How We Increased Our ARR From $1M To $2.8M In The Last Year
This is a follow up story for Metricool. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published almost 3 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Metricool is a social media management tool that helps social media managers, freelancers, and agencies to analyze, manage and schedule their online visibility with a few clicks. Easy and intuitive. (social networks, online ads, and websites).
Google My Business, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn groups, LinkedIn personal or brand accounts, Twitch, Youtube, TikTok ads, Google ads, Facebook ads, etc.
Hi! I'm Juan Pablo Tejela, CEO at Metricool. Metricool is an online tool that helps manage social media and advertising platforms through analytics and from a single site. It’s directed towards a wide range of users from small businesses to social media managers.
From a business point of view, Metricool is a SaaS with a Freemium model. You can either register for free or subscribe to one of our Premium plans with more features and brands available. My wife and I embarked on the Metricool adventure 5 years ago and now we have over 800,000 users, more than 15,000 subscribers and we have exceeded $2.8 million in ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue).
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
In the last year and a half, our ARR has increased from $1 million to $2.8 million. The number of users has doubled and we have almost tripled our revenue and customers. So, we are thrilled to see the pace at which we are growing and evolving in this short period of time.
This growth is partially the result of having reinforced our internationalization strategies, especially in LATAM and the US, while we have maintained our SEO and social media marketing strategies and kept looking for strategic collaborations.
However, our product is the main reason for this progress which keeps our customers loyal to our tool and encourages them to stay with us longer. We launch new features and updates every month, some of them have come as a solution to the issues or suggestions that our users raise through our live support chat. Listening to them is a fantastic resource for improvement and inspiration.
Apart from adding new functionalities to our tool, we have also integrated new trendy platforms such as Twitch and TikTok Ads. Also, as a Google Partner, we have added Smart Bidding to our Google Ads campaigns. However, our two great achievements this year are the inclusion of the auto-publication on Instagram and the launch of our new mobile app.
It has been an exciting year so far, a wonderful non-stop that has been possible thanks to a great team of professionals, a family that keeps growing. This year, we have added six new talented members to our developing, marketing, and customer support teams.
Improving our product and including new features, while keeping excellent customer service support is key to making all this happen and win our customers' hearts.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
Without a doubt, the biggest lesson has been Flexibility. COVID19 has taught us to adapt quickly to changes and be flexible with our customers, colleagues, and the needs of the market.
One of the biggest consequences is that currently, the whole metricool team is working remotely, which has also allowed us to find talent thousands of kilometers apart. This change has been key and the results have been excellent.
We have also ratified two of the company's key values: Our product and the team.
Having a good product is vital because customers pick up on it fast and it is where we can contribute the greatest value. On the other side, having a great, motivated, trained, and the autonomous team is key to making this happen. Investing time in training and listening to the team’s ideas brings sensational results.
As a personal challenge, I cycle for 40 mins and walk an average of 20,000 steps every day: a sound mind in a sound body.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
Our next challenge is to reach and increase our presence in other European countries and reinforce the strategy in other regions such as the United States and LATAM. We will undoubtedly continue to invest in the product, in our road map we have already marked the following milestones: social inbox management and more options for online advertising campaigns.
Set your goals in the medium-long term.
For us, the projection in five years has to follow the original line, keep growing sustainably.
Have you read any good books in the last year?
I mostly listen to podcasts and my top 3 are:
Saaster - Interviews where they share stories of companies similar to ours, inspiring case studies from which you can learn a lot.
Itnig - Equivalent to Saaster but with case studies of European and Spanish companies.
Product Hackers - Focused on growth techniques for companies, where there are also interesting interviews and success stories.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
Set your goals in the medium-long term. We are often too anxious to see immediate results and we put our efforts into short-term strategies that are not sustainable over time.
I have seen other companies in our niche that are based on functionalities that violate the policies and terms of use established by social platforms. They grow fast, but their decline is just as fast.
What works for Metricool is to design solid and long-term strategies, making sure that every step we take keeps us on the right path. Maybe we will go slower but I am certain that we will get further.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
The idea is to incorporate native people from the countries in which we plan our internationalization. Both to enrich the company and also help us better understand the country where we want to focus.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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