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1/ In the early days of @morningbrew, we launched a college ambassador program.
This "Brew-bassador program" was the main catalyst in our early growth to 100k subscribers.
Here is how we ran it and what we learned.
[thread]
This "Brew-bassador program" was the main catalyst in our early growth to 100k subscribers.
Here is how we ran it and what we learned.
[thread]
2/ As I said in this thread, the program started organically.
@businessbarista and I went from class to class at Michigan pitching @morningbrew.
We'd pitch the Brew, pass around a piece of paper, and people would give us their email.
Pretty simple. https://twitter.com/austin_rief/status/1337759194959712256?s=20
@businessbarista and I went from class to class at Michigan pitching @morningbrew.
We'd pitch the Brew, pass around a piece of paper, and people would give us their email.
Pretty simple. https://twitter.com/austin_rief/status/1337759194959712256?s=20
3/ This was very effective.
We had thousands of University of Michigan students reading within months.
We thought that if we could scale this to other colleges, it could be a huge growth driver.
We had thousands of University of Michigan students reading within months.
We thought that if we could scale this to other colleges, it could be a huge growth driver.
4/ For the first iteration of the program, we focused on quality over quantity.
We had hundreds of students apply and chose the 12 "best".
We quickly realized that was a terrible mistake.
We had hundreds of students apply and chose the 12 "best".
We quickly realized that was a terrible mistake.
5/ College students are unreliable.
We chose the most motivated students we could find.
The problem is, these students had also signed up for 100 other opportunities.
It was too much for them to keep up with.
We chose the most motivated students we could find.
The problem is, these students had also signed up for 100 other opportunities.
It was too much for them to keep up with.
6/ Within a few weeks, half of them dropped out and we were down to 6 ambassadors.
Even with only half of the ambassadors, it still showed some early signs of success.
One of our first ambassadors at Notre Dame got over 1000 students signed up in 2 weeks!
Even with only half of the ambassadors, it still showed some early signs of success.
One of our first ambassadors at Notre Dame got over 1000 students signed up in 2 weeks!
7/ In our second semester, we focused on quantity over quality.
We automated the entire program through emails drips and had 100s of ambassadors.
This low touch program allowed us to reach many more colleges than the high touch program.
We automated the entire program through emails drips and had 100s of ambassadors.
This low touch program allowed us to reach many more colleges than the high touch program.
8/ What we quickly noticed is that we had very few ambssadors "crushing it" in this new program.
While the hands off approach gave us more scale, fewer ambassadors went all out.
Almost none got 1k subscribers.
We hit more campuses, but "owned" fewer.
While the hands off approach gave us more scale, fewer ambassadors went all out.
Almost none got 1k subscribers.
We hit more campuses, but "owned" fewer.
9/ Learning from our mistakes, the 3rd iteration was a hybrid.
We automated your program until you got 50 people signed up.
Once you showed "promise", we'd add you to a more exclusive program.
This motivated ambassadors to "get promoted".
We automated your program until you got 50 people signed up.
Once you showed "promise", we'd add you to a more exclusive program.
This motivated ambassadors to "get promoted".
10/ In that more exclusive program, we'd add people to a dedicated groupme.
There, they would get tips and tricks from us and other ambassadors.
We also created scripts for pitches, flyers and anything else they asked for to help them succeed.
There, they would get tips and tricks from us and other ambassadors.
We also created scripts for pitches, flyers and anything else they asked for to help them succeed.
11/ This gave us the best of both worlds.
We were able to both hit 100s of college campuses and spend time with the ambassadors who were willing to go all out.
This hybrid approach helped us be well-known everywhere, and have high concentration at a bunch of campuses.
We were able to both hit 100s of college campuses and spend time with the ambassadors who were willing to go all out.
This hybrid approach helped us be well-known everywhere, and have high concentration at a bunch of campuses.
12/ The program was (and still is!) so valuable to us.
We had dozens of ambassadors get over 500 subscribers on their campuses, and 100s more get more than 5.
This was the first real growth catalyst for @morningbrew.
We had dozens of ambassadors get over 500 subscribers on their campuses, and 100s more get more than 5.
This was the first real growth catalyst for @morningbrew.
13/ Takeways:
1. College students are unreliable. You must account for this in your plan
2. Figure out a plan for nurturing your BEST ambassadors. They will bring 80% of the value.
3. Be prepared. These things are time consuming.
1. College students are unreliable. You must account for this in your plan
2. Figure out a plan for nurturing your BEST ambassadors. They will bring 80% of the value.
3. Be prepared. These things are time consuming.
14/ Incentives:
We tested a variety of incentives, from resume workshops to money.
We also learned that money was a negative incentive.
People did it for the love of @MorningBrew and the resume builder.
We tested a variety of incentives, from resume workshops to money.
We also learned that money was a negative incentive.
People did it for the love of @MorningBrew and the resume builder.
Make sure to follow me if you are interested in threads like this.
