Marketing plan, 26 Oct 2026 to 24 Jan 2027
Agencies first: they pay now and bring their travellers. Fix the sign-in wall before any paid consumer spend.
Owners: Founder engineer · Judy product manager · Vaibhav Head of Sales, commission-only. Written 22 Oct 2026.
Target marks a 90-day target. Assumption marks a figure we have not confirmed.
1By 22 Jan 2027: five paying agencies, 15 live departures, 250 monthly active people
Paying agencies Target
1→5
Today: Raasta Theory ($50 token paid 21 Oct).
Live departures listed on WanderBuddy Target
0→15
Today: none on record. Five agencies at about three live departures each.
Monthly active people Target
54→250
Today: 54 signed-in people in the last 30 days, of 138 accounts.
What five agencies are worth, at founding prices
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Recurring: Raasta $40 + four founding agencies at $100 | $440 a month |
| Setup fees: Raasta $240 + four at $500 | $2,240 once |
| Bookings: 3% of each booking, taken from the deposit, once deposits ship | Not counted |
| Consumer Premium: every early user has free founder access | Not counted |
Where 250 monthly active people come from Assumption
| Source | People |
|---|---|
| Today's base | 54 |
| Travellers on agency departures (15 departures, about 8 each) | 120 |
| Sign-in fix: lose under 20 at the door, not 54 | 35 |
| 2.0 launch, reels, Reddit, captains, the winning ad set | 41 |
| Total | 250 |
0Step zero: fix the sign-in wall before any paid consumer spend
54 installs opened the app in the last 30 days and never signed in. That equals our whole monthly active base. Fixing it is worth more than paid spend right now.
The leak, last 30 days
| Step | People |
|---|---|
| Opened the app, never signed in | 54 |
| of them on Android | 38 |
| of them on iOS | 16 |
| of them reached sign up | 10 |
| of them tried a password reset | 10 |
| Signed-in monthly active people, for scale | 54 |
Works when
| Measure | Today | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Opened, never signed in, last 30 days | 54 | under 20 |
| Password resets that end signed in | Not on record | 8 in 10 |
Target both rows.
The fix, in order
| # | Do this | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Split the 54 by the last screen they saw, per platform, on the dashboard. | Judy | Sun 25 Oct |
| 2 | Run password reset end to end on the store builds, Android and iOS. Ten people tried it. | Founder | Sun 25 Oct |
| 3 | Candidate: one-tap Google and Apple sign-in first on the screen, email below. Judy picks from step 1's data. | Founder | Next store build |
| 4 | Candidate: open a sample trip before asking for an account. Assumption today the first screen asks for an account. | Judy Founder | Next store build |
| 5 | Gate. No paid consumer ads until the fix is live in both stores and Events Manager shows store-build installs and sign-ups. If that is not true on Wed 28 Oct, move the $245 Meta test to the week it is. Do not buy installs into the leak. | Founder | Wed 28 Oct |
2Audiences: agencies first, then their travellers, then consumers
| # | Audience | Who exactly | Why in this order | 90-day number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agencies | Founder-led, 2 to 25 staff, sell Southeast Asia trips (Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia), 4+ departures a month, run every trip on WhatsApp and a PDF. Test: they answer "what time is pickup tomorrow?" 20+ times a week. | Money now: $100 a month and $500 setup for the founding five. Each departure brings 2 to 12 travellers into the free app. October to March is their peak season. | 1 → 5 paying Target |
| 2 | Travellers on agency departures | People booked on a paying agency's departure. | Marketplace demand that arrives on a real trip, already paid for. 3% of every booking once departures sell on WanderBuddy. Some start their own trip next. | 15 live listings Target |
| 3 | Consumers via 2.0 | Organisers, reel savers, friend groups, solo travellers. Later in the quarter: captains, people who already rally groups. | The organic loop and the launch story. Paid spend waits for step zero and verified events. | 54 → 250 active Target |
3Channels: what we do, who owns it, what it costs, how we know it works
Cost columns are a month: Bootstrap / Funded.
