The Secret to Acquiring 30,000 Users with Minimal Marketing Budget

Is this really all free?

Many companies and investors using Wallaform often ask the most common question: "Is this all free?" At first, our team also wondered if this was true 😅, but now we have confidence that we are heading in the right direction.

The Walla team has a philosophy about pricing. In one sentence, our company's purpose is to make the world of data easier to handle, and charging for every data collection in our form builder tool would go against our philosophy. Setting policies that create heavy tools that only capital-rich companies can use, with multi-billion-dollar licensing contracts, while hoping for data to become more friendly, is a contradiction, in our view.

However, if everything were completely free, that would also contradict the time and effort our team has put into it. So, our chosen pricing policy is to offer essential features for free but charge for optional features that help create better forms. This way, Walla can sustainably contribute to creating a better data world!

Achieving maximum marketing efficiency with minimal budget

In fact, Walla managed to gather 30,000 users with minimal marketing expenses. While we did optimize keywords with the Google Ads credit we received, we didn't invest much time and effort into marketing beyond that. In fact, we didn't have a dedicated marketer on the team from the start, so it's more accurate to say we missed out on some opportunities.

Walla's marketing strategy is as follows:

1. A company uses Walla for free.

2. When used for free, a small "Powered by Walla" logo is displayed discreetly at the end.

3. One form is created and can be sent to tens of thousands of individuals, exposing them to Walla.

4. (1) If any of the form respondents create a Walla form for free, go back to step 1.

   (2) If any of the form respondents pay for Walla, revenue is generated!

Considering the nature of forms, multiple responses are generated for one form, which means it's exposed to many people. This is how Walla's viral marketing started. We believe that if we had imposed limits and demanded payment for response volume or the number of forms that could be created without adhering to our product and pricing philosophy, this viral growth would not have occurred. A tree that gives generously will eventually receive love! 🌳

While most of Walla's customers may seem to be corporate customers on the surface, delving a little deeper reveals that the decision-making process for corporate customers often involves the steps mentioned above. So, although Walla primarily serves B2B services, the platform is quite dedicated to individual users as well, with the hope that responders will become Walla project creators someday!

What service do you want to pay for?

Recently, a certain SaaS executive said, "There are so many SaaS tools, but choosing one is like choosing a fancy pencil." It seemed to suggest that even drawing one line with a fancier pencil would increase one's sense of efficacy. In addition to this perspective, I believe that SaaS also plays a role in making it easier to draw that line. Like a compass! After all, there's a difference between someone laboriously drawing a circle and someone using a compass to effortlessly create a perfect circle, both in the process and in the result. So, I would like to define SaaS in this context as a compass.

In this sense, SaaS should provide both sophistication and productivity and efficiency. It should give users a sense of increased efficacy, where they feel that the tool they wield is undoubtedly an excellent one. Therefore, the impression that individuals have of SaaS is crucial. Companies developing SaaS need to instill confidence in individuals that the tool they hold is undoubtedly an excellent one.

One step closer to individual users: Pop-ups

Among the many ways to approach individuals, Walla has chosen pop-ups this time. Five startups, including us, have come together to allow individuals to interact with and experience a SaaS service that exists only inside a computer, outside the computer, in the real world. While it's common in the beauty and fashion industries, pop-ups for SaaS are not a common occurrence. However, we want to experiment with an approach that encapsulates the concept and purpose that only B2B SaaS services can offer. Our goal is to go beyond setting up booths and explaining through panels at an exhibition venue and instead allow people to directly feel and experience the concept of SaaS.

• Pop-up Title: The New way of Business Software

• Date: December 14th to 23rd, 2023

• Location: VA Gallery

• Signature drinks and commemorative goods (on-site production of employee ID, etc.) will be provided.

• Website: https://www.srl-pop.com/

With the hope that startups can continue to communicate with individual users in the same space, Walla and others are preparing the popup together, carrying their wishes.

As a sneak peek of the concept, here is what we have in mind. We want to recreate the startup offices of founders who are excitedly launching their startups.

If you are interested in partnering with or sponsoring Walla for the popup, please feel free to contact us at yuvin@paprikadatalab.com!

If you wish to visit the exhibition, please leave your information at the following link:

https://walla.my/survey/umUCdPVKqIr32JrP8W98

• Edited by Yuvin Kim

• This content was written as of November 29, 2023."