GE 297: How Unbounce Reached $30 Million in Revenue by Going Upmarket and Using Word-of-Mouth Marketing (podcast)

Hey everyone! In today’s episode, I share the mic with Rick Perreault, the CEO and Co-Founder of Unbounce, a landing page building tool that makes it easy to build and test landing pages quickly.  This is his second time being a guest on Growth Everywhere! Check out the first episode with him here!

Tune in to hear Rick’s thoughts on how Unbounce brought in $30 million this fiscal year by going upmarket, why organization is a challenge for his growing company and how word of mouth is what drives conversions for them.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

• [00:39] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Growth Everywhere Podcast!
• [01:45] Unbounce is a market-leading landing page and conversion platform.
• [02:05] The company started in 2009, when Rick wanted help creating landing pages, because he wasn’t a technical person.
• [03:00] Rick thinks he was naive five years ago, when the company was in its infancy.
• [03:39] Once you get past 70 employees, it becomes a different kind of company.
• [04:20] It used to be a lot easier to do an all-hands meeting on the fly.
• [04:40] This fiscal year, they made $30 million in revenue and 15,000 paying customers.
• [05:59] Unbounce went upmarket, because they already had those customers, but it was easier to keep them on.
• [06:23] By going upmarket, they found they were more successful.
• [07:42] A people-first business means that they are focused on company culture.
• [09:38] Unbounce has a great parental leave policy, so everyone can be with their children during those first few months.
• [10:03] Rick believes it is inexpensive and necessary to support your employees with great policies.
• [11:50] Unbounce holds a marketing conference every year in Vancouver.
• [12:03] They fly every employee in and they spend the week together at the conference.
• [13:33] One-on-one’s are encouraged for all employees with their respective managers.
• [15:55] Rick says he wants people to do great work, but not at the expense of respect for others. Not everyone is capable of handling this.
• [16:45] Word of mouth is still what drives conversions for Unbounce.
• [17:15] They have also published an ebook, run Google Ads, and other paid advertising methods.
• [18:20] Unbounce is launching a revenue share program called their Partner Program.
• [19:20] Unbounce looks for partnerships with like-minded companies.
• [19:30] They have done integration partnerships with Marketo, HubSpot, and Zapier.
• [21:45] Rick wanted to set a good example for his kids, so he wanted to create a great workplace for everyone, especially women.
• [23:45] Hiring the right talent is a challenge.
• [24:05] When you come to work and people tell you they are proud to work there, you’re doing it right.
• [24:25] One big struggle Rick faced when growing Unbounce, was alignment.
• [24:47] It’s hard to keep an organization the same as it grows.
• [25:20] Communication remains a challenge.
• [26:40] One tool Rick thinks has added value is getting an executive coach.
• [28:12] One book Rick would recommend is Lost and Founder.

Resources from the interview:

• Unbounce
• Rick@Unbounce.com
• Rick on Twitter
• Must-read books:
  • Lost and Founder

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