How iubenda Leveraged AppSumo for Branding, Growth, and Customer Feedback

Today we’re chatting with Andrea Giannangelo, CEO of iubenda. iubenda offers compliance solutions for websites, apps and organizations to help them comply with international privacy laws – such as the European GDPR, the Brazilian LGPD and US Privacy laws like the CCPA, the VCDPA and more.

The international scope of these laws makes iubenda a must-have for your website, since there may be different requirements based on the location of your users. iubenda simplifies compliance by allowing you to build cookie banners and privacy policies, manage T&Cs and more, in just a few clicks.

Let's start with the history of iubenda. What's your story?

I founded iubenda in 2011. I had been building and designing websites since I was a kid, and I learned that privacy policies were mandatory for pretty much all websites. I started iubenda so that anyone with a website could make it compliant.

The real shift for us was in 2018, when the European GDPR came into force. All of a sudden, everyone was looking for a solution to help them comply with this new law, so we adapted iubenda to the new requirements. In the years that followed, we continued to do that, adding new supported laws, new features, and simplifying compliance for our users.

Today we have more than 100,000 customers in over 100 countries, but our main goal hasn't changed.

Before we dive into the benefits of your AppSumo campaign, let's talk about some concerns that companies like iubenda may have. One significant concern is the potential for customer cannibalization. How did that play out for you?

That was certainly one of our initial concerns, too. We were worried that by offering a lifetime deal on AppSumo, we would compromise our recurring revenue streams.

What you need to keep in mind is that cannibalization and loss of potential customers are definitely there to some extent, while hard to estimate. So it’s a matter of weighing the pros and cons. For us, the priority was to get our brand out there and make it known to a larger user base.

So, while the concern was valid, we decided to take the risk anyway. It paid off: the cannibalization effect was minimal and short-lived, and the long-term gains have been significant.

Speaking of benefits, can you talk about how the campaign helped iubenda?

Absolutely. First of all, we found that the AppSumo campaign was a great way to increase our brand awareness. AppSumo has a large base of eager users, and many of them are business owners, entrepreneurs and marketers. This is a great audience to be exposed to, because – if they like a product – they are likely to spread the word.

Second, we noticed that having a lifetime deal on AppSumo is particularly useful for non-US companies looking to break into the US market, especially if they are small or medium businesses. It can be hard to expose your brand to new potential clients, but – being AppSumo so well-known in the US – it made things a lot easier for us.

The AppSumo campaign definitely helped us reach a wider audience and better establish our brand.

Would you say there is a right time to launch an AppSumo campaign?

Sure, timing can really make a difference in the success of a campaign. For example, launching an AppSumo campaign earlier in your business journey may be advantageous. An early launch can allow you to test the market, get immediate feedback, and refine your product offering without the worry of upsetting a large existing user base.

Of course, if you go in too early without a robust product, you might attract negative reviews. On the other hand, if you wait too long, you may have a large enough customer base that might feel alienated seeing new users get a significantly discounted deal. I’d say it’s a matter of finding the right balance.

Let’s talk about feedback. How did you find the AppSumo community? Did their feedback help you in any way?

The AppSumo community is both knowledgeable and engaged, which made it an excellent source of constructive feedback. We got lots of questions and insightful comments from the users that not only helped us understand what they valued most about iubenda, but also highlighted areas for improvement.

In fact, even though the lifetime deal expired, the feedback we received was very valuable and guided us in improving our products.

As I said earlier, one unique aspect of the AppSumo community is that it includes a wide range of professionals – from web designers and digital marketers to small business owners and agencies. This diversity allowed us to see how different types of users interacted with our platform, which was key to refining our product and its appeal to a broader audience.

How did your existing user base react to the AppSumo campaign?

This is a tricky balancing act. But if your user base is still quite small, AppSumo can help you grow your MRR rapidly.

As I mentioned before, for us the priority was to increase brand awareness and expose iubenda to a larger public, so we were aware of the drawbacks and the potential consequences.

In the end, the negative reaction was not so substantial, while the exposure we got from AppSumo was really significant.

What are some of the key takeaways from your experience with AppSumo? What would you recommend to businesses planning to launch an AppSumo campaign?

Our experience with AppSumo was very positive. Not only did we acquire new customers, but we were also able to increase the brand awareness for iubenda in the US. The AppSumo campaign definitely helped us here, and we now have a more solid user base.

One key takeaway was that the preparation leading up to the campaign is crucial. You need to be ready to scale rapidly and handle an influx of customer queries and technical issues. A spike in usage might also expose underlying system weaknesses, so you need to be technically prepared.

What I would recommend is to really think through every step of your campaign. AppSumo can help you grow, but you need to be prepared.