Agencies
| Channel | What we do | Cadence | Owner | $ a month | Works when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder-to-founder outreach | Work business/b2b/outreach/tracker.csv, refill with ICP score 70+ only. Instagram DM and WhatsApp from the founder's own accounts, email from headofsales@. Three touches: day 0, +3, +6. A person sends every message. |
20 new prospects a week Assumption | Vaibhav email Founder DMs, demos |
$0 / $0 | Reply 15%+, demo 6%+ of contacted (scale bars in HYPOTHESIS_TEST.md) |
| Qualified call ads | Meta ads to /partners/call, never the homepage, with UTM tags. Only bookings from 4+ trips a month reach the calendar and Meta (Conversions API). Optimise on "Qualified agency call" once the first real lead lands. |
Always on from week 2 | Founder ads Vaibhav calls |
$200 / $1,700 | Under $50 a qualified call, 70%+ show Assumption |
| Calls into ad angles | After every call, paste notes or record a debrief in /crm, press Extract. The next ad batch uses their exact words. |
Every call; new ads every 2 weeks | Vaibhav notes Founder ads |
$0 / $0 | Cost per qualified call falls batch over batch |
| Raasta proof | Case study with real numbers from their first departure: questions answered, hours saved. Ask for two founder intros once the trip lands. | Once, then monthly | Judy writes Founder asks |
$0 / $0 | 2 intros, 1 signed |
| Founder video | 60 seconds, phone-shot, on /partners/call (the open item in CALL_FUNNEL.md). |
Once, week 4 | Founder | $0 / $0 | Page-to-booking rate on the /crm funnel strip |
| Agency posts | LinkedIn and Instagram posts on running group trips on WhatsApp, built from call quotes. | 2 a week | Judy drafts Founder posts |
$0 / $0 | Inbound DMs and bookings tagged organic |
| Comment-to-DM and Boost a trip demo | Run both live on @wanderbuddyapp with $5 budgets. Record for demos and App Review. Spec only today. | Once built | Founder | $20 / $50 | Shown in every demo after it exists |
| In-person agency week | One Southeast Asia hub, ten founder meetings booked ahead. Funded only. | Once, week 11 | Founder Vaibhav | $0 / $1,500 once | 10 meetings, 2 signed Assumption |
Travellers on agency departures
| Channel | What we do | Cadence | Owner | $ a month | Works when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Join link on every departure | Each departure gets its /go/<code> link and the WhatsApp assistant, sent by the agency in its own name. |
Every departure | Judy | $0 / $0 | 50%+ open the link, 30%+ message the assistant |
| A listing per departure | Price, seats left, Hold my spot into the agency's CRM inbox. The agency puts the link in its bio and DMs. | Every departure, once listings are live | Founder ships Judy onboards |
$0 / $0 | 15 live listings, 10 holds a week by week 13 |
| Deposits on WanderBuddy | 3% of each booking, taken out of the deposit. Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand agencies first (Stripe Connect). | Once built | Founder | $0 / $0 | First paid booking through WanderBuddy |
| Boost credit | $150 off the bill for each signed agency's first Boost a trip. Ad spend stays on the agency's own ad account. Funded only. | Once Boost a trip exists | Founder | $0 / $250 | Holds per boosted departure beat unboosted ones |
| After the trip | Trip reel, rating, then "Plan the next one?" to every traveller. | Every finished departure | Judy | $0 / $0 | Travellers who start their own trip |
