How we market Zee Solo to UK subcontractors from the October launch to the end of March, what it costs at three budget levels, and what we measure at each step.
Start here ↓Thirteen short sections, about twenty minutes. Five deep-dives cover the detail for whoever runs each part. The decisions we need from you are in section 12.
Sections 01 to 13, in order: what we sell, to whom, what we say, where, what happens after the download, when, what it costs, and how we measure it.
Start at 01 →Five deep-dives. Read the ones for the work you run or sign off.
See the deep-dives ↓Section 12: eight decisions and six product asks. Section 14: approve, or send changes.
Go to the decisions →Each one is long. Read the first section now and the rest when that work starts. Each ends with a link to the next.
Zee Solo launches in October on iOS and Android. Subbies use it to invoice contractors with the CIS deduction shown before sending, track deductions, log expenses and prepare quarterly reports. The brand is Zee: Zee Solo for subbies, Zee Hub for contractors.
One-month trial, then Free, no card needed. Standard £25 a month, Plus £45, both +VAT. Ads sell the free install. Upgrades happen in the app.
Subbies invited by a contractor have a reason to finish sign-up. Subbies from an ad don't. We buy the second group with ads and reach the first through their contractors (section 05). We report the two groups separately.
About 880,000 registered CIS subcontractors. About five live UK ads mention CIS subcontractors. About 220 mention Making Tax Digital.
The launch date. Targets for installs, sign-ups and paying users. That the budget is media only. We haven't seen the Claims Register, so every message here is a test candidate, not approved copy.
Built from your brief and 150 public posts by subbies, their partners and accountants. Use their words: "payslip", not "deduction statement"; tax gets "stopped"; the April money is a "rebate".
| Who | How they get paid | What they say | What we lead with |
|---|---|---|---|
| The invoicing subbie | Sends invoices, labour and materials | "Can't put a minus figure in the invoice for cis." Wants to invoice before leaving site. | See what you'll be paid before you send it |
| The weekly payslip subbie | Hands in hours, paid weekly with a contractor's payslip, sometimes a text | "didn't have all payslips so had to give just gross total" | Every payslip in one place |
| Stuck on 30% | New starters waiting on a UTR, recent arrivals, records that don't match | "Just invoice and take the 30 percent hit" | Know your rate: 20%, 30% or gross |
| Whoever does the books | Usually the partner, at the kitchen table | "googling for about three days solid and I am still clueless" | Set it up once, in ten minutes |
| Gross status | No deductions, sets tax aside | Raids the tax pot when work is quiet | Not a launch segment |
Each has evidence behind it. Each goes through the Claims Register before we make it. None promises a tax outcome, a refund or HMRC approval.
| Message | Why | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| See what you'll be paid before you send it | It's what the product does. No live UK ad says it. "CIS invoice" returns nothing in the ad library. | Invoicing subbie |
| Every payslip in one place | Statements go missing, arrive as texts or never come. HMRC doesn't show subbies their own record easily. | Weekly payslip subbie |
| Free. No card. | Free tools have set the price at zero in this category. | Everyone |
| Built for subbies, not office workers | From their reviews of other apps. Competitors say "freelancers" and "sole traders". | Invoicing and payslip subbies |
| Whoever does the books can set it up | Partners do the setup and ask the questions. | Whoever does the books |
Refund or rebate amounts. "HMRC-approved" or "HMRC-recognised". Filing or paying tax on someone's behalf. Employment status guarantees. Anything implying Zee Solo holds money. Competitor names. Prices without "+VAT". Competitors use some of these. We won't.
