C Squared Social: Keys to Our Growth

C Squared Social will pass a major revenue milestone this month; one we thought was near impossible just three short years ago. Since June of 2020, we have experienced revenue growth of 475%, cementing ourselves as one of the fastest-growing marketing companies in the country. Despite the rapid growth, our success has not been linear. The path has been marked with many setbacks, failures, frustrations, and countless sleepless nights. Like most entrepreneurs, we have found some of our greatest successes through the failure. Here are a few key areas that I believe have contributed to our success. I hope this helps other young businesses and the brave entrepreneurs behind them:

We allow our team to innovate: “The next big idea could be your idea” is written on our signature wall in both our offices. And we mean it! Hire the best people you can and give them the resources and freedom to innovate. Steve Jobs once said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” We are incredibly proud of the work this team does, and we know they are the reason for our momentum.

We define our goals and resource the team to make it happen: It is critical for the team to understand what success is and is not. Defining and articulating the goals across departments has help the team stay focused on the big stuff, and let the little stuff go. We are extremely transparent with all our financial metrics with the entire team because they are all key stakeholders and deserve to know where we stand.

We focus on our product: We learned early on that our steak had to be as good as the sizzle. Meaning that whatever our product currently is, it has to match the product the sales team promised. Focus on our product, our customers, and success will be a byproduct. Make a great product or service now and trust that success will follow soon after.

We practice what we preach: Our customer acquisition strategy is very similar to the marketing strategies we develop for our clients. Any marketing strategy we sell to our clients is a strategy we must be willing to run for ourselves. We firmly believe in the formula we have developed because it is reflective of our growth. That means best-in-class branding, targeting, creative direction, conversion optimization, retargeting, reporting, etc.

We test everything, measure results, assess and adjust: A mentor once told me early in my career that a single test is more effective than 100 ideations in a boardroom. If you have an idea, there is no substitute for testing and measuring the result!

We are obsessive over every performance metric: We discovered very quickly that every dollar spent on acquiring or retaining clients needs to be measured to determine effectiveness, and this is something we closely measure for our clients too. Take a step past the normal markers of CPL, CAC, AOV, LTV, etc., and look into the subcategories inside these markers. You will find that even an incremental improvement in the data will have a significant financial impact. But the key is to identify and track.

We stay consistent and trust the process: Building a successful business takes time. Setbacks are normal, failures are normal. Being consistent, trusting the process, and trusting your vision allows you to overcome these short-term setbacks and stay committed to the vision. When periodic softness in your business happens, the immediate impulse will be to redo everything; back to the drawing board. That is a trap. Ignore your impulses, stay consistent and trust the process.

Hopefully you find some of this information useful. We are so excited for the future, the failures and the successes. Here is to many more learnings ahead...

Connor Crail, VP of Sales, C Squared Social