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Modash Marketing Playbook | Ryan Prior, Head of Marketing
Finding early traction in marketing is tough—especially for B2B SaaS startups trying to compete with bigger players in saturated channels.
To solve this, Modash doubled down on SEO and built a content-driven engine that scaled them from €1M to €6M+ ARR with zero outbound sales.
In this episode, we spoke with Ryan Prior, Head of Marketing at Modash, to discuss:
* How Modash grew with 100% inbound sales from SEO and free tools
* Why mini-tools like a fake follower checker drove 250k+ visits/month
* The “95–5 rule” and why most of your market isn’t ready to buy—yet
* What it takes to build a brand that wins before the search even begins
* SEO vs. brand marketing: which gets you to €100M ARR?
* How Modash measures ROI when traditional attribution fails
Episode timestamps:
00:00 – SEO for customer acquisition
02:57 – How Modash built its early marketing
05:50 – Challenges and opportunities with SEO
08:48 – Mini tools to drive traffic
12:07 – Why Modash shifted focus to brand marketing
14:56 – 95/5 Rule
18:00 – Why video marketing is the next big bet for Modash
20:52 – How to build mental availability for your brand
29:58 – Choosing the right problem to own
30:41 – First principles of brand building
33:21 – Does design matter?
35:31 – Growing a brand through LinkedIn
40:54 – Making sense of LinkedIn ads for B2B SaaS
42:50 – Short vs Long term marketing
44:50 – How Modash measures go-to-market
48:19 – Why attribution in brand marketing is broken
51:49 – How to communicate marketing results to leadership
Some takeaways:
* SEO can be fast—if your market is already searching.Modash focused on high-intent keywords like influencer search tools, driving a 20%+ trial conversion rate. This worked because the target customers were already in-market and had clear pain points.
* Mini-tools scale traffic.Modash built lightweight tools like a fake follower checker and engagement rate calculator to satisfy long-tail queries. These tools bring 250k+ monthly visitors and feed into product trials.
* 95/5 rule, Long term vs ShortThe Modash is now shifting focus toward brand marketing, based on the 95-5 rule: only 5% of your market is ready to buy at any given time. The rest? They’ll choose from brands they already know.
* Brand marketing is “brain SEO.”If people search their brain before Google, your job is to make sure Modash is already there. That means building mental associations like “the only platform with enough influencer data” or “the one where filters don’t break the search.”
* What actually works? Ask your customers.Sales calls, branded search growth, contributor-led blog content, and even TikToks about “how many fake followers Ronaldo has” became indicators that their marketing is working—even when ROI can’t be tracked precisely.
Referenced
* Ahrefs / SEMrush – SEO tools used to identify keyword opportunities and validate search volume.
* Modash Fake follower checker – https://www.modash.io/fake-follower-check
* Modash Engagement Rate Calculator – https://www.modash.io/engagement-rate-calculator?influencer=%40therock
* Modash Blog – https://www.modash.io/blog
* Modash PSEO pages (e.g., “Influencers in France”) – https://www.modash.io/find-influencers/france
* TPG article on Copilot2Trip’s marketing tactics – https://www.tpg.ee/p/how-to-launch-0-to-1
Books & Marketing Theories
* “The Long and the Short of It” by Binet & Field• Discussed in detail when explaining the balance between long-term brand marketing and short-term performance marketing.• Suggests a 60/40 split between long-term brand-building and short-term activation.
* The “95–5 Rule”• A widely referenced B2B marketing principle: only 5% of your market is actively buying at any given moment; the other 95% need brand familiarity when they eventually come into market.
* “Share of Search” Concept• Referenced as a proxy for market share in branding. Used by Modash to measure brand awareness vs. competitors based on branded keyword trends.
Connect with:
* Ryan Prior LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanprior1/
* Nikolay Roll LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikolay-roll/
Enjoyed this episode?Subscribe to the TPG Podcast for more insider insights from product-led operators in Europe and beyond. 🎧
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.tpg.ee
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By Tallinn Product Group(tpg.ee)Finding early traction in marketing is tough—especially for B2B SaaS startups trying to compete with bigger players in saturated channels.
