Breakthrough for Organic Growth Found Through Content Marketing
The Simply team relied solely on outbound sales, sending service sign-up links via cold email . How were they able to grow their organic traffic by 1,700%?
Before meeting the Elifunt team, Simply CEO Lee Ji-hoon was conducting only outbound sales without a concrete marketing strategy. However, after six months of collaboration, he experienced organic growth with a natural increase in website visitors and service subscribers, and he says he felt that choosing the Elifunt team was the right decision! 🤩
What is the story behind this explosive growth? Lee Ji-hoon, CEO of Selpas, the operator of Simply, to discuss the collaboration experiences and achievements with Elifunt.
CEO Lee Ji-hoon, please introduce the Selpas team! 😊
We create 'Simply', a service that integrates and manages companies' SaaS and tangible assets in one place.
Hello. SMPLY. SMPLY is a solution that enables integrated management of corporate IT assets and SaaS in one place. With SMPLY, you can easily track users and additional information regarding IT devices such as laptops and monitors, and grasp the license status of various SaaS services like Slack, Notion, and Google Workspaces at a glance. SMPLY's goal is to streamline the corporate back office so that the frustration of not knowing where things are located disappears.
What did Simply focus on most during the early stages of the business?
Then and now, 'actual customer feedback' is the most important.
We developed the product by immediately incorporating customer feedback—such as “This part is too inconvenient” or “Please make sure to add this feature”—into our roadmap. Since the scope of IT asset management is so broad, satisfaction is bound to suffer with only one or two features. In particular, because we believe we build a service rather than just technology, we viewed quickly identifying and reflecting customer needs as our most important marketing point.
I heard that you prioritize 'product quality' over aggressive marketing. Were there any disagreements within the team regarding this?
The Simply team considered customer product satisfaction more important than the number of incoming customers.
We felt that the market was complex, making it difficult to satisfy customers with just one or two features. Our strategy was to solve only the core problem in an MVP format, while taking our time until we heard voices of genuine customer satisfaction. Although there were opinions within the team that we needed to "make money quickly to grow," most agreed that we needed to "build enough features," given that developers make up 80% of the team.
Even overseas SaaS platforms like Figma, Slack, and Notion took 5 to 7 years to find their Product-Market Fit. While we are often pressured in Korea to reach a quick Break-Even Point (BEP) or switch to monetization, I had doubts about whether we could truly maintain the product's intrinsic satisfaction in the long run. Ultimately, preparing with the mindset of "let's make customers genuinely satisfied so they use the product for a long time" actually became our unique competitive edge
What was Simply's marketing strategy?
We decided to approach customers with professional content.
Ever since releasing the beta version, I have been deeply concerned about how to further promote our solution and effectively convey our problem awareness to the market. Internally, there was a lot of talk about the need to continuously improve the product, while I simultaneously believed that we needed to deliver useful information to customers through informative content.
Initially, I considered hiring and training a marketer myself. However, the B2B marketing domain is so complex that it is difficult to become proficient in just one or two months. Furthermore, since we lack marketing specialists within the team, I anticipated that hiring a new person would prolong the onboarding period. Ultimately, I concluded that it would be difficult to create synergy.
So, we sought out an agency with extensive B2B marketing experience and decided to create informative content to promote Simply together with Elifunt.
What led you to decide to collaborate with the Elifunt team?
I was introduced to Elifunt as a 'master of B2B content marketing'.
My acquaintance, the CEO of Volta , introduced me to Elifunt, saying, "There is a team that excels at B2B content marketing." Initially, I hesitated due to the cost, but I concluded that problem-centered content is crucial in the B2B market and that I needed a partner who could professionally create it.
I believed that content could be the seed of Simply's growth, so I decided to entrust it entirely to experts. I was convinced that building up good content early on would become a tremendous asset later when drawing the 'J-curve.'.
After working together for six months, Elifunt understood our service, built the funnel, and established the necessary content system much faster than we would have gone through to hire and onboard a new marketer. I can confidently say that it was well worth the investment. 🤓
If you had to pick just one strength of the Elifunt team that you felt while collaborating with them, what would it be?
The 'authentic communication' was the most satisfying.
To be honest, it is difficult to pick just one advantage because my collaboration with the Elifunt team was such a satisfying six months. However, if I had to choose one, it would be 'authentic communication'.
