Canva (A)

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Hey, it’s Alex. Last Thursday was special. We threw our first Marketing Examined event. 45 ppl RSVP’d. 43 people showed up. That means the world to me. My entire goal is to bring badass people, doing badass things, together to build more badass things. It’s simple. But it’s a process. And Thursday we laid down the first brick. And will continue to build it brick by brick until our content and community impact 5M+ people.

Here’s a quick recap:

And a huge thank you to our partners Insense and AE Studio.

90% of content receives zero organic traffic from Google….

And Canva? 156M organic visits a month.

Which is estimated to be worth $28M. And is directly driving 20% of Canva’s annual $1.7 billion in revenue.

Which creates these questions in my head:

1. What’s driving this traffic?

2. How do they create free tools around their ICP’s job to be done?

3. How do they convert this traffic into paid users?

Your ideal customer has specific jobs to be done.

For example, a Head of Social may need an Instagram story template. A GIF maker. A video editor. A carousel builder. To name a few.

These are all “jobs to be done.” And when you look at this from a birds-eye view - it sounds like this “Head of Social” needs an all-in-one tool.

But people don’t search for all-in-one tools or solutions.

They search for one of one solutions. Solutions very specific to a problem or need.

And Canva knows this. Optimizes for this. And funnels the one-of-one solutions down to the all-in-one solution.

Lemme show you…

Awareness Phase: Target specific solution-oriented keywords

Let’s start here.

The keyword “logo-maker” gets 260k searches a month.

The keyword “meme-generator” gets 698k searches.

So, Canva created FREE tools to match the intent behind these searches.

Because they know if they can get an unaware user to experience Canva, they can later upsell the paid version.

But the first step is getting users into the funnel…

So, to scale this Canva created templatized dedicated landing pages for each tool.

They’re simple. Straight to the point. And help fast-track the user from “unaware” to an “aha” moment.

The only action needed? Sign up via Gmail, Facebook, or email.

And within seconds - you’re creating.

Now, you’re in Canva’s funnel.

But they go a step further to create the funnel based on intent…

Consideration Phase: Design experience around search intent

Consider these two keywords:

Resume templates vs. Resume maker.

They seem similar but signal different intent.

One person is looking for a plug-and-play option.

The other is looking to create.

Canva recognized the difference in intent and designed different experiences to align accordingly.

One landing page highlights why Canva is great for building resumes.

The other landing page highlights the extensive library of free resumes.

Different needs. Different entry points. Same funnel structure. Just personalized to the intent.

When content aligns with the user's intent, they’re more likely to engage and continue to the next step of the funnel.

Conversion: Use Freemium to Acquire Users

Canva gave users a basic version of their paid solution.

After they receive value, they’re prompted to create an account - not before.

This acts as a bridge by solving a specific problem at a specific moment in time.

The initial value from a free tool provides immediate relief. Almost like a painkiller. Where the paid solution is physical therapy to get rid of a potential long-term problem.

Now. Your turn.

Your Playbook in Action

To recap - your ideal customer has a specific job to be done.

Canva took their paid product. Broke it down into singular products. Positioned those products as tools.

Then they layer in SEO to make it easy for their prospective users to find the tool while they are grappling with the specific problem.

Rather than marketing the “perfect tool for designers”, they made a badass meme generator.

And in the exact moment you need to make a meme, Canva is at the top of your Google search when you search for, “meme generator.”

This is how you replicate Canva’s strategy to dominate SEO:

1. Define your ideal customer persona.

2. Brainstorm at least 20 specific jobs to be done for your ICP.

3. Identify the top 3-5 JTBD (jobs to be done).

4. Plug in the keyword into Ahrefs.

5. Filter by questions to see the most searched questions related to the problem.

6. Create a guide, playbook, or free tool for each question.

7. Move users from free resource to paid version.

8. This can be done through extensive marketing via ads, email, or SMS or by creating restrictions/limits for free users before bridging them to a paid account.