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AppSumo
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Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 31 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
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How AppSumo Grew

Marketplace for lifetime software deals

How did AppSumo grow?

Summary of the sourced claims below

AppSumo grew by partnering with up-and-coming software companies to offer the latest technology for a limited time. They leveraged organic social media, gaining backlinks, mentions, and word-of-mouth buzz to increase visibility. Great customer service characterized by a fun, friendly, and authentic approach helped build trust with customers. AppSumo also expanded its marketing efforts through advertising, affiliate programs, and optimizing conversion rates.

Channels

13 channels · grouped by how AppSumo grows

  • AppSumo Launch

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “After the price had been dropped, after the reviews went up to a 4.5 taco rating, and after the second email went out, the AppSumo promotion brought in a total of $21,243 in gross revenue, in 8 days.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “We made $200k in sales on AppSumo in 60 days. Here’s my honest review of selling my AI B2B SaaS product, Octolens , through AppSumo Select.”
    high

  • Organic social media

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “We gained more backlinks, mentions on social media, and word-of-mouth buzz.”
    high
    Show 1 more quote
    “I'm a huge AppSumo fan and being able to partner with you in this capacity has been amazing. In fact, I launched several other products on your marketplace this past quarter and look forward to seeing their growth in 2022. BTW, your staff is fun, friendly, and helpful. Love the sense of humor in ...”
    medium

  • Partnerships

    · 2 mentions · 2 sources
    “But they would get distribution by going to reddit.com or dig.com and say, hey, put up a deals page and we'll power your deals page. That was a really good distribution strategy for them. What happened though, is that we then, as partners were coming on AppSumo, we said every partner without goin...”
    medium
    Show 1 more quote
    “We partner with up-and-coming software companies to bring you the latest tech for a limited time.”
    medium

  • Direct sales

    · 1 mention
    “And then after a year, we brought on some advisors, Andrew Chen, this guy, Simon Siminski from SpeedDate, Eric Ries, and these people that have very high standards. And it was like, wow, let's focus on it. I think that was a big differentiator for us.”
    medium

  • Affiliate program

    · 1 mention
    “But they would just make all these claims about us, create their own groups, be affiliates of us. So we would actually pay them to promote the deals. And then they would start just growing the group, and then eventually they would start launching their own deals, and then just shitting all over us.”
    medium

  • Great customer service

    · 1 mention
    “Fun, friendly, genuine, authentic, customer-centric. You just feel so protected with AppSumo. It's like you know AppSumo is on your side.”
    medium

  • Product expansion

    · 1 mention
    “And so our marketing motion is what are products that bring people into the AppSumo ecosystem? So million dollar weekend now is one of them. So we have it on AppSumo, people can get it. And then we have our AppSumo originals products. ... It's 30% of our new customers coming through one of our or...”
    high

  • Leveraging existing platforms

    · 1 mention
    “AppSumo is the platform 1.25M+ entrepreneurs trust for everything they need to create fulfilling businesses. We’ve got all the tools you need to grow and scale.”
    medium

  • Optimize conversion rates

    · 1 mention
    “We also leveraged the momentum to strengthen our overall marketing funnel—tweaking landing pages and improving messaging.”
    high

  • Advertising on social media

    · 1 mention
    “For AppSumo, we had areas that worked, like ads. We tested it. It worked. And then affiliates tested and it worked. And then now there's a business intelligence team, which is a million dollars a year to run for the salaries and the software dedicated to really around those two areas. That's scal...”
    high

  • Find Bloggers & Vloggers

    · 1 mention
    “We gained more backlinks, mentions on social media, and word-of-mouth buzz.”
    high

  • SEO

    · 1 mention
    “AppSumo is a great website to have a backlink from! Similar to Product Hunt, launching on a very reputable site like AppSumo means your own website improves in domain rating. We went from 10 to 23 DR on Ahrefs during our AppSumo campaign.”
    high

  • Word of mouth

    · 1 mention
    “We gained more backlinks, mentions on social media, and word-of-mouth buzz.”
    high

How 2,695 businesses grow

Of businesses with mapped growth channels, the share using each — AppSumo’s highlighted.
  • Referral/Word-of-mouth
    68% ◀
  • Social media
    58% ◀
  • Search/SEO
    57% ◀
  • Email
    47%
  • Community
    34%
  • Content/Inbound
    32%
  • Partnerships
    30% ◀
  • Paid ads
    24%
  • Events
    24%
  • Press/PR
    17%
  • Outbound/Sales
    16% ◀
  • Marketplaces/App stores
    8% ◀
  • Brand Authenticity
    2%
  • Product expansion
    2% ◀
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