Who Is Wilco de Kreij?
Wilco de Kreij is a Dutch entrepreneur recognized for his innovative fusion of technology and marketing. His journey began at the age of 16, selling sunglasses online, where he learned a crucial lesson: the real challenge wasn’t the product; it was the marketing.
While he pursued higher education at places like Erasmus University Rotterdam, his most significant learning came from hands-on business experiments. This obsession with solving real-world problems led him to shift from e-commerce to developing the tools he wished he had, quickly establishing himself as a “marketing nerd” with a knack for untangling complex digital challenges. It’s this decades-long journey of identifying and solving the biggest bottlenecks for marketers that directly led to his latest venture, Winning Ads, which aims to solve what is arguably the hardest piece of the puzzle: creating ad creative that consistently converts.
Biography and Early Career
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In the early 2010s, Wilco made a name for himself in the internet marketing community by creating WordPress plugins and marketing solutions. A notable early venture was WP4FB (WordPress for Facebook), launched around 2011-2012. This plugin allowed businesses to create custom Facebook fan page apps and landing pages without needing to code. It introduced features like “like-gating” (revealing content only after a user liked a page) and easy email opt-in forms within Facebook, at a time when most solutions were either expensive or technically complex. Wilco’s one-time purchase model for WP4FB, with tiered licenses for power users, successfully undercut pricier subscription services and rapidly attracted thousands of business owners and marketers. This early success not only generated income but also solidified Wilco’s reputation as an innovator capable of identifying and filling gaps in the digital marketing toolkit.
Building on these early wins, Wilco transitioned from one-off plugins to the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. He explored various projects, such as a Facebook contest app called ZoSocial, and gained firsthand experience with the power of viral marketing. By the mid-2010s, he was ready to launch more scalable solutions. His early career is defined by a consistent pattern: identifying marketers’ pain points and swiftly developing products to address them – a pattern that would characterize his later ventures. According to Wilco, he realized that long-term success required moving beyond quick sales, famously noting that “selling something is easy, but getting people to actually use it and get ongoing value is way harder.” This philosophy guided his shift toward SaaS products that would be continuously improved, prioritizing user results over one-time sales.
Companies and Ventures
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Wilco de Kreij has founded and grown multiple companies, primarily in the online marketing and SaaS sectors. His consistent mission across these ventures has been to help small and medium businesses achieve “the marketing power of giants” by providing innovative tools and platforms. Below are the most significant ventures he has led:
UpViral (founded 2015)
UpViral is a referral marketing SaaS platform that enables businesses to run viral giveaways, contests, and reward programs to expand their audience and email lists. Wilco founded UpViral after observing a lack of user-friendly, email-focused giveaway tools in the market. The platform’s goal was to simplify viral marketing, making word-of-mouth referrals accessible to any business online. Launched in mid-2015 on the JVZoo platform, UpViral quickly became one of the top-selling products of that year, demonstrating significant market demand. Initially offered with a one-time purchase deal for early adopters, UpViral later transitioned to a subscription model, reflecting Wilco’s focus on delivering recurring value. Over time, he grew UpViral into the #1 referral marketing platform in its niche, serving more than 25,000 marketers worldwide and facilitating over 50 million leads generated for its clients as of the early 2020s. Wilco served as CEO, building a global team and leadership staff to manage daily operations. Under his guidance, UpViral expanded its features, including fraud detection, A/B testing, and rich analytics, and fostered a thriving community of users who regularly share success stories of exponential email list growth. UpViral’s business model has been subscription-based SaaS, supplemented by training resources like the “Viral Hacking” course to ensure customer success. In late 2023, Wilco sold UpViral to an acquirer after scaling it to a point where the platform operated largely independently of him. At the time of its acquisition, UpViral had users in over 150 countries and had become a “household name” in viral marketing for businesses.
Connectio (founded ~2015)
Connectio (Connectio.io) was Wilco’s other major venture, a SaaS company offering a suite of Facebook advertising tools. While UpViral focused on viral referral campaigns, Connectio’s mission was to automate and optimize Facebook Ads for improved results, especially for marketers and small businesses without advanced in-house ad tech. Wilco often notes that he ambitiously launched UpViral and Connectio simultaneously around 2015, effectively running two SaaS companies in parallel. Under the Connectio brand, he and his team developed a family of products – including ConnectExplore, ConnectLeads, ConnectAudience, ConnectRetarget, and ConnectAutomate – each addressing a specific pain point in Facebook marketing. Connectio’s primary target audience was Facebook advertisers and digital marketers seeking to save time, improve targeting, and increase ROI on their campaigns. The company’s growth was rapid: what began as a small “hobby project” evolved into a business with 45,000+ customers in 140+ countries and a team of 30+ employees at its peak. Connectio primarily used a subscription pricing model, with some tools offering lifetime licenses or monthly plans, and integrated with over 50 third-party marketing platforms to fit into customers’ existing workflows. Over the years, Connectio earned a strong reputation among online advertisers – notable marketing experts hailed Wilco as an “incredible, brilliant marketer” whose tools like ConnectLeads and ConnectRetarget were “amazing” for gaining an edge in Facebook advertising. Despite Connectio’s success, Wilco made the strategic decision in 2021 to let it go. He admitted that running two companies had divided his focus and that his passion had shifted more toward UpViral’s domain. In 2021, he sold Connectio to a new owner, ensuring a solid team and processes were in place to continue serving customers without his direct involvement. The Connectio brand (and its products) continue to operate under new management, but Wilco’s imprint remains in the form of the product vision and foundations he laid.
Emarky and Other Ventures
Wilco’s personal brand and holding company in recent years has been Emarky (emarky.net), through which he has incubated new ideas. Emarky serves as an umbrella for his activities after the sale of his main companies. It reflects Wilco’s ongoing mission to empower marketers: Emarky’s slogan, “Helping Small Businesses Get The Marketing Power of Giants,” encapsulates the goal behind all his projects. Under Emarky, Wilco has launched Marketing Shortcuts, an educational platform offering training and resources on online marketing best practices. Marketing Shortcuts was created to distill Wilco’s 20+ years of experience into actionable content for entrepreneurs, covering topics from paid traffic strategies to conversion optimization. Additionally, Wilco remains an active angel investor and mentor in the SaaS space (particularly after his exits, as noted in his 2023 review) – he has started to invest in other startups and share his knowledge with fellow entrepreneurs. Finally, early in his career (pre-UpViral), Wilco also founded and later sold a few smaller ventures and product launches (some via affiliate marketplaces). For example, he developed ViralOptins (a WordPress plugin for viral lead capture) and ZoSocial (a Facebook contest app) in the early 2010s. These were stepping stones – some were monetized or folded into later projects. In total, by 2023, Wilco had built and sold three startups (as he often mentions on social media) and impacted tens of thousands of customers with his software.
