Max van den Ing of Unmuted on Success Beyond Metrics

The Evolving Landscape of Modern Marketing

In today’s business climate, a standardized marketing playbook is absent. Each organization must cultivate a unique brand identity, and as it matures, its marketing strategies must adapt accordingly.

Simply relying on established tactics and quantifiable metrics is insufficient; successful marketers continually analyze and learn from innovative methodologies while simultaneously exploring uncharted territories.

Introducing Unmuted: A Growth Marketing Agency

This is where Unmuted enters the picture. Based in Amsterdam, this growth marketing agency specializes in LinkedIn and content marketing, marketing automation, and advertising. Prior to founding Unmuted, Max van den Ingh held the positions of head of growth and product at MisterGreen, an electric vehicle leasing company, and head of growth marketing at ShopPop, a chat-based marketing platform.

Mr. van den Ingh, who also serves as a guest lecturer at Nyenrode Business University, was brought to the attention of TechCrunch through the TechCrunch Experts project. We are actively seeking highly skilled growth marketers for recommendations to other startups. If you are aware of a suitable candidate, please share their information via this brief survey.

Van den Ingh discussed his “modern” marketing philosophy, the importance of setting achievable goals, the adjustments startups needed to make during the pandemic, and other relevant topics.

Note: This interview has been condensed for brevity and clarity.

Defining a “Modern” Growth Marketing Approach

You characterize Unmuted as a “modern” growth marketing agency. What distinguishes your approach to marketing?

Our method of assisting clients differs significantly from that of most conventional marketing agencies. Clients do not approach Unmuted to simply have their concepts implemented; they seek our expertise in our established process. We have, in essence, productized a growth marketing process that generates ideas for our clients, which they find exceptionally valuable.

We either provide guidance during execution, depending on the client’s team size and available resources, or we handle execution independently and provide comprehensive reports. This process-driven service model, in our view, is the only sustainable path to business growth.

Practically, this process involves applying principles learned from rapidly expanding companies to our clients’ businesses. We typically concentrate on what we term “innovative companies”—whether they offer a SaaS solution or are pioneers within a traditional sector is less important. The process we’ve developed is effective for B2B startups, scaleups, and SMBs, with the latter category potentially benefiting the most from our methodology.

A Three-Pronged Strategy for Growth

Our role encompasses three key areas: developing strategies, implementing them through experimentation with proven marketing tactics based on our extensive internal knowledge, and relieving our clients’ marketing teams of potential limitations in perspective.

Our growth program typically unfolds in three stages: the Foundation, Acceleration, and Transformation stages. The Foundation stage involves establishing the groundwork through a thorough audit of the client’s business and initiating initial experiments. In the Acceleration stage, we scale the experiments demonstrating promising early results. Finally, the Transformation stage equips our clients with the knowledge to continue growing their businesses independently, with the option of ongoing consulting support.

Setting Realistic Growth Expectations

Your work at MisterGreen resulted in a tenfold increase in growth. What level of growth can a client anticipate when collaborating with you? How do you assist clients in establishing realistic objectives?

Goal setting presents a consistent challenge, particularly in marketing. Determining an appropriate target is complex – should one aim higher or lower? At Unmuted, we engage in a series of exercises with new clients to gain a clear understanding of their current position and potential after marketing optimization.

Instead of fixed numerical targets, such as a specific number of new customers within a given timeframe, we concentrate on growth levers, like month-over-month growth in key conversion or activation metrics. This focus on growth levers makes our work more actionable.

We also incorporate a company’s underlying beliefs into our framework. We believe this “belief system” is crucial to any growth marketing strategy. Balancing data-driven projects with activities based on intuition is essential. Focusing solely on measurable results can limit exploration of potentially valuable, yet untrackable, channels.

The Value of Untrackable Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing, discussions on platforms like WhatsApp, or mentions in podcast episodes can significantly impact revenue, yet these activities are often difficult to track directly.

We do not offer guarantees regarding growth outcomes. Our commitment is to maximize results through continuous improvement and optimization, with positive outcomes following naturally.

