From Zero to $10M ARR: Episode #1 of the Alex and Tom Show Goes goes live 🍿 + 7 scientifically backed strategies to measure & understand brand marketing

Welcome back to issue #14 of the Zero to $10M ARR newsletter! Here's what we have on the docket for today: - The official launch of our weekly video series the Alex and Tom Show (don't forget to check out [today's LinkedIn post]() to watch today's episode). - How to actually measure & understand brand marketing with 7 scientifically backed strategies - The reality of AI Voice Agents today and where things are headed (spoiler: they’re scaling hard and fast). ​ Let’s dive in! Episode 1 of the Alex and Tom Show Goes Live Today! Each week we’ll be covering every facet of building Helply from Zero to $10M ARR in three years–the nitty gritty straight from the trenches. In true Helply fashion, Tom Morkes (Helply’s new Head of Growth) and I are diving in fast and raw. No fancy production, no script—just pure startup energy. In episode 1 we cover: - Helply’s newest core feature: the Helply Knowledge Bridge - Tackling the eternal knowledge base headache head-on - Using AI to analyze a year’s worth of support tickets - Mining support data to spot trends and topics - Matching these trends against existing knowledge bases - Exposing gaps between tickets and knowledge base content - Giving companies X-ray vision into their support needs ​ - v1 of Helply’s AI agent CX widget - Beta testing Helply’s AI agent with Groove right now - Targeting 70%+ of tier one support coverage answered out of the gate - Gunning for 100% in 2-3 years - Laser-focusing on B2B SaaS, with eyes on e-commerce and digital services ​ - The new ‘Our Journey’ page - Evolving the concept from the 100K Journey blog - Building a living, breathing timeline of our founder’s journey - Updating weekly with Helply’s evolution - Pioneering “journey mode” marketing - Creating a masterclass in building a SaaS business ​ - Customer development process - Diving headfirst with 350+ customer development calls - Validating hypotheses before writing a single line of code - Using a simple marketing page to spark conversations - Shining a spotlight on real customer pain points ​ - AI in customer service insights - Recognizing AI is kicking down the door in customer service - Obsessing over data optimization for peak AI agent performance - Targeting tier one support tickets - Balancing AI agents with the human touch ​ - Strategies to avoid commoditization in AI-powered SaaS - Creating a brand, a story, and movement—not just a chatbot - Niching down hard into B2B SaaS - Developing at breakneck speed, constantly adding features - Owning our USP with journey mode marketing ​ - Growth strategy - Growing with our existing Groove customer base - Eating our own dog food—Groove is Helply’s first power user - First phase of testing different outbound strategies alongside our content marketing - Educating the market on AI in customer service ​ We also riff on the “All In” podcast’s recent AI Customer Support takes. Welcome to the chaos—building in public, warts and all. Let’s see where this rabbit hole takes us. How to actually measure & understand brand marketing with 7 scientifically backed strategies I’ve recently said if your a SaaS company and code is your moat, you’re screwed. Brand and distribution are the only moats that matter in an AI world. But most SaaS operators have 0 idea how to quantify brand building activities. So, what's there answer? They don’t build brand. These companies will die before 2030. Here are 7 scientifically backed ways to quantify and track brand marketing that you can apply today: - The 95/5 Rule (John Dawes, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute)​ ​ I. Origin and Research • Emerged from extensive research by John Dawes at Ehrenberg-Bass Institute • Analyzed vast datasets of consumer purchasing behavior across multiple categories and markets • Tracked purchase patterns of millions of consumers over extended periods ​ II. Key Findings • Only about 5% of a brand's potential customers are actively in the market to buy at any given time • Challenges common practice of focusing marketing efforts solely on immediate conversions • Suggests brands should concentrate on building mental availability among the 95% who aren't currently buying ​ III. Implementation Strategy • Create broad-reach campaigns that maintain mental availability • Develop distinctive brand assets for easy recognition • Focus on category entry points to be remembered when needs arise ​ IV. Goal • Ensure that when consumers enter the market, your brand is top-of-mind • Increase likelihood of brand being chosen when need arises ​ ​ - Physical and Mental Availability (Byron Sharp)​ ​ I. Origin and Research • Result of decades of research at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science • Led by Byron Sharp and his team • Analyzed brand performance data across numerous markets and categories • Identified universal patterns in how brands grow ​ II. Key Concepts • Physical Availability: Being easy to find and buy • Mental Availability: Easily coming to mind in buying situations ​ III. Research Methodology • Studied purchase behavior of millions of consumers • Covered various countries and product categories • Findings published in "How Brands Grow" ​ IV. Key Insights • Successful brands excel in both physical and mental availability • Challenges traditional notions of brand loyalty and segmentation • Suggests growth comes primarily from increasing penetration rather than focusing on heavy users ​ V. Implementation Strategy • Increase distribution to improve physical availability • Use distinctive brand assets consistently across all touchpoints to enhance mental availability • Advertise to light and non-buyers to expand the customer base ​ ​ - Cognitive Fluency in Brand Perception (Adam Alter & Daniel Oppenheimer)​ ​ I. Origin and Research • Emerged from psychological studies on information processing • Conducted by Adam Alter and Daniel Oppenheimer • Involved series of experiments manipulating ease of processing for various stimuli ​ II. Key Findings • Items easier to process mentally are perceived more positively • Affects brand names, stock ticker symbols, and product descriptions • Stocks with easier-to-pronounce names outperformed complex ones on the stock market ​ III. Implications for Brand Marketing • Simplicity and ease of processing significantly influence brand preference and perceived value • Even