Since starting our companies, Exercise.com and CarInsuranceComparison.com, my team and I have always practiced a slow and steady approach as we build our way into excellence.
From my experience, when you first start a company, focusing on the core competencies and building systems and features are usually the top priorities, to the point where everything else gets added to a to-do later list. As you grow, there’s a tendency to wish time was dedicated to other pursuits. Like investing, marketing may start small, but it needs to be consistent in order to see growth and results.
“Shiny new startup syndrome”
If I had to give a piece of advice to teams just getting started in their company’s journey, it’d be this: Beware the “Shiny new startup syndrome” that often accompanies the excitement of beginning something new.
Just because your company is breaking into a new territory or working with cutting edge tech, does not mean you should overextend your budget. Start small and grow until you can afford new technology. For example, when we were first starting out at Exercise.com and CarInsuranceComparison.com, we managed our outreach in spreadsheets and Gmail.
If you’ve succumbed to the shiny new startup syndrome before, it’s not too late. There are many bootstrap marketing options to use, but the key is to actually start.
Once you start rolling with your marketing efforts, it’s time to find companies that align with your growth strategy. For us, we knew it was time to start looking when we had outgrown our spreadsheets and Gmail approach. Though it was cost-effective, in order to keep growing we needed a much more efficient way to send and track our outreach that could involve the whole team.
That’s where BuzzStream came in.
Here are three reasons we chose BuzzStream to launch our growth strategy:
1. Ask (for support, features, and solutions to problems), and you will receive
Back in 2016, our slow and steady marketing approach was making good strides. CarInsuranceComparison.com had a few viral articles, and we needed to find a better way to organize outreach with our 500+ other websites.
Our CMO had used BuzzStream when it first came out in 2008, and after doing some Googling, we decided to give it a try. Slowly, we started to implement BuzzStream into our existing workflow.
Initially, we choose BuzzStream because of their features like the BuzzMarker and the link change status reporting, making prospecting faster and making it easier to keep track of our link building efforts. But what has kept us with BuzzStream is their problem solving. We’re able to submit build requests for features. We’ve reached out to BuzzStream’s support team a few times (e.g., feature request, product question, account upgrade question) since our join date, and every single time we’ve been met with respect and cooperation.
Kristen from BuzzStream is a boss at making sure we get all of our questions answered.
It’s no wonder this company, who helps us build relationships through their tech, is so good at building their own relationships through their tech.
Not to mention, the development team is incredibly thorough and thoughtful when building features we requested.
We had asked for a way to manage all link-building outreach. This feature was critical for our company because we send a lot of outreach for different marketing campaigns, and it was challenging to track where we were with each campaign. Not only did the the BuzzStream development team build this feature, they even walked me through it prior to its launch!
Since this new feature was delivered, we’ve been able to track our different campaigns with ease and the results have been astounding. The automation has made our lives easier, ultimately saving us time that we can use to work on other valuable tasks.
2. All-in-one solution = More $$$ saved
Before some recent updates to BuzzStream, my team was using a mixture of products to create a solution to our goals. It worked, but it was time consuming to switch from product to product, and of course the cost was not as low as it could be.
BuzzStream was previously just one part of this multi-faceted mixture, until they released their Sequencing and Bulk Send features. These niche features, as well as others released subsequently, have allowed my team to reduce our reliance on competing products.
Because of BuzzStream’s continued innovation as an all-in-one solution, we’ve saved money in subscription fees for other products, freeing up budget to invest in other areas. Furthermore, the improved outreach management has allowed us to focus our time on other marketing projects while never needing to put a hold on our link building.
We can now continue confidently innovating and growing, all while knowing that BuzzStream is doing the same.
3. Gain insight into my team’s achievements and connections
Our team loves this old proverb: “What gets measured gets done,” and with BuzzStream, we’re better able to do both.
As you can imagine, tracking outreach performance when you’re using spreadsheets and your Gmail is less than pleasant. BuzzStream, on the other hand, boosts accountability on my team as we’re able to easily track goals and tasks together. The built-in reporting options not only allow me to see who is accomplishing their tasks, but also who is hitting their goals by using reports like the Team Leaderboard report.
With these new insights, I can easily manage my teams and redirect their focus when needed. BuzzStream has laid the foundation for my team to execute in an organized fashion, as team members know what to do and when they are achieving results, allowing every member of the team to be captain of their own ship as it were. We’ve seen increases across the board in what’s being accomplished with this new transparency and buy-in.
We’ve also appreciated BuzzStream’s a la carte account options. Most companies do not have enough capital to bring on a full-time marketing team — we were no different. With several pricing options and the ability to add more users when needed, BuzzStream has saved us money on subscription fees and gave us confidence to know they’ll be ready for our future growth.
Organizing my outreach and team has never been easier. The team at BuzzStream has injected excitement into building relationships. Check out what they’ve been up to recently and, if you are a startup like us, don’t overlook how they’re growing, too. BuzzStream isn’t just another subscription-based product, it’s also a company to model and grow with.
Josh Barnes
Josh Barnes is the Marketing Manager and Data Analyst for Exercise.com, CarInsuranceComparison.com, and other properties under the 360 Quote LLC umbrella. When not working, he enjoys traveling and staying active.Disclaimer: The author's views are entirely their own, and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of BuzzStream.
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