GrowSmarter
GrowSmarter is a German-language online growth magazine and content platform, operated by Schwerin-based digital agency MANDARIN MEDIEN, publishing monthly interviews, dossiers and case studies on Online Marketing and New Work for DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) marketing and HR professionals via a weekly newsletter and owned social channels.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersSchwerin, Germany
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What GrowSmarter does
GrowSmarter is a German-language online growth magazine and content platform covering Online Marketing and New Work topics for a DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) audience of marketing, HR, employer-branding, coaching and recruiting professionals. Launched in September 2018 as a brand of the Schwerin-based digital agency MANDARIN MEDIEN Gesellschaft für digitale Lösungen mbH (HRB 10620, Amtsgericht Schwerin), the magazine publishes monthly interviews, guest contributions and 'Hack' case studies organized under two editorial pillars — Online Marketing (Conversion, Performance, Social Media, Kampagne, eCommerce) and New Work (Coaching, Benefits, Bildungsmarketing, Employer Branding, Recruiting, Teamwork) — and distributes via a weekly Monday newsletter (delivered through MailChimp with manual topic-level opt-in), RSS feed, and owned social profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. A 6-person editorial team, led by Hannes Hilbrecht (since October 2018) under publisher Kevin Friedersdorf, produces the content; later additions include strategist Gabriel Rath (from January 2020). The platform is built on Drupal and integrates Google Analytics, Google AdWords Conversion-Tracking, Facebook Pixel and standard social/video plugins, with GDPR-compliant data handling (DPO Sylvana Schreiber) but no public APIs, SDKs or developer-facing integrations.
GrowSmarter firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- GrowSmarter
- Legal name
- MANDARIN MEDIEN Gesellschaft für digitale Lösungen mbH
- Website
- https://growsmarter.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- GrowSmarter is a German-language online growth magazine and content platform, operated by Schwerin-based digital agency MANDARIN MEDIEN, publishing monthly interviews, dossiers and case studies on Online Marketing and New Work for DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) marketing and HR professionals via a weekly newsletter and owned social channels.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
GrowSmarter industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Publishing and Content Marketing
- NAICS
- Periodical Publishers (513120)
- SIC
- Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Influencer & Creator Marketing (BPAFAAAG)
Keywords
Where GrowSmarter is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Schwerin
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
GrowSmarter business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Sponsored Cases: Clearly labelled paid case studies that appear among organic content and are promoted on the site's overview pages; limited to roughly one slot per month.
- Themen-Presenter (topic sponsorship): Sponsorship of a defined topic area (e.g. 'Teamwork' under New Work, 'Social Media' under Online Marketing) over several months or a year, aimed at conference organizers, tool developers, and specialized service providers.
- Pitch Your Job: Exclusive job-advertorial placements (one per week) where the ad must be creative and provide inspiration even to readers not job-hunting.
- Die Vision (homepage auction): Monthly auction for sole homepage presentation rights; highest bidder wins. Half of the auction revenue is donated to a digital-education project chosen by the winning advertiser.
- Free newsletter subscriptions: Newsletter delivered every Monday is free; revenue model is audience-based, supporting the paid advertising formats above.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Monthly | Sponsored Case — paid editorial-style case study, limited to ~1/month |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Themen-Presenter — multi-month sponsorship of a topic area |
| Other | Monthly | Pitch Your Job — exclusive weekly job advertorial |
| Other | Monthly | Die Vision — monthly homepage auction |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free editorial Hack submission for small businesses / Mittelstand |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
GrowSmarter product offering
Product offeringCore offering
GrowSmarter operates a German-language online growth magazine and platform that publishes monthly interviews, guest contributions and curated 'hacks' across two editorial pillars: Online Marketing (Conversion, Performance, Social Media, Kampagne, eCommerce) and New Work (Coaching, Benefits, Bildungsmarketing, Employer Branding, Recruiting, Teamwork). The free editorial product is monetized through four paid advertising/sponsorship formats (Pitch Your Job, Themen-Presenter, Sponsored Case, Die Vision) sold directly to advertisers seeking access to the DACH marketing and New Work professional audience.
