From sign-up to first purchase

Whois: Artem Shevtsov (@shevsaw)

Role: Product Marketing Manager

Scope: ~3 months, two parallel tracks

Hired: iSpeedToLead — real estate leads marketplace for US flippers, wholesalers, and investors

Context

Three goals ran in parallel:

• Activation — more registered users making a first purchase on the platform (even a single ~$100 buy counts as activated).
• CAC — lower cost to acquire one activated user.
• FPM adoption — grow usage of the paid auto-buy radar. Users set filters and a minimum $900/mo budget on file; the system buys matching leads automatically. Not a classic subscription, but behaves like one because the service stops without reserved funds.

The Problem

Before changes:

• The only onboarding video was generic motivational content — it did not map the product UI or reduce first-session friction.
• New users hit a dense lead feed and filter panel with no guided path.
• The welcome email series was 15 long, unstructured messages — no clear arc from signup to first buy.
• Checkout for new users carried extra elements irrelevant at first purchase.
• The FPM signup flow overloaded users in one screen — high cognitive load, unclear steps.

What I Did

Marketing knowledge base (Obsidian)

• Built the company’s first integrated marketing wiki — single source for segments, jobs, objections, product context, and campaign copy logic.
• Ingested inputs from analytics, sales call transcripts, research docs, and custdev notes.
• Packaged as an Obsidian vault: ingest pipeline, linked note structure, and indexes using Karpathy’s Obsidian Database method.
• Used as the working base for onboarding copy, email sequences, in-app guides, and ad messaging across both activation and FPM tracks.

In-product activation

• Recorded a new onboarding video (ScreenStudio): UI walkthrough, zoom highlights, owner voice via ElevenLabs for brand recognition.
• Built in-app guides on Amplitude (modals + element highlights) — same job as Userpilot, using Enterprise tooling already in stack.
• Guide #1: lead feed + required starter filters — how to read fields and what to set on day one.
• Segmented guides by cohort (new vs. recent returners) using tags from GTM, GA, Clarity, and Hotjar — activation push only to users who needed it now.
• Last guide step: promo for a low-friction first buy (tested 90% vs. $100 bonus balance).
• Return-visit modal for users who registered, browsed, left, and came back — promo reminder before drop-off.
• Simplified checkout UI for new users — stripped non-essential blocks from the payment step.
• Added post-purchase guidance in checkout (call script, follow-up steps, what to do with the lead) to reduce first-deal anxiety.
• For new buyers: support outreach after first purchase — short live walkthrough of the first deal + practical next steps (process details under NDA).

Email (activation — week 1)

• Replaced 15 overloaded emails with 5 short messages (~600–800 chars each) across the first week.
• Same job as in-product guides: orient → build trust → proof → promo → optional onboarding strategy call with an off-market specialist.
• Tracked with UTMs across channels.
• Later phase (breakthrough): for users who completed onboarding filters, sent 3 starter-matched leads + first-purchase promo reminder (matching logic internal — NDA).

Top-of-funnel (limited)

• Main marketing landing was not redesigned.
• Built landings + ad creative for two lead magnets (Facebook Ads guide, Google Ads guide — content by others).
• Positioning: show how heavy DIY paid acquisition is → route to buying ready leads on the platform.

FPM subscription track

• UX audit → signup split into 4 steps, clearer labels per step.

Outcome/Impact

Metric	Input goal	Before (Jan)	After (March)
Signup-to-Activated Rate	14%	4.3%	8.8%
MQL Rate	40%	28%	27%
CAC	$500	$841	$600
$900+ Subscription Users	250	156	221