Voice and messaging: the words subbies use, and every candidate line with its Claims Register status.
| Channel | Job | What we know |
|---|---|---|
| Meta (Facebook, Instagram) | Most of the installs | The audience is here, and no one is talking to them about CIS |
| TikTok | Cheap reach with site humour and trade voices | UK rules restrict accounting and tax ads. We check before we make TikTok creative |
| Apple Ads (App Store search) | People searching the store for CIS help | Apps with fewer than ten ratings hold the results for "cis tax" |
| Google Search | Small, cheap, high-intent demand | About 4,200 searches a month we can answer, at 30p to £1.85 a click |
| Creators | Trust from people subbies already follow | Most apps in this category buy installs this way. On the Tools and the shortlist are the starting point |
| App store listing | Turns visits into installs | Free to improve. Lifts every other channel |
| Outreach (email, text, calls, post) | Trade businesses and bookkeepers, by name | Rules differ for limited companies and sole traders. Valla's solicitor confirms them before any send |
| Contractors (hubs) | One contractor brings about ten solos | Section 05 |
The website: site structure, glossary, and how Google and AI answers find us.
Video and social: the bodge-and-voiceover format, the series, account rules and cost.
PR and amplification: stories, trade press, creators, events and calendar.
Outreach: email, text, calls and post, by group.
Making Tax Digital at launch. About 220 live UK ads already cover it, from Xero, Sage, Tide and others. We start in January, when the deadline is close and the Claims Register has cleared our lines.
Next · 05How do we reach solos through their contractors? →A hub is a contractor who pays several subbies. When a hub joins, it invites its subbies, and they arrive ready to finish sign-up. That makes hubs our cheapest route to solos. Paid ads stay the base because they work without any contractor. Hubs add to them.
HMRC: about 880,000 registered subcontractors, 143,400 active contractor schemes. Subbies work for more than one contractor a year, so a small contractor pays 6 to 15. We use 10. Your client book would give the real number.
The contractor account is free. Every invoice a solo sends invites the contractor to open one. We make sure they do.
1,070 active construction companies whose Companies House accounts mention CIS. Already built. Behind them: 203,947 active trade limited companies.
| Route | How | Who it reaches |
|---|---|---|
| The invoice email | Tag the links in the email each solo's invoice sends. If a contractor opens it and doesn't join, send a short follow-up with a call booking link | Whoever pays the subbies, often the bookkeeper, not the director |
| Sam, Luke and Lena post as themselves and message directors and commercial managers at the 1,070 firms, a few a day | Directors and commercial managers | |
| Email and calls to limited companies | The outreach pipeline, aimed at contractors. Valla's solicitor confirms the rules first | Limited-company contractors |
| Bookkeepers and accountants | One bookkeeper runs CIS for several contractors. 164 on file, with a partner offer to test | Several contractors at once |
| Solos ask their contractor | After a solo's first invoice: "Ask your contractor to join, free", with a message ready to forward | The contractor, via someone they already pay |
In July we estimated one caller signs three or four small contractors a month. The first six months measure solos per contractor and how many invited solos finish sign-up. At month 3 you decide whether to hire against those numbers. Until then, the founders' LinkedIn, the invoice email and the bookkeepers carry this route.
Outreach: the Companies House list, the bookkeeper offer and the route for each group.
Ads buy installs. The app's first run and the messages after it turn installs into paying users. The product team owns half of this.
