Hypergrowth Marketing Playbook: OpenAI Case Study Part 2 - Marketing Techniques
How do marketers juice hypergrowth? Yesterday, I covered how market dynamics, product excellence, and distribution partnerships may matter more than most marketing techniques. Today, I explore what marketers can and must do if they have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity:
Fanning the Flames: Earned Media is Way Better than Advertising
One commonality of the highest-growth companies is frequent media coverage. If a company has successfully broken into broadcast news and global media, the reach can be staggering: CNBC reaches 355 million people per month, and the Wall Street Journal reaches half of all US business leaders. Coverage in top media generates more brand awareness than you could ever afford in paid advertising and is much more trusted.
Salesforce's early success was significantly influenced by this strategy. When I was a PR manager early in my career, I worked for a company that was the same (tiny) size as Salesforce. But Salesforce got 4x the coverage - because they spent 4-5x, even then! In addition to having charisma and storytelling chops, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff made BIG investments in communications. What looks to us like a beating drum of independent news coverage was a carefully curated, successful strategy.
These days, earned media is further amplified through social sharing. When a reputable outlet covers a company, the story often spawns numerous follow-up articles and is shared extensively on social media. For hypergrowth companies, this creates a virtuous cycle: meaningful media coverage drives organic social sharing, which in turn attracts more coverage, creating sustained growth and brand recognition.
Sam Altman’s success as a constant face on global TV and digital news gives OpenAI a massive amount of earned media that is far beyond the value OpenAI could ever pay for advertising.
Welcome to the Social Age: Where Market Momentum Goes Viral
Social media influence has been growing over the years and is now a central, go-to source of news and entertainment for people of all ages. OpenAI has been able to maximize Sam Altman’s personal social media on X with his 3 million followers. But OpenAI has also been aggressive across social channels - with:
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Carilu Dietrich is a former CMO, most notably the head of marketing that took Atlassian public. She currently advises CEOs and CMOs of high-growth tech companies. Carilu helps leaders operationalize the chaos of scale, see around corners, and improve marketing and company performance.
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6 天前Damn this is awesome. That was an easy subscribe!
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2 周Insightful breakdown, Carilu Dietrich!?
Product, with a side of Marketing
2 周Carilu Dietrich That's market timing for you. Every manager, and exec I've talked to has a mandate to get their company and workers using AI. If that were true for ANY technology we'd see meteoric growth. Outside of ChatGPT, which company on that chart impresses you the most?
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2 周Great insights on fueling hypergrowth!