Consumers (2.0)
| Channel | What we do | Cadence | Owner | $ a month | Works when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step zero: sign-in wall | Section 0 above. Comes before every paid line below. | Now | Founder Judy | $0 / $0 | Never signed in: 54 → under 20 |
| 2.0 launch | "What colour is your trip?" Teaser Sat 24 Oct, launch Tue 27 Oct on Instagram, TikTok, X, Reddit and LinkedIn. In-app note to current users. | Launch week | Judy queues Founder posts |
$0 / $0 | Launch-week sign-ups beat the week before |
| Four headlines | Organiser: "Your group chat is not a travel plan." Reel savers: "WhatsApp a reel. It's on your map." Groups: "One clip each. One reel for the trip." Solo: "Going alone? Tap Just me." Real app UI, one headline on screen. Approve-then-post through the heartbeat queue. | 3 reels a week | Judy queue Founder films |
$0 / $800 | Saves, shares and colour replies per reel |
| Reel of the week | Repost one trip reel a user shared out themselves, with credit. | Weekly from 3 Nov | Judy | $0 / $0 | 10 reels shared out a week Assumption |
| Reddit answers | Answer-first, by the rules in marketing/heartbeat/reddit-playbook.md. |
2 a week | Founder | $0 / $0 | Sign-ups tagged Reddit |
| Meta install test | The three ad sets in META_AUTOMATIONS.md section 11: airport, at the destination, planning a trip. $35 a day for 7 days. |
28 Oct to 3 Nov, behind both gates | Founder | $245 once | Under $4 a sign-up; pause any ad set at 2x the cheapest Assumption |
| Winning ad set | Only the ad set that passed. Switch to the sign-up event at about 50 sign-ups a week. | 23 Nov to 22 Jan | Founder | about $130 / $1,380 | Stays under $4 a sign-up; stop at $8 |
| Captains | Creators and community leads who already run group trips list one; we take 5% of each seat sold. Drafts from marketing/creator-outreach; a person sends each. |
Drafts week 8, sends week 11 | Founder | $0 / $600 once | 3 captains with a listed trip |
413 weeks, anchored on the 2.0 launch
| Week | Agencies | Travellers and listings | Consumers (2.0) | Gate or read-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Now 22 to 25 Oct |
Set Raasta's CRM login handover date; their $40 a month starts then. Queue the first 20 prospects. | Set up Raasta's first departure: join link and assistant. | Step zero starts. Teaser Sat 24 Oct. | Check Events Manager for store-build installs and sign-ups. |
| W1 26 Oct to 1 Nov |
Agency post: what 2.0 gives their travellers. Touch 1 to 20 prospects. | List Raasta's departures with Hold my spot, if listings are live. | Launch Tue 27 Oct. "What colour is your trip?" on every channel. In-app note to users. | Wed 28 Oct: Meta test starts only if the sign-in fix is live and events show. |
| W2 2 to 8 Nov |
Call ads on, to /partners/call. Touches 2 and 3. |
Watch the first departure: link opens and assistant messages. | Weekly rhythm from Tue 3 Nov: 3 reels, Reel of the week, 2 Reddit answers. | Wed 4 Nov: read the Meta test. |
| W3 9 to 15 Nov |
First ad batch from call notes. 20 prospects. | Raasta case study draft. Ask for two founder intros. | Reels: organiser and reel saver headlines. | |
| W4 16 to 22 Nov |
Founder video live on the call page. Close agencies 2 and 3. | A listing for every departure of every signed agency. | Reels: groups and solo headlines. Weekly rhythm window ends 22 Nov. | |