minor improvements in cognitive fluency can lead to significant shifts in brand perception ​ IV. Implementation Strategy • Simplify brand names, logos, and messaging • Use clear and easy-to-read fonts in marketing materials • Create smooth, intuitive user experiences in all brand interactions ​ V. Impact • Fluently processed brands assumed to be more familiar and safe • Minor changes in fluency can dramatically shift brand perception ​ ​ - The 60/40 Marketing Mix (Les Binet)​ ​ I. Origin and Research • Result of analyzing decades of data from IPA Effectiveness Awards • Conducted by Les Binet and Peter Field • Examined relationship between marketing strategies and business results • Analyzed hundreds of case studies ​ II. Key Findings • Most effective campaigns balance long-term brand building with short-term sales activation • Optimal allocation: 60% to brand building, 40% to sales activation • Produces best long-term business results ​ III. Research Methodology • Involved complex modeling of marketing spend, campaign types, and business outcomes • Analyzed various time frames ​ IV. Implementation Strategy • Allocate budget according to 60/40 split • Use different creative approaches for brand building (emotional, broad-reach) and sales activation (rational, targeted) • Measure impact over short (0-6 months) and long (1-3 years) time periods ​ V. Goal • Ensure balance between immediate sales results and long-term brand health ​ ​ - Connecting Brand to Financials (Hanssens & Pauwels, UCLA)​ ​ I. Origin and Research • Developed through academic research on marketing-finance interface • Conducted by Dominique Hanssens and Koen Pauwels at UCLA • Addresses challenge of quantifying financial impact of brand-building efforts ​ II. Research Methodology • Used sophisticated time-series analysis • Analyzed marketing actions, consumer attitudes, and financial outcomes • Collected and analyzed data over extended periods across multiple brands and categories ​ III. Key Findings • Established clear link between changes in brand perceptions and future financial performance ​ IV. Implementation Strategy • Regularly survey consumer attitudes towards the brand • Track changes in these attitudes over time • Correlate attitude shifts with financial performance metrics ​ V. Benefits • Allows marketers to demonstrate ROI of brand-building activities • Justifies long-term brand investments to finance-focused stakeholders • Provides framework for optimizing marketing spend based on projected financial impact ​ ​ - Share of Search (James Hankins & Les Binet)​ ​ I. Origin and Development • Developed by James Hankins and further validated by Les Binet • Emerged from analysis of digital behavior data and brand performance ​ II. Key Concept • Brand's share of category-related searches often correlates strongly with market share • Changes in share of search often precede changes in market share ​ III. Research Methodology • Conducted extensive studies examining relationship between search data and market performance • Analyzed various categories and markets ​ IV. Implementation Strategy • Monitor share of category-related searches using tools like Google Trends • Compare share of search trends with market share data • Use share of search as a leading indicator for future sales ​ V. Benefits • Provides cost-effective way to gauge brand health • Helps predict market performance • Especially useful in categories where traditional market share data is hard to obtain or infrequently updated ​ ​ 7. The Brand Equity Model (Kevin Lane Keller)​ ​ I. Origin and Development • Developed by Kevin Lane Keller through comprehensive academic research • Also known as Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model • Synthesized findings from numerous studies on brand perception, loyalty, and consumer behavior ​ II. Key Concept • Brand equity built in four steps: identity, meaning, responses, and relationships ​ III. Research Methodology • Involved extensive surveys, experiments, and case studies • Covered various industries and cultures ​ IV. Implementation Strategy • Build brand awareness through broad reach and frequency • Develop clear brand positioning and personality • Create positive brand experiences at all touchpoints • Foster deep, lasting relationships with customers ​ V. Benefits • Provides structured way to build and measure brand equity • Ensures all brand-building activities contribute to coherent and powerful brand image • Helps create strong consumer-brand relationships The reality of AI Voice Agents today and where things are headed AI voice agents aren’t just coming. They’re here and they’re scaling fast. Today’s voice agents are already primed to handle after biz hours and overflow calls. But some of them are already outperforming call centers. And they’re getting better faster than anyone expected. The implications for onshore employees are real. How this shakes out is yet to be seen, but the writing seems to be on the wall. Here are 4 companies to look out for who are leading the charge: Mercor (@mercor_ai) • Global talent marketplace using AI for candidate vetting • AI agent conducts live interviews • Scale: 300k candidates vetted, 100k interviews conducted Hyperbound (@hyperboundai) • AI-powered sales training platform • Uses AI buyers for simulated sales calls • Customized to customer personas • Scale: Used by sales reps from 7k companies, 100k practice calls conducted Toma (@tomaauto) • Automates phone calls for auto dealerships • Handles booking and modifying customer appointments • Scale: 1M+ calls handled for dealer partners since launch • Benefit: Allows advisors to spend more time with customers, less on phone 11x (@11x_official) • Trains AI workers, including an AI phone rep named Jordan • Jordan’s capabilities: • Calls leads and schedules meetings for customers • Updates CRM • Performs A/B tests with different tones and scripts • Learns from recordings to improve future calls Alright! That does it for this weeks issue of the Zero to $10M ARR newsletter. Leave me a comment on [today's LinkedIn pos]()t with your thoughts and let me know what you like, what you want more of, and what we can do better. See you next week! Alex CEO & Founder, [Groove](=) & [Helply]()​ P.S. I’ll also be posting on LinkedIn seven days a week, 365 days a year. I’d love to hear your feedback on the new newsletter in the comments of my latest post. I read and reply to every single one. ​ Don't want to hear from us? You can [unsubscribe here](.