Growth Marketing for Developer Entrepreneurs

For 5 years, I worked as a frontend technical lead specializing in the VTEX platform at Profit-e. When I left, something interesting started happening: former colleagues and industry contacts constantly reached out for freelance work and training. One of these opportunities would completely change my perspective on technical entrepreneurship.

The Problem That Became an Opportunity

A new agency approached me to train their team in VTEX. Since I was working full-time, I couldn't dedicate in-person hours to this. But I realized something: if one agency had this need, probably dozens of others did too.

The solution? Create a recorded course where developers could learn at their own pace, watch as many times as they wanted, and still count on support for questions. It was better than live training: scalable, repeatable, and available 24/7.

That's how Ensinando.Tech - VTEX Course was born.

Validation Before Launch

Before investing in marketing, I did something crucial: I validated the product. I created the course and sold it to the company that had initially approached me. The feedback was excellent, giving me two essential things: confidence that the product worked and social proof to use at launch.

The Landing Page: Eliminating Objections

I created a conversion-focused landing page, thinking strategically about each element. It was 2021, during the pandemic, the peak of the developer "boom" where finding qualified professionals was extremely difficult, especially with specific VTEX knowledge. I used this as my main argument.

I developed a calculator showing the real cost of hiring a senior dev with VTEX experience (scarce and expensive), compared to the cost of hiring a junior dev plus a senior's time for training. The math was clear: training internally consumed valuable senior dev time. My course solved this for a fraction of the cost.

I included feedback from the first company as a testimonial, validating the content quality, and listed all modules in detail, showing exactly what would be learned. Total transparency about the content.

The First Launch: The Deafening Silence

I launched the course and... nothing. I kept hitting F5 on the page, obsessively checking analytics. No sales.

I set up campaigns on Google Ads and Facebook/Instagram. My criteria were people interested in e-commerce.

The anguish was real. So much effort, so much dedicated time, and the market seemed indifferent. It was a moment of questioning everything. But I decided not to give up.

Black Friday: The Turning Point

As Black Friday approached, I created a specific campaign. This is where marketing really began. I implemented a price anchoring strategy: the basic package cost $600 (originally $1,000) and included the complete course. The premium package at $1,000 included the course plus two hours of consulting and a hiring plan. And there was the enterprise package at $1,500, with the course plus eight to ten hours of consulting and a complete implementation strategy.

The trick? The more expensive packages made the basic one seem accessible. Price anchoring in practice.

I set up better campaigns on Google Ads and Facebook/Instagram with surgical segmentation. My main criteria were people who accessed specific sites in the VTEX ecosystem: partner agency sites, e-commerce blogs, technical forums, VTEX documentation. I created videos for YouTube, sponsored links on Google, and ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Sales started! Not just the basic package, but the expensive packages sold too. Those I had created only as price anchors generated real demand from companies wanting personalized consulting.

Something unexpected happened: VTEX itself contacted me.

Plot Twist: VTEX Came Knocking

For using "VTEX Dev" in the name, I received contact from the company. Initially worried, I discovered I couldn't use the name due to trademark issues and even received a notice from the company's legal department. But in the end, they wanted to partner for internal training.

The product had made noise. I had caught the attention of a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It was surreal.

Evolution: VTEX IO - The New Version

With sales happening and customers acquired, a new demand emerged: VTEX IO, the platform's new version. Problem? I didn't know how to use it yet—I had left the market.

The solution was interesting: I learned while getting paid. I closed a freelance project to implement a store in VTEX IO, learned hands-on, and created a new module for the course.

Growth Marketing in Practice: VTEX IO

The VTEX IO course launch used different and more mature strategies. VTEX IO was a new term, with only about 50 competing sites, compared to thousands in generic terms. The official documentation was only in English, creating a language barrier, and was incomplete, requiring real projects to truly learn.

I created a landing page specifically optimized for "VTEX IO course," with rich content in Portuguese and practical examples. I produced a professional sales video and ensured the technical structure was impeccable: optimized performance, correct meta tags, implemented schema markup. Within weeks, I achieved first place on Google for the main keyword.

Unlike the first launch that heavily relied on paid campaigns, VTEX IO sold organically. Fewer visits, but highly qualified. The specific niche meant higher purchase intent, and conversion happened automatically.

To expand beyond agencies, I identified a new audience: store owners who wanted to create internal teams and gain independence from agencies. Through reverse engineering the VTEX Marketplace, I obtained an email list and implemented an intelligent cold outreach strategy. It wasn't spam: I sent useful educational content that solved real problems, with a soft offer at the end of the article.

The complete mix was working: organic SEO bringing most of the traffic, Google Ads and Facebook to accelerate, email marketing for direct conversion, and YouTube videos for value demonstration.

