From $1.4M to $10M: How Rilla's One-Person Marketing Team Scaled with Events
From $1.4M to $10M: How Rilla's One-Person Marketing Team Scaled with Events
Victoria Kwon · 3/7/2024
Rilla, a leading speech analytics software company in the home improvement industry, partnered with BoomPop to supercharge their event marketing, enabling a one-person marketing team to achieve incredible results.
We spoke with Rilla’s Head of Growth, Will Gao, to learn more about how they were able to use the power of events to scale from $1.4 to $10 million in revenue with BoomPop by their side.
Prioritizing Culture for Growth
Rilla, a fast-growing in-person company of 26 based in NYC, fosters a strong internal culture through frequent events and offsites. These gatherings go beyond typical team-building exercises; they actively cultivate a sense of connection and collaboration among colleagues, building a strong foundation for the company's success.
As Gao aptly states, “Our strong company culture is our secret weapon. But a key challenge will be maintaining that culture and keeping our team feeling close-knit as we grow."
Their rapid growth – from a team of just 4 at the beginning of 2023 to 26 by the end of the year – underscores the importance of their recent team offsite in San Diego. The offsite addressed this very concern, focusing on two key goals: 1. Recharging the team after a successful year-end push, and 2. Strengthening team bonds to ensure continued collaboration as Rilla continues to scale.
Streamlined Planning and Shared Values
While Gao successfully planned the previous year's offsite for their smaller team, the company's growth to over double its size significantly upped the complexity of planning the next event. Despite his past enjoyment of event planning, the prospect of managing a larger offsite transformed it from a passion project to a potential headache. Luckily, Gao was referred to BoomPop, a welcome solution to his event planning woes.
Having a partner who could handle the logistical planning and negotiate the best rates was a game-changer for Gao. "With everything else on my plate, there simply wouldn't have been time to plan this myself," he admitted. "BoomPop was essential – it would have been impossible without them."
But the partnership went beyond just logistics. Gao particularly valued the cultural fit. The key differentiator was the BoomPop Events Team itself. "I felt like BoomPop truly understood Rilla," he explained. "They shared our enthusiasm for going the extra mile to create an unforgettable experience. It was refreshing to have a partner so responsive and aligned with our goals."
Even though Rilla is an in-person company, their offsite proved the value of these gatherings for fostering deeper team connection and alignment. Gao highlighted the benefits: "The offsite helped us feel much more unified on our future roadmap. Being constantly heads-down can lead to silos, but this allowed everyone, especially the engineers, to gain valuable context on the growth plans.”
"This wouldn't have been possible without BoomPop," Gao emphasizes. "They've been a secret weapon for us, supercharging our event marketing and allowing a single person to leverage events for incredible growth." He further highlights the value of their partnership: "Without BoomPop, I probably would have had to hire one or two people. They are one of the big reasons why we're able to grow this much with only one person doing marketing."
The Winning Formula: Internal Connection Meets External Growth
Rilla's story showcases the power of a two-pronged event strategy. Internally, their commitment to fostering a strong company culture through frequent gatherings has demonstrably benefited team unity, knowledge sharing, and overall alignment. Externally, their embrace of event marketing as a core channel has driven significant revenue growth. This strategic combination, coupled with the expert support of a reliable event management partner, has allowed Rilla to achieve impressive results with a lean marketing team. As they continue on their growth trajectory, events will undoubtedly remain a cornerstone of their success.
BoomPop's partnership allowed Rilla to efficiently manage and scale events. This proved invaluable in maximizing the impact of both internal and external events. Ultimately, the collaboration between Rilla and BoomPop demonstrates how efficient event execution and a shared vision can empower even a one-person marketing team to drive significant growth.
Featured resources
8 Steps for Planning Your Company Retreat
A resource for new organizers on creating fun, productive, and successful corporate events.