| W5 23 to 29 Nov |
Case study in every follow-up. Second ad batch. 20 prospects. | Holds land in each agency's CRM inbox; reply the same day. | Winning ad set on, only if it passed. | Mon 23 Nov read-out: scale, iterate or kill each channel. Release the reserve. |
| W6 30 Nov to 6 Dec |
Close agency 4. Comment-to-DM demo, if built. | Funded: Boost credit on each signed agency's first listing. | New Year trip reels. | |
| W7 7 to 13 Dec |
Last full outbound week before peak trips. 20 prospects. | First deposit through WanderBuddy, if deposits are live. | 3 reels, Reel of the week, Reddit. | |
| W8 14 to 20 Dec |
Follow-ups only. Draft 20 captain invites. | Trip reels and ratings from live departures, with consent. | Holiday group trip reels. | |
| W9 21 to 27 Dec |
No new outbound Assumption owners are on trips. | "Plan the next one?" to travellers back home. | Reel of the week only. | Mon 21 Dec: scoreboard check. |
| W10 28 Dec to 3 Jan |
Refresh the list: 40 new prospects scoring 70+ with a new-season trigger. | Ask each agency for its February and March departures. | New Year reels users shared out. | |
| W11 4 to 10 Jan |
January push: "Run your February and March departures on WanderBuddy." New ad batch. Funded: in-person agency week. | List the Q1 departures. | Send captain invites. | |
| W12 11 to 17 Jan |
Close agency 5. Case studies 2 and 3. | 15 live listings. | 3 captains list a trip. | |
| W13 18 to 24 Jan |
Founding five full. Decide what agency 6 pays (ladder in FRAMEWORK.md). |
Count holds, bookings and travellers who started a trip. | Reel of the week. | Fri 22 Jan: 90-day read-out. Write the next 90 days. |
Every Monday, 30 minutes, all three of us: read the scoreboard, move money only at the read-outs.
5Budget: $1,500 Bootstrap or $15,000 Funded over 90 days
Bootstrap is $500 a month. Funded is the plan case, $5,000 a month for months 1 to 3, and starts only when the round is in the bank. Vaibhav's commission comes out of agency revenue, not this table.
| Where the money goes | Bootstrap, 90 days | Funded, 90 days | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agencies and their departures | |||
Qualified call ads to /partners/call | $600 | $5,100 | From week 2, always on |
| Boost a trip: our $5 demos, plus Funded $150 credits for up to five agencies' first boosts | $60 | $900 | Once Boost a trip is built |
| In-person agency week, one Southeast Asia hub, travel and stay Assumption | $0 | $1,500 | Week 11 |
| Subtotal | $660 (44%) | $7,500 (50%) | |
| Consumers | |||
| Meta installs: $245 test, then only the winning ad set | $500 | $3,000 | Test behind both gates; winner from 23 Nov |
| Video: freelance editor and generation credits, each batch quoted and approved first | $0 | $2,400 | From week 2 |
| Captain seeding: boost credits for the first three captain trips | $0 | $600 | Weeks 11 to 13 |
| Subtotal | $500 (33%) | $6,000 (40%) | |
| Shared | |||
| Tools: post scheduling, email checks Assumption check what is already paid | $90 | $300 | Monthly |
| Reserve, released to the winning channel | $250 | $1,200 | 23 Nov and 21 Dec |
| Subtotal | $340 (23%) | $1,500 (10%) | |
| Total | $1,500 | $15,000 | $500 or $5,000 a month |
If the Meta test fails or step zero slips, its unspent money moves to call ads, not to more consumer ads.
