Mastering paid growth | Jonathan Becker (Thrive Digital)
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Jonathan Becker is the founder and president of Thrive Digital, where he and his team have deployed more than $3.5 billion in paid acquisition budgets for companies like Uber, Asana, Square, Tempur-Pedic, and MasterClass. He spent the first part of his career mastering SEO and is a world expert in DTC, lead generation, demand generation, and user acquisition. In today’s episode, we discuss:
- Signs that your company is a good fit for paid growth
- Strategies for optimizing ad creatives
- The merits of different marketing channels: paid vs. organic search, TikTok and short-form
- Insights on attribution and how to approach it effectively
- How market conditions and AI impact paid growth
- The crazy story of how Jonathan won Uber as a client
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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/mastering-paid-growth-jonathan-becker
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Where to find Jonathan Becker:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jzbecker
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanbecker123/
- Website: https://thrivedigital.com/
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Where to find Lenny:
- Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lennysan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jonathan’s background
(07:25) The crazy story of how Jonathan won Uber as a client
(11:56) Interchangeable terms for “paid growth”
(12:31) Why you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket
(16:48) What kind of companies should pursue paid growth
(23:07) Is it possible to reach scale exclusively through paid growth?
(27:07) The evolution of performance marketing
(29:39) Advice for founders choosing between SEO and paid
(32:18) Strategies for optimizing ad creatives
(44:43) Paid vs. organic search, TikTok and short-form
(49:56) Where to spend money in order to drive growth for B2B SaaS
(55:06) Attribution in performance marketing
(1:04:18) The impact of AI on paid growth
(1:12:52) Advice for early-stage startups on hiring in-house vs. hiring an agency
(1:17:09) Qualifications to look for in your hires
(1:23:23) How Jonathan won Snapchat as a client
(1:28:55) Lightning round
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Referenced:
- Andrew Wilkinson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/awilkinson/
- Garrett Camp: https://www.forbes.com/profile/garrett-camp/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/
- Grammarly: https://app.grammarly.com/
- Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/en
- Supermetrics: https://supermetrics.com/
- Recast: https://getrecast.com/
- Midjourney: https://www.midjourney.com/
- DALL-E: https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2
- Storyworthy: https://www.amazon.com/Storyworthy-Engage-Persuade-through-Storytelling/dp/1608685489
- Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike: https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Memoir-Creator-Nike-ebook/dp/B0176M1A44
- American Kingpin: https://www.amazon.com/American-Kingpin-Criminal-Mastermind-Behind/dp/1591848148
- The Big Short: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/
- White Lotus on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-white-lotus
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
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