Do you know what R&D stands for?

Research and Development would be the likely answer.

But not in our world!

For us, R&D means ‘Rob and Duplicate’.

Let me explain…

A few years ago, I was running marketing for this gaming business that had recently launched a soccer game. At the time, it had around 40,000 monthly users.

My job was to figure out how we could boost these numbers further.

Now, there were tons of things that we could’ve done. But I wanted to find something that would really inflate the numbers.

I turned to Dropbox for inspiration. It’s one of those companies that scaled tremendously, with the majority of growth happening because of a few good ideas.

One of those ideas was using the product for promotion. When you run out of storage, Dropbox offers you two choices:

--> You can pay for more storage, or you can invite friends and get it for free.

And that’s exactly what I used my R&D method for.

When a user finished a soccer game, they’d have to wait for 24h until their energy refills. Alternatively, they could buy a $1 virtual Red Bull and restore energy immediately.

Now, $1 is not a lot of money. But our goal wasn’t to use it as a huge revenue stream in the first place. Instead, we used it to introduce another option that would actually meet our goals…

We gave people the option to invite five friends and get more energy to keep playing.

The results?

We went from 40,000 to 350,000 monthly active users in 30 days!

The point is, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to create outstanding success. You can just take something that’s proven to work and apply it to your business.

In my next couple of blog posts, I’ll deconstruct the tactic and show you how to R&D it yourself.

Speak soon,

Howard ‘Number Inflator’ Kingston

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways we can help you become a Digital Marketer:

1. Follow us on Instagram (@growthvelocityacademy) for daily marketing tips, updates and announcements.
2. Create the perfect Growth Hacking Strategy by grabbing a free copy of our Marketing Plan Template here
3. Book in for a Complimentary 1:1 Business Mentor Session here with one of our Marketing Strategists.

Nahla is a professional marketer and has been so for year. She decided to enrol in our Digital Marketing Bootcamp to enhance her digital marketing skills. Here’s her story:

You can be in the industry for years and still want to upgrade your knowledge and learn more. Afterall, learning is a never ending journey, especially for Marketers! Check out what we managed to do for Nahla.

Who: Nahla

Joined:

Problem To Solve:

Our client’s problem was that she didn’t have much experience in digital communication. That may sound surprising since she'd been in this line of work for about 15 years.

She’d specifically worked with advertising agencies for a very long time. But whenever a client required something related to digital communication, she would delegate it to a colleague. And that lack of confidence cost her money.

One day, she finally made up her mind to improve her digital skillset and that’s where we stepped in.

How She Overcame it:

Nahla went with the GVA Bootcamp - probably the best decision she could make as a freelancer.

For her, the best thing about the course was the hands-on knowledge transfer. The coaches will help you apply the things you learned and test out strategies.

After the bootcamp, Nahla brought what she learned to work for her clients. Is it any surprise that she managed to increase the SEO rankings for all of her clients?

The course helped her gain the skills necessary for testing what works for her business.

Here’s her best result so far:

One of her clients previously wasn't anywhere near the first page of Google search results. But after Nahla’s efforts, it soon ranked second. This means her client’s website now appears near the top of the list when a user searches for specific search terms.

Their click-through rate, which measures how many clicks an ad gets each time it gets seen by people, also improved as a result.

And all of that from only one paid ad campaign, a kind of advertising where you pay search engines to feature your ad to increase its visibility.

Speak soon,

Howard

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways we can help you become a Digital Marketer:

1. Follow us on Instagram (@growthvelocityacademy) for daily marketing tips, updates and announcements.
2. Create the perfect Growth Hacking Strategy by grabbing a free copy of our Marketing Plan Template here
3. Book in for a Complimentary 1:1 Business Mentor Session here with one of our Marketing Strategists.

Are you familiar with the concept of Growth Hacking? And, did you know that there’s an entirely new job title called ‘Head of Growth’?

With this in mind, it’s safe to say that an effective growth strategy is critical to success.

So, that leaves the question...have you a Growth Plan yet??

If not, I’d like to share some reasons why you’ll want to create one.

Firstly, you’ve probably heard about those businesses like Airbnb that ended up growing to incredible heights. The reason for their massive growth is a constant stream of innovative ideas. Pretty much everyone who saw some of Airbnb’s marketing thought, ‘Wow, that’s smart.’

To grow your business, you need to keep implementing one innovative idea after another. And this is only possible if you have a clear growth plan in place.

A lack of such a plan makes you try a bunch of different things, hoping that they’ll work. As a result, you'll have massive spikes and drops in your customer base.

You’ll have a business that’s not sustainable.

Another reason why you must have a growth plan has to do with investor funds. As a start-up, chances are that you’ll need funding at some point.

Make no mistake – investors receive tons of new ideas every day. And you must do everything in your power to make sure your idea stands out.

More importantly, investors want to see momentum. They want to see consistent growth over a period of time. Otherwise, they’ll think that investing in your business is too big of a risk.

A growth plan can prove otherwise. You’ll show investors that you’re reliable, which will go a long way to getting you the funding you need.

As you can see, a growth plan is critical for many reasons. Develop yours as soon as you can, and you’ll build a promising foundation for growth.

Speak soon,

Howard ‘Growth Hacker’ Kingston

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways we can help you become a Digital Marketer:

1. Follow us on Instagram (@growthvelocityacademy) for daily marketing tips, updates and announcements.
2. Create the perfect Growth Hacking Strategy by grabbing a free copy of our Marketing Plan Template here
3. Book in for a Complimentary 1:1 Business Mentor Session here with one of our Marketing Strategists.

Manal is a content writer and she wanted to learn more about digital marketing to future proof her career just in case she wanted to switch jobs later on in life. Here’s her story:

She wanted to broaden her knowledge as a copywriter. After all, digital marketing and her current job have a lot in common.

