Many consumer brands in competitive niches eventually hear the same refrain: “You’ve maxed out your market. There’s no more scale.”
That’s exactly what Salt Strong, a fast-growing saltwater fishing community, faced. Despite offering a thriving membership, exclusive coaching, and a one-of-a-kind “Smart Spots” app (think Waze for fishing), leadership was told that growth had hit a ceiling.
But as we’ve proven time and again, ceilings in marketing are usually just hidden bottlenecks. This is the story of how Tier 11 helped Salt Strong break through saturation, uncover scale at the local level, and achieve their best six months of revenue in more than a decade.
Salt Strong operates in the crowded fishing industry, where anglers have no shortage of free tips and communities on YouTube, forums, and social media. For a subscription-based model to work, the brand needed to demonstrate consistent value at scale.
By the time Tier 11 came onboard, Salt Strong faced:
Leadership worried they had tapped their market. Subscriber growth had stalled, forecasts were unreliable, and an unprofitable quarter loomed. For a brand promising anglers they could “find more fish and catch more fish,” missing growth targets risked undermining trust with both new and existing members.
When Tier 11 audited Salt Strong’s accounts, we quickly uncovered a critical gap: the CAC numbers they relied on were misleading. Without state-level visibility, they were overspending in unprofitable regions and underspending in high-potential ones.
To remove the bottlenecks, we deployed three key initiatives:
Tier 11 worked hand-in-hand with Salt Strong’s leadership, especially Mike and the Insider team, to ensure messaging resonated locally. Campaigns were tailored for anglers in Florida vs. Texas, recognizing the nuances of saltwater fishing in different regions.
The transformation was immediate and measurable. Comparing year-over-year:
Alongside subscription growth, we also strengthened event match quality in Meta:
For Salt Strong, the gains weren’t just about subscriber counts. The business impact was immediate: they pulled out of an unprofitable quarter, exceeded subscriber goals, and unlocked the ability to scale profitably in their most important markets.
Salt Strong went from flatlined growth to experiencing their best six months of revenue in 10 years, totaling $8.78M YTD, up from $7.97M the year prior.
Just as importantly, the results restored leadership’s confidence. Instead of worrying that churn would outpace growth, the team could plan targets with clarity and feel secure that their membership model could expand sustainably.
Looking ahead, Salt Strong is already investing in expanded local campaigns and new app features to fuel nationwide growth. With this foundation, they’re positioned not only to continue breaking revenue records but to move closer to their mission of becoming the most trusted saltwater fishing community in America.
“Tier Eleven has helped us reach more new customers than ever before by taking on the challenge of speaking to people at the local level. In our industry, location is paramount, and demonstrating our product works at a local level has unlocked the best returns we’ve seen in company history. Running and scaling countless local ad campaigns is certainly more work, but Tier 11 has taken on that challenge (at no extra cost) to deliver us results. In this regard they are going above and beyond for the good of our company.” — Mike, Salt Strong
When a market feels “tapped out,” the answer isn’t to accept limitations. It’s to remove bottlenecks with smarter data, disciplined creative, and a relentless focus on new customer growth.
That’s how Tier 11 helped Salt Strong unlock record scale and why this fishing community is now reeling in more members than ever.
Ready to see what scale looks like for your brand?