+3 Million Users for ClassTag Inc.

+3 Million Users for ClassTag Inc.
Viral hyper-growth strategy and execution, bringing in over 3 million users
Growth StrategyMarketingProduct
Wharton MBA and ClassTag founder Vlada Lotkina started ClassTag to connect parents and teachers in her New York school district. With early traction and a massive vision for a venture-backed, hyper-growth startup, she turned to me for growth strategy, marketing execution and customer/user insights.
Initial Challenge
Starting from Fewer Than 1,000 Users
When I started with ClassTag, they had fewer than 1,000 users and were essentially running a local pilot.
With no proven growth strategy, marketing channels or marketing insights, ClassTag was relying on local in-person networking to persuade teachers and parents to use their product.
The very first challenge was to strategise and find at least one scalable acquisition channel.
Uncovering the Key to Growth
User Research
I conducted video interviews with current users and ideal users and created detailed persona documents. This uncovered hidden user and market insights which we were able to leverage in our marketing.
The Insight
I found that the key to growth was tapping into how teachers make decisions: through in-person recommendations from their colleagues.
I decided that we must scale and digitise that through our marketing strategy.
Scaling the Strategy Across Every Channel
After building initial momentum through paid media (Facebook and Google Ads), I applied this principle across every channel and campaign; constantly leveraging real teacher quotes, teacher-to-teacher referrals; micro-influencer campaigns with teachers on Instagram; photos of real teachers with real quotes as ad copy on Facebook ads, and more.
Facebook Ads
Photos of real teachers with real quotes as ad copy
Instagram
Micro-influencer campaigns with teachers
Google Ads
Paid media to build initial momentum
Referrals
Teacher-to-teacher referral campaigns
Results
3M+
Users Acquired
As Head of Growth/Marketing, I ultimately brought in over 3 million users for ClassTag
$5M
Fundraise Supported
Supporting a $5m fundraise in the process
As Head of Growth/Marketing, I ultimately brought in over 3 million users for ClassTag, supporting a $5m fundraise in the process.
But this brought a new challenge…
Next Level Challenge | Activating, Retaining and Leveraging Users
A New Problem to Solve
ClassTag had a development team and CTO, but no product manager. 
I acquired a large number of new teacher users, but with poor onboarding and first-time experience on the product side, and little product-marketing automation, classrooms weren't sufficiently activating and adopting the product.
We needed to justify the marketing spend and leverage our teachers to generate 30+ parent referrals and at least some teacher referrals within their school.
Poor Onboarding
First-time experience needed a complete overhaul
Little Automation
Product-marketing automation was insufficient
Referral Gap
Teachers needed to generate 30+ parent referrals
Approach
1
Optimizing first-time user experience for both teachers and parents
2
Engineering virality into the product
3
Clarifying, mapping and then guiding users through the optimal user journey
Deliverables Round 2
Full-Stack Product & Marketing Execution
Research & Analytics
User interviews, user research, heatmapping, sophisticated app analytics and measurement planning
Product Management
Product roadmap, product management, first-time experience redesign with UI/UX team
Marketing Automations
Marketing automations in Intercom and ActiveCampaign | Building a series of 30+ emails; push notifications, etc.
Viral Prompts & Flows
Viral prompts and flows to generate more referrals
Final Results
The Transformation
BEFORE
2%
Activation Rate
Teachers weren't activating or adopting the product
<1,000
Total Users
Local pilot with no scalable growth engine
AFTER
34%
Activation Rate
17x lift — each teacher brought in 30+ parents
3M+
Total Users
Viral hypergrowth leading to acquisition by SchoolStatus
$5M fundraise supported · ClassTag acquired by SchoolStatus
The Outcome
From 2% to 34% Activation Rate — and a Successful Exit
By taking teacher activation from 2% to 34%, each activated teacher brought in 30+ parents — creating a viral growth loop that drove product usage to over 3 million users.
This scale enabled the sale of large corporate sponsorships to those audiences, and ultimately led to ClassTag Inc. being acquired by SchoolStatus.
The end result: over 3 million ClassTag users, and ClassTag Inc. acquired by SchoolStatus.
ClassTag Acquired by SchoolStatus
Proof of the scale and impact achieved — ClassTag Inc. was acquired by SchoolStatus, a leading K–12 communication and engagement platform.
News of ClassTag Inc.'s acquisition by SchoolStatus
ClassTag Inc. acquired by SchoolStatus — the culmination of a hyper-growth journey from under 1,000 users to over 3 million.
From Local Pilot to Acquisition
Under 1,000 users to 3M+ and a successful exit
$5M Fundraise Supported
Growth strategy directly enabled venture fundraising
Client Testimonial
Vlada Lotkina, ClassTag Founder and CEO
"Jack is a rockstar! He takes on ambitious goals and is driving towards achieving them with great focus and diligence. He is able to think strategically and tactically at the same time, make decisions and defend his recommendations. He is truly an asset for any team! Look forward to an opportunity to work with Jack again soon!!"
Online Marketing E2E Optimization
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 · Mar 21, 2016 – Sep 21, 2017 · 1,138 hours
Work With Jack Jenkins
Growth Strategy • Marketing • Product Leadership
Growth Strategy
Scalable acquisition channels, user research and go-to-market strategy
Product Leadership
Product management, onboarding redesign, virality engineering and UX
Marketing Execution
Full-agency execution across paid media, automation, influencer and referral