Startup Story: AdsHelper makes digital advertising as easy as pie for SMEs
In this day and age, beautifully designed and effective ads don’t come cheap. Unless it’s from AdsHelper. aCAT brings you the Startup Story of AdsHelper, a new digital advertising tool that has it all.
Business owners know all too well the necessity of having strong advertising to capture their target audience’s attention.
Most of the time what prevents them from going further with their advertising efforts is their limited budget.
AdsHelper is here to change all that.
A powerful advertising package deal
There are many components of digital advertising and AdsHelper lets anyone create and manage them all on one convenient platform.
The main features of AdsHelper are its ad creator, landing page builder, campaign maker, lead management tool, and campaign analytics.
With a sizeable inventory of gorgeous templates, you don’t need to possess any design skills whatsoever to create eye-catching and effective ads.
Both the ad creator and landing page builder are so easy to use that all one really needs to do is customize according to your preferences.
The process from ad creation to campaign publication to lead management and campaign analytics is done seamlessly on AdsHelper’s website.
The whole idea behind AdsHelper is for businesses to manage their digital advertising needs in a hassle-free way and without stretching their budget to the limit.
SMEs, particularly, run on a modest advertising budget and hiring professional designers and marketing teams can be extremely costly.
Whether the basic package (it’s free!) or the premium one, AdsHelper has various pricing tiers to suit any business’ financial capability.
The startup even has an experienced marketing team available for businesses to engage with if they are looking to enhance their advertising efforts.
AdsHelper does exactly what its name suggests, help with advertising.
The company aims to make digital advertising as easy and affordable as possible for SMEs everywhere.
One for all and all for one
“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”
− Helen Keller
Teamwork is AdsHelper’s #1 asset.
Four friends, who believe in solving problems and unleashing their innovations into the real world, are the main reason AdsHelper is as good as it is today.
Jaff Low, Tan Choon Ping, Jayson Lee, and Edward Teh are part of the team at Hatches Tech Studio, a Penang-based creative IT solutions company.
The four of them have varying strengths and weaknesses but they work so well together that they have achieved many successes with their brainchild, AdsHelper.
Jaff, the founder and managing director, may be young but he is a visionary leader. He plans to expand the startup’s offered services in the hopes of further helping SMEs facing various issues relating to digital marketing.
The main tech guys are Choon Ping and Jayson, who are the co-founder and software developer of AdsHelper.
They eat, sleep, and breathe tech 24/7. Together, they’re always trying to improve AdsHelper’s efficiency and usability.
The resident creative designer, Edward, ensures the entire look and feel of the site comes together seamlessly. His graphic design skills have resulted in the visually appealing templates you see on the platform.
Like the four musketeers, every single one of these guys has each other’s backs. They put their egos aside and prioritise the team as well as the company’s growth above everything else.
The pressure that shaped a diamond
The origin story of AdsHelper began almost two years ago.
February 2016 was a dark time for Hatches Tech Studio. The company’s sales had slowed to a halt and there was hardly any money left in the bank.
Even employees had to work with unpaid salaries for two to three months while the company struggled to find a solution to end their financial troubles.
After intense discussions, Hatches Tech was left with two options.
Either they start taking up every project for the sake of earning money or they continue working on projects that would solve real-world problems but may not necessarily pay well immediately.
In the end, Hatches Tech struck a balance between those two options. They would take on more projects to ensure better financial security but still devote time to develop quality products and services.
Running on this new approach, the team was able to come up with the idea for AdsHelper.
Their valuable past experience working on Qbuster, a queue management app, allowed them to create AdsHelper within the span of just FOUR months.
The AdsHelper guys are immensely proud of their product that’s truly world class after going through all the blood, sweat, and tears.
As long as they earn enough to keep afloat, it’s good enough for them.
What matters more to this team is the value they can provide to others.
Not all gloom and doom
Though the four have gone through some massive trials and tribulations, they have had great times too.
