Being a marketing intern at a company that doesn’t spend any money on advertising
Javier Rosales, Intern at diiVe
We live at a point in time where we are constantly bombarded with ads everywhere we go, where we hear about influencers being paid thousands for uploading a single Instagram post, and where one can’t finish a YouTube video or a Spotify song without being forced to watch a commercial. Because of this, one would assume that it’s straight-up impossible to grow a business without paid advertising. Even more so if it’s a startup. diiVe, the company I’m interning at, thinks differently, and now, I do too.
On my first week at diiVe I would constantly annoy Katie, the Community Engagement Manager, with questions like: “You haven’t paid for SEM either?!”, “What about Facebook and Instagram ads? You must have run those at least once, right?!”. But no, not even that. Not even once.
So how on earth did diiVe, a mere four-year-old start-up, manage to make itself not only known but popular and profitable, spending a negligible amount of money on advertising? After working with them for two months, I believe I finally have the answer.
The increasingly digital world we live in, where there is so much hype around social media, has made most people forget the importance of word-of-mouth marketing. 93% of all word-of-mouth happens offline. The truth is that offline conversations are more prevalent and more impactful than online ones. No matter how great an ad for a restaurant is, it will never be as convincing as a recommendation from your friend. The best thing about it? It’s free. But word-of-mouth marketing is effective only if people actually talk. So what is it about diiVe that makes people talk? What makes diiVe so remarkable?
The key to diiVe’s success, and the main driver of its word-of-mouth marketing, is diiVe’s heavy focus on creating a tight-knit community. Despite being a for-profit organization, diiVe has a rigorous admissions process that only selects people that are passionate, dynamic, and in search of real connection. The strict admissions process creates a group of highly compatible people with a shared passion that during the program will work exceptionally well together, resulting in an unmatched internship experience, one that they will remember and talk about for years. Furthermore, within the program, the students receive very personalized insight and a bright light is shined on how and what they can improve on. There are constant check-ins and activities with mentors that strengthen the staff-student relationships, as well as multiple ice-breakers and group projects that encourage friendships among the students. After the program, diiVe doesn’t just let their students go, many are given the chance to become ambassadors and a lucky few have even come to work for them. Were diiVe to accept everyone that applied to their program, like most other companies with the same business model do, and sure, they would double sales that year, but the community would weaken over time, and when this happens, so would the business.
In today’s superficial world, finding an experience that puts so much emphasis on human connection and dynamic learning is very rare, and the fact that it’s so rare makes a program like diiVe extremely valuable.
There are very few companies out there that actually have their clients’ best interests in mind, or that sell a meaningful or valuable product. When you’re trying to sell something that’s actually worth buying, marketing will mostly take care of itself. diiVe is one of these very few companies, which makes me feel extremely lucky to have been given the opportunity to intern with them, and makes me want to come back in the future to intern with them, this time as part of their program.
And what about you? What are you waiting for? Go Take the diiVe!
