From startup darling to massive acquisition.
Making that leap requires staying power. Braintree had steadily amassed a small, dedicated following who loved their simple, elegant payment platform. However, significant growth would require a scalable marketing approach with an audience that was highly skeptical of marketing: developers. We worked closely with Braintree to truly understand the mindset of this audience, helping them build an ever-growing, passionate community of users and advocates.

The approach
The quickest path to reaching developers
By raising the collective profile of its most active audience, we raised Braintree’s own public profile in turn. Each of our efforts focused on empowering their community and placing their work in the public eye. And as the developer community grew, we increased customer acquisition metrics across the board while dramatically decreasing acquisition costs.

Reaching developers where they are
After improving usability and design on the Braintree website, we placed custom content where developers needed it most. SEO updates and a trigger-based email program got content in front of our target audiences, and we spread media outreach to international markets.
Crafting intentional messaging
Developers can easily see through profit motives, so we ensured messaging was to-the-point and unobtrusive. Users enthusiastically engaged with the brand — and each other — across development hubs, social media, paid media, and even our sponsored pedicab fleet at SXSW.
Creating high visibility & an engaging brand
After our initial success, we ensured that developers continued to see Braintree as a thought and culture leader. Conversions from the campaign climbed to record levels, and with ongoing conversion rate optimization, we constantly found ways to turn engaged audiences into customers.