What if the problem wasn’t awareness – but the way we were trying to earn it?
BeenThereDoneThat has always grown through word of mouth. Our clients refer us because we deliver. NPS backs it up. So does our track record with some of the world’s biggest brands.
But the problem (you may be shocked to hear) is that word of mouth doesn’t scale. And we weren’t showing up in enough new conversations.
So we reframed the brief.
We asked ourselves: if we’re a network business – built on a platform of the world’s best thinkers – why not use that same model to unlock our own growth?
That was the spark behind Inner Circle – a curated community of progressive client-side marketers. People who get what we do, because they’ve lived the problems we solve.
Inner Circle is not about selling. It’s about serving.
We give our Inner Circlers access to:
- Expert talks on the most pressing topics
- Career support, if and when it’s needed
- Peer connection
- And yes, referral opportunities – but that’s never the lead
Because here’s what we’ve learned: if you lead with value, people lean in.
It hasn’t always been simple. Shifting from ‘clients’ to ‘community’ means investing in relationships without a clear line to revenue. But it’s the right kind of long play – one that keeps us market-oriented (yes, Mr Ritson!), plugged in and paying it forward.
And in a world where people change jobs faster than ever, it helps us stay close to great marketers, wherever they end up.
So what advice would we have? Don’t just market your value. Gift it. Make it useful. Make it personal. Make it something people want to pass on.