Last year, the AdsHelper team were selected out of a sea of applicants to attend Web Summit 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Web Summit is one of the largest tech conferences in the world that features expert speakers from all corners of the globe.
Jaff brought along his entire team to Lisbon to enjoy a one-of-a-kind experience.
Although they weren’t flushed with money, he felt his team deserved an amazing trip as a reward for all of their hard work.
They spent a fortune on their trip but Jaff believed every cent was worth it as they managed to explore new places and dive into different cultures.
Partially supported by Hatches Tech’s shareholders, Jaff and co. were luckily able to finance their Lisbon trip.
The Web Summit proved to be incredibly eye-opening and encouraging for the team. The response to AdsHelper was phenomenal with many attendees eagerly lining up to speak to Jaff and his team about their product.
Investors from countries like Japan and Brazil were very impressed by AdsHelper and its possibilities of improving the digital advertising industry.
Jaff and his teammates were thrilled to get such great feedback because industry experts were actually acknowledging their platform’s feasibility.
It also made them happy to know they were on the right track with AdsHelper.
Other than the networking and business enhancement opportunities the team got from the trip, they really loved the magical scenery of Lisbon.
Web Summit 2017 is an unforgettable memory for all of them and it has made their creative fire burn even brighter.
What’s next?
Soon, AdsHelper will grow and develop into a fully-fledged digital advertising hub where businesses can get everything they need in one place.
Whether the ads are for Facebook, Google, Instagram, and so on, AdsHelper will be the one platform to create and manage them all.
The team has been speaking to notable digital marketing pros to potentially introduce education services in the near future.
They strongly believe such services would go a long way in broadening their clients’ understanding and knowledge of how to execute effective marketing.
AdsHelper aims to bring awareness to their clients and enrich them with solid marketing skills so that they can better use the platform and create powerful ad campaigns.
Moreover, the startup has set their sights on incorporating AI (artificial intelligence) technology to analyze the current digital advertising trends.
This kind of analysis will provide clients with in-depth information on what’s going on in the marketing industry and how they can capitalize on those trends.
With all these exciting developments ahead, users of AdsHelper can look forward to more new features and an improved overall digital advertising experience.
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
1. Create value first, worry about monetization later.
Jaff is always putting value first. For him, it is most satisfying and rewarding when he can produce something that can help others or solve their ongoing problems.
That doesn’t mean money isn’t important.
It just means that as entrepreneurs, we should concentrate on innovating for the sake of improving the world we live in without losing out to our greed.
He stands by his view that as long as your product offers value, then there will always be people willing to pay for it.
2. Talent is among your greatest assets.
How you work with your team members is a huge factor in determining the success or failure of any startup.
Guide your team and help them improve their strengths while addressing their weaknesses. When they grow, so will your business.
Be good to them because they are dedicating their awesome skills and time to achieve your shared entrepreneurial dreams.
Everything your company does relies on capable people getting things done so treat them right and your business will flourish.
3. Make big moves and take risks.
The AdsHelper team bravely take risks at every moment. They understand that the consequences of such actions can be very unexpected but that’s their style.
No risk, no reward.
They have experienced firsthand how well some risks can pay off and they continue with this approach until today.
It’s important to get out of one’s comfort zone every so often or you’ll never discover new business opportunities.
Don’t play safe. Instead, try something different and you might get amazing results like the guys of AdsHelper have had.
Takeaway
- Your product should have several key value propositions.
- Teamwork is crucial for the growth of your business.
- Find a balance between what you have to do and what you want to do.
- Go on new adventures and try new things whenever possible.
- Give your clients something new which will add more value to them.
- Value should come first, then monetization.
- Appreciate and groom your company’s talents.
- Leave your comfort zone and take risks.
“If I’m driving down a road and see a destination that I dislike, I’d rather drive off a cliff. What’s ahead is already known but what happens over the cliff is unknown.”
– Jaff Low, Founder of AdsHelper
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