SaaS Strategists,

You may have noticed that I praise Notion in my previous issues.

Well, that’s because, over the years, it has become my second brain. 🧠 

It has become my second operating system accessible from any device.

A product that is used by more than 30 million people, out of which 4 million are on a paid plan.

Today, I’m breaking down growth strategies used by Notion, that helped them disrupt the market.

Let’s dive into the strategies that helped Notion go from a simple drag-and-drop web interface to a #1 productivity tool on the market 👇️ 

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Notion’s Growth Strategies

Almost 80% of Notion’s growth has been organic.

Let that sink in.

6% comes from paid ads.

Let that sink in again.

Okay.

So it’s safe to say that they nailed organic growth marketing strategies.

Combine this with a killer product and you have yourself a recipe for success. 🪴 

Here are the strategies that helped them grow to where they are today:

01 Great Product Hunt Execution

Notion’s SEO is so strong, that even when you search a term that has nothing to do with Notion, such as ‘Product Hunt Launch Checklist’, you are prompted with Notion’s templates on the 1st page of Google.

But, I’ll talk about this in a second.

Notion’s first version launched back in 2016 when Naval was one of the hunters.

Since then, they have built the initial pool of users, who saw Notion’s potential early on.

The team behind the launch knew that in order to keep the users on their platform, they must constantly communicate with them.

So they did.

They posted constant updates.

Engaged in conversations.

And answered all of the incoming questions.

Which led to Notion 2.0. in 2018.

This launch was an even greater success than the first one, being covered by The Wall Street Journal.

With the initial user base they acquired for over 2 years, this launch took off. 🚀 

6,5k upvotes

#2 Most innovative use of technology product of the year

You name it, Notion had it.

There are 3 elements that helped Notion execute a great Product Hunt strategy:

1) Communicating product updates clearly to their audience

2) Engaging with journalists to cover their launch

3) The launch strategy itself, specifically the version 2.0.

A greatly executed PH strategy could help you form the initial customer base.

Make sure you implement it with great attention to detail.

02 Product-Led Growth

Notion is one of the perfect examples of how product-led growth should be implemented.