| Stage | What we do | What we measure |
|---|---|---|
| First 48 hours get to the first invoice | In the app: ask for UTR and National Insurance number when needed, not on screen two. Show what's missing before the first send. Messages: welcome on day 0; "why we ask for your UTR, and where to find it" on day 1, by text on day 2; a "spot the mistake" invoice on day 3 | First invoice sent within 48 hours. Apple reports its first results from the first two days, so this window also drives ad optimisation |
| First month regular use | After the first invoice: "Nice one" and the referral ask. Days 7 and 14: every statement in one place. Around the 19th each month, when statements are due: a text, if they opted in. Notifications when an invoice is due or paid | Active in week 2 and week 4 |
| Free to paid | Tell them what changes before the trial ends. Rewrite the upgrade screen in subbie words. Test the upgrade moment with the product team in month 5 | Trial to paid, invited and advertised separately |
| Referral | Solo-to-solo link after the first invoice, plus the contractor invite (section 05). You pick the reward. We suggest testing a free month for both | Invites per active user, and installs from them |
| Retargeting | Three groups: installed, no sign-up; signed up, no invoice; visited the site, no install. Paid from existing channel budgets | Cost to win one back vs cost of a new one |
| Ratings and store listing | Ask for a rating after the first invoice is sent, not on first open. Screenshots show an invoice with the CIS line worked out | Rating count and store conversion |
| Help and replies | Add a help route in the app (none yet). Answer ad comments within a working day, without tax advice. Send repeat questions to the product team | Reply time; top five questions each month |
| Win-back | After 30 quiet days: one message tied to a real date: statements, 31 January, or Making Tax Digital from April 2027 | Returning users |
A phone number and marketing opt-out at sign-up, or we can't send texts. In-app events sent to the measurement tools, or we can't trigger any message. Email and text run on Loops (about £37 a month) or Customer.io (about £75, adds texts and notifications).
Lifecycle email and text: the full sequence and draft messages.
Six months plus the weeks before launch. December is quiet. January to March is tax season for subbies.
| Month | What we do | What we have at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Month 0 before launch | Ad accounts, tracking, landing page, creative bank, creator deals, store listings. Welcome emails built, sending domains warmed, contractor list enriched | Ready to spend on day one. Tracking tested with a small live spend |
| Month 1 October | Four or five messages across Meta, TikTok, Apple Ads and Search. Contractor route opens: founders on LinkedIn, invoice links tagged | Cost per install by channel. First read on which messages get people through sign-up |
| Month 2 November | Split winners by segment. Add Google app campaigns. Test the landing page against sending people straight to the store | Cost per onboarded user by channel and message. Where people drop out of onboarding. First read on solos per contractor |
| Month 3 December | Light spend. Build January's creative. Improve store listings and content | First read on free-to-paid, from the October users |
| Month 4 January | Peak. Self Assessment is due on the 31st, and Making Tax Digital searches peak | Highest volume. First real cost per paying user |
| Month 5 February | Scale what pays. Push referrals and reviews. Work on the upgrade moment with the product team | Known cost per paying user by channel |
| Month 6 March | Prepare for April, the end of the tax year. Write the next six months from our own data | A plan for April onwards, based on our numbers |
By the end of December the October users are through their trial. We rewrite months 4 to 6 on real results.
Media only. The monthly average holds, but December is lower and January to March higher.
| Level | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Six months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | £10k | £10k | £6k | £12k | £12k | £10k | £60k |
| Medium | £15k | £15k | £9k | £18k | £18k | £15k | £90k |
| Large | £20k | £20k | £12k | £24k | £24k | £20k | £120k |
| Channel | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta | £4,000 | £5,500 | £7,000 |
| TikTok | £1,500 | £2,000 | £3,000 |
| Apple Ads | £1,000 | £1,500 | £2,000 |
| Google Search | £700 | £1,000 | £1,000 |
| Google app campaigns | from month 2 | £2,500 | £4,000 |
| Creators | £1,800 | £2,000 | £2,500 |
| Held back for the winner | £1,000 | £500 | £500 |
| Total | £10,000 | £15,000 | £20,000 |
Google app campaigns need a minimum daily spend to learn. At the small level they start in month 2.