6Scoreboard: read every Monday
| KPI | Read in | Today | 90-day target Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agencies | |||
| New ICP prospects contacted | tracker.csv | 120 on the list | 20 a week Assumption |
| Reply rate after three touches | tracker.csv | Not on record | 15%+ |
| Qualified calls booked | /crm funnel strip | Not on record (live since 20 Oct) | 3 a week by week 6 |
| Calls showed | /crm | Not on record | 70%+ Assumption |
| Cost per qualified call | Ads Manager | Not on record | under $50 Assumption |
| Paying agencies | /crm won | 1 | 5 |
| Agency recurring revenue | /crm signed | $0 (Raasta's $40 starts at handover) | $440 a month |
| Setup fees collected | /crm signed | $50 | $2,240 |
| Travellers on agency departures | |||
| Live departures listed | CRM departures | 0 on record | 15 |
| Travellers who open the join link | Dashboard, per departure | Not on record | 50%+ |
| Travellers who message the assistant | Dashboard, per departure | Not on record | 30%+ |
| Holds a week | CRM inbox | 0 on record | 10 Assumption |
| Bookings paid through WanderBuddy | Stripe | 0 | First 5, if deposits ship |
| Consumers | |||
| Opened, never signed in, last 30 days | Dashboard | 54 (38 Android, 16 iOS) | under 20 |
| Monthly active people | Dashboard | 54 | 250 |
| Weekly active people | Dashboard | 13 | 80 |
| Daily active people | Dashboard | 4 | 25 |
| Total accounts | Dashboard | 138 | 500 |
| Cost per sign-up, Meta | Events Manager | Not measurable yet | under $4 Assumption |
| Trip reels shared out a week | Dashboard | Not on record | 10 Assumption |
7What we will not do this quarter
| We will not | Because |
|---|---|
| Relaunch on Product Hunt | We launched there on 7 Sep 2026. 2.0 goes out on our own channels and to our own users. |
| Run paid consumer ads before events are verified and the sign-in fix is live | Without store-build events Meta cannot count installs or exclude current users. Paid installs would hit the same wall as the 54. |
| Point agency ads at the homepage | Ads go to /partners/call: one promise, one button, and only qualified agencies reach the calendar. |
| Advertise anything unshipped | Ads show real app UI only. Check NOT_SHIPPED in website/src/lib/site.ts first. Lead with group voting and reels, not the AI planner. |
| Cold-message from the WanderBuddy WhatsApp Business number, or use auto-DM and bulk tools | Messages we start there need the person's opt-in; one cold message risks the account every agency's assistant runs on. |
| Repost a reel nobody shared out | Reel of the week uses only reels people shared out themselves. |
| Sell "meet other travellers" | Solo-friendly, not solo-first. The solo line is "Going alone? Tap Just me." |
| Promise agencies ad results, a cost per booking, or Meta approval dates | None of them are ours to promise (META_AUTOMATIONS.md section 9). |
| Take a cut of agencies' ad spend | We sell software. Ad spend stays on the agency's own account. |
| Discount below the founding row again | Raasta's deal bought the case study. Agencies 2 to 5 pay $100 a month and $500 setup. |
| Push Premium | Every early user has free founder access. Premium is not in the model. |
| Hire for engineering or product, or pay a marketing agency retainer | The team is the founder, Judy and Vaibhav. |
| Spread to new regions | Southeast Asia trips only, the same as the ICP. |
Assumptions to confirm before week 2
| # | Assumption | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 new prospects a week, for about 10 working weeks. No new outbound 21 Dec to 3 Jan. | Vaibhav |
| 2 | One in three demos becomes a paying agency, so about 12 demos make four new agencies. | Vaibhav |
| 3 | A qualified agency call costs under $50 on Meta and 70% of booked calls show. | Founder |
| 4 | A consumer sign-up from Meta costs under $4; stop at $8. | Founder |
| 5 | Today the app's first screen asks for an account before showing anything. | Judy |
| 6 | No departures are listed yet: Community listings are not confirmed live in the database. | Founder |
| 7 | Deposits (Stripe Connect) may not ship this quarter, so the bookings target is conditional. | Founder |
| 8 | Raasta's $50 token counts toward its $240 setup. | Founder |
| 9 | Judy owns the content queue and the scoreboard. | Judy |
| 10 | Each departure brings about 8 travellers who sign in; it drives the 250 target. | Judy |
| 11 | Tools cost $30 a month Bootstrap and $100 Funded; the in-person week costs $1,500. | Founder |
| 12 | 10 holds a week and 10 reels shared out a week by week 13. | Judy |
Sources: marketing/GROWTH_PLAN.md, CRM/META_AUTOMATIONS.md, CRM/CALL_FUNNEL.md, CRM/FRAMEWORK.md, business/b2b/outreach/, business/b2b/WanderBuddy_B2B_ICP.md, investor deck v7 model slide, dashboard numbers for the last 30 days as of 22 Oct 2026.