From €0 to €50M ARR: Supermetrics’ SEO-First Growth Strategy
No sales team until €5M ARR
No bloated sales teams. No complicated playbook.
Supermetrics, the Finnish marketing intelligence unicorn, skipped the usual demand gen approach and built a €50M ARR empire on their own terms.
€0 to €5M ARR - Pure SEO and self-serve
€5M to €50M ARR - Scaling with sales while dominating SEO
You wouldn’t expect a company to scale this way, but Edward Ford, their Demand Gen Director, sums it up:
“We hit €5M ARR without a single salesperson. No outbound, no cold calls—just organic search and product-led growth (PLG).”
How? Let’s dive in.
Phase 1: The €0 to €5M ARR Playbook
Product-Market Fit That Made SEO Work
Supermetrics knew SEO traffic would only convert if their product experience was flawless. So they built their PLG engine around three non-negotiables:
14-day full-feature trials (no limited freemium)
$39/month entry point - low enough for individual buyers
Frictionless self-serve onboarding
"We wanted users experiencing the full product immediately - no barriers." - Edward Ford
How’d it go? “Mid-to-high single digit” conversion rates—nearly double the 4% industry average (OpenView).
Just by removing friction.👌🏽
SEO Strategy That Powered Early Growth
Supermetrics executed what I call “The Direct Revenue SEO Framework”:
Intent Targeting Matrix:
Only pursued searches where:
The searcher had budget (bottom-funnel)
The query implied a tool was needed
Example targets:
• “Connect Google Sheets to BigQuery”
• “Automate Facebook Ads reporting”
Conversion-Optimised Content:
How-tos that required their tool
Visual walkthroughs with product screenshots
Zero gated content (maximised reach)
This is SEO as an extension of product-led growth—where content doesn’t just attract, but actively converts.
The Payoff: €5M ARR before their first sales hire.
The Inflection Point: Hitting the €5M Ceiling
By 2019, the cracks began to show.
The Problem:
More competitors bidding on their core keywords
Rising costs for the same search terms
Diminishing returns on bottom-of-funnel content
Then came Ford's realisation:
“We were fighting for just 5% of the market—the people already searching for solutions. The other 95% didn’t even know they needed us yet.”
Classic case of what got you here won’t get you there.
Phase 2: The €5M to €50M ARR Expansion
Here’s where Supermetrics did what most SaaS companies don’t; they stepped back to leap forward.
“We stopped thinking about keywords and started thinking about buyer journeys. What does a marketer need to know before they realise they need our solution?” -Ford
Their new playbook:
✔ Educate First
Content like “What is marketing data integration?” (for clueless beginners)
✔ Own the Weird Stuff
Those specific long-tail queries competitors dismissed as “too small”
✔ Build to Last
No trend-chasing, just permanent assets that compounded over time
The results were transformative.
“SEO became one of our most reliable growth engines—not just for capturing demand but for creating it.” - Ford
The Sales Layer That Complemented SEO
Supermetrics knew SEO couldn’t fully support their growing base of larger customers. So, they strategically added a sales layer to scale:
Phase 1 (€5M): First sales hire (contributing 8% of monthly revenue)
Phase 2 (€20M): 20 reps (19% revenue)
Phase 3 (Today): 100+ reps (majority revenue)
The genius? How they protected their SEO flywheel:
Hand-raisers routed directly to sales: Targeting warm leads.
PQLs based on usage patterns: Identifying engaged users.
Most companies try to pit sales against SEO. Supermetrics made them conspirators in revenue crime.
“It’s all one team. Everyone is focused on overall revenue regardless of what channel it comes through. - Ford”
This alignment became their unfair competitive advantage.
The TL;DR: How Supermetrics Grew From €0 to €50M+ ARR
Phase 1 (€0-€5M):
Pure SEO + frictionless PLG
2X avg conversion rates
Inflection Point:
Realised 95% of market was untapped
Pivoted from capturing to creating demand
Phase 2 (€5M-€50M):
Educational content for early-funnel
Sales layered strategically
SEO remained core engine
Source & Next Steps
All insights come from Edward Ford, Supermetrics' Demand Gen Director, via:
Want More?
🔍 Request another SaaS deep dive → Hit reply with your pick
💼 Need SEO help? → DM me on LinkedIn