In the B2B industry, it is incredibly difficult for a third party to understand the market and define the problem situation. A meaningful action plan can only emerge if one possesses a keen understanding of the market. Because this requires an absolute amount of time for persistent deliberation, I had a deep distrust of working with agencies. (I still feel this way today.)
So, I expected it would take a long time in the beginning to align domain knowledge and communication, but this process went by incredibly quickly. The Elifunt team always proactively requested information, shared their understanding, and actively followed up. Just like in-house marketers, they quickly grasped our service and accurately pinpointed our key concerns. I was always grateful to feel their sincerity in wanting to create better content no matter what, and I also felt apologetic that I couldn't help them as much as they deserved.
Do you have any memorable moments while collaborating with Elifunt?
The moment Simply's first impression was completed by the landing page revamp.
The redesign of Simply's landing page is the most memorable part of my work. At the time, I was completely lost regarding concepts like SEO and had no idea how to structure the site, so I was introducing the service with a very simple one-page layout. However, the Elifunt team systematically established the website's structure and message based on meticulous research and evidence, and finally, a complete website worthy of the service was released to the world.
Later, as I watched blog content start accumulating one by one, I thought, 'We made the right choice.' It was truly rewarding to see more customers learn about Simply through the content and receive inbound inquiries saying they wanted to try it. I continue to realize that results are coming from content alone, without any separate marketing activities.
What were the results of the content marketing with Elifunt?
Organic traffic grew significantly through strategic keyword selection.
Increased search traffic with keywords reflecting customer language
We approached our keyword strategy in two main directions. Initially, we described the service using expressions more familiar to customers, such as "subscription management." At that time, "SaaS" was a keyword with low search volume. On the Simply website, we utilized comprehensive keywords like "corporate asset" or "solution management," while on the blog, we employed long-tail keywords tailored to the specific concerns and needs of practitioners. We realized that there were many keywords with the same intent, even though they were referred to by different names.
Lead discovery through content created based on search data
Additionally, while analyzing search data flowing into Simply with Elifunt, we discovered that there was particularly high demand for keywords related to corporate asset or license management. Based on this insight, I hosted an event related to corporate asset due diligence on my LinkedIn, which allowed me to secure a significant number of good leads. Since I did not conduct any separate marketing, most of the inbound leads were coming in through my blog content.
Search results for brand keywords have also improved significantly. Previously, searching for 'smply' on Google would show other services with similar names at the top, but now our service ranks first for both 'smply' and 'Simply'. All of this is the result of our collaboration with Elifunt.
Which companies would you recommend Elifunt's content growth marketing to?
If your team is struggling to find its direction, this will be a better choice than hiring more personnel.
I particularly recommend this to teams that understand the importance of content marketing but don't know where to start, or to those that have started but quickly lose momentum. We were also unfamiliar with concepts like SEO and keyword strategies at first, but working with experts allowed us to quickly establish a direction. A major advantage is that once you lay a solid foundation early on, the effects continue consistently.
If it weren't for Elifunt, I think I would probably still be sending only outbound emails to customers. In particular, observing the assigned PM, I even thought, "If we were to hire a marketer, we would want to hire someone like this." Considering the cost and time involved in hiring new personnel, collaborating for about six months to a year was by no means a wasted investment. I also gained a bit of a keen eye for spotting marketers.
Do you have any future marketing directions or plans for Simply?
I want to spread the perception that 'IT asset management = Simply' more widely.
Ultimately, I want to establish the formula 'IT Asset Management = Simply.' Just as ERP has become an essential tool for corporate back offices, my goal is for Simply to establish itself as an 'essential solution for streamlining inefficient work.'
So, we plan to continue persuading customers with content that provides genuinely helpful information, just as we are doing now. By consistently promoting the fact that repetitive tasks like purchasing, replacement, and full inventory checks can be handled by a single service, we aim to grow into an essential solution for businesses. Ultimately, I believe that explosive growth is only possible when this kind of content accumulates.
⭐Simply Content Worth Reading Together!
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👉Want to manage your company's IT assets at a glance?
Contact Simply
Simply is a team that does not get carried away by short-term results and remains unshaken by market trends or competitor moves. We have consistently practiced B2B content marketing while patiently waiting for our customers to choose us. Thanks to this, we were able to grow steadfastly and solidly together with the Elifunt team.
Content growth marketing that builds tight relationships with customers based on authentic service! The Elifunt Team will always be with you. 💪
👉 Want to prepare solidly for B2B content marketing from the start?
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