Business Model and Evolution
A common thread in Wilco de Kreij’s ventures is that he often bootstrapped them without significant outside funding. He relied on savvy internet marketing, such as affiliate launches, webinar promotions, and content marketing, to fuel growth. UpViral’s initial JVZoo launch, for instance, used an affiliate network to generate buzz and revenue quickly. Connectio’s products were frequently introduced via online marketing forums, email lists, and joint venture webinars, leveraging Wilco’s personal credibility in the community. Once a product gained traction, Wilco focused on converting it to a sustainable SaaS with recurring subscriptions, which provided stable growth. Both UpViral and Connectio eventually reached the point where they operated with dedicated teams and could scale internationally – at one point Wilco noted both businesses had users in 150+ countries combined. This scalability and solid customer base made them attractive acquisitions. By timing his exits well (Connectio in 2021, UpViral in 2023), Wilco demonstrated a strategic approach to the business lifecycle: build a valuable product, scale it, and exit on a high note to free up focus for the next challenge.
Key Products and Software
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Wilco de Kreij’s impact is best understood by examining the key software products he conceived and launched. These tools addressed specific needs in digital marketing – from viral contest growth to advanced Facebook ad targeting – and often broke new ground in their functionality. Below is an overview of Wilco’s major products, with details on what each does, the problems they solve, their unique features, and their market reception:
UpViral (2015)
What It Does: UpViral is a cloud-based platform for viral marketing campaigns – primarily giveaways, sweepstakes, and referral programs. It enables businesses to leverage word-of-mouth by rewarding people for referring others. For example, a company can run a contest where participants get additional entries (or prizes) for every friend they refer via a unique link. UpViral handles the tracking of referrals, the landing pages, and the email integrations needed for such campaigns.
Problem It Solves: Before UpViral, marketers struggled to create viral giveaway campaigns without custom coding or cobbling together multiple tools. Many “contest” tools focused only on social media engagement (likes/shares) and did not help build email lists. Wilco identified that gap: businesses wanted more leads and subscribers from contests, not just social followers. UpViral was built to make it easy to run campaigns that incentivize email sign-ups and referrals, thereby directly growing a mailing list and customer base.
Unique Features: UpViral’s standout features include a drag-and-drop campaign page builder, built-in fraud detection (to catch fake or duplicate entries), one-click social sharing for participants, and a robust referral tracking system. It also offers A/B split testing for campaign pages, automatic winner selection, and “custom actions,” which allow campaign owners to reward participants for tasks beyond referrals (such as posting on social media or answering a survey). UpViral integrates with popular email marketing services, allowing new leads to flow directly into the client’s email autoresponder. Another USP is the template library and training – Wilco’s team provided case studies and templates (e.g., viral contest templates that generated 100k+ leads) to help users hit the ground running. UpViral’s focus on both ease-of-use and advanced capabilities (for those who want to customize every detail) helped set it apart from earlier contest tools.
Reception and Market Impact: UpViral was met with enthusiasm in the marketing community. Upon launch in 2015, it reportedly became one of the most sold products on JVZoo, reflecting strong demand. Over the ensuing years, it grew into the leading referral marketing tool of its kind, boasting over 25,000 users worldwide and facilitating the generation of “well over 50 million leads” for businesses as of 2021. Many internet marketing influencers adopted UpViral for list-building campaigns, and it developed a vibrant Facebook user group where customers share viral campaign results and tips. UpViral’s brand became synonymous with viral giveaways – it is frequently recommended in growth hacking and digital marketing circles as a go-to solution for rapid list growth. The platform’s success also led Wilco to author a book called “The Viral Referral Method” in 2023, distilling the strategies behind UpViral campaigns into a methodology. Even after Wilco’s exit from the company in late 2023, UpViral continues to be a staple tool for marketers, which underscores the lasting market impact of the product he created.
ConnectExplore (2017)
What It Does: ConnectExplore is a Facebook interest targeting tool. It helps advertisers find hidden or niche interests on Facebook to target with ads – interests that are not easily discoverable through Facebook’s own Ads Manager suggestions. For example, instead of targeting broad interests like “fitness,” a marketer could use ConnectExplore to find specific interest keywords (e.g., names of niche fitness publications, communities, influencers) that have an audience on Facebook but face less competition from other advertisers.
Problem It Solves: Facebook’s advertising platform allows interest-based targeting, but it traditionally only suggests very obvious, high-competition interests. Many valuable interests are “hidden” – they exist in Facebook’s system but won’t show up unless searched exactly. Manually finding these requires a lot of guesswork or external research. ConnectExplore solved this by leveraging Facebook’s Ads API and Wilco’s proprietary methods to reveal a wealth of relevant interests that marketers would otherwise miss. By targeting these narrower interests, advertisers can reach highly relevant audiences with lower advertising costs, since fewer competitors are bidding for those terms.
Unique Features: The tool’s UI allows users to input a broad keyword and then returns a rich list of related interests (including many not shown in Facebook’s interface) that can be added to one’s ad targeting with one click. ConnectExplore also provides data on each interest (such as audience size) and lets users filter interests by topic or language – a feature that, for example, enables finding foreign-language interests to tap into less saturated local markets. It introduced “layering” of interests as well: an ability to find overlapping interest groups for more precise targeting. Additionally, ConnectExplore integrates directly with Facebook Ads Manager, meaning an advertiser can push a batch of selected interests into a live ad set instantly. This seamless workflow and the time saved in research are core selling points. Uniquely, ConnectExplore was offered as a one-time purchase lifetime license (uncommon for SaaS, but Wilco used this strategy to attract many users quickly) – it included a free trial of the broader Connectio suite but could function standalone. This pricing approach helped it spread fast among marketers.
Reception and Market Impact: Launched in January 2017, ConnectExplore was very well received, especially by Facebook marketers and agencies. It quickly amassed thousands of users (exact figures are proprietary, but it contributed significantly to Connectio’s 45k customer count by 2021) and became a staple recommendation for interest research. Reviews highlighted that it gave “an extremely powerful advantage” in ad targeting by uncovering interests competitors didn’t know about. By enabling advertisers to find untapped audiences, ConnectExplore often led to lower cost-per-click and higher ROI on ad campaigns – a crucial edge as Facebook ads grew more expensive. It also indirectly pushed competitors to improve; after ConnectExplore’s launch, other interest targeting tools and even Facebook’s own platform gradually expanded interest suggestions, validating the importance of what Wilco’s team had pioneered. ConnectExplore’s success solidified Connectio’s reputation and showed Wilco’s talent for spotting opportunities in the Facebook Ads ecosystem.
