< Workshops
February 17, 2026
08:00 am PT | 10:00 am CT | 11:00 am ET
$0 to $10M ARR: How HeyReach built a brand on customer advocacy
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Most B2B marketing is self-centered. Companies spend fortunes talking about their own features, their own awards, their own "solutions." Buyers mostly tune it out.
HeyReach took a different approach. They hit $10M ARR in 29 months with 55%+ profitability by flipping the script: instead of promoting themselves, they promoted their customers.
In this Wynter Workshop, Vukasin Vukosavljevic, CMO at HeyReach, broke down the exact playbook they used to turn successful users into a brand advocacy engine that drives word-of-mouth at scale.
According to Wynter's annual research, 42% of CMOs say word-of-mouth is the number one factor influencing a software purchase decision. Not ads. Not content marketing. People talking to other people.
Vukosavljevic's take on it: "If there's a user speaking positively about us versus me selling it, the user will kick my ass maybe nine out of 10 times."
That insight shaped HeyReach's entire growth strategy. Rather than investing heavily in outbound marketing about the product, they invested in making their users successful and then giving those users a platform to talk about it.
Before jumping into execution, Vukosavljevic stressed the importance of getting the foundations right. He introduced what he calls the "growth square loop," a framework focused on helping users achieve wins during the free trial-to-conversion phase.
"You need these foundations, the reasons why you're prioritizing, and how word-of-mouth is going to look before you start executing tactics," he explained.
A big part of that foundation is ICP analysis. HeyReach's primary users are active LinkedIn users, and understanding that shaped everything from channel selection to partnership strategy. "Every data point should give you an action point," Vukosavljevic said. If a data point doesn't lead to a specific action, it's not useful.
HeyReach was the first LinkedIn outreach tool to integrate with Clay. That first-mover advantage became a growth lever.
Once the integration was live, HeyReach amplified it through co-hosted webinars and joint campaigns. After one webinar with Clay's team, they ran a contest: use both products, share your results on LinkedIn, tag both companies, and get premium product credits for free. No catch.
The result was a wave of user-generated content that drove organic visibility for both brands. Each piece of content created more awareness, which attracted more users, which created more content.
HeyReach doesn't chase influencers. Instead, they identify what they call "outbound outliers," users getting exceptional results, and put them in the spotlight.
"The users are the heroes of the story. HeyReach is just the Batmobile," Vukosavljevic explained.
This goes beyond the standard case study. HeyReach co-creates content with these users and shares it across LinkedIn and YouTube. What matters is results, not follower count. "You could have five followers but run a very impressive campaign, and we'd want to put you in the spotlight," Vukosavljevic said.
This approach turns customers into advocates who actively promote the brand because they get something out of it too: visibility, credibility, and an audience.
Every piece of content HeyReach creates is designed to serve multiple purposes: education, lead generation, and thought leadership.
One notable tactic: instead of boosting their own LinkedIn posts, HeyReach boosts posts from their users and experts. "We boost users' posts. It's good for them and good for us," Vukosavljevic said. The user gets more reach. HeyReach gets authentic third-party endorsement.
They also send branded merch to users who post about HeyReach organically. No strings attached, no ask. Just a cap or a shirt as a thank you. These small gestures create goodwill and keep the word-of-mouth cycle going.
HeyReach doesn't get caught up in channel attribution debates. Instead, they focus on making the handoff between marketing and sales seamless.
Webinar attendees, LinkedIn engagers, and content consumers all flow into the CRM. Sales and success teams then handle warm outreach to qualified leads. "You can export that audience, capture the engagers, qualify them, and let the sales and success teams handle warm outreach. Everything goes back to the CRM," Vukosavljevic described.
The metric that matters most isn't total free trial signups. It's "qualified free trials," signups that show genuine intent. By tracking which channels produce the most qualified trials, HeyReach can see what's actually driving revenue.
Start with customer wins, not marketing campaigns. If your users aren't succeeding with your product, no amount of marketing will generate lasting word-of-mouth.
Partner strategically, then amplify. Integrations with complementary tools create natural co-marketing opportunities that benefit both sides.
Make your users the stars. Put their results front and center. A user telling their story is more persuasive than any ad you could run.
Repurpose everything. One webinar can become a YouTube video, multiple LinkedIn posts, a case study, and a lead gen asset. Build with scale in mind.
