How Gumroad Uses Customer Problems To Drive Revenue Growth
If you didn't know, I headed up the marketing at Gumroad.
And with Gumroad, the more our creators make, the more revenue we drive.
So, our goal is to get creators to sign up, launch products, and successfully generate an income with those products.
One way we do that is by taking customer problems, scaling them, packaging the solution, and offering it as a free challenge or course.
This way we take customer problems and turn them into revenue.
1. Label Scalable Problems
At the stem of customer questions are problems.
And these problems serve as the base for potential value creation.
Sometimes that value creation is specific. And sometimes it can be scaled.
Eliana's question is a common question we get asked.
For us, this is an opportunity to take a common question anchored by a common problem and scale it to drive revenue.
2. Create Scalable Solutions To Drive Revenue
So, here's what we do...
We take common problems our target audience faces and create courses and challenges around them.
And these aren't just tips and tactics.
Each course/challenge is a guide to help creators tackle their problems and get them from A to B.
Because of this, each guide is created for one of two people:
- An existing Gumroad creator
- A new Gumroad creator
If it's an existing Gumroad creator, we help you make more money on Gumroad.
If you're a new Gumroad creator, we help you start making money online through Gumroad.
Both outcomes lead to Gumroad driving new revenue.
3. With A Guide That Supports You Along The Way
If a creator signups but doesn't execute, then all we get is an email address.
But if a creator goes through the challenge/course and generates results then Gumroad grows.
To make sure we do that, we created a community on Circle for each cohort of users who go through our challenges/courses.
Our Head of Community, Pedro Hernandes, troubleshoots and guides each participant who has roadblocks along the way during the timeframe.
This converts support into success.
4. Positioning Us As The "Guide"
It's hard to win competing for positioning.
It's easier to win when you use content to position yourself as a guide.
Because the destination isn't the competitive advantage.
It's actually the map.
And when you can give customers the map that directs, guides, and steers them to success then you're forging a relationship that can last a lifetime.
No one forgets the mentor that guided them when they needed help.
But they forget the person who promised to help and never showed up.
5. And for the results
Our latest cohort of creators participated in the "Grow Your Audience" challenge that lasted 5 days.
Here are the numbers:
- There were 325 participants
- There were 718 products created
- Participants generated $579,397 in revenue from these products