ConnectLeads (2015)
What It Does: ConnectLeads is a tool that integrates Facebook Lead Ads with email marketing systems. Facebook Lead Ads allow users on Facebook to fill out a lead form (e.g., to sign up for a newsletter or request a quote) directly within the Facebook app. ConnectLeads automatically sends those captured leads into the advertiser’s chosen CRM or autoresponder in real time. Essentially, it “connects” Facebook to dozens of email service providers, so marketers don’t have to manually export and import lead data.
Problem It Solves: When Facebook introduced Lead Ads around 2015, one challenge was that while it became easier to collect leads, getting those leads out of Facebook and into your own marketing funnel was cumbersome. Facebook would store new leads in a form library, and advertisers had to download CSV files and then upload them to their email system – a process that was manual and could delay follow-up to the new leads. Timely follow-up is crucial for conversion, so this gap meant lost sales opportunities. Wilco’s ConnectLeads, launched in late 2015 (soon after Lead Ads debuted), solved this by eliminating the delay and manual work. It ensured that the moment someone submits a Facebook lead form, they are automatically added to the advertiser’s email list or CRM, triggering any welcome emails or sales sequences immediately.
Unique Features: ConnectLeads offered a straightforward interface to map Facebook form fields to the fields in your email platform. It supported a wide range of email marketing services and CRMs (MailChimp, AWeber, InfusionSoft, HubSpot, etc.), reflecting Wilco’s emphasis on integration. A standout feature was the ability to auto-distribute unique coupon codes to new leads as soon as they opt in. For example, an e-commerce advertiser could promise a 10% off coupon for signing up via a Lead Ad – ConnectLeads would ensure each person immediately got their unique code via email. This drove higher conversion from lead to customer. Another selling point was that ConnectLeads made lead capture more mobile-friendly: because Facebook users’ information (like name and email) auto-populates in Lead Ad forms, it removed the friction of typing, especially on mobile devices. Wilco highlighted that many mobile users wouldn’t bother with long forms; ConnectLeads leveraged the one-tap opt-in aspect to dramatically boost sign-up rates. The software is cloud-based and doesn’t require any coding – a big advantage for small businesses. ConnectLeads was sold on a subscription (with a free 7-day trial), making it accessible to even solo marketers.
Reception and Market Impact: ConnectLeads was launched in October 2015 and was among the earliest solutions to bridge Facebook with external autoresponders. Its launch was met with excitement in the marketing community, as evidenced by many positive reviews and case studies of increased lead flow. By automating what was a tedious task, it became almost a “must-have” for anyone doing serious lead generation on Facebook. Competitors emerged (and Facebook’s API itself eventually allowed some direct integrations), but ConnectLeads maintained an edge by supporting a wide array of platforms and providing reliable syncing. Users often credit ConnectLeads with helping them maximize ROI from Facebook Lead Ads – because immediate follow-up via email significantly improved conversion rates of fresh leads. The tool also demonstrated Wilco’s foresight: he quickly capitalized on a new Facebook feature (Lead Ads) and built a supporting tool that Facebook hadn’t provided natively. ConnectLeads, along with ConnectAudience and ConnectRetarget (below), eventually became part of a bundle called the “ConnectSuite.” Even after Connectio’s sale, these tools remain in use; in fact, Facebook’s own marketing blog and third-party agency blogs have cited ConnectLeads as an example of enhancing Lead Ads workflows, marking its influence on best practices for lead-gen campaigns.
ConnectAudience (2016)
What It Does: ConnectAudience is a tool for retargeting and syncing audiences between email platforms and Facebook Ads. In essence, it takes your email subscriber list (from MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, etc.) and creates dynamic Facebook Custom Audiences from it – automatically and continuously. This means if someone is on your email list, you can show them ads on Facebook, and if someone unsubscribes or joins the list, ConnectAudience updates the Facebook audience accordingly. It marries email marketing with Facebook advertising to keep both channels in lockstep.
Problem It Solves: Prior to such tools, advertisers had to manually upload email lists to Facebook to create Custom Audience ads, and they had to re-upload updated lists periodically to keep them current. This was not only tedious but often led to out-of-sync data – for example, continuing to show Facebook ads to people who already unsubscribed or not adding new subscribers promptly. ConnectAudience automated this process. It ensured that your Facebook ads could, for instance, target all current newsletter subscribers (and exclude those who opted out) without manual effort. Additionally, it opened up sophisticated marketing tactics – like showing ads only to people who opened a certain email, or conversely, targeting those who didn’t open emails (to re-engage them on Facebook). By tapping into email engagement data and syncing it with Facebook, marketers could “segment and conquer” across platforms, which was a big leap in marketing automation.
Unique Features: ConnectAudience’s key feature is the continuous two-way sync between email systems and Facebook Custom Audiences. It integrates with over a dozen popular email providers. One USP was its ability to create segmented audiences based on email behavior – e.g., an audience of “customers who clicked my last email” vs. “those who didn’t,” enabling very targeted ad follow-ups. It also allowed time-based retargeting: for instance, when someone subscribes, automatically start showing them a specific sequence of ads on Facebook for the next X days (to mirror, say, an email welcome sequence). This level of cross-channel automation was cutting-edge at launch. ConnectAudience was offered via subscription and also as part of the ConnectSuite bundle. The tool emphasized ease of use: with a few clicks, users could set up rules like “sync my MailChimp list ‘Customers’ to a Facebook audience and update it every 6 hours”. Another benefit was cost efficiency – by targeting only warm leads (like your engaged email subscribers) on Facebook, businesses could spend less on ads and get higher conversion, as opposed to cold targeting.
Reception and Market Impact: ConnectAudience launched in September 2016, and it generated considerable excitement among digital advertisers and “growth hackers.” Industry observers noted that it “creates excitement among IM professionals” for its ability to blend email and social marketing seamlessly. Many businesses adopted it to power their omni-channel marketing campaigns, and it became an influential tool in the emerging practice of combining email segmentation with retargeted advertising. Wilco’s ConnectAudience effectively popularized the concept of keeping advertising audiences dynamically updated – something that larger marketing clouds have since incorporated. The impact of ConnectAudience is evident in how marketers talk about customer journeys: it’s now common to plan campaigns where, say, email and Facebook work in tandem, a strategy Wilco championed early on. By serving 1-to-1 matched messaging (if a user didn’t open an email, show them an ad with the same offer they missed), advertisers saw better conversion rates. Though Facebook’s own ecosystem later improved to allow some direct syncing (via integrations like Zapier or native partner apps), ConnectAudience set a high bar for flexibility and depth of integration. It solidified Wilco’s status as a marketing automation master, and along with other Connectio tools, it helped 35,000+ businesses automate their Facebook ads by the time of Connectio’s acquisition.
