Podcast Summary: The Digital Marketing Podcast

Episode Title: Show What You Do Online – The Swydo Story
Hosts: Ciaran Rogers (A) and Daniel Rowles
Guest: Jeroen Maljers (B), CEO & Founder of Swydo
Date: April 15, 2017

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the story behind Swydo, a marketing reporting and communication platform for agencies and marketing professionals. Host Ciaran Rogers interviews Swydo’s founder and CEO, Jeroen Maljers, about the origins of the tool, its growth, lessons learned from agency life, and scaling a SaaS product to global markets. The discussion is packed with candid insights for digital marketers, agency owners, and SaaS entrepreneurs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Swydo’s Origins and Purpose

• Swydo started as an internal tool at Jeroen’s marketing agency to simplify and professionalize reporting for clients, addressing the pain of manual data collation.
• The tool’s main mission is to help marketers “show what you do online” by making complicated marketing performance data easy to communicate.

Notable Quote:
“We help online marketers communicate with their stakeholders. So basically, we're in the communication business, but in fact we are a reporting tool for online marketers.”
— Jeroen Maljers [00:48]

2. The Pain of Reporting & The Evolution to SaaS

• The labor intensity involved in manually preparing marketing reports inspired the creation of Swydo.
• After using it internally, Jeroen realized this wasn’t a unique problem:
  “We realized that communicating with the clients about the results is just as important as actually doing changes in the AdWords campaigns.”
  — Jeroen Maljers [02:10–04:19]

3. Branding – What’s in a Name?

• The name “Swydo” is an acronym: “Show What You Do Online.”
• A short, unique, and memorable name was key for both branding and URL availability, vital for any new tech company.

Notable Quote:
“We thought of the acronym ‘show what you do online.’”
— Jeroen Maljers [05:27]

4. Target Audience and Go-to-Market Strategy

• Primary focus: Agencies of all sizes.
• Agency segments: small (local), large (high volume), “smart” (data-driven/deep analysis), and platform partners.
• Early attempts had a broad focus but, after little success, Swydo narrowed to solving the core reporting challenge, driving product adoption.
• Search marketing was the initial growth driver—targeting users actively seeking a solution.

Notable Quote:
“We more or less stripped all the other parts then we started to have success. We really focused on search marketing.”
— Jeroen Maljers [06:31–09:30]

5. Usability: Making Complex Simple

• The guiding product vision: take the complexity out of marketing reporting, both in feature set and user interface.
• Intuitive design prioritized over extensive documentation; the best software should be self-explanatory [11:01].

Notable Quote:
“If your tool does not explain itself, it's weak somewhere.”
— Jeroen Maljers [11:01]

6. The Challenge of Feature Requests and Focus

• As the platform grew, feature requests from users flooded in, reflecting the growing professionalism in digital marketing.
• Swydo learned that adding too many features isn’t always beneficial; restraint maintains clarity and simplicity.

7. Scaling Internationally & Embracing Globalization

• Swydo began handling its own marketing, but as the user base grew globally, it outsourced to partners, especially where local knowledge was crucial (e.g. language, local tactics).
• Outsourcing was both necessary and risky, requiring trust and clear criteria (understanding SaaS, experience in B2B, cultural fit).

Notable Quote:
“We do only internally what we do best. And if someone else can do it better, you have to outsource it.”
— Jeroen Maljers [15:30]

8. Partner Selection and Lessons from Agency Life

• Now as an agency’s client, Jeroen shares that understanding both sides helps set expectations.
• Key criteria for partner agencies: SaaS/B2B expertise, understanding of local markets, chemistry and trust.

9. Human Touch in SaaS: Combining Automation with Personalization

• Despite being software-based, Swydo values personal connection, regularly reaching out to leads and clients, attending conferences (Brighton SEO, SMX, Hero Conf), and keeping conversations open.

10. Advice for New SaaS Founders and Marketers

• Focus on solving one real problem—eliminate distractions.
• Early on, invest in search marketing to reach users actively seeking a solution.
• Engage consistently with your team and users to clarify the true value of your product.

Notable Quote:
“Focus is the most important thing.”
— Jeroen Maljers [22:51]

11. Building a Brand: From Tool to Community

• Swydo aims to evolve from a useful tool to a recognizable, professional, friendly brand within the marketing community.

12. Roadmap & Future Plans

• 2017 focus: Expanding integrations with data partners, moving towards becoming a full communication platform for marketers—publishing reports through new channels (Slack, WhatsApp, etc.), always maintaining simplicity.

Notable Quote:
“Still keep it simple in the visualization. Still be easy to draw conclusions there.”
— Jeroen Maljers [26:35]

13. The Mascot Story: “Swidy” or “Sweetie”

• The little red character adds a playful, human element; debated whether to keep it, but it’s loved by some users for bringing a “jester” touch to serious business.

Memorable Moments & Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “It wasn't really that one day I came out of bed and said, hey, let's make reporting tools. These things grow organically most of the times.”
  — Jeroen Maljers [02:10]

• “If your tool does not explain itself, it's weak somewhere.”
  — Jeroen Maljers [11:01]

• “It's not always a good thing to add more features to something.”
  — Jeroen Maljers [11:22]

• “We have a good tool now. But maybe you are not really a brand. People mention us and they recommend us and that's good. Of course I'm enthusiastic about it. And then you see, okay, it's starting to be a brand and that would be good if you are more like a brand community.”
  — Jeroen Maljers [25:03]

• On the mascot:
  “We need some humor... Sweetie is the only one in the company that can have sort of humor towards clients, and the rest will be serious.”
  — Jeroen Maljers [26:51]

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [00:48] – Jeroen explains Swydo’s role as a communication and reporting tool
• [02:10] – The organic growth and background in strategy leading to Swydo
• [04:19] – The pain of manual reporting and origins of the tool
• [05:27] – The meaning behind the name “Swydo”
• [06:31] – Identifying and targeting different types of agencies
• [09:37] – The breakthrough: focusing on simplicity
• [11:01] – Usability value: “if your tool does not explain itself…”
• [14:31] – Outsourcing and scaling the company globally
• [17:39] – Criteria for selecting agency partners
• [22:51] – Advice Jeroen would give his startup self: “Focus is the most important thing.”
• [25:03] – Building Swydo into a brand and communication platform
• [26:51] – The story of the Swydo mascot, Sweetie

Final Takeaways

This episode offers a candid look inside the challenges and decisions faced by SaaS founders, especially those building tools for digital marketing professionals. From sticking to core strengths, focusing on usability, and evolving from a tool to a brand, Swydo’s journey is both instructive and inspiring for agency owners, marketers, and SaaS entrepreneurs alike.

Learn more and trial Swydo at swydo.com ([28:08]).