What B2B Companies Can Learn From ClickUp’s Marketing Strategy

Key takeaways

• Video isn’t their strategy. It’s the amplifier.
• ClickUp built product conviction first, then used video to scale clarity and visibility.
• They win the comparison stage.
• Structured “vs” and affiliate-led videos capture buyers exactly when they’re evaluating options.
• Distribution beats polish.
• Lean production, high volume, relentless presence. They prioritize reach over cinematic perfection.
• Every video reduces friction.
• Problem-first hooks. Product shown early. Clear use cases. Their content educates, not decorates.

ClickUp marketing strategy

Have you ever been browsing the internet and suddenly come across a ClickUp ad? You’re not alone. At this point, ClickUp ads have almost become an inside joke online because of how often they appear across different platforms. That level of visibility isn’t accidental. In this blog, we’re taking a deeper look at ClickUp’s marketing strategy, with a particular focus on how they use video across their content and why it works so well.

In 2018, less than a year after launching, ClickUp was on the brink of bankruptcy. By the end of that same year, they had already reached $1 million in revenue. That kind of turnaround doesn’t happen by accident. To understand how they pulled it off, we listened to over 10 hours of CEO interviews, analyzed 50 of their top-performing videos, and reviewed content across their LinkedIn presence to uncover the strategies behind their growth.

This is our third blog where we take a closer look at how enterprise companies approach marketing. With brands like Duolingo and Monday.com, video is usually the obvious starting point. ClickUp is different. If you only focus on their videos, you’ll miss what’s really driving their growth.

ClickUp didn’t grow because of video alone. It came from a few smart moves working together:

• Product-led word of mouth from people genuinely loving the product
• Confident comparisons that put them head-to-head with competitors
• High-volume content on a tight budget, where distribution matters more than polish
• Helpful content at every stage, not just at the top of the funnel

Video isn’t the strategy here. It’s the amplifier. Scrappy, loud, and relentless, but always intentional.

Product-led word of mouth

If you know ClickUp, you probably know its biggest competitors: Monday.com and Notion. What many people don’t realize is that ClickUp actually launched before both of them.

If you check their Google Ads Transparency data or their early social media presence, you’ll notice something interesting. There’s very little marketing activity from more than four years ago. And even if there is some content, the gap between one post and another is more than a year apart.

So how did they manage to grow earlier in their journey?

The answer is word of mouth, which for an enterprise SaaS company sounds like a crazy concept. But that is the truth.

Their strategy was simple but disciplined:

• Build a product people genuinely love
• Let users advocate internally
• Encourage team-wide adoption organically

They avoided the common startup trap of acquiring customers before product-market fit. Instead of marketing their way into users, they focused on making something so good that users would naturally recommend it to their teammates, their managers, and even their entire company.

They focused on platforms where they could communicate directly with their audience.

“Marketing is the fuel for the product fire. Build a good product that people love and find through word of mouth, and marketing is there to accelerate it. Once that fire is burning, you pour on marketing ‘fuel’.” Zeb Evans, ClickUp CEO

While they were still growing, their marketing efforts started with winning over organic users first. Zeb believes your first legion of fans has to come organically and be genuinely invested in the growth.

They created helpful content such as SEO-driven blog posts and walkthrough tutorials. But most importantly, they stayed active on discussion platforms like Reddit and Quora, where people openly talk about the tools they use at work and share real experiences.

That is where the early growth started.

Not through ads.Not through polished brand campaigns.Through product conviction and community presence.

Comparison dominance (ClickUp vs everyone)

ClickUp is confident enough to go head-to-head with competitors like Monday.com, Notion, and Jira. And they don’t just do this on their own website.

One of their smartest video marketing tactics is leveraging KOLs and influencers to create structured comparison content as part of their affiliate strategy.

If you search “ClickUp vs Notion” or “Best Jira alternative” on YouTube, you’ll quickly notice a pattern. Creators are breaking down detailed comparisons, feature by feature, pricing by pricing, workflow by workflow. Most of these videos include affiliate links.

This is not accidental visibility. It is intentional positioning.

Here’s how it works:

• Buyers in this stage are already comparing options
• Third-party reviews feel more trustworthy than brand claims
• Affiliate links align incentives and scale distribution
• Creators act as a performance-based sales layer

Instead of ClickUp saying “we’re better,” trusted creators explain why. They walk through real use cases, highlight differences, and position ClickUp directly against competitors in practical scenarios.

By the time a buyer lands on ClickUp’s site, the validation has often already happened.

That’s not just influencer marketing. That’s comparison dominance built into their video marketing strategy.

Wide net, tight budget

Now that we’ve talked about their content and marketing approach, let’s talk about their audience strategy and budgeting.

One thing people need to understand is this. ClickUp, and even early Monday, treat a B2B business model with a B2C marketing mindset. They don’t market like a traditional enterprise SaaS company. They cast their net wide.

Even though they sell project management software, their presence feels almost consumer-level. You see them on YouTube, in comparison videos, in Google search, in ads that even general users recognize.

And the reason they can do that comes down to how they handle production and budget.