ConnectRetarget (2016)
What It Does: ConnectRetarget is a behavioral retargeting tool for Facebook Ads. It enables advertisers to create highly specific retargeting audiences based on how people interacted with their website. While standard Facebook retargeting might target all visitors of a page, ConnectRetarget allows segmentation by behavior – for example, targeting people who spent over 2 minutes on your site but didn’t purchase, or people who scrolled halfway down a specific page. It basically supercharges the Facebook Pixel’s capabilities by adding more nuanced tracking.
Problem It Solves: Default Facebook retargeting treats all website visitors relatively equally. In reality, not all visitors show the same level of interest; someone who bounces after 5 seconds is far less valuable than someone who read multiple pages or added a product to cart. Before ConnectRetarget, advertisers had limited options to retarget differentially based on depth of engagement – they might create separate audiences by setting up multiple pixels or events, which required technical setup. ConnectRetarget gave a non-technical solution to do this fine-grained retargeting easily. It improves conversion rates and ad efficiency by focusing retargeting ads on the hottest prospects, thereby avoiding ad spend on uninterested visitors.
Unique Features: ConnectRetarget introduced an array of behavioral filters: time on site, number of pages viewed, scroll percentage, specific actions taken, etc. An advertiser could mix and match conditions (e.g., “people who visited the pricing page and scrolled 50% down and stayed at least 60 seconds”). The tool then automatically created a Facebook Custom Audience of those users for retargeting campaigns. Another feature was the ability to exclude certain behaviors – for instance, exclude people who already converted, or those who bounced immediately – ensuring ad budget is spent wisely. ConnectRetarget provided an intuitive dashboard to adjust these parameters with sliders and checkboxes, making it marketer-friendly. It also came with pre-set “recipes” for common segments (like “Highly Engaged Visitors” or “Cart Abandoners”), based on best practices Wilco’s team observed. Essentially, ConnectRetarget gave smaller advertisers the kind of advanced retargeting that only enterprise companies had been doing (via custom analytics) – democratizing a powerful technique. Pricing was subscription-based (with free trials and bundle options in ConnectSuite).
Reception and Market Impact: Released in mid-2016, ConnectRetarget gained acclaim as a game-changer for Facebook advertising. Digital marketing blogs and forums buzzed with discussion about the new possibilities it opened up. Users reported significantly higher return on ad spend (ROAS) when using ConnectRetarget audiences, as they could focus their ads on more qualified segments. For example, one could triple conversion rates by only retargeting those who showed high interest (and perhaps spending more per impression on them) rather than retargeting every single site visitor. This approach of behavioral retargeting is now standard practice, but ConnectRetarget was among the first tools to make it accessible to the average advertiser. Its market impact is seen in how Facebook itself expanded Custom Audience options over time (e.g., adding built-in support for time-on-site rules in later years) – a case where third-party innovation likely informed platform development. ConnectRetarget, as part of the Connectio suite, also boosted the overall customer value for Wilco’s company; many clients who started with one Connectio product ended up using multiple, and retargeting was a natural complement to lead generation efforts. By pushing the narrative that “not all clicks are equal” and giving marketers the tools to act on that, Wilco contributed to more efficient and smarter ad strategies industry-wide.
ConnectAutomate (2018)
What It Does: ConnectAutomate is a tool designed to automatically turn high-performing Facebook posts into ads. In simpler terms, it monitors your Facebook page’s posts, identifies which ones are getting strong engagement (likes, comments, shares, etc.), and then can “boost” those posts or run them as ad campaigns to broader audiences on autopilot. It essentially brings automation to the process of finding winning organic content and scaling it with paid ads.
Problem It Solves: Many businesses post regularly on their Facebook pages and then manually boost posts that seem to do well. However, doing this manually is time-consuming and often subjective – you might miss the optimal timing or the right post to promote. Also, Facebook’s native “Boost post” button is rudimentary and can lead to wasting budget on posts that aren’t actually that popular or effective. ConnectAutomate solves this by continuously analyzing each new post against preset criteria, and only promoting the ones that meet your success thresholds (for example, a post with at least 100 likes and a 10% engagement rate might qualify). This means you can reliably capitalize on viral or popular posts without constant oversight, leveling the playing field for smaller advertisers who don’t have a team to manage ads daily.
Unique Features: Users of ConnectAutomate can set custom rules (so-called “If/Then” rules). For example: If a post gets 50+ likes and 10+ shares within 24 hours, then create an ad from it with $20/day budget targeting my saved audience. These rules allow fine control – you decide what “good performance” means for you. The tool also lets you filter which posts to consider (e.g., maybe you only want to promote posts that contain a link to your product, or you want to exclude pure text updates). It integrates with Facebook’s Ads API to create the ads automatically once conditions are met. Another feature is auto-optimization: ConnectAutomate can optimize for your objective (engagement, conversions, etc.) when creating the ad, rather than just doing a blind boost. It basically carries out best practices (like conversion-optimized ads through Ads Manager) but triggered automatically by engagement signals. ConnectAutomate also supports scheduling and time frames, ensuring that, for instance, it doesn’t boost an old post from months ago – you can limit it to recent content. All this frees marketers from babysitting their posts. Pricing-wise, ConnectAutomate was offered as an affordable monthly or annual plan (around $47/month or $297/year), reflecting Wilco’s intent to make it accessible to small businesses.
Reception and Market Impact: Launched around 2018, ConnectAutomate arrived just as the concept of “let the algorithm find what works” was gaining traction in marketing. Users appreciated how it systematically took advantage of Facebook’s preference for engaged content (Facebook’s algorithm naturally shows engaging posts to more people, and those posts also tend to perform better as ads). By automating the boost, even a one-person business could ensure their best content reached a wider audience without delay. ConnectAutomate has been credited with helping advertisers improve their results while saving countless hours – effectively acting as a 24/7 virtual ad manager. Its impact is part of a larger trend of marketing automation; together with Wilco’s other tools, it demonstrated that many tasks in ad management could be intelligently automated. The idea of rule-based boosting has since been mirrored by some other platforms and even partially by Facebook (e.g., Facebook’s algorithm now sometimes suggests top posts to boost). ConnectAutomate also nicely complemented Connectio’s suite: users who mastered interest targeting with ConnectExplore and lead gen with ConnectLeads could use ConnectAutomate to amplify their content marketing. Overall, ConnectAutomate reinforced Wilco de Kreij’s image as an innovator who anticipates marketers’ needs – in this case, the need to react quickly to organic wins – and builds user-friendly tech to meet those needs.
ConnectVideo (2021)
What It Does: ConnectVideo is a specialized tool aimed at retargeting video viewers on Facebook for extended periods, even in the face of new privacy restrictions. It allows marketers to retarget people who watched their Facebook video ads or posts for up to 365 days, and provides enhanced analytics on video engagement. ConnectVideo was introduced as a response to changes in the digital ads landscape, particularly Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, which affected tracking.