The Numbers That Changed Everything

Looking back, the numbers tell an impressive story. During the course's active period, I received 2,600 visits and closed 48 sales with an average ticket of $500. That's $24,000 in total revenue, investing only $400 in paid traffic. A 60x return on investment.

But the most fascinating part was the traffic distribution. Two thousand visits came from organic search, representing 77% of the total. Direct traffic brought 1,400 visits—people who already knew the brand and returned directly. Referrals generated 75 visits, email marketing brought 64, organic social networks contributed 47, and organic videos just 5 visits.

These numbers revealed something crucial: I had invested only $400 in paid traffic, but 77% of traffic came from organic SEO. The initial effort in technical optimization and content had generated massive dividends. And more importantly: organic visits, from people actively searching for "VTEX IO course," converted three to four times better than paid traffic. Quality over quantity, always.

The 1.85% conversion rate might seem modest at first glance, but for a $500 product it's exceptional. E-commerce averages around 2-3%, but for high-ticket products like this, being close to that mark is a clear sign of product-market fit and efficient funnel optimization.

Financially, the project was highly relevant. From occasional freelancer to scalable product creator. $24K in revenue with minimal investment, plus recurring revenue through additional consulting that emerged naturally.

But the biggest gain was the learning. I experienced the entire growth marketing cycle in practice: finding product-market fit, optimizing conversions, acquiring customers through multiple channels, mastering strategic SEO, using paid advertising with brutal efficiency, implementing email marketing, and developing sophisticated pricing strategy.

Lessons Learned: Growth for Developer Entrepreneurs

The first big lesson was to validate before investing heavily. My first sale gave me social proof and the confidence needed to invest in marketing for real. The first launch can fail, and that's okay. The initial silence was desperate, but taught me about timing, warmed audience, and the importance of persistence.

Price anchoring really works. I discovered that expensive packages don't just serve to make the basic one seem accessible—they sell too, often to the most valuable customers. You need to understand the real value you offer and price it appropriately.

I learned that segmentation beats reach. Better to have 100 qualified visits than 10,000 random ones. I invested time understanding where my audience was and focusing only on those channels.

SEO is a long-term game, but the most profitable. VTEX IO sold organically because I invested in SEO from the start. 77% of traffic came from organic searches, no cost per click, no endless auctions. Well-structured content generates lasting results and, eventually, infinite ROI.

Paid traffic ROI can be insane when well-segmented. I invested only $400 in ads and generated $24,000 in revenue—a 60x return. The secret? Ultra-qualified audience. I didn't try to reach everyone, just those already immersed in the VTEX ecosystem.

Niches have less competition and higher conversion. "Programming course" has millions of competitors. "VTEX IO course" had 50. Be specific. My 1.85% conversion rate for a $500 product is excellent precisely because I chose a precise niche.

Cold email works if done correctly. It's not spam when you offer genuine value. Useful content followed by soft sell generates conversions. Even with only 64 visits via email, they generated qualified sales.

Multi-channel is essential, but organic scales better. Don't depend on a single channel. SEO took time to show results, but generated 77% of traffic without recurring cost. Paid ads validate quickly, but SEO builds a sustainable competitive moat.

The product matters more than marketing. Marketing amplifies a good product, doesn't save a bad one. Focus on quality first, then think about scale.

And finally: learn by doing. Don't wait to be a marketing expert. I was a developer and learned growth marketing by executing, failing, adjusting. You can too.

Project Tech Stack

For those curious about the technical implementation, I built the first version with HTML, CSS, and Vanilla JS. For the second version, I used Next.js with Static Site Generation for maximum performance and SEO, React for the interface, TypeScript for type safety, and CSS Modules for modular styling.

I obsessively optimized performance: Lighthouse scores above 95, resource lazy loading, image optimization, and inline critical CSS. For SEO, I implemented complete schema markup, dynamic meta tags, automatic sitemap, and a careful internal linking strategy.

The analytics infrastructure included Google Analytics tracking the complete funnel, custom events, detailed conversion tracking, and basic A/B testing. For marketing, I integrated Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, and MailChimp.

Conclusion

Ensinando.Tech was much more than a side project. It was a hands-on masterclass in growth marketing, entrepreneurship, and product development, all compressed into an intense learning journey.

As developers, we have a unique advantage: we can build and distribute digital products with marginal cost close to zero. The only barrier is marketing knowledge, not technical capability. And marketing, like code, can be learned, tested, and iteratively improved.

If you have valuable knowledge and the will to be an entrepreneur, don't wait for the perfect moment or the revolutionary idea. Launch something imperfect, learn from the market, adjust based on real feedback. The market will teach you what marketing courses can't.

Start today. Your knowledge is worth more than you think.