Summary of "Marketing Against The Grain" Episode: How Beehiiv Uses ‘Drop Marketing’ To Create Buzz

Podcast Information:

• Title: Marketing Against The Grain
• Host/Author: HubSpot Podcast Network
• Description: Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (Zapier’s CMO) explore marketing trends, growth tactics, and innovations, uncovering unique strategies that offer a competitive edge.
• Episode: How Beehiiv Uses ‘Drop Marketing’ To Create Buzz
• Release Date: December 31, 2024

Introduction to Drop Marketing

The episode delves into the concept of drop marketing, a strategy where businesses intensely target specific demographics or audience segments for a focused period before moving on. This approach is akin to the "drop" concept popularized in the music and fashion industries, where timed releases create buzz and anticipation.

Notable Quote:

Tyler: "[00:01] I literally am thinking exactly about this topic today, Drop market and how you blitz a certain demographic and segment of your audience for a certain specific sprint and then move on."

Beehive's Drop Marketing Strategy

Defining the Product Roadmap

Beehive's approach begins with a well-defined product roadmap, planning features 90 days in advance. This meticulous planning ensures that every two weeks, the team knows which product feature will be introduced, maintaining a steady stream of updates that keep the audience engaged.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[01:31] So the first step is like, you define your product roadmap. I know at Beehive it's 90 days in advance..."

Internal Team Preparation

Before any external launch, Beehive ensures that all relevant team members are thoroughly trained. This preparation guarantees that the team can deliver the new product feature seamlessly, providing an excellent customer experience upon release.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[02:28] You prep the team internally. So basically everyone who needs to be trained on how to deliver the product and a great customer experience in that product is trained before the external launch."

Establishing the Drop Calendar

Beehive meticulously plans their drop calendar, selecting appropriate channels for each release. These channels include company and CEO social media accounts (Twitter and LinkedIn), company newsletters, personal newsletters, product hunt launches, and their digital community platforms.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[03:12] You have to establish your drop calendar... For Beehive, it's always been their company social on Twitter and LinkedIn, CEO Social on Twitter and LinkedIn..."

Creative Elements and Scheduling

Every drop is supported by creative assets, including animated shorts, social copy, blog posts, newsletter content, and product announcements. The scheduling follows a strategic timeline:

• Day Before: Teaser announcement (e.g., "something big is coming soon").
• Day Of: Major release ("the big drop").
• Day After: Amplification through employee and customer engagement.
• One Week Later: Reminder of the new feature.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[04:35] They usually do. Day before, they say something like, something big is coming soon. The day of is the big drop. Day after is amplification by employees and customers."

Results of Beehive's Strategy

Beehive's drop marketing strategy has proven highly effective. For instance, their audio newsletter drop on August 1 generated 283,000 free impressions through various posts and led to their biggest revenue day in the last 30 days. A key factor in their success is the active participation of employees and customers as evangelists, amplifying each drop's reach and impact.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[05:10] Just for context, when they did this audio newsletter drop on August 1, it got 283,000 free impressions from just all the different posts."

Story Arb's Implementation of Drop Marketing

Drawing inspiration from Beehive, Story Arb has adopted a similar drop marketing framework tailored to its offerings in content marketing. Their strategy includes:

Structured Content Drops

Story Arb schedules monthly content drops, each focusing on a different type of content service they provide, such as email newsletters, website copy, and social media strategies.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[05:55] We basically planned out for the next 12 months. Every month we're doing a drop of a different type of content."

Virtual Events: Comic Con

On the day of each content drop, Story Arb hosts a virtual event dubbed "Comic Con," merging content creation with a festival atmosphere. These events feature interviews with industry leaders and serve as a platform to showcase their content offerings.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[06:05] The day we drop it, we actually throw a virtual event. It's called Comic Con. The vision is content meets Coachella."

Multi-Purpose Content Utilization

Post-event, Story Arb repurposes the interview content into various marketing materials, including email newsletters, playbooks, and social media copy, maximizing the value derived from each drop.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[06:30] We also take all of the interviews from the event and we turn it into everything from an email newsletter to Playbooks to social copy for the next month."

Sponsorships and Revenue Streams

To monetize their drop marketing efforts, Story Arb is now selling sponsorships for their virtual events, integrating revenue generation into their marketing strategy.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[06:50] I'm also selling sponsorships against it now, so I actually want to get paid to be able to do drop marketing for our business."

Insights and Best Practices

Leveraging Evangelists

A crucial element of successful drop marketing is harnessing the power of employees and customers as brand evangelists. Their active participation in sharing and promoting drops significantly amplifies reach and engagement.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[05:50] Employees and their customers being evangelists is like really the amazing card that they pull."

Consistency and Planning

Consistent scheduling and thorough planning ensure that each drop is executed flawlessly, maintaining audience anticipation and sustained engagement over time.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[03:00] Functionally, how it works, like, I think their Employees and their customers being evangelists is like really like the amazing card that they pull."

Maximizing Content Value

By repurposing content from events and drops, companies can maximize the return on their marketing investments, creating a diverse array of materials from a single initiative.

Notable Quote:

Unknown Speaker: "[06:35] We just kind of manufactured drop marketing by putting some sort of structure around the menu of items we offer at our company."

Conclusion

The episode provides an in-depth exploration of drop marketing, illustrating how Beehive effectively uses this strategy to generate significant buzz and drive revenue. By meticulously planning product releases, preparing internal teams, leveraging multiple channels, and engaging evangelists, Beehive sets a benchmark for innovative marketing tactics. Story Arb's adoption of similar strategies underscores the adaptability and effectiveness of drop marketing across different businesses. Key takeaways emphasize the importance of structured planning, creative execution, and community engagement in achieving marketing success.

Final Notable Quote:

Tyler: "[06:41] Yeah, it's kind of like using your traditional product marketing, but as a much bigger kind of distribution, content merchandising strategy."

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, strategies, and insights shared in the episode, providing valuable takeaways for marketers seeking to implement drop marketing in their own businesses.