Problem It Solves: In early 2021, Apple’s iOS 14.5 update implemented stricter privacy measures (App Tracking Transparency) that made it harder for Facebook and other apps to track user behavior unless users explicitly opted in. This severely impacted retargeting capabilities, shrinking audience sizes for advertisers (since many iPhone users became “invisible” to the Facebook Pixel after opting out of tracking). One workaround that remained was video retargeting – Facebook could still allow retargeting of users based on if they watched a video ad, since that is first-party engagement data. Wilco recognized an opportunity here: ConnectVideo was built to maximize the utility of video engagement data. It solved the problem of maintaining effective retargeting by focusing on engaged video viewers (who are likely high-quality prospects) and letting advertisers reach them even as other tracking signals declined.
Unique Features: ConnectVideo lets users create audiences of people who watched a certain percentage or duration of a video (say 50% of a 2-minute video). While Facebook already had basic options for video custom audiences, ConnectVideo extended the retention window to up to 365 days (beyond Facebook’s typical limits at the time) and made managing these audiences easier. It also combined data across multiple videos if needed, to ensure no engaged viewer falls through the cracks. Another feature was the ability to segment viewers by engagement level – for instance, distinguishing between those who watched nearly the whole video vs. those who dropped off quickly, and then retargeting them with different messages. ConnectVideo provided detailed analytics on drop-off rates and viewer percentages so that marketers could identify the most compelling parts of their videos and refine content. Essentially, it acted as a bridge during a time when other retargeting methods faltered: marketers could pivot to a video-centric strategy and still effectively “follow” their interested audience around Facebook and Instagram with ads.
Reception and Market Impact: ConnectVideo was launched quietly as an addition for existing Connectio users in 2021, as Wilco’s focus was shifting by then. Nevertheless, its introduction was timely – many advertisers were scrambling for solutions post-iOS14.5, and ConnectVideo offered a clever approach to mitigate the loss of data. Users who implemented ConnectVideo reported being able to retain strong retargeting performance. For example, an e-commerce marketer could run video ads knowing that even if they lost some tracking on website visits, they could still retarget anyone who watched, say, 75% of their product demo video – a likely buyer – for the next year. This helped maintain conversion rates that might have otherwise plummeted. In terms of market impact, ConnectVideo underscored a broader shift towards first-party data and creative advertising strategies. It showed that Wilco and his team were quick to adapt to industry disruptions and equip marketers with tools to do the same. While ConnectVideo may not have had as large a user base as some earlier products (given its launch timing and the subsequent sale of Connectio), it contributed to Wilco’s legacy of always staying a step ahead in the fast-changing digital ads world.
Table 1: Comparison of Wilco de Kreij’s Key Software Products
The following table summarizes the key products Wilco de Kreij has developed, highlighting their function, launch year, main features, and market impact:
| Product | Function | Launch Year | Main Features (USPs) | Market Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UpViral | Viral referral marketing platform for giveaways & contests | 2015 | – Create viral sweepstakes & reward programs – Drag-and-drop landing page builder – Email integration & fraud detection – A/B testing and analytics for campaigns | Transformed list-building via referrals: 25k+ users in 150+ countries, 50M+ leads generated for businesses. Became #1 contest marketing tool; one of JVZoo’s top launches in 2015. |
| ConnectExplore | Facebook Ads interest targeting tool to find hidden interests | 2017 | – Discover untapped interest keywords via FB Ads API – One-click add interests to ad sets – Foreign-language & niche interest filtering – Lifetime license option (no monthly fee). | Improved ad targeting efficiency: Used by thousands of advertisers to lower costs by targeting niche interests. Gave small advertisers an edge in finding profitable audiences competitors missed. |
| ConnectLeads | Auto-connect Facebook Lead Ads to email/CRM systems | 2015 | – Real-time syncing of FB Lead Ad leads into 50+ autoresponders – One-tap opt-in for users (prefilled data) – Auto-send coupon codes or resources on sign-up – Cloud-based, no coding needed. | Maximized lead follow-up speed: Eliminated manual export/import, enabling immediate email engagement. Boosted conversion from FB leads – widely adopted as a standard tool for lead-gen campaigns on Facebook. |
| ConnectAudience | Sync and retarget email list contacts on Facebook (email-FB bridge) | 2016 | – Dynamic Facebook Custom Audiences linked to email lists – Auto-updates audiences with new unsubscribes/subscribers – Segment by email engagement (opened, clicked, etc.) – Multi-platform integration (MailChimp, Infusionsoft, etc.). | Pioneered cross-channel retargeting: Enabled omnichannel marketing by uniting email and FB ads. Improved ad relevance and reduced spend waste (e.g., no ads to unsubscribers). Influenced how marketers combine email and ad strategies. |
| ConnectRetarget | Advanced behavioral retargeting for Facebook Ads. | 2016 | – Segment website visitors by on-site behavior (time on page, scroll depth, pages viewed) – Create custom audiences for highly engaged vs. low-engaged visitors – Point-and-click rule builder (no coding) – Pre-defined retargeting “recipes” for common scenarios. | Boosted ROI on retargeting: Allowed 3-4× higher conversions by focusing ads on warmest prospects. Brought enterprise-level retargeting capabilities to SMB marketers, shaping best practices in FB ad retargeting. |
| ConnectAutomate | Automation tool to turn best-performing Facebook posts into ads | 2018 | – “If-this-then-that” rules to auto-boost posts when engagement criteria met – Identifies posts with high likes/comments quickly – Auto-creates ads with optimal targeting & timing – Unlimited rules and filters (by post type, timeframe, etc.). | Saved time & improved reach: Acted as a 24/7 virtual ad manager for content. Ensured viral posts got amplified instantly, leading to better reach and engagement for small businesses. Validated the power of automated ad workflows in social media marketing. |
| ConnectVideo | Video viewer retargeting and analytics tool (post-iOS14 solution) | 2021 | – Retarget Facebook/IG video viewers for up to 365 days – Segment audiences by % of video watched (e.g., 25%, 50%, 95%) – Detailed video engagement stats and drop-off analysis – Mitigates tracking loss from privacy changes (uses first-party engagement data). | Maintained retargeting effectiveness amid privacy changes: Gave marketers a way to keep reaching interested prospects when other tracking was limited. Emphasized shift to first-party data; helped advertisers continue high ROI campaigns through video engagement. |
Sources: Company and product descriptions are based on Wilco de Kreij’s official materials and user reviews; user statistics and impacts are drawn from public case studies and interviews.
