Clearbit’s First Microsite Netted $30,000 MRR with Campfire Labs

Matt had noticed how many of Clearbit’s customers used data in innovative ways, specifically to improve their sales processes. Whenever he shared these stories with prospects, they seemed impressed and eager to hear more.

That gave him an idea: interview more innovators, collect their stories, and publish them online. But that was easier said than done.

Although Matt knew what kind of content he didn’t want to produce—boring, derivative articles with no new or original insights—he was unsure what stories his audience actually wanted to read. Articles on sales recruitment or talent retention? Teardowns on enablement, operations, or prospecting?

Whatever subjects he chose, Matt knew finding interviewees would be tough. He wanted to speak to the best sales leaders in tech, but he knew they were famously hard to reach and perennially crunched for time.

To help wrangle busy executives and bolster his editorial team, Matt brought in Campfire Labs. Together, they planned, executed, and distributed Clearbit’s first microsite—Data-Driven Sales.

Matt first launched a customer research project, searching Clearbit’s client list for customers who best matched his ideal customer profile (ICP). Using their insights to validate content ideas, he shortlisted article topics that resonated and ditched the ones that didn’t. At the end of his research project, he had a finalized list of 10 sure-fire sales topics.

Matt tapped his extended professional network to build a three-person author shortlist for each topic. He then ran personalized outreach to recruit them, highlighting the campaign’s projected reach, brand-building opportunities, and the support of Campfire Labs as experienced ghostwriters to make the process as easy and seamless as possible. One “yes” at a time, he secured authors for the microsite, until every chapter had an expert.

With sales leaders locked down, Campfire Labs took over. Staff writers ran in-depth interviews to unpack the minutiae of each strategy and worked the transcripts into longform teardown articles.

“Campfire Labs helped us create some of our best content to date,” Matt said. “They helped us generate story ideas, interview people, and write stories that our customers loved.”

When every article was written, revised, and approved, Clearbit’s marketing team transformed the content into a microsite.

Had Matt dropped all 10 chapters at once, he may have generated some initial interest, but it likely would have been short-lived. After readers had read through the book once, it’s unlikely they would have returned in the future—and that’s not the long-term return he wanted.

Instead, Matt published one article every two weeks, promoting each new piece through Clearbit’s standard content promotion channels: email, social, and retargeting ads. Tempted by future chapter titles, hundreds of people subscribed in the first week. Each subsequent release attracted more readers, building on the project’s prior success.

And that was just the tip of Matt’s promotion strategy. He leveraged each contributor’s personal platforms to drive readers to the microsite and called on every evangelist, investor, and friend of Clearbit to amplify the message.

Data-Driven Sales’ success snowballed, as it quickly became one of Clearbit’s most popular pieces of content. Through two quarters, it attracted tens of thousands of readers and generated $30,000 per month in recurring revenue. Interest in the microsite didn’t spike and die, either.

Matt’s careful promotion strategy created a strong platform for the project, ensuring that new readers continue finding the microsite. Even today, long after its initial publication, Data-Driven Sales is still attracting new readers and generating new leads.

“Working with Campfire Labs was a phenomenal experience,” Matt said.