For example, we recently facilitated a 350% increase in demo requests for a B2B SaaS platform. However, this was not the primary goal. Our process focused on optimizing every aspect of the demo request journey, from initial visitor acquisition to demo page optimization. Each experiment contributed to an increase in demo requests, culminating in substantial compounded results after six months.

Lessons Learned at ShopPop

Your experience as head of growth at ShopPop has undoubtedly shaped your approach. How does that experience inform the way you help your clients?

Working with a rapidly growing B2B SaaS company with a self-service product taught me the importance of understanding what sustainable growth truly looks like. It’s easy to achieve short-term gains in growth marketing, but these may not be beneficial if they result in acquiring customers who are ultimately lost.

For instance, aggressively targeting advertising campaigns towards users in sectors unlikely to benefit significantly from your product can lead to high churn rates and unsustainable growth.

At Unmuted, we invest significant time in understanding our clients’ ideal customers, their challenges, and the reasons behind those challenges. Only then do we explore solutions using our client’s products or services.

Sharing Knowledge and Inspiring Growth

As a guest lecturer at Nyenrode Business University and a frequent speaker, what key takeaways do you hope audiences gain from your presentations?

During speaking engagements, I consistently share stories illustrating pragmatic approaches and unconventional solutions. Growth manifests in diverse forms, and while it often appears straightforward, it is rarely easy. Management must recognize that growth requires time and a willingness to learn from failures.

Open communication and feedback are essential for learning and iteration. Seeking feedback is preferable to remaining silent, as it is the foundation of growth. While most marketers are naturally inclined to learn, this is not always the case for business professionals. Inspiring audiences with my approach to growth through learning is a rewarding outcome.

Adapting to Change During the Pandemic

How have you observed startups evolving during the pandemic?

The pandemic has forced many startups to adapt their strategies. Some have succeeded, while others have struggled. I experienced this firsthand at ShopPop, where we initially focused on the music industry.

With the music industry facing significant challenges, we pivoted to e-commerce, which was experiencing rapid growth.

Current Trends in Growth Marketing

Looking ahead, what trends are you currently observing in growth marketing as the pandemic continues?

The most significant trend is the increased importance of marketing departments. Digital marketers, in particular, are often at the forefront of identifying new growth opportunities. The future remains uncertain, but companies are actively seeking innovative ways to connect with their customers.

Consequently, we are witnessing a surge in demand for online events such as webinars and virtual summits. However, standing out requires discovering unique channels and approaches – that is where marketing can truly excel.

The Evolution of the Startup Market

How have you witnessed the startup market develop throughout your career in growth?

The most noticeable development has been the establishment of new standards. Startups have always been known for their agility, but remote work and collaborative tools have further accelerated their pace. The industry has transformed from fast-moving speedboats into rocket ships. Talent has become more accessible, fostering more diverse and resilient internal cultures.

Startups are consistently early adopters of new working methods. Differentiation is crucial for survival, and a novel approach can be a key differentiator.

Working at a startup often feels like standing on the edge of a cliff, but it is also when creativity is at its peak. This dynamic is, in part, how growth marketing emerged. In competitive markets, companies must fight for their existence, and marketing is often a means of radical differentiation. As people become adept at this, setting new standards and raising the bar, the market evolves.

Common Startup Mistakes

What persistent mistakes do startups continue to make?

A common issue is a lack of rapid and thorough learning. Founders often have a compelling vision, but may lack the practical experience to anticipate challenges.

Startups often achieve initial traction through their networks, but struggle in subsequent phases, particularly when investment pressures increase commercial demands. A strong product-market fit and the ability to apply early learnings are crucial. Without these, startups can quickly deteriorate.

Areas Where Startups Excel

Conversely, what are startups doing better now than ever before?

The most impactful thing a startup can do, and I’m seeing it happen more frequently, is investing in community building early on. At MisterGreen, we created a community for the first thousand Tesla Model 3 owners in the Netherlands. This group became our most effective marketing tool, generating significant word-of-mouth referrals.

This exemplifies investing in marketing that is difficult to measure directly, but strongly believed in.