Strategic and Philosophical Approaches
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Wilco de Kreij’s approach to business and marketing is a blend of data-driven strategy, rapid implementation, and an emphasis on customer-centric innovation. Several themes characterize his style:
Solving Real Marketer Problems:
Wilco’s product ideas almost always originated from a concrete pain point he experienced or observed in the marketing community. He once described himself not just as a software guy but as a “marketing nerd” who builds tools he wishes he had. For instance, UpViral was born from his frustration that existing giveaway tools didn’t focus on email list growth. Similarly, each Connectio product addressed a specific gap (e.g., the lack of easy Facebook-to-CRM lead syncing led to ConnectLeads). This grounded approach ensured strong product-market fit. Wilco would often engage with fellow marketers in forums and Facebook groups to crowdsource ideas and refine features based on feedback. His philosophy: find where people (including himself) are spending too much time or losing money in their marketing, and create a solution to fix that.
The “Launch & Iterate” Model:
Early in his career, Wilco embraced the internet marketing “launch” model – doing big product launches with affiliates, limited-time offers, and hype to get initial users in the door. WP4FB and his early plugins were sold this way, generating buzz and capital that funded further development. However, Wilco later recognized the drawbacks of one-off launches (revenue spikes followed by lulls, and customers who might not stick around). He openly discussed why he “stopped using the launch model” in favor of a more sustainable SaaS approach. His strategy evolved to launch minimally viable versions of a product (often via a controlled launch to his audience or a JVZoo sale) to validate the idea, then rapidly iterate and improve the product for long-term subscription value. UpViral is a textbook example: launched via affiliate promotion to get its first few thousand users and feedback, then transformed into a full-fledged SaaS platform that kept those users paying monthly by continuously adding features and improvements. Wilco’s willingness to gather initial users quickly (even if via lifetime deals or discounts) gave him momentum, but he was equally willing to pivot. In fact, when he noticed that one of his early products (ZoSocial for Facebook contests) had limited scope, he refocused the concept entirely into UpViral. This iterate or pivot agility is central to his strategy.
Marketing and Growth Tactics:
As a seasoned digital marketer, Wilco employed a wide range of go-to-market strategies to grow his ventures. Content marketing and education have been key – he regularly produced blog posts, case study webinars, and even a podcast (the UpViral podcast featured episodes where he shared lessons like “the ugly truth of selling a business” and growth tips). He leverages storytelling and transparency in marketing; for example, in promoting UpViral, he shared how he personally used viral contests to add 30,000 subscribers to his list, which lent credibility. Wilco is also a proponent of affiliate marketing – many of his product launches had attractive affiliate programs, turning internet marketing peers into evangelists for his software. Once a user base was established, he focused on building a community around the product. Both UpViral and Connectio fostered Facebook groups where Wilco would engage directly, provide quick support, and highlight user successes. This not only improved retention (users felt part of a movement) but also generated word-of-mouth. Another notable tactic in Wilco’s playbook is offering value through training: he often included free training courses or challenges (like a 30-day viral challenge for UpViral users) to ensure customers got results. This ties to his philosophy that a product’s success lies in users actually using it effectively. On the paid traffic side, ironically, the founder of Connectio didn’t rely solely on ads to grow his own business; he balanced paid acquisition with viral loops (UpViral itself was used to market UpViral, in a meta example of product-led growth) and with partner webinars. He frequently partnered with other big names in the marketing space for co-hosted webinars, exchanging audiences. In summary, Wilco’s marketing strategy has been a holistic blend: affiliate/referral programs to widen reach, content and case studies to build trust, and product-driven virality (making his tools so useful that users naturally invite others or generate buzz).
Product Positioning and USP Emphasis:
Wilco is very deliberate in how he positions each product in the market. He tends to go for a clear USP (Unique Selling Proposition) that differentiates his tool. For example, ConnectExplore’s positioning was “find interests your competitors don’t know about” – a strong hook for any Facebook advertiser feeling the pinch of competition. UpViral’s positioning was “turn your customers into your biggest marketing force” – highlighting referrals as the key. This sharp focus in messaging helped his products stand out in crowded spaces. Additionally, Wilco often used social proof and numbers to bolster positioning: citing things like “50 million leads generated by our platform” or “45,000 customers served” in marketing materials to establish credibility. Another strategic choice was niching down when needed. Rather than try to make one product do everything, he split capabilities into separate specialized products under Connectio. This way, each product could be best-in-class for its niche (and he could cross-sell the suite). His approach to pricing also reflected positioning – for crucial, high-value-add tools (like ConnectLeads, which directly makes money by getting more leads into your funnel), he didn’t shy from subscription pricing. But for something like ConnectExplore, making it a one-time purchase created a low barrier to entry, which in turn brought many into the Connectio ecosystem. Such choices show a strategic understanding of customer lifetime value: he’d sometimes get customers in the door with a low-cost product and then provide so much value that they’d upgrade to other offerings.
Building Teams and Scaling:
While Wilco started as a solo “one-man army” (coding some early scripts himself and doing marketing), he gradually built teams as his companies scaled. One of his strategic moves was assembling a capable leadership team inside UpViral so that the business could run without his day-to-day involvement. He has mentioned that this allowed him to take a 3-month 100% offline sabbatical while UpViral continued operating smoothly. This speaks to his focus on systems and delegation. Culturally, Wilco fostered a remote team (with talent from various countries) that he often refers to as “rockstars”. He gave them credit publicly, which is important for team morale and continuity. His strategic decision to step down as CEO of Connectio before selling and let his team lead was intentional – it made the company less dependent on him and thus more attractive to buyers. In scaling, Wilco was also cautious about burnout and “spreading too thin.” Juggling two SaaS companies taught him that focus is key; he decided to sell one to concentrate on the other, a strategic refocus that likely helped UpViral grow even more post-2021. He often quotes the phrase “life’s too short to work on things you’re not excited about” – reflecting a philosophy of aligning business with personal passion, which in turn drives better leadership.
Innovation and Adaptability:
Wilco’s innovation style is proactive. He kept an eye on industry shifts (like algorithm changes, new social media features, privacy regulations) and moved quickly to adapt. The creation of ConnectVideo in response to iOS 14.5’s impact is a prime example – rather than lamenting the loss of tracking, he found a new avenue (video retargeting) to help customers succeed. In the same vein, when Facebook discontinued certain tools (like their Audience Insights in 2021), he positioned ConnectAutomate as a “replacement” to fill the gap. Wilco seems to embrace the mantra that in software, constant improvement is needed to stay relevant. UpViral’s updates over the years (adding features like fraud scoring when referral fraud became an issue, or adding GDPR compliance features when privacy laws tightened) show an attentiveness to the evolving needs of users. This adaptability extends to his marketing tactics as well – for example, as the effectiveness of email marketing declined in some segments, he explored chatbots or AI-driven marketing (as suggested by his recent interest in AI, noted on his social profiles). Yet, notably, Wilco doesn’t chase shiny objects without reason; he sticks to his core principle of “will this tangibly help a marketer do better?” as the litmus test for innovation. This principle helped him avoid distractions and maintain a coherent suite of products that complemented each other.