Product overview
GrowSmarter is a single integrated German-language online growth magazine plus content platform — not a modular SaaS product suite. Its core offering is the GrowSmarter Magazin, a website that publishes monthly interviews, guest posts and "hacks" across the two editorial pillars Online Marketing (Conversion, Performance, Social Media, Kampagne, eCommerce) and New Work (Coaching, Benefits, Bildungsmarketing, Employer Branding, Recruiting, Teamwork). Sitting on top of this core publication are four paid sponsorship/advertising formats — Pitch Your Job, Themen-Presenter, Sponsored Case and Die Vision — which together make up the monetization layer. Around the core magazine, GrowSmarter runs recurring editorial features (the dossier series such as Dossier Kommunikation, Dossier Marken, Experten-Dossier E-Commerce, the #BusinessBall column, the #MADEinMV Top 10, the Corona Hacks live blog, and the Ein Land. Eine Kurve campaign) and an opt-in weekly Newsletter delivered via MailChimp.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- GrowSmarter: GrowSmarter is the growth magazine and platform brand of MANDARIN MEDIEN, covering Online Marketing and New Work topics via articles, interviews, guest contributions and hacks for a German-speaking audience.
Products and services
- GrowSmarter Magazin (Online Marketing & New Work) Free German-language online growth magazine and platform publishing monthly interviews, guest posts, and curated 'hacks' across Online Marketing (Conversion, Performance, Social Media, Kampagne, eCommerce) and New Work (Coaching, Benefits, Bildungsmarketing, Employer Branding, Recruiting, Teamwork) topics for DACH marketing and New Work professionals.
- GrowSmarter Newsletter Free weekly Monday email newsletter ('GrowSmarter-Ausgabe') delivered via MailChimp; subscribers manually select which subtopic tracks (Online Marketing and/or New Work areas) they want to receive, enabling topic-level customization.
- Pitch Your Job Exclusive weekly sponsored job-advertorial placement (one slot per week) where the advertisement must be creative and provide inspiration even to readers who are not job-hunting; aimed at recruiters, HR departments, and employers targeting the DACH marketing and New Work audience.
- Themen-Presenter Multi-month or annual sponsorship of a defined topic area (e.g. 'Teamwork' under New Work, 'Social Media' under Online Marketing), aimed at conference organizers, tool developers, and specialized service providers seeking sustained visibility within a topic vertical.
- Sponsored Case Paid editorial-style case study clearly labelled as sponsored, with roughly one slot per month; promoted on the site's overview pages and distributed across GrowSmarter's channels for advertisers seeking branded content integration.
- Die Vision Monthly homepage presentation awarded to the highest-bidding company in a monthly auction; half of the revenue is donated to digital-education projects selected by the winning advertiser, combining brand visibility with purpose-driven giving.
Quantifiable outcome
- Operates a 6-person editorial team producing monthly dossiers and a weekly Monday newsletter across two topic verticals (Online Marketing and New Work).
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use GrowSmarter
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
GrowSmarter technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability5 records
Feature3 records
GrowSmarter partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- MailChimp (Rocket Science Group LLC)coreMailChimp powers GrowSmarter's weekly newsletter delivery. A Data-Processing-Agreement is in place. MailChimp is EU-US Privacy-Shield certified and processes open/click tracking via web-beacons.
- Google (Analytics, AdWords, Web Fonts, YouTube)coreGoogle Analytics (with IP anonymization and demographic features) and Google AdWords Conversion Tracking are used for site analytics and ad measurement. Google Web Fonts serves typography. YouTube and Google+ plugins are embedded for video and social.
- Facebook (Meta)coreFacebook Like/Share plugins, Facebook Pixel for conversion measurement and Custom Audiences remarketing are integrated on growsmarter.de to support social visibility and ad measurement.
- mymuesliminorGrowSmarter collaborated with mymuesli on a special 'GrowSmarter Müsli' edition created via the mymuesli online configurator. The article 'E-Commerce ist Teil unserer DNA' is an in-depth interview with mymuesli co-founder Max Wittrock.
