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Aug 27, 2024 · 20m · top-founders

How ActiveCampaign hit $100m ARR on way to $300m

Casey Hill · 13m spoken Nathan Latka · 5m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this interview with Nathan Latka, ActiveCampaign's Senior Growth Marketing Manager Casey Hill outlines the growth playbooks powering the company's scale toward $300 million ARR. Hill breaks down tactical strategies across LinkedIn organic distribution, earned podcast blitzes, performance-based influencer contracts, and multi-touch revenue attribution.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 27.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 4.3 Guest teaching 4.8 Guest disagreement 1.5 Nathan pushing back 2.5
05100:0010:0020:000:38–3:31 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Introducing Casey Hill and ActiveCampaign's Revenue Milestones Nathan showcases strong domain context by citing ActiveCampaign historical ARR figures and interviewing background before setting up the discussion. Casey outlines the three core growth pillars.3:31–6:38 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Activating Voice of Customer Campaigns Through Reciprocity Nathan probes whether customers receive financial compensation to post on social media. Casey clarifies their strictly non-monetary reciprocity framework and internal team gamification.6:38–11:04 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 Systematic Podcast Guesting and Outreach Playbook Nathan tests Casey's method in real time using Listen Notes on a sample show. Casey delivers a thorough masterclass on cold outreach hooks, reviews, and high-volume monthly guesting.11:05–13:50 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Owned Media Assets: SaaS Steps Newsletter and Angles & Insights Nathan mistakes Casey's newsletter for a separate third-party newsletter and then for a podcast. Casey politely corrects the confusion and outlines the formats of SaaS Steps and Angles & Insights.13:50–16:10 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Growth Measurement, Attribution Modeling, and KPIs Nathan questionsCasey on funnel KPIs and lead totals. Casey clarifies that his performance is evaluated on ARR impact through attribution modeling rather than traditional top-of-funnel MQLs.16:10–19:28 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Structuring Performance-Based Influencer Partnerships Casey details his 50/50 milestone payout structure for influencers but declines to disclose exact budget numbers. Nathan pushes back by requesting total influencer volume to gauge program scale.0:38–3:31 · Guest teaching 2/10 Introducing Casey Hill and ActiveCampaign's Revenue Milestones Nathan showcases strong domain context by citing ActiveCampaign historical ARR figures and interviewing background before setting up the discussion. Casey outlines the three core growth pillars.3:31–6:38 · Guest teaching 5/10 Activating Voice of Customer Campaigns Through Reciprocity Nathan probes whether customers receive financial compensation to post on social media. Casey clarifies their strictly non-monetary reciprocity framework and internal team gamification.6:38–11:04 · Guest teaching 6/10 Systematic Podcast Guesting and Outreach Playbook Nathan tests Casey's method in real time using Listen Notes on a sample show. Casey delivers a thorough masterclass on cold outreach hooks, reviews, and high-volume monthly guesting.11:05–13:50 · Guest teaching 6/10 Owned Media Assets: SaaS Steps Newsletter and Angles & Insights Nathan mistakes Casey's newsletter for a separate third-party newsletter and then for a podcast. Casey politely corrects the confusion and outlines the formats of SaaS Steps and Angles & Insights.13:50–16:10 · Guest teaching 5/10 Growth Measurement, Attribution Modeling, and KPIs Nathan questionsCasey on funnel KPIs and lead totals. Casey clarifies that his performance is evaluated on ARR impact through attribution modeling rather than traditional top-of-funnel MQLs.16:10–19:28 · Guest teaching 5/10 Structuring Performance-Based Influencer Partnerships Casey details his 50/50 milestone payout structure for influencers but declines to disclose exact budget numbers. Nathan pushes back by requesting total influencer volume to gauge program