In summary, Wilco de Kreij’s strategic approach marries entrepreneurial hustling (quick launches, leveraging affiliates, growth hacking tactics) with a long-term builder mindset (recurring revenue focus, building teams, ensuring products deliver real value). He positions himself at the intersection of being a marketer and a software creator, which has allowed him to understand his customers deeply. His guiding philosophy is to create win-win situations: when his customers’ marketing performs better because of his tools, his business grows – a virtuous cycle he intentionally set up. As he often emphasizes, success comes from execution and listening to users, not just ideas – a philosophy that helped him scale multiple companies in the dynamic world of online marketing.
Achievements and Recognition
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Wilco de Kreij’s career as a SaaS entrepreneur and digital marketing innovator is studded with notable achievements, both in terms of business milestones and industry recognition:
Serial Entrepreneur with Successful Exits:
One of Wilco’s hallmark achievements is building not just one, but multiple successful companies from the ground up and exiting them. He has founded and sold three companies to date. The most prominent sales were Connectio in 2021 and UpViral in 2023. Selling a SaaS business is a significant milestone – it validates that the company is valuable, sustainable, and attractive to buyers. Wilco managed to do this twice in a three-year span, an uncommon feat in the bootstrap SaaS world. He acknowledged mentorship from industry experts (e.g., SaaS coach Dan Martell) in learning how to build a “sellable” SaaS. The fact that he worked with FE International (a leading M&A advisory for online businesses) and sold both businesses through them successfully speaks to the strong financial performance and processes of those companies. These exits likely yielded multi-million dollar payouts (exact figures private), contributing to his personal success story. Beyond financials, the sales are positioned by Wilco as positive for the products’ futures – e.g., UpViral’s acquisition was framed as finding “the right business to take it forward.” This demonstrates his achievement not just in making money, but in ensuring continuity and growth potential for what he created.
Global Customer Base and Impact:
Through his software, Wilco has empowered a vast number of users worldwide. Collectively, his products have been used by over 100,000 businesses in 140+ countries. UpViral alone claims users in 150 countries and facilitated 50+ million new leads for its clients, an immense contribution to small businesses’ growth. Connectio’s suite served 45,000+ customers ranging from solo entrepreneurs to marketing agencies. These numbers are not just vanity metrics – they translate to real businesses growing their sales, entrepreneurs building email lists, and agencies delivering better results to their clients, all using Wilco’s tools. The scale of impact is one of his biggest achievements: few individuals in the digital marketing software space have created tools adopted so broadly. Wilco often expressed pride in seeing users achieve “8,000€ in sales from one campaign” or “180,000 leads from a single contest” using UpViral – essentially, his platforms have directly enabled others to achieve their own success, a ripple effect achievement.
Product of the Year Awards & Industry Accolades:
Within the internet marketing community, Wilco’s products have garnered accolades. UpViral’s launch was one of the top grossing on JVZoo in 2015, earning it “Product of the Day” badges and a reputation as a blockbuster launch. JVZoo and similar platforms often rank vendors by sales, and Wilco consistently ranked near the top during his launches (indicating high sales volume in short time frames). While these are informal accolades, they are respected in the community as a sign that a product is hot and delivers value. Additionally, Wilco himself became a sought-after figure for summits and podcasts: he has been featured on popular marketing podcasts and media. For example, he appeared on the Hustle & Flowchart podcast to share growth strategies, on Entrepreneurs On Fire and others, reaching large audiences with his insights. He has spoken at events like the Lifetime Value Conference (LTV Conf) – a YouTube video from LTV Conf features Wilco presenting “3 Steps To Add An Extra $100K+/Month to Your SaaS,” reflecting his standing as an expert in growing SaaS companies. At affiliate marketing conferences (e.g., Affiliate World), his tools were sometimes highlighted by speakers as cutting-edge solutions. This peer recognition underscores Wilco’s status as an innovator.
Thought Leadership – Books and Content:
In 2023, Wilco published his first book, “The Viral Referral Method,” which encapsulates the strategies behind successful referral marketing campaigns. Publishing a book is an achievement in thought leadership, positioning him as a go-to authority on viral marketing beyond just his software. Wilco also invested in creating high-quality content on his blogs (wilco.io and upviral.com/blog). His year-in-review posts (like “This happened to me in 2023”) and transparent sharing about entrepreneurship have been widely read and shared, cementing his reputation as a candid and insightful leader. One notable piece of content was his article (and podcast episode) on “the ugly truth of selling a business,” where he discussed emotional and practical lessons from selling Connectio. Such contributions are valued by the entrepreneur community and have been referenced by others considering acquisitions or exits.
Community Building and Customer Success:
Another achievement of Wilco’s is the community and customer success culture he built around his products. UpViral’s official Facebook group grew to over 15,000 members, with users actively helping each other, sharing campaign results, and effectively becoming brand ambassadors. This didn’t happen by accident – Wilco frequently engaged in the group, celebrating user milestones and providing guidance. For example, when customers hit major milestones (like generating 100k leads with UpViral), those stories were amplified, turning into marketing case studies and also boosting the user’s business visibility. This focus on customer success led to a large repository of testimonials for Wilco’s products. Many small business owners credit tools like UpViral or Connectio for significant improvements in their marketing. Earning the trust and love of such a wide user base is an achievement that goes beyond numbers; it’s reputational. In reviews, users often mention that Wilco’s support team and culture are excellent – “competent and friendly” as one customer noted when congratulating him on his exit. Maintaining a stellar reputation in the sometimes skeptical internet marketing space is no small feat. Wilco’s personal brand (with tens of thousands of followers on social platforms) is strongly tied to reliability and quality because of this track record.
Media Appearances and Reality TV:
On a lighter note, Wilco has had some unique experiences that, while not directly business achievements, added to his public profile. In 2023, he and his wife participated in the Dutch reality TV show “Hunted”, where they spent two weeks evading a team of professional trackers. Wilco made it to the finale as one of the last-standing contestants. While this is outside the business realm, it brought him into mainstream media in the Netherlands and showcased traits (like problem-solving under pressure) that perhaps also contribute to his business prowess. It’s a humanizing accomplishment that he later shared in his year review, and it resonates with the image of an adventurous entrepreneur willing to take on challenges.
In summary, Wilco’s achievements span financial success, innovation awards, and community respect. He has built companies that not only thrived but also were attractive enough to be acquired – a dream for many founders. He has helped a generation of online marketers up their game through his software (with quantifiable results to show), and he has earned recognition as a thought leader via content and speaking. Moreover, he did all this while maintaining a work-life balance (taking extensive family travel breaks) and personal integrity, which is recognized by peers. Comments on his LinkedIn announcements are filled with congratulations and notes about how far he’s come since the “old days of WP4FB,” indicating the high regard in which he’s held. Perhaps one LinkedIn comment summed up the sentiment best: “Nothing is more successful than creating something that can go on without you” – a nod to Wilco’s achievement in building self-sustaining businesses that outlive the founder’s direct involvement.
