Startups often struggle to get noticed, but Cohesive AI became a success by generating:
Over 20 million views on the hashtag #CohesiveAI, dominating social media discussions.
20+ TikTok videos & Reels with over 100K+ views, proving high audience appeal.
Automating the entire user generated content funnel as a growth channel.
The Birth of Shoutout: From Internal Solution to Breakthrough
As the CTO of Cohesive AI, Vaibhav Sinha, saw recurring challenges in user engagement and influencer marketing that many startups face. The primary goal was clear: to get users to actively share their experiences on social media, helping to attract new users and increase revenue. However, they faced several struggles.
Low email engagement rates: The team grappled with getting their emails noticed as many ended up in spam or secondary folders, leading to poor open and response rates. "Our emails were barely getting noticed, which made it tough to communicate effectively with potential users," - Gaurav Bisen.
Inefficient influencer onboarding: Manually identifying, recruiting, and managing influencers was not only slow but also expensive, severely hampering their ability to scale this strategy effectively. "The manual effort to bring influencers on board was overwhelming our resources."
Lack of user motivation for social sharing: It was challenging to motivate users to share their positive experiences on social media without a formal incentive structure. "We struggled to get our users to talk about us because there wasn’t much in it for them," points out the product manager.
Difficulty in collecting actionable user feedback: Collecting and organising user feedback for product development was cumbersome and inefficient, making it hard to leverage user insights for improvement. "Getting consistent and useful feedback from users was like finding a needle in a haystack," shares a product manager.
Limited user support for product launches: Mobilizing users to support and promote new product launches across various platforms lacked coordination and impact."Our product launches weren’t making the splash they needed because we couldn’t get enough users involved," notes Gaurav
Resource-heavy marketing efforts: A significant amount of team effort was devoted to juggling multiple marketing channels, which diluted their effectiveness and strained resources. "We were stretched too thin, trying to cover too many bases without enough impact," reflects Gaurav.
How Shoutout helped in taking Cohesive to #1
To overcome the challenges of engaging users and promoting their platform effectively, Cohesive AI built an internal tool which is now called Shoutout, that simplifies marketing efforts with minimal development effort. This integration has empowered their growth team to independently execute marketing campaigns, improving efficiency and reducing costs significantly.
Key Features of Shoutout Integration
Efficient Campaign Execution: With just a one-time development effort of less than two hours, the growth team at Cohesive AI can now set up and run campaigns without ongoing dev support. "Implementing Shoutout was quick and straightforward, dramatically boosting our marketing efforts," says the head of growth at Cohesive AI.
Universal Widget Visibility: The Shoutout widget is prominently displayed across the platform, making it accessible to all users. This visibility ensures that every user is aware of ongoing campaigns and how they can get involved.
Cost-Effective Marketing and User Growth: Leveraging existing users, Shoutout has enabled Cohesive AI to engage in highly effective marketing. "This tool has transformed our existing user base into a dynamic marketing resource, significantly lowering our customer acquisition costs.”
Results of Shoutout Implementation
Since integrating Shoutout, Cohesive AI has observed a significant uptick in user engagement and participation rates.
Additionally, the ease of setting up and managing campaigns with Shoutout has allowed the marketing team to maintain a consistent lead flow, ensuring the platform remains dynamic and engaging. The automated reward system has not only saved time but has also improved user satisfaction by providing immediate gratification for their contributions.
Key Takeaways: How Shoutout Helps Cohesive AI Grow
Integrating Shoutout has significantly improved the way Cohesive AI connects with users and promotes its platform. Here's a detailed look at the benefits and how it's enhancing their operations
Smarter Marketing means Self-Service Campaigns: The marketing team now has the tools to create and manage their campaigns from start to finish. This ability cuts down on delays and allows them to quickly adapt to market trends or user feedback without waiting for technical support. This change means they can launch promotions right when they're needed, keeping the marketing fresh and relevant.
Increased User Engagement through Prominent Widget Placement: By making the Shoutout widget prominent on every user’s page, Cohesive AI ensures that every user sees active campaigns. This increased visibility has encouraged more users to participate, whether it’s sharing their content, completing tasks, or engaging with new features. This direct engagement helps spread the word about Cohesive AI organically, leveraging the power of social proof to attract new users.
Cost-Effective Growth: Instead of pouring money into costly digital ads, Cohesive AI focused on mobilizing its existing user base to share their positive experiences. This approach not only saves money but often results in more genuine and persuasive marketing. Users sharing their real success stories create a more trustworthy image and help potential customers see the real-life benefits of the platform.
Faster Feedback Loop: By incentivizing feedback, Cohesive got users to quickly communicate their likes, dislikes, and suggestions directly through the platform. It simplified the feedback process, making it easy for users to contribute ideas without disrupting their workflow.
Stronger Product Launches through Community Support: When it's time to roll out new features, Shoutout not only helps generate buzz among the entire community but also strategically leverages platforms like Product Hunt. This approach includes teaser posts, beta testing opportunities, and special rewards for users who actively participate in upvoting the product on Product Hunt. Engaging the community in this way turns users into advocates who are motivated to support the launch, increasing visibility and credibility on influential platforms.
Effortless Incentives: Shoutout enhances the reward process by enabling one-click distribution. Once a user completes an activity, the team is notified. After a quick review to confirm everything looks good, rewards are distributed with a single click. This process not only speeds up reward delivery but also reduces administrative effort significantly. Immediate recognition of contributions motivates users to stay active and engaged, leading to happier users and less work for Cohesive AI.
By making marketing more hands-on, user engagement deeper, and feedback easier to gather and act on, Shoutout has transformed how Cohesive AI grows its business. Shoutout doesn't just help save money; it turns existing users into active promoters of the platform. With users helping to spread the word and suggest improvements, Cohesive AI is not just selling a product but nurturing a thriving community that's invested in the platform's success.
