I’m staring at a beige wall in an office the size of a walk in closet. The SF team at the fintech startup I work for are having margaritas on the roof of our gorgeous US office space (and posting the pictures on Slack), and I’m really aware of how low the ceiling is at our Canadian “HQ”.
I’m the first Canadian growth hire, and I don’t have a budget, so I’m doing something to pass the 4pm slump (and margarita jealousy)— I call it breadcrumbing.
It’s a little, hella manual hack I discovered to help a tiny company grow. I’d spend 15 minutes every day answering questions all over the internet if they pertained even a bit to our product. I wanted everywhere you searched for a solution socially to have our name in it.
Asking for a free e-transfer alternative on Reddit? I’d write you a paragraph and link back.
Asking for a way to host a kegger without any cash on Facebook? I’d write you a paragraph and link back.
Talking about collecting money for a fundraiser in Idaho on Quora? I’d write you a paragraph and link back.
When the company became Airbnb— I realized how impactful my breadcrumbing had been.
Hey, this link is broken, where can I find it?
Is this called something else now?
Anyone know if this thing is still around?
This seemingly tedious and hacky strategy is interesting for two reasons:
1. It works
2. It can teach us something fundamental about marketing
Too many marketers think this gig is about making people come to you. Being the brightest flame to attract as many moths as possible. But it’s in the creative strategies that make us go to our customers where we learn the most.
Even when you have a budget and a team and resources, you still need to venture outside of your comfortable ad dashboards and listen to what your customers are saying where they hang out online.
Because the ads you wrote from your cozy dashboard won’t convert if they don’t use your customers' own words about the problem you’re trying to solve.
Your emails won’t land if they don’t tackle the actual objections your customers have. And your ideas will stay safe and boring (and ineffective) if you’re never venturing into the wild.
So take a moment this week to head out of your comfort zone. First listen, then connect with your customers.
And while you’re there, leave some breadcrumbs.
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