SBMA Ep 155: Backed Into a Corner and Building a Better Growth Playbook

There’s a moment Joe Teo describes in this episode that will feel familiar to a lot of agency owners: revenue flattening, a growth channel that stopped working and no plan B. For Joe, the CEO and co-founder of Hey Orca, that moment forced a question most marketers never think to ask: what if you’d built a growth strategy with no foundation underneath it? In this episode, Joe breaks down how Hey Orca rebuilt their growth engine through community-led marketing after paid ads hit a wall, and what they learned about the difference between having an audience and building a community. We get into: Why systems alone (newsletters, Slack groups, webinars) don’t create community, and what actually does The shift from “what should we publish next?” to a question that changes everything How paid ads fit into a community-led strategy without becoming the whole strategy The participation signals worth tracking beyond likes and comments Why Joe thinks AI fatigue is pushing people toward something most marketers are underestimating Joe is also the author of Community-Led Marketing, and his take on where trust, attention, and growth intersect right now is one I think you’ll be thinking about long after the episode ends. More: https://audreyjoykwan.com/podcast/ep155