- 1 User publishes a page or form
- 2 Visitors see a "Made with" badge
- 3 Curious visitor clicks to sign up
- 4 New user publishes their own
Repeats: each turn feeds the next
Many products create something other people see. Forms are filled in by respondents. Landing pages are visited by customers. Newsletters land in inboxes. Booking pages, invoices, portfolios and documents all get opened by people who are not your users yet. A “made with” or “powered by” link on that output turns every view into a small, relevant ad. It fits SaaS tools and creator platforms whose users publish, send or share their work.
Why it works
The badge shows up at the best possible moment: right when the viewer is experiencing what the product can do. They do not need to imagine the result, because they are looking at it. The link also carries an implied endorsement. Someone they know or buy from chose this tool, which makes it feel safer to try than a cold ad would.
The economics are simple. Distribution grows with usage, at almost no cost. The more your users publish, the more people see the badge. Each new user who signs up from a badge then publishes their own output, which carries the badge to a fresh audience. That self-reinforcing loop is why this tactic has powered growth for many publishing and communication tools.
How to do it
- List every surface viewers see. Public pages, form footers, email footers, PDF exports, embeds, booking confirmations and share previews. Rank them by how many non-users see them each month.
- Write short, specific copy. “Made with [Product]” or “Create your own form with [Product]” works better than a bare logo. Name what the viewer could make.
- Design for the host’s brand. Keep the badge small, neutral and at the edge. Offer light and dark versions so it never clashes with the user’s design.
- Link to a matching landing page. Send form viewers to a page about forms, booking page viewers to a page about booking. Pre-fill a template close to what they just saw if you can.
- Tag every link. Add UTM parameters that record the surface and the referring account, so you can see which outputs and which users drive signups.
- Decide plan rules openly. Keep the badge on free plans and say so on your pricing page. Let paid plans remove it, or offer it as an upgrade perk.
- Reward users who keep it. Some products give credit or perks to users whose badge brings in new signups. This turns a requirement into something they choose.
- Test the details. Try wording, placement and the destination page, and measure clicks and signups for each version.
Example
TechCrunch published an excerpt from Adam Penenberg’s book Viral Loop describing how Hotmail grew after launch in 1996. Investor Tim Draper pushed the founders to add a line at the bottom of every outgoing message inviting recipients to get their own free email account. The founders resisted at first because they worried about cluttering people’s mail, then agreed to a simpler version of the line. According to the excerpt, signups jumped within hours of the change, because every email a user sent now advertised the service to people who trusted the sender.
A modern hypothetical: a free form builder adds “Make your own form in two minutes” under every submitted form, linking to a template gallery. Each event organiser who shares a sign-up form exposes the tool to dozens of attendees, a few of whom later need a form of their own.
Metrics to track
- Badge impressions. How many times the badge is shown to non-users each month. This should rise with active usage.
- Badge click-through rate. Clicks divided by impressions, broken down by surface. Use it to compare placements and wording.
- Signups from badges. New accounts with a badge UTM. Track them as a share of total signups to see how much of your growth the loop drives.
- Activation of badge signups. The share of badge signups who publish their own output. If this is high, the loop is compounding.
- Badge removal rate. The share of paying users who turn the badge off. A sharp rise can mean the design is hurting their brand.
When it backfires
- Ugly or loud badges. A bright banner on a customer’s checkout page makes your product look like a free toy and pushes users to competitors.
- Forced on paying customers. Businesses paying for a professional tool resent advertising you on their output. Give them control.
- Wrong context. A badge on an invoice or a legal document can seem unprofessional. Skip surfaces where it feels out of place.
- Generic destinations. Sending curious visitors to a crowded homepage wastes their intent. Match the landing page to what they saw.
- Hidden tracking. Logging personal data about viewers through the badge without disclosure creates privacy and legal risk.
Questions people ask
Should paying customers be able to remove the badge?
Many products let paid plans remove or replace it, and customers expect that. Keep it on free plans, where it pays for the free usage, and consider leaving it on by default for paid plans with an easy off switch.
Where should the badge link go?
Send clicks to a landing page that shows the kind of output the visitor just saw, with a way to start making one immediately. A generic homepage wastes the context.
Will a badge hurt my users' brand?
It can if it is loud or ugly. Keep it small, neutral in colour and placed at the edge of the output, such as the footer of a page or the last line of an email.