To solve this, Modash doubled down on SEO and built a content-driven engine that scaled them from €1M to €6M+ ARR with zero outbound sales.
In this episode, we spoke with Ryan Prior, Head of Marketing at Modash, to discuss:
* How Modash grew with 100% inbound sales from SEO and free tools
* Why mini-tools like a fake follower checker drove 250k+ visits/month
* The “95–5 rule” and why most of your market isn’t ready to buy—yet
* What it takes to build a brand that wins before the search even begins
* SEO vs. brand marketing: which gets you to €100M ARR?
* How Modash measures ROI when traditional attribution fails
Episode timestamps:
00:00 – SEO for customer acquisition
02:57 – How Modash built its early marketing
05:50 – Challenges and opportunities with SEO
08:48 – Mini tools to drive traffic
12:07 – Why Modash shifted focus to brand marketing
14:56 – 95/5 Rule
18:00 – Why video marketing is the next big bet for Modash
20:52 – How to build mental availability for your brand
29:58 – Choosing the right problem to own
30:41 – First principles of brand building
33:21 – Does design matter?
35:31 – Growing a brand through LinkedIn
40:54 – Making sense of LinkedIn ads for B2B SaaS
42:50 – Short vs Long term marketing
44:50 – How Modash measures go-to-market
48:19 – Why attribution in brand marketing is broken
51:49 – How to communicate marketing results to leadership
Some takeaways:
* SEO can be fast—if your market is already searching.Modash focused on high-intent keywords like influencer search tools, driving a 20%+ trial conversion rate. This worked because the target customers were already in-market and had clear pain points.
* Mini-tools scale traffic.Modash built lightweight tools like a fake follower checker and engagement rate calculator to satisfy long-tail queries. These tools bring 250k+ monthly visitors and feed into product trials.
* 95/5 rule, Long term vs ShortThe Modash is now shifting focus toward brand marketing, based on the 95-5 rule: only 5% of your market is ready to buy at any given time. The rest? They’ll choose from brands they already know.
* Brand marketing is “brain SEO.”If people search their brain before Google, your job is to make sure Modash is already there. That means building mental associations like “the only platform with enough influencer data” or “the one where filters don’t break the search.”
* What actually works? Ask your customers.Sales calls, branded search growth, contributor-led blog content, and even TikToks about “how many fake followers Ronaldo has” became indicators that their marketing is working—even when ROI can’t be tracked precisely.
Referenced
* Ahrefs / SEMrush – SEO tools used to identify keyword opportunities and validate search volume.
* Modash Fake follower checker – https://www.modash.io/fake-follower-check
* Modash Engagement Rate Calculator – https://www.modash.io/engagement-rate-calculator?influencer=%40therock
* Modash Blog – https://www.modash.io/blog
* Modash PSEO pages (e.g., “Influencers in France”) – https://www.modash.io/find-influencers/france
* TPG article on Copilot2Trip’s marketing tactics – https://www.tpg.ee/p/how-to-launch-0-to-1
Books & Marketing Theories
* “The Long and the Short of It” by Binet & Field• Discussed in detail when explaining the balance between long-term brand marketing and short-term performance marketing.• Suggests a 60/40 split between long-term brand-building and short-term activation.
* The “95–5 Rule”• A widely referenced B2B marketing principle: only 5% of your market is actively buying at any given moment; the other 95% need brand familiarity when they eventually come into market.
* “Share of Search” Concept• Referenced as a proxy for market share in branding. Used by Modash to measure brand awareness vs. competitors based on branded keyword trends.
Connect with:
* Ryan Prior LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanprior1/
* Nikolay Roll LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikolay-roll/
Enjoyed this episode?Subscribe to the TPG Podcast for more insider insights from product-led operators in Europe and beyond. 🎧
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.tpg.ee