“Stuck under the Water?” – Are Youtube ads driving Grammarly’s customer acquisition?

I recently came across this viral YouTube ad that reached over 33M views in just 4 months. Yes, you heard that right. This ad is about Grammarly’s AI writing assistant that streamlines workplace communication. It depicts a typical, everyday scene – professionals overwhelmed with tasks like emails, documents, and endless messages. However, among all of them, there is one individual who stands out because she has integrated Grammarly into her workflow. It has helped her improve efficiency, enhance clarity, and hence, effectively manage her work life. 

The ad focuses on Grammarly’s role in saving the day! It highlights how the platform helps users find their flow, communicate with confidence, and tackle work without a single ounce of stress. While it is a no-brainer that Grammarly’s track record of coming up with the most innovative ads is unmatched, what’s more interesting is its customer acquisition strategies apart from ads. 

Would you believe me if I told you that Grammarly users check over 1.3 trillion words every year? To give you an idea, that is what would happen if one proofreads the entire Harry Potter series more than 18 million times!


Since the company was founded in Ukraine in 2009, it has significantly grown in size to eventually become a behemoth worth $13 billion. As per the latest numbers, more than 30 million people and 70,000 teams across the world depend on Grammarly’s generative AI solutions. The platform’s growth has been so rampant that it has outwitted some of the most established companies in this domain.

Grammarly aims to build a comprehensive, AI-based communication assistant that helps people connect and understand each other. Its business model is quite straightforward – it generates revenue by helping people write better and create a stronger impact!

The company has placed itself as an integral part of the map to get noticed and spark interest, thereby attracting a steady stream of customers. What essentially sets Grammarly apart is the fact that through its marketing channels, it brings its platform to users instead of inviting users to its platform. 

While it appears that ads are the powerful acquisition channels for Grammarly, but not really. Please find below the channel overview and their contribution to the overall traffic. Clearly, a significant percentage of traffic still (Source: Similarweb) comes from organic and direct sources.

Grammarly stays connected with its audience through multiple channels – blog, SEO, Grammar checker , email, and social media, all of which offer innumerable writing tips and insights. The bottom line is, that users are always engaged, informed, and inspired to write content without typos!

The company ensures that its writing assistant is available wherever the user can possibly write content. Drafting an email? Use Grammarly. Sending a text message to a friend or colleague? Use Grammarly. Forming the outline of your new book on a desktop? Use Grammarly. And many more… This approach has allowed them to reach a wider audience and provide more value to its customers.