scale.0:38–3:31 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Introducing Casey Hill and ActiveCampaign's Revenue Milestones Nathan showcases strong domain context by citing ActiveCampaign historical ARR figures and interviewing background before setting up the discussion. Casey outlines the three core growth pillars.3:31–6:38 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Activating Voice of Customer Campaigns Through Reciprocity Nathan probes whether customers receive financial compensation to post on social media. Casey clarifies their strictly non-monetary reciprocity framework and internal team gamification.6:38–11:04 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Systematic Podcast Guesting and Outreach Playbook Nathan tests Casey's method in real time using Listen Notes on a sample show. Casey delivers a thorough masterclass on cold outreach hooks, reviews, and high-volume monthly guesting.11:05–13:50 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Owned Media Assets: SaaS Steps Newsletter and Angles & Insights Nathan mistakes Casey's newsletter for a separate third-party newsletter and then for a podcast. Casey politely corrects the confusion and outlines the formats of SaaS Steps and Angles & Insights.13:50–16:10 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Growth Measurement, Attribution Modeling, and KPIs Nathan questionsCasey on funnel KPIs and lead totals. Casey clarifies that his performance is evaluated on ARR impact through attribution modeling rather than traditional top-of-funnel MQLs.16:10–19:28 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Structuring Performance-Based Influencer Partnerships Casey details his 50/50 milestone payout structure for influencers but declines to disclose exact budget numbers. Nathan pushes back by requesting total influencer volume to gauge program scale.0:38–3:31 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Casey Hill and ActiveCampaign's Revenue Milestones Nathan showcases strong domain context by citing ActiveCampaign historical ARR figures and interviewing background before setting up the discussion. Casey outlines the three core growth pillars.3:31–6:38 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Activating Voice of Customer Campaigns Through Reciprocity Nathan probes whether customers receive financial compensation to post on social media. Casey clarifies their strictly non-monetary reciprocity framework and internal team gamification.6:38–11:04 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Systematic Podcast Guesting and Outreach Playbook Nathan tests Casey's method in real time using Listen Notes on a sample show. Casey delivers a thorough masterclass on cold outreach hooks, reviews, and high-volume monthly guesting.11:05–13:50 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Owned Media Assets: SaaS Steps Newsletter and Angles & Insights Nathan mistakes Casey's newsletter for a separate third-party newsletter and then for a podcast. Casey politely corrects the confusion and outlines the formats of SaaS Steps and Angles & Insights.13:50–16:10 · Nathan pushing back 3/10 Growth Measurement, Attribution Modeling, and KPIs Nathan questionsCasey on funnel KPIs and lead totals. Casey clarifies that his performance is evaluated on ARR impact through attribution modeling rather than traditional top-of-funnel MQLs.16:10–19:28 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Structuring Performance-Based Influencer Partnerships Casey details his 50/50 milestone payout structure for influencers but declines to disclose exact budget numbers. Nathan pushes back by requesting total influencer volume to gauge program scale.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 73.4% · guest 26.6%0:00 · Nathan 73.4% · guest 26.6%3:00 · Nathan 22.3% · guest 77.7%3:00 · Nathan 22.3% · guest 77.7%6:00 · Nathan 28% · guest 72%6:00 · Nathan 28% · guest 72%9:00 · Nathan 6.1% · guest 93.9%9:00 · Nathan 6.1% · guest 93.9%12:00 · Nathan 18.8% · guest 81.2%12:00 · Nathan 18.8% · guest 81.2%15:00 · Nathan 14.8% · guest 85.2%15:00 · Nathan 14.8% · guest 85.2%18:00 · Nathan 34.9% · guest 65.1%18:00 · Nathan 34.9% · guest 65.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 18:09 Casey declines budget disclosure to redirect to CPM guidelines