High-production campaigns happen occasionally. But their daily content is mostly internal and lean. A lot of it is shot on iPhones and produced by their own team. They even built a custom KOL system that is significantly cheaper than traditional influencer setups.

Their philosophy is simple:

• Spend less on making it look perfect
• Spend more on getting it seen

Because production is lean, they can afford to show up more often. You can see this in their affiliate and influencer strategy. Creators make structured comparison content, review ClickUp against competitors, and link back using affiliate links. It scales visibility without requiring ClickUp to own every piece of content.

And their paid ads follow the same logic. They target audiences wide enough to build familiarity, not just hyper-specific enterprise buyers.

At the core, it’s this mindset:

• B2B product
• B2C marketing execution

The outcome is high-volume visibility and a relentless presence. They are not trying to look exclusive. They are trying to be everywhere.

Helpful content is the rule, video is the vehicle

This is where video comes in, not as a separate strategy, but as the most scalable way to deliver helpful content at every stage of the funnel.

In the early days, ClickUp showed up in Reddit threads and forums. Then they leaned into SEO. Today, that same behavior shows up in product-focused video. The format evolved. The mindset did not.

What we analyzed

To understand this properly, we analyzed 50 of ClickUp’s top-performing videos and listened to over 10 hours of interviews from CEO Zeb Evans.

We did not just skim their content. We looked at:

• Opening hooks
• Content structure
• Messaging patterns
• Product visibility
• Platform adaptation

The goal was simple. Identify patterns, not just individual tactics.

And the pattern is clear.

The results

72 percent of their top-performing videos open with a problem-first hook. No logo reveal. No long brand intro. Just the pain point followed immediately by the solution. The remaining 28 percent lean into short, punchy humor. But even in those, the product is still front and center.

The format changes across YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Instagram, but the underlying pattern stays consistent.

Even when they jump on trends, the product never disappears. Take their LinkedIn post during Super Bowl 2026. It used a trending moment and sharp humor, but it still clearly demonstrated how the product works. They do not chase trends for attention. They use attention to reinforce product value.

This mindset extends beyond social media.

If you subscribe to their email newsletter, you will find short, embedded product videos. Simple. Clear. Educational.

Inside the product itself, the same logic applies:

• Walkthrough videos
• Feature tutorials
• Onboarding flows

Even their planning sections are filled with feature-focused information. Everything is designed to reduce friction and increase understanding.

Whether it is social content, email, or in-product experience, the objective remains the same. Educate users. Remove confusion. Make the product easier to love.

Video is not the strategy.

Helpful content is.

What other companies can steal from ClickUp

Now this is probably the part everyone is waiting for. What can you actually copy from ClickUp’s marketing playbook? Let’s break down what they did and how you can apply the same thinking.

Build product before you build hype

Before pouring money into ads, make sure the product actually deserves attention. ClickUp focused on product-market fit first. They encouraged real users to advocate internally and made the product genuinely recommendable, not just marketable. If people are not naturally sharing your product with teammates or peers, no amount of marketing spend will fix that. Marketing amplifies. It does not compensate for weak fundamentals.

Win the comparison stage

Buyers do not search for your brand name first. They search for options. Queries like “ClickUp vs Notion” or “Best Jira alternative” reveal intent at the decision stage. ClickUp leaned into this by creating dedicated “vs” pages, ranking for alternative-focused keywords, and encouraging structured comparison reviews. Instead of avoiding competitors, they showed confidence publicly. If you want to win serious buyers, you need to be visible where evaluation happens.

Trade production perfection for volume

A lot of teams think the answer is one big, beautiful campaign. ClickUp did the opposite. They kept content production lean. Internal team. Simple setups. Fast turnaround.

That allowed them to publish consistently and invest more in distribution. Because here is the truth. One polished brand film every quarter will not create dominance. Showing up every week might.

Perfection looks nice. Presence wins.

Use video as education, not decoration

For ClickUp, video is not there to look cinematic. It is there to make the product easier to understand. They open with the problem. They show the product early. They focus on clarity over drama.

The goal is always the same. Reduce friction. Remove confusion. Help people understand how it works.

Helpful content compounds over time. Pure brand storytelling without product depth rarely does.

Align marketing with real user behavior

ClickUp did not try to invent new buyer behavior. They studied how people search, how they compare tools, and where discussions happen. Then they inserted themselves directly into those environments. Whether it was forums, SEO, YouTube comparisons, or paid search, they showed up where decisions were already being made. That approach is scalable because it builds on behavior that already exists.

ClickUp playbook: Do’s & Don’ts Checklist

Conclusion

ClickUp’s growth was not driven by flashy campaigns or viral moments. It was driven by structure. They built a product people genuinely wanted to recommend. They showed up aggressively in comparison searches. They kept production lean so they could publish consistently. And they focused on helpful content at every stage of the funnel.

Video was not the strategy. It was the amplifier.

That is the real lesson here. If you treat video as the strategy, you will likely overspend and underperform. But if you build a strong foundation and use video to reinforce clarity, education, and visibility, it becomes a powerful growth engine.

If you want to pressure-test your current video marketing strategy, we can help. Book a call with us for a video marketing strategy review. We will look at your funnel, your messaging, and your distribution, and show you where video can actually move the needle.

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