Most people fear that switching careers can be challenging. But Manal soon learned that it may not have to be.

Who: Manal

Joined: May 25th

Problem To Solve:

How to set up Google and Facebook ads was the part of digital marketing that Manal didn’t know about. She needed to learn it if she wanted to round out her skills and continue improving.

That was something Velocity Academy’s course could easily solve.

How She Overcame it:

Other than teaching her about digital marketing concepts, Growth Velocity expanded her knowledge of keywords. It was also her favourite part, as these aspects of digital marketing are essential for a content writer.

Did it work?

Yes! Manal was able to set up her first ads after the course.

It was challenging for her to get out of her comfort zone. But when she finally did it, she knew that it was worth it.

According to Manal, the course covers topics that are highly useful for any business owner. In the digital world of today, you’ve got to know digital marketing. It's also helpful for those who wish to pick up new skills or make a career switch.

In uncertain times like these, you can only benefit from having such versatile skills. Whether you have your own business or already working as a digital marketer, the GVA Digital Marketing Bootcamp can really broaden your knowledge. Most importantly, it shows you exactly how to implement what you've learned.

Speak soon,

Howard

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways we can help you become a Digital Marketer:

1. Follow us on Instagram (@growthvelocityacademy) for daily marketing tips, updates and announcements.
2. Create the perfect Growth Hacking Strategy by grabbing a free copy of our Marketing Plan Template here
3. Book in for a Complimentary 1:1 Business Mentor Session here with one of our Marketing Strategists.

When COVID-19 forced Stephanie to take her retail store online, she felt completely lost. Up until she joined Growth Velocity Academy and fast-tracked her skills and business! Here’s her story:

Stephanie was used to physically interacting with her customers. The moment they stepped into the store, she was in her element.

She knew exactly what to do.

But when it came to bringing her business online, she struggled.

Although she already had an online presence, she’d never focused on it. And because of that, her online marketing efforts weren’t producing the results she wanted.

Stephanie realized she had to upgrade her digital marketing skills.

Her friend Celeidh had experienced great results with the Growth Velocity Academy (GVA) Digital Marketing Bootcamp. And it sounded like just the solution Stephanie needed for her marketing problems.

Who: StephanieDate Joined: 3rd of August

Problem To Solve:

She was used to interacting with her customers face to face. When circumstances forced her to bring her business online, she was lost.

She also only had a basic knowledge of marketing online. Most of which she’d learned from tutorial videos on Youtube.

While Stephanie knew about Google Analytics, Google ads, and Facebook ads, she wasn’t using them correctly. She was also wasting a lot of money.

How She Overcame it:

She joined the GVA Bootcamp, where she learned how to analyze her website.

We taught her how to look at what goes on behind a website. Specifically, the things that drive traffic (her clients) in, such as SEO.

She also learned to focus on knowing her real customers. Now, she can identify the strategies that will drive traffic to her ecommerce site.

Did it work? It certainly did!

Her organic searches,or traffic that’s directed to her website without any kind of paid advertising on her part, went up by almost 800% after applying what she learned from GVA bootcamp.

This is a great foundation for her ecommerce business that she can take to the next level.

​​Speak soon,

Howard

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways we can help you become a Digital Marketer:

1. Follow us on Instagram (@growthvelocityacademy) for daily marketing tips, updates and announcements.
2. Create the perfect Growth Hacking Strategy by grabbing a free copy of our Marketing Plan Template here
3. Book in for a Complimentary 1:1 Business Mentor Session here with one of our Marketing Strategists.

Huda has an online jewelry business that’s doing well. But, she wanted even better results. Her initial goal was to double her online sales. When she joined Growth Velocity Academy, she ended up quadrupling it!

Huda’s always wanted to see her own ad appear up at the top of the Google search ahead of organic results, or those results that come up that aren’t sponsored or paid for.

That’s the kind of marketing she wanted to implement. But she didn’t know how.

Who: Huda

Joined: Upon joining Growth Velocity

Problem To Solve:

Huda’s business was going okay. She found out about Velocity Academy two years ago and even attended a workshop at the time. But when she found out we were going online, she felt encouraged to finally join.

She wanted something that she could learn from her home and immediately apply to her business. Also, she was hoping to find a community where she could exchange ideas and experiences.

How She Overcame it:

Our virtual GVA Digital Marketing Bootcamp was her answer to it all! Not only did she meet other like-minded people and become part of a great community, she also improved her business immensely. And she did it all online, from the comfort of her room.

Did it work? It did, of course. Huda achieved her best results thanks to what she learned about Google Ads during our course.

She was extremely excited to see her own ad on her browser. What’s more, she’s pleased that her friends saw it, too!

What she appreciated the most was that she could apply what she learned right away. Even in the middle of a lesson, we can give her the key so she could start taking action there and then.

Facebook ads also worked out for Huda.

That’s because she spent $39 on the ads for three days and made $155 back. It’s a return of $4 for every $1 she spends on ads - that’s almost a four to one return on investment! And if she keeps doing that, she’ll have a very successful business.

The learning curve was most important to her.

Huda finally learned what works for her business and what doesn’t, allowing her to invest more money in ads in the future. She’s going to step it up to a higher budget knowing that it will pay off.

Speak soon,

Howard

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here are 3 ways we can help you become a Digital Marketer:

1. Follow us on Instagram (@growthvelocityacademy) for daily marketing tips, updates and announcements.
2. Create the perfect Growth Hacking Strategy by grabbing a free copy of our Marketing Plan Template here
3. Book in for a Complimentary 1:1 Business Mentor Session here with one of our Marketing Strategists.