- Christoph Magnussen & Michael Trautmann (On The Way To New Work podcast)minorGrowSmarter editor Hannes Hilbrecht features an interview with Christoph Magnussen; GrowSmarter curates and amplifies the 'On The Way To New Work' podcast within its recommended podcasts list.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
GrowSmarter competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Personio: European HR SaaS platform focused on recruiting, employer branding and people operations — closely adjacent to GrowSmarter's New Work vertical (Recruiting, Employer Branding, Coaching). Overlaps in target buyer (DACH HR leaders) rather than directly competing in publishing.
Direct peers
- Internet World: German B2B magazine for e-commerce and digital commerce professionals. Closely overlaps with GrowSmarter's eCommerce and Kampagne verticals and the same DACH advertising ecosystem.
- Absatzwirtschaft: German marketing and sales trade magazine from the Handelsblatt Group. Shares the DACH marketing professional readership and advertiser base with GrowSmarter.
- Lead Digital: German trade magazine covering digital marketing, agencies and platforms. Targets the same advertising-buyer readership as GrowSmarter's Online Marketing topics.
- t3n: German-language digital business magazine covering digital transformation, marketing and tech for a professional audience. Comparable content model (editorial articles, dossiers, newsletters) and overlapping advertiser base in DACH marketing.
- Gründerszene: German online magazine for the startup and digital business ecosystem, now part of Business Insider DE. Overlaps with GrowSmarter's audience of DACH digital marketers and online marketing professionals.
- Horizont: Leading German trade magazine for marketing, media and advertising professionals. Competes for the same DACH marketer readership and advertising budgets as GrowSmarter's Online Marketing vertical.
- W&V (Werben & Verkaufen): Long-established German marketing and advertising trade publication. Targets the same DACH marketing decision-maker audience and operates a comparable advertising-supported editorial model.
- OMR (Online Marketing Rockstars): German content, event and podcast platform targeting marketing professionals — directly comparable in audience (DACH marketers) and business model (editorial + events + advertising). Both operate as marketing-media brands monetized through advertiser relationships in the same geography.
Broad incumbents
- Heise Online: Established German tech and digital publisher with a much broader scope (IT, developer, science, business). Comparable publishing-and-advertising business model at significantly larger scale, with overlapping DACH professional readership.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
GrowSmarter social profiles
Digital presenceGrowSmarter compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
GrowSmarter financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
GrowSmarter leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
GrowSmarter funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
GrowSmarter M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about GrowSmarter
What does GrowSmarter do?
GrowSmarter operates a German-language online growth magazine and platform that publishes monthly interviews, guest contributions and curated 'hacks' across two editorial pillars: Online Marketing (Conversion, Performance, Social Media, Kampagne, eCommerce) and New Work (Coaching, Benefits, Bildungsmarketing, Employer Branding, Recruiting, Teamwork). The free editorial product is monetized through four paid advertising/sponsorship formats (Pitch Your Job, Themen-Presenter, Sponsored Case, Die Vision) sold directly to advertisers seeking access to the DACH marketing and New Work professional audience.
Is GrowSmarter a public or private company?
GrowSmarter is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was GrowSmarter founded?
GrowSmarter was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is GrowSmarter based?
GrowSmarter is headquartered in Schwerin, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does GrowSmarter make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Sponsored Cases are the primary driver. The others are themen-Presenter (topic sponsorship), pitch Your Job, die Vision (homepage auction) and free newsletter subscriptions.
Who are GrowSmarter's main competitors?
Personio is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Internet World, Absatzwirtschaft, Lead Digital, t3n, Gründerszene, Horizont, W&V (Werben & Verkaufen) and OMR (Online Marketing Rockstars). Heise Online is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does GrowSmarter have an API?
No public API is recorded for GrowSmarter.
What industry is GrowSmarter in?
GrowSmarter's product category is Online Publishing and Content Marketing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAAAG, Influencer & Creator Marketing. Its NAICS code is 513120 and its SIC code is 2721.