. The decision to diversify marketing channels and build a more mature paid social strategy once again grew from their focus on creating great content: in this case, video. Video content proved extremely effective at breaking down complex business challenges and Zapier’s solutions—and when it comes to video, social is one of the most effective channels to get that content in front of the right audience.

Zapier launched some early campaigns and saw the potential business impact of a social media strategy with video at the center. Once again, they recognized that they could leverage Wpromote’s expertise to fast-track success. The team started working with Wpromote’s G&I social experts to explore the opportunity.

The G&I social team brings a deep bench of both strategy and execution experience to the table: currently, they are working hand-in-hand with the Zapier team to develop new ideas, test different tactics, and align on data and measurement before launching the full program in 2021. 

Image Credits: Wpromote (opens in a new window)

Digital marketing in the time of Covid

Even the strongest businesses were put to the test in 2020, but Zapier had the right product, teams, and partnerships in place to come through the year even stronger than before, in terms of both retention and acquisition. 

Because Wpromote’s G&I team was built with the flexibility startups need in mind, they were able to pivot quickly as the situation around the world changed. As a result, Wpromote actually improved Zapier’s paid search campaigns, making them sharper, more refined, and more efficient—and continuing to connect new customers with Zapier’s solutions and drive growth for the company.  

That’s not just talk: since February, Wpromote has increased Zapier’s monthly sign up volume by 85%, monthly activation volume by 21%, and monthly upgrade volume by approximately 63%. That’s all while maintaining the CPA for upgrades and decreasing activation CPA by $50. 

As mature startups diversify their marketing strategy and expand into new channels, there are two factors that can mean the difference between reaching their full growth potential and just spending money: agility and experience. That’s why Wpromote’s Growth & Innovation team exists: to help clients like Zapier move fast, make the most of opportunities, and leverage their unique marketing expertise to scale the business.