“How do we stand out in an AI-driven world?”

The question haunting every CMO, founder, and vibe marketer today.

Different theses get thrown around:

• Multiply output the fastest

• Create operating leverage the most efficiently

• Use agents to reverse engineer an algorithm simulator for each platform

Clay is betting on a different angle entirely:
→ Counterposition by being unmistakably, delightfully human.

The great irony of AI is that by freeing people from menial tasks - hunting for email addresses, combing through LinkedIn profiles, or grinding out repetitive code - it gives us space for what machines can't replicate: human connection.

By considering the lifetime value (“LTV”) of a customer that sticks around for 20+ years vs 2 years, Clay can justify spinning up marketing programs that would make most CFOs want to riot.

Today, we're going behind-the-scenes to unpack their unconventional strategy for building long-term loyalty.

Enjoy.

— Tom

P.S. Last time we wrote about how Clay is innovating with community / positioning / growth experiments, it kinda blew up.

Organic community flywheel in action ♻️ 

(If you’re reading this, ty for the shoutouts Ananda, Sean, George, Anshuman and everyone else who shared!)

How Clay builds unshakeable loyalty

Chess Move

The what: A TLDR explanation of the strategy

While the b2b marketing meta races toward automation, agents, and AI, Clay is investing in bespoke, inefficient, unmeasurable human experiences that create unshakeable loyalty.

They've developed a scalable model for what seems unscalable – turning customers into lifelong advocates through experiences so memorable that some have literally got Clay tattoos on their bodies.

From Paris circus classes to moon-themed sound baths, they’re building a repeatable system around wacky, memorable experiences to cultivate a community that transcends typical business relationships.

This isn't just "surprise and delight" marketing. It's a deliberate human-first strategy of identifying their highest-potential champions, then investing in their personal growth in ways that build decade-long connection.

These initiatives aren't easily quantifiable, but Clay is betting on long-term loyalty over short-term ROI.

Breakdown

The how: The strategic playbook boiled down to 3x key takeaways

1.  Make it memorable

Clay's approach began with small-scale initiatives, gradually accelerating into more ambitious experiences.

The philosophy mirrors their internal motto:

"Whole people do better business" - a belief that investing in people outside work creates a better environment.

What began with employees expanded over time to customers, community, and their broader audience.

Today, they’ve systematised an entire program targeting creator types, wackier customers, and their biggest champions to create unforgettable moments and brand affinity at scale.

A few examples:

Backflip lessons

Clay tattoos

DJ lessons

Sound baths

Magic shows

Flower arranging workshops

Reiki healing sessions

Indoor skydiving

They branded the experiences with tongue-in-cheek names like:

• "Go to Moon" (sound bath)

• “Go to Magic” (magic show)

• “Go to Melt” (reiki healing)

all quirky plays on the Go to Market (”GTM”) theme.

Each experience creates an opportunity for people to feel more connected to the people at Clay who are investing in them.

Inspiring the same creativity and innovation that Clay's product enables, but in peoples’ personal lives.

2. Unquantifiable differentiation

Clay is deliberately counter-positioning against the "if you can't measure it, don't do it" ideology that defines modern marketing.

Instead, they look at LTV from the perspective of, quite literally, a customer’s lifetime. They’re betting on their most passionate customers to be around for the next 20+ years and are building resonance for the long haul.

Most companies won't spend without clear attribution. But Clay believes the most valuable investments can't be directly tied to conversion metrics.

This doesn't mean throwing money into a black hole. It's a calculated bet that investing in high-touch, bizarre experiences creates a form of loyalty that no other marketing initiatives can replicate.

But, the unmeasurable nature of these investments means accepting significant logistical overhead:

• Fighting with gymnastics federations

• Sourcing national orchestra members

• Coordinating experiences across continents

• Managing relationships one unusual request at a time

This runs counter to the typical ‘multiply + leverage + economies of scale’ playbook, but that's exactly the point.

The difficulty of replication becomes symbolic.

Symbolic of:

• Crediting the community for Clay’s success.

• Emphasising growing together.

• And bringing people along the journey.

By building customer relationships that don’t judge quirkiness → they create space to be authentic and experimental → which helps Clay stand out even more.

Now look, I know this all might sound cheesy at first, but indulge for a second and consider how different this playbook is to 99%+ of marketing you see in other eras, other industries, and other companies in general.

Investing into town square ads, newspaper ads, billboard ads, search ads, social ads etc will generate awareness, and hopefully conversion, from outside your immediate community.

But what if you directed that same investment inwards? Into your community, creating even stronger connections with people, who end up using your product for decades and organically spreading it to their friends and colleagues.

→ Conviction in long-term loyalty over immediately measurable ROI.

3. Human counterbalance to an AI world

Clay’s contrarian hypothesis: The companies that will win in the AI era are the ones that are the most human.

In a world where AI tools increasingly automate interactions and create more output from every marketer on earth, authentic connection and real creativity become the only lasting competitive advantages.

Rather than racing to automate every corner of their customer relationship, Clay is finding specific moments to deliberately insert humanity.

The result is human stories that people share eagerly and organically.

Part of what makes this such an interesting case study is its backdrop - as Clay itself builds powerful AI-driven GTM tools, they're simultaneously investing in becoming the most human company possible.

While they're creating efficiency through technology, they're cultivating loyalty through distinctly inefficient human experiences.

What subtly (yet deliberately) ties all of this together is a consistent theme of growth that permeates every aspect of Clay's identity:

→ Their product enables business growth through GTM automation

→ Their brand revolves around a garden - literally growing 

→ Their community experiences foster personal growth mindset

These three dimensions - professional, brand, and personal - create coherence across the entire strategy.

When a customer learns to backflip through Clay, they're experiencing the same core promise that the product delivers: transformation and improvement.

Pushing the limits of what the user previously thought possible in the way they work, as well as in their personal lives.

Clay’s strategy is ultimately an acknowledgement that people can love the company for different reasons:

• Amazing product

• OR makes them laugh

• OR celebrates their growth

• OR allows them to do their job better

• OR helped them learn a skill (eg. backflip)

• OR embraces their quirkiness and curiosity

The result is users organically sharing their Clay creations, their Clay experiences, associating both their professional AND personal growth with Clay.

I LOVE going behind-the-scenes with the internet’s best marketers, learning about the kooky strategies they’re cooking up. Plus it’s a legitimate privilege to document and share the cutting-edge with you, the reader. Oftentimes, like today, it’s playbooks that literally aren’t documented anywhere else on the internet - I couldn’t ask for a funner job.

Shoutout to Scott and Jessica for making this article possible by sharing the sauce.

See y’all next week for article #87.

— Tom

P.S. If you are seeing/working on/building metagame-defining strategies that deserve their own breakdown, reply to this email and say hi!

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