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How House of Wise Got 2 Billion Earned Impressions Without Spending a Dollar on Ads

Amanda Goetz started House of Wise in 2019 out of her garage.

It’s a premium CBD brand designed for busy women juggling careers, families, and self-care.

However, she couldn’t advertise her products on any major ad platform.

Despite this, Amanda was able to turn House of Wise into a 7-figure brand using 4 marketing tactics.

Tactic #1: Turn Talking About Taboo Topics Into Your Organic Growth Strategy

As a single mom, a startup founder, and a CBD user, Amanda had quite a unique POV.

So she leaned into it.

She created weekly Twitter Spaces, in which she hosted conversations around taboo topics like sex, money, and cannabis.

As a result, her personal account grew to over 30,000 followers, and she was able to achieve House of Wise’s mission: destigmatizing CBD for women.

But Amanda didn’t stop there.

She couldn’t buy attention from ad platforms, so she used her unique story to get into some of the biggest publications in the world.

The result: In its first year, House of Wise garnered over 250 press mentions without a substantial PR agency budget. It even got mentioned in the second season of the HBO show Somebody, Somewhere.

Tactic #2: Create No-Brainer Incentives for Your Brand Ambassadors

House of Wise built an effective ambassador program.

How?

They recruited over 1000 ambassadors, who were called “Wise Women.”

Each of them got a commission on sales and exclusive access to marketing classes hosted by Amanda.

The result: The ambassador program drove 98% of House of Wise’s customer acquisition. The company maintained a 35% customer retention rate.

Tactic #3: Find a Mission That Aligns With Your Brand and Support it Publically

House of Wise released an NFT.

However, this wasn’t your typical NFT drop that would extract value from the company’s audience.

It was the opposite.

House of Wise dropped a charity NFT with the proceeds supporting The Last Prisoner Project.

The non-profit helps people who were incarcerated for cannabis offenses.

The NFT drop generated a lot of press coverage in crypto publications and the mainstream media, which helped House of Wise tap into a new audience.

The result: House of Wise built a community of +100k women who championed their products.

Tactic #4: Use Strategic Partnerships Around Shared Values to Access Previously Unaccessible Audiences

House of Wise had a few core values, one of which is women’s empowerment.

The company partnered with brands in different industries that shared the same values as them.

For example, they collaborated with Ellevest, a woman-centric financial platform, to create a limited-edition “Money Wise” kit.

Ellevest shared the kit with its email list and social channels, giving House of Wise access to its audience.

The result: House of Wise reached 7 figures in revenue within 18 months and secured $2 million in venture funding. The company was acquired in 2022.

If you can learn anything from this story, it is that if you’re creative, you can market any product effectively, regardless of any restrictions.

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