Community Question Mining
by Meltem Kuran Berkowitz • Head of Growth at Deel
Meltem is the Head of Growth at Deel, leading the company from less than $1M to $295M ARR in just three years while remaining EBITDA positive. She oversees a comprehensive growth strategy including paid ads, product marketing, content, community, and brand.
🎙️ Episode Context
Meltem shares the tactical playbook behind Deel's historic growth trajectory, focusing on low-cost channels like community engagement and a rigorous SEO framework. She discusses how to prioritize growth investments (building the skeleton before the makeup), the importance of operational discipline in content marketing, and how to build a culture of speed and ownership.
Problem It Solves
Acquiring early customers with zero or low budget.
Framework Overview
A tactic involving monitoring communities (Reddit, Quora, Twitter) for specific user problems and providing genuine help, treating early channels as support rather than sales.
🧠 Framework Structure
Identify the Watering Holes: Find whe...
Monitor Keywords: Set up alerts for p...
Add Value First: Answer the question ...
Soft Sell: Only link your solution if...
When to Use
Day 0 to Series A growth, or for highly specific B2B problem solving.
Common Mistakes
Posting 'Check out our product' links without providing context or value, leading to being banned from communities.
Real World Example
On day one at Deel, Meltem set up alerts for keywords like 'international hiring' on Reddit. The team manually answered questions about compliance and taxes, building trust before offering Deel as the tool.
Be someone people actually want to talk to... answer their question first, and then let them decide if they want to come with you.
— Meltem Kuran Berkowitz