Casey establishes a firm boundary refusing to share dollar figures on reward payouts, steering the conversation back to standard CPM metrics.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 18:58 Nathan demands influencer headcount to gauge scale

Refusing to let the lack of spend data stall the inquiry, Nathan immediately pivots to demand exact influencer headcounts.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:15 Casey dismantles low-volume podcast guesting strategies

Casey educates the audience on why doing just 2 or 3 podcast appearances fails to generate signal, prescribing a minimum threshold of 20 to 30 shows.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 1:03 Nathan cites verified revenue benchmarks and executive commentary

Nathan demonstrates deep SaaS industry research by citing ActiveCampaign's audited ARR milestones and recent executive public appearances.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Casey Hill and ActiveCampaign's Revenue Milestones 6212 Nathan showcases strong domain context by citing ActiveCampaign historical ARR figures and interviewing background before setting up the discussion. Casey outlines the three core growth pillars.
Activating Voice of Customer Campaigns Through Reciprocity 4512 Nathan probes whether customers receive financial compensation to post on social media. Casey clarifies their strictly non-monetary reciprocity framework and internal team gamification.
Systematic Podcast Guesting and Outreach Playbook 5622 Nathan tests Casey's method in real time using Listen Notes on a sample show. Casey delivers a thorough masterclass on cold outreach hooks, reviews, and high-volume monthly guesting.
Owned Media Assets: SaaS Steps Newsletter and Angles & Insights 3612 Nathan mistakes Casey's newsletter for a separate third-party newsletter and then for a podcast. Casey politely corrects the confusion and outlines the formats of SaaS Steps and Angles & Insights.
Growth Measurement, Attribution Modeling, and KPIs 4523 Nathan questionsCasey on funnel KPIs and lead totals. Casey clarifies that his performance is evaluated on ARR impact through attribution modeling rather than traditional top-of-funnel MQLs.
Structuring Performance-Based Influencer Partnerships 4524 Casey details his 50/50 milestone payout structure for influencers but declines to disclose exact budget numbers. Nathan pushes back by requesting total influencer volume to gauge program scale.

Statements from this episode (10)

Assertion Supported
Latka: ActiveCampaign publicly confirmed surpassing $165M ARR in 2021
“The last confirmed sort of revenue metric that active campaign sort of corporate has put out was That the firm broke one hundred sixty five million bucks in ARR in 2021.”
Nathan Latka Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 1:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
ActiveCampaign sees roughly $50 CPMs on LinkedIn thought leader ads
“What I can tell you is that the CPM is pretty efficient on our thought leader ads around 50 dollar CPM.”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 2:58
Insight
Hill: Exact dates and team engagement drive customer advocacy on LinkedIn
“Number one is to give them an exact day, Number two, to give them an exact scope. So we'd love to know why you came from MailChimp or why you came from Brevo or ConvertKit to active campaign. So specific day, specific scope, and then some amount of reciprocity…”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 4:17
Disclosure
ActiveCampaign generates over 300K weekly LinkedIn impressions through employee advocacy
“Our first goal was as a team to have 150,000 views a week, and then 200,250 thousand. And I think we're a little bit north of 300,000 a week. Impressions is what I'm talking about right now.”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 6:05
Insight
Hill: Podcast guesting requires booking 20-30 niche appearances monthly for ROI
“If you plan on only doing two or three podcasts, just don't even do it. You will not. I have very, very rarely seen ROI. I've not only implemented this at two organizations, but I've also helped hundreds of brands get into this motion. You want to do at least …”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 10:28
Assertion Not checkable as stated
HockeyStack tracked $27,000 in monthly ARR to Hill's personal LinkedIn
“Like they did a report last month. They can show 27,000 in direct revenue impacted by Casey's LinkedIn. Just my LinkedIn. Nathan Latka: 27,000 what? Customers? Casey Hill: 27,000 in ARR impacted.”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 14:22
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Hill generated 10 million annual impressions across LinkedIn, Reddit, and Quora
“We also do look at impressions, you know, ten million impressions over the last year between LinkedIn, six million impressions, Reddit, three million impressions, and the rest coming from Quora.”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 14:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
ActiveCampaign generates over 50,000 software trials per month
“I can tell you that as a brand ActiveCampaign, you know, does north of 50,000 trials a month.”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 15:31
Insight
Hill: Target $30–$60 CPM for short-form influencer video, $100–$200 for long-form
“What I'd recommend is if you're looking at short form content targeting a CPM of 30 to 60 dollars, if you're going for long form video content, That number can get pushed up quite a bit, a hundred, even 200 dollars CPM for long form content.”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 18:24
Disclosure
Hill: ActiveCampaign pays 30 to 50 micro and mid-tier influencers
“It's about 30 to 50, and it's a blend between micro and mid-tier.”
Casey Hill Aug 27, 2024 ▶ 19:13
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