How Dropbox is Marketing Their Brand

Dropbox is a very simple brand; when it comes to folder syncing you enjoy the privilege of simplicity. Did you know that the company has spent very little on marketing, yet it has become worth $4 Billion? You may want to know what has made their business so successful.

Dropbox has used innovative and bootstrap techniques to spread the word. Below are some of the techniques that the cloud storage company has used to be at the top of the game.

Friend Referral Program

Dropbox has perfected the art of networking with its clients to get more customers. With its attractive incentives, it has encouraged its users to tell one another about its amazing product. For example, Dropbox gives out 500MB increase to both its user and the person being referred to join when the signup process is pending.

The strategy holds great economic merit. Adopters love the features and the ability to easily manage and share data on the cloud. If they want more storage, they can pay for it now or increase storage as they need more space. By sharing it with friends, they get the storage they need. It also satisfies the urge to tell friends about the latest tool they are using.

When they share a file with someone else, they can encourage the other to open an account with their referral link.

Social Media

Dropbox has grown to over a $12 billion company, yet they spend barely any money to advertise. So how do they account for this phenomenal growth? Social media incentives. Dropbox incentivizes users to share on social media by increasing the size of their accounts if they do. According to Dropbox, there are two types of incentives based on the plan.

• Dropbox Basic accounts earn 500 MB per referral, up to 16 GB
  
  
• Dropbox Plus and Professional accounts get 1 GB per referral and can earn up to 32 GB
  
  
• While social media alone does not account for all the growth, it certainly helped.

Over the last few years, social media has proven to be a powerful resource. Each person that shares is a minor influencer in their own circle. When someone posts about Dropbox, their best friend, cousin, and other close relationships will see a credible promotion for the brand.

Signup Driven Homepage

If you are a first-time visitor to the company’s website, you will notice the simple layout that lays the foundation for their entire product. If you don’t know how to use it, the 2-minute above-the-fold tutorial video guides you on Dropbox product, this is something the company has had since it began. Dropbox's signup-driven homepage has been its key marketing strategy.

When designing your website, decide what your main goal is. It is likely to capture a sale or lead. As people find themselves on your page, you are directing traffic. It should go to a single place, or exactly where you want them to go. By developing a signup-driven homepage, brands ensure a focused strategy and a higher conversion rate.

Sharing with Simplicity

Dropbox makes it simple for you to share files with friends and family members.

Both the sender and the receiver of the files have little to do, thus offering simplicity. Simplicity has assisted the company in getting more exposure and attracting potential users. This sharing feature is similar to Facebook’s ease of photo sharing but with the primary benefit of simplicity just for you.

You can also check out the features and How Dropbox is Marketing here in our piece around the brand.

Availability on Multiple Platforms

The diverse nature of Dropbox marketing on all platforms makes it popular with so many people. You can access their products from anywhere and at any time.

Despite Dropbox building its product with little to no marketing budget, effective branding has played a crucial role in elevating the company.

Here are some of the branding tips that Dropbox has used to boost its company’s marketability.

Seeing branding all around you

Dropbox uses branding elements you may not be conversant with such as motion marks, smell marks, color marks, and sound marks. This creates a recognizable and remarkable experience that differentiates them from others. 

Seeing your brand as a promise

Through identifying the client’s needs, Dropbox emphasizes expectations upfront. The products they deliver to you go beyond financial benefits to meet every single customer touchpoint. This extra-mile service is essential to gain loyal customers and super fans. If they feel you have gone above and beyond, they will likely go above and beyond to tell others about you.

Substituting reputation for the brand

Dropbox has successfully capitalized on its reputation to build a strong brand. Reputation can be a stepping stone to greater heights if harnessed effectively. A brand might contain symbols, colors, experiences, but it all hinges on your reputation. The Dropbox brand has become a giant in delivering top-notch cloud storage for all your files.

Customers as the central Dropbox asset

The company’s success has been through an amazing and supportive customer base. Two of the most efficient and inexpensive forms of marketing they have used are word-of-mouth and an exemplary experiential marketing approach to real-world activations. This shows that they put their customers first and equip them to grow the brand.

Dropbox Has a Customer-Centric Marketing Strategy

If you look at all that Dropbox has done, you can point it to a customer-first strategy. They focus on making the experience remarkable and giving customers the tools to tell their friends about them.

This is great for marketing, but also great to have a strong connection on what customers want and need. If a brand is obsessed with the customer and converting them to super fans, they’ll create a competitive product. When customers are happy about something, they’ll tell everyone they know. They’ll send messages, show people what they have, and convince others to give it a try. That’s the kind of energy all brands hope for.

Dropbox is the kind of company you can label a marketing genius. They have made it easy for

you to store huge volumes of information by providing a superior customer experience. Once you experience what it offers, you can’t imagine how you could ever live without it.

What are some ways you can use their strategy for your brand?

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