How Mini Katana Scaled on Social Media with Ads

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Happy Sunday Operators ⚙️

I’m on the 3rd floor of a co-working space near Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo. There are 6 fire trucks blaring alarms outside, with everyone scattering. I wonder what’s going on?

While I watch that mystery unfold, let’s talk about another mystery.

What do you do if you can’t use paid ads to grow your D2C startup like everyone else?

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Setting the Stage

Mini Katana’s Ad Blocker

The best operators are able to turn constraints into strengths. One such person is Isaac Medeiros, the founder of Mini Katana. 

Mini Katana sells miniature samurai swords.

What started as a passion project run out of Isaac's Los Angeles apartment has grown into an 8-figure DTC brand.

All without being able to run paid ads.

Determined to turn his love for Japanese katanas into a thriving business, he started selling mini sword replicas online.

But, he soon ran into a major roadblock. Because he was selling “weapons,” Isaac was banned from running ads on social media platforms.

Not all products are well-suited for paid advertising. Certain categories, such as weapons or adult content, are subject to strict advertising policies (or even get banned).

This was the exact problem faced by Isaac Medeiros when he first launched Mini Katana.

As a brand selling miniature samurai swords, Mini Katana fell under the "weapons" category and was prohibited from running ads on most social media platforms.

This meant that Isaac could not use the traditional DTC playbook of leveraging paid acquisition to drive growth.

He understood that to succeed, he would need to get creative and find ways to build brand awareness and engagement organically.

He poured all his energy into creating viral content to capture attention.

Because of that focus, Mini Katana has achieved $15M+ in annual revenue in just three years. All from from organic sales.

His social media stats speak for themself. Mini Katana currently has:

• 2M+ TikTok followers and 45M+ likes

• 290k+ engaged Instagram followers

• 3.6M YouTube subscribers with over 2.5B views

@mini.katana

That cut was so clean…😩 #asmr #satisfying #katana

By cracking the code on viral organic marketing, he was able to build a profitable brand without spending a dime on paid advertising.

By focusing on:

• Creating viral content

• Cultivating a loyal community

• Leveraging the power of organic social media

Isaac was able not only to overcome the paid advertising ban, but also unlock a highly effective growth engine for this business.

Ops Tactic: Reverse-engineer virality in your niche with high-quality short-form content

Why this Matters

DTC Usually Rely on Paid Ads. Not Mini Katana

For many direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, paid advertising has been THE growth strategy.

However, this approach comes with its own set of challenges.

Firstly, social media advertising costs have increased over the years as more businesses compete for limited ad space.

This means that brands need to constantly optimize their ad spend and creatives to maintain a positive return on investment (ROI).

Changes in privacy regulations and tracking restrictions have made it harder to measure the effectiveness of paid campaigns accurately.

With social media ads' rising costs, having an organic marketing strategy can be a game-changer for your brand.

Isaac's approach was to:

1. Create compelling content that resonates with your target audience and encourages sharing

2. Build a loyal community of customers who will become your best brand advocates

3. Leverage the unique features and algorithms of different social media platforms to maximize your reach and engagement

4. Optimize your website and sales funnel to convert organic traffic into paying customers

5. Continuously test and iterate on your organic marketing strategies to stay ahead of the curve

In today's e-commerce landscape, relying too heavily on any single growth channel can be risky.

Algorithm changes, policy updates, or a global pandemic can disrupt your typical acquisition strategies and leave your business vulnerable.

By harnessing the power of organic marketing, you'll be better equipped to weather these challenges.

Whether you're a startup founder looking to scale your business on a bootstrap budget, or an established brand seeking to reduce your dependence on paid ads, you can learn actionable strategies to help you achieve your goals.

The Blueprint

Let's dive into the specific strategies that Isaac Medeiros used to grow Mini Katana without relying on paid advertising.

Here are three key ways he solved the problem of driving growth in the face of advertising restrictions:

I. Becoming a Content Machine

One of the cornerstones of Mini Katana's success has been its relentless focus on creating and distributing high-quality content across multiple platforms.

By consistently releasing engaging videos, posts, and stories that showcase their products in unique and entertaining ways, Mini Katana has been able to capture attention and drive massive organic reach.

Some specific tactics they employed include:

• Posting 1 long-form video and 15-20 short-form videos per week

• Creating a variety of content formats, from product demos to behind-the-scenes footage to user-generated content

• Optimizing their content for each platform's specific features and algorithms (e.g., using hashtags and trending audio on TikTok)

• Repurposing top-performing content across multiple channels to maximize its impact

By becoming a content machine, Mini Katana consistently generated hundreds of millions of organic views each month, driving significant traffic and sales without any paid ads.

II. Cultivating a Highly Engaged Community

Another key factor in Mini Katana's organic growth has been its ability to build and nurture a highly engaged community of fans and customers.

By actively encouraging interaction and fostering a sense of belonging, they were able to turn casual viewers into die-hard brand advocates.

Some tactics they used to cultivate engagement include:

• Regularly asking for feedback and suggestions from their audience (e.g., running polls, responding to comments)

• Creating inside jokes and shared references that made people feel like they were part of an exclusive club

• Rewarding engagement with shoutouts, giveaways, and exclusive offers

• Spotlighting user-generated content and customer stories to make people feel valued and appreciated

By making community-building a core part of their strategy, Mini Katana was able to achieve incredible metrics like a 35% repeat purchase rate and an average of 300,000 votes per YouTube poll.

III. Optimizing for Virality and Shareability

Finally, a big part of Mini Katana's organic success came from their ability to create content and products that were inherently viral and shareable.

By tapping into people's emotions and desires, they were able to get viewers to not only consume their content but also actively spread it to their own networks.

Some ways they optimized for virality include:

• Focusing on products that were visually striking, unique, and made for eye-catching content (e.g. colorful candy, intricately designed swords)

• Using storytelling and humor to create an emotional connection with the audience

• Encouraging sharing and tagging friends by asking questions, running contests, and creating challenge-style content

• Leveraging trending topics and memes to ride the wave of popular culture and get more exposure

By making virality a key consideration in everything from product selection to content creation, Mini Katana achieved exponential organic growth and reached far beyond its existing audience.

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