Published figures for similar apps put an install at £3 to £10. Nobody publishes figures for a UK CIS app, so month 1 gives us our own. On those figures:
| Level | Installs in month 1 | What we learn |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 1,000 – 3,300 | Cost per install and sign-up rate by channel |
| Medium | 1,500 – 5,000 | Plus enough volume for the platforms to optimise |
| Large | 2,000 – 6,700 | Plus a faster read on segments and creative |
About 2 in 100 people who download a free app like this pay within the first month or so. At £6 an install, each paying customer costs about £300 in ads, roughly a year of Standard. So we judge months 1 to 3 on installs, sign-ups and first invoices sent. The biggest gains are in the app: getting cold users through sign-up, and the upgrade prompt.
| Item | Cost | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Outreach: letters, email, calls | about £2,000 in month 1 | Outreach deep-dive |
| Email and text after sign-up | £37–£75 a month | Section 06 |
| Video production | £280–£2,600 a month | Video deep-dive; depends on who does the voice |
| Measurement (Singular, Firebase, PostHog) | free at launch volumes | Section 09 |
| The contractor route | people's time | Section 05 |
If the £10k, £15k or £20k is media only, add these on top.
If the round closes in month 2 or 3, we scale only the channels and messages with a cost per onboarded user we're happy with. Then we add slower-payback work: content, store visibility and more creators. We reset the numbers at the month-3 review.
Next · 09How will we know it's working? →| Number | Meaning | First reliable read |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per install | What we pay per download, by channel | Week 1 |
| Sign-up rate | Installs that create an account | Week 2 |
| Cost per onboarded user | Signed up and set up, ready to use it | Weeks 2–3 |
| Activation | First invoice sent within 14 days of install | Weeks 3–4 |
| Cost per paying user | Cost to win a Standard or Plus subscriber | Weeks 6–9 |
| Solos per contractor | Subbies each new contractor brings in | Month 2 |
We count invited and advertised subbies separately. Invited users finish sign-up more often. Mixed together, they make the ads look better than they are.
Reporting: a short written summary each week (spend, results, changes, next steps) and a monthly numbers review with Lena.
Next · 10What are we testing? →| Month | Question | How we decide |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Which channel and message bring subbies who finish setup? | After two weeks and £1,000 on a channel, anything costing over twice the best drops to minimum spend |
| 2 | Do segment-specific ads beat broad ones? | Segment ads against the broad winner, on cost per onboarded user |
| 3 | Does a landing page beat going straight to the store? | Split traffic. The deduction calculator page is the test page |
| 4 | How far can the winner scale? | Raise budgets in steps; watch cost per onboarded user |
| 5 | What turns a free user into a paying one? | Test the upgrade moment and messages to free users, with the product team |
| 6 | What goes in the next six months? | Rebuild the plan on our own numbers |
Each test has a written question, a deciding number, a budget and an end date.
Next · 11What could go wrong? →| Risk | What we do |
|---|---|
| Measurement code misses the launch build | Pick the tool this week so the developers can add it. If it slips, spend only where we can measure and hold the rest |
| TikTok restricts UK tax and accounting ads | Check as soon as the account exists, before making TikTok creative. If blocked, move that budget to Meta and creators |
| Cold users quit at the UTR and National Insurance screen | We'll see the drop-off by week 2 and give the product team the numbers. The fix is in the app: show value before asking for tax details |
| Cheaper, better-known software | Lead with free. Sell Standard on the contractor link, which only Zee Solo has. Decide together what Standard gives a subbie whose contractor isn't on Zee Hub |
Ten phone calls. Fifteen minutes each with ten of your own subbies. Ask: do they invoice or get a payslip, what do they pay for help now, and who does their books.
Your wrong-invoice research. Real wrong invoices, and why they were wrong, make the best ad material we've found.
UK search demand and seasonality (Ahrefs, 15 September). Competitor pricing, store listings and live UK ads on Meta, Google and TikTok (15 September). 150 public quotes from subbies, partners and accountants, each checked against its source. Platform ad policies, from the platforms' own pages.
Every cost and conversion figure. No one publishes data for a UK CIS app, so the ranges come from finance and business apps, mostly reported by tool vendors. Month 1 replaces them.
The Claims Register, the pricing document and Khristina's audience work. We've seen the app through a recorded walkthrough, not our own login.
Approve it and we start building. Want changes? List them below. We keep every sign-off and change request on record.
Goes straight to Greg. No email app needed.