Grammarly’s Clever Black Friday Offer

Grammarly found a clever way to reach its users during Black Friday. By using its Chrome extension, it offered discounts at just the right moment: when users started writing. This approach made their promotion impossible to miss and highly effective.

Grammarly’s Chrome extension is widely used:

• Over 48 million users rely on it.

• The extension has 42.6k reviews with an average rating of 4.5 stars.

• It offers writing assistance, correcting grammar, spelling, and more.

Grammarly's Generous Plan

Grammarly’s free version used to be very generous. It provided advanced writing help at no cost.

However, things changed when competitors like Jasper AI used OpenAI’s API to launch their own competing extensions that Grammarly took years to build in-house.

Grammarly limited the free features and required users to sign up for an account to use the extension.

These changes were due to fewer profits and more competition.

The Black Friday Offer: Smart and Timely

Grammarly used its extension to deliver a Black Friday discount exactly when users were most likely to see it: when they began typing.

The offer appeared immediately when users started writing and it usually happens when you start the Chrome Browser and type into any text area.

With millions of people using Grammarly daily, this ensured the deal reached a wide audience.

This strategy stands out as many Chrome extensions can’t do Black Friday offers this way.

Grammarly can because it runs in the background and activates whenever users type. This made the promotion feel natural and relevant.

Lessons for Other Chrome Extensions

Grammarly’s strategy offers a great example to:

• Use engagement moments: If your extension is always open or frequently used, try offering deals when users are active.

• Time offers wisely: Deliver promotions during high-usage times, such as the holiday season.

Extensions that integrate into daily habits, like Grammarly, are best suited for this approach.

Grammarly’s Black Friday campaign worked because it reached users at the perfect time. This strategy turned a simple discount into a memorable offer for millions.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

OpenAI o1 Pro probably has secret skills that no one does.

Maybe we average humans have reached our limits to understand what the models can actually do.

One level above and the models will be so good that we won't understand if they are bluffing or actually telling the truth.

2/

Before using AI, do it manually.

Do it multiple times.

Write down those prompts, test them, and only then automate it.

So many people skip steps 1 & 2. You can't automate what you don't understand.

3/

B2C Apps are the new get-rich-quick schemes.

You just need the right app and know how to unlock distribution on TikTok.

Rabbit Holes

1. She Makes 6-Figures Per Project (4-5 clients at a time) With AI by Greg Kamradt

2. An Open Course on LLMs, Led by Practitioners by Hamel Husain

3. Windsurf Cascade Leaked System prompt!! by /r/LocalLLaMA

What’d ya think of today’s newsletter? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know.

First time? Subscribe.

Follow me on X.

More Startup Spells 🪄

1. "Get Paid To Create" Platforms (LINK)

2. Nathan Latka's SaaS Data Collection Strategy (LINK)

3. Tbh Skincare Out-Trolling The Trolls (LINK)

4. Shopify Micro-SaaS: 0 to $25k MRR and 20k users in 14 months (LINK)