We Spent $900 on Influencers, Then Built a 3,500-Member Discord Community Without Ads
After a $900 influencer campaign failed, we built a 3,500-member FinTech Discord community using manual outreach, AI tools, and organic engagement.
On day eleven of the influencer campaign, Barbara Nekrasova, CEO of Erste Advertising, calculated the spent budget. She had paid $900 to five creators, who in turn generated 30 to 40 leads. These leads were interested in the product as one would be with a timeshare pitch, politely but mostly unenthusiastic. After three months, the Discord server for the FinTech client had over 3,500 members, without spending any more on ads. This account details the failure, manual effort, and the roles of AI in building the community.
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