The mattress company who grew from $6k to $100 million with video ads: Video Marketing Examples #10

^{Obligatory disclaimer: This isn't an ad or sponsored content. We simply wanted to share this analysis with you as a great, recent example of video marketing.}

In Video Examples #9 we looked at Grammarly - who invest heavily in YouTube advertising. 

And while there were some solid takeaways, you’d be forgiven for thinking: not everybody has that kind of budget!

So today we wanted to look at a company that really started from nothing - and they credit video advertising with kickstarting their explosive growth!

Who are they?

Tuft & Needle is a mattress company with a story that’ll resonate with many entrepreneurs. Two best friends from college started the company 5 years ago, with just $6,000 saved up. They were inspired by a crummy experience buying mattresses and determined to make things better. 

And it’s fair to say they’ve been successful: last year they did $100 million in sales!

Why video?

“Video was the most powerful way to show the stark difference between our authentic approach and the traditional mattress industry’s gimmicks,” explain company founders Daehee Park and JT Marino.

“And video ad targeting helped us reach likely customers – people visiting our website, looking for real estate or doing searches like “best mattress.” 

The videos

Below is just a small selection of videos from the Tuft & Needle YouTube channel.

These include everything from super short form ‘sting’ ads clearly designed for use as pre-rolls...

Through to longer form explainer videos which lay out the idea behind the company…

While other ads touch on different angles of the business, from humorous ‘story’ led videos that lay out the problem the brand was created to solve, through to ads that specifically talk about the product and the journey behind its creation...

And even official unboxing videos that show the product in all its glory...

So what are the key takeaways?

Start small and test - The Tuft & Needle team are living proof of how successful you can be when you start off with small experiments to see what resonates with your audience, and then scale...

“Starting on a budget of just $50-$100 a day, we now dedicate half of our Google advertising to YouTube,” they say. “It gets results.”

Short and sweet - We regularly tell our customers how important it is to keep videos short - getting across as much as you possibly can, without boring or losing the attention of your audience. This is baked into the Tuft & Needle strategy. “We try to keep our video ads 30 seconds to two minutes long,” they say.

“This gives us enough time to tell our business story and keeps more potential customers watching until the end.”

Mixing up the message - And, because it’s impossible to say everything in one short 15-30 second video - they have plenty of different videos for different stages in the audience journey. Showing the same ad to the same people time and again quickly becomes an inefficient way to spend ad dollars.

But when you can target people who, for example, are searching for mattresses with a company intro... then, next time they see an ad, it’s a product demo... then, in the next ad, you talk about your customer service... then, next time, you showcase a customer testimonial... you’re suddenly taking your audience on a powerful journey with many touches that keep them constantly thinking about you, your brand and your product.

This helps build familiarity, keep the product top-of-mind, and ultimately build long-term relationships that are more likely to lead to sales.

Feeling inspired?

Get in touch and let’s talk about your next video campaign!