Industry Impact and Legacy
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Wilco de Kreij’s influence on the SaaS and internet marketing industry is significant, especially considering he operated mostly as a bootstrapped founder outside the traditional Silicon Valley spotlight. His legacy can be observed in several areas:
Democratizing Advanced Marketing Tactics:
One of Wilco’s key contributions is making sophisticated marketing strategies accessible to the masses. Prior to tools like those from Connectio, only big companies with dedicated tech teams could do things like advanced retargeting, API-based lead syncing, or complex referral campaigns. Wilco’s software leveled the playing field. A small e-commerce shop or a solo consultant could execute a full-fledged viral contest or a multi-layered Facebook ad campaign that rivaled what larger firms do – without writing a single line of code. This democratization has had a ripple effect: as thousands of small businesses adopted these tactics and saw success, it pushed the whole industry forward. Practices like viral referral marketing (now commonly seen in everything from Dropbox’s referral program to Kickstarter pre-launch campaigns) got a boost from tools like UpViral, which provided a template for doing it right. Similarly, the emphasis on quality over quantity in ads – targeting engaged users rather than blasting everyone – gained traction thanks in part to education around tools like ConnectRetarget. In short, Wilco’s work helped propagate data-driven, smart marketing among entrepreneurs who might not have otherwise tapped those strategies.
Inspiring a New Generation of SaaS Entrepreneurs:
Wilco’s journey from internet marketer to SaaS founder has become a case study for others in the online marketing space. He showed that one can transition from selling info-products or one-off tools to building a scalable software business. Many peers took note of his success; there’s an increasing trend of marketers becoming tech entrepreneurs, and Wilco is often cited in that context. He has openly shared both successes and mistakes, which serves as learning material for other founders. For example, his insights on switching from launch model to recurring model, or how he structured his company for an exit, are now part of the playbook for marketers entering SaaS. On podcasts and interviews, Wilco generously discussed things like churn rates, the importance of customer support, or how he used viral loops for SaaS user acquisition – these nuggets have undoubtedly influenced others. Through his mentorship and investment activities post-exit, he’s directly shaping new startups as well. Wilco’s story – a Dutch entrepreneur from a non-tech background creating multiple successful tech products – is a beacon especially for non-US founders that you can build global SaaS companies from anywhere if you focus on customer needs and smart marketing.
Thought Leadership in Viral and Social Marketing:
As the self-proclaimed “marketing nerd,” Wilco has contributed a lot of knowledge to the community. His concept of “viral hacking” or engineering virality in a systematic way has been encapsulated in his content and is part of his legacy. The UpViral blog and user community have become a repository of best practices for referral marketing (e.g., how to structure contest rewards, how to prevent cheating in contests, how to motivate sharing – many of these best practices are drawn from Wilco’s guidance). Similarly, in Facebook advertising, some of the techniques that are now standard (like syncing leads instantly or using micro-targeted interests) were evangelized by Wilco before they were mainstream. He’s often been ahead of the curve – for instance, discussing the importance of engagement-based boosting before social algorithms were widely understood. His ability to anticipate trends has sometimes influenced the platforms themselves; one could argue that Facebook enhancing their own tools (like adding more Custom Audience options or improving lead ad integrations) was spurred in part by third-party solutions proving the use case.
Reputation and Community Respect:
Wilco’s legacy is also reflected in the trust and respect he’s earned in an industry that can sometimes be fickle. Internet marketing is a space where hype and short-lived gurus are common, yet Wilco managed to sustain a positive reputation for over a decade. He is widely regarded as someone who delivers real value and who is transparent about his journey. This is evident from community interactions – for example, when he announced selling UpViral, the responses were overwhelmingly positive and congratulatory, often with people commenting on how they remember his early products and how far he’s come. Unlike some entrepreneurs who keep their methods secret, Wilco’s openness (sharing revenue milestones, admitting to burnout, explaining strategy pivots) has fostered a sense of camaraderie and trust. His legacy includes this culture of transparency in SaaS marketing. By being open about things like not enjoying a business anymore and thus selling it, or stepping away to spend time with family, he’s humanized the path for others. Future marketers-turned-founders can follow in his footsteps not just tactically but ethically – prioritizing customer success, work-life balance, and not being afraid to change direction when passion wanes.
Products that Outlived His Tenure:
A tangible part of Wilco’s legacy is the continuing existence and evolution of the products he created. UpViral and the Connectio suite are still being used and developed (under new ownership). This means the ripple effect of his work continues even while he personally has moved on. Many entrepreneurs’ products fade away after they exit; in Wilco’s case, he set up his companies so well that they remain leaders in their categories post-acquisition. UpViral, for example, still dominates the referral marketing space and keeps attracting new clients by reputation. This indicates that Wilco built not just a flash-in-the-pan launch, but a brand with staying power. The ability to create enduring products is a significant legacy in the tech world. Additionally, the success of his exits may inspire more investment and interest in marketing technology startups. Buyers and investors see from cases like UpViral that there is serious value in marketing SaaS, which can encourage funding and support for innovation in this sector.
Personal Brand – “Marketing Nerd” to Explorer:
Wilco’s personal journey – from grinding out products in his 20s to selling companies and traveling the world with his family in his 30s – provides a narrative of modern entrepreneurship that balances ambition with lifestyle. On social media, he’s shared snippets of traveling to 40+ countries and taking a world tour post-exit. His identity has evolved to include being an investor and a global citizen. This contributes to the industry’s understanding that successful founders can craft the life they want, not just chase the next business for its own sake. By stepping away after a major success, he’s almost countering the “hustle forever” culture, showing that exits are opportunities to pause, reflect, and explore. In doing so, he’s set an example that the endgame of entrepreneurship isn’t just accumulation, but also freedom. This outlook is increasingly appreciated in startup circles that value mental health and life quality.
In conclusion, Wilco de Kreij’s impact on the digital marketing and SaaS world is multifaceted. He will be remembered as a visionary product creator who gave everyday marketers the tools to achieve extraordinary results, as a savvy entrepreneur who proved that marketing skill coupled with software can build global businesses, and as a thought leader who generously shared his playbook. His legacy lives on in the countless viral campaigns launched, ads optimized, and leads generated through the platforms he built. It also lives on in the entrepreneurs he has inspired – the “marketing nerds” who watched Wilco and realized they too can transform a problem into a product and a product into a thriving company. As Wilco himself transitions into a new chapter (with hints at a “next big leap” in the making), the foundation he’s laid in the marketing SaaS landscape continues to influence and drive innovation.
