HOW MARKETING SHOULD BE DONE IN A STARTUP
Ashish RaiStartup Marketer@areahouse40
A bit about me
● Started my career as a tele-sales rep in 2005
● Worked for BPO/Offshore Web Development companies in variety of roles including Head of Total Quality, Head of Search Engine Marketing + led over 30 inside sales reps.
● Co-founded an SEO company, Koncept Web Services (2011-12)
● Primarily B2B, some B2C
● Today: Inside Sales & Marketing Manager at CloudFactory, providing advanced Data Services to F5000
● Interest: Entrepreneurship, Marketing, SaaS, Ecommerce
Have you ever sat down and considered
why most startups fail?
You have a better mousetrap
and you want to sell it to the world...
...in reality the world looks a lot different
Where is everybody!?
...in reality the world looks a lot different
Where is everybody!?
Get overwhelmed. Go back to building the product
Where did the learning happen?
What was the point of looking at the analytics?
Why did we even set-up the analytics in the first place?
Three questions to consider
t
The recipe for failure in building a web product is to build the product.
The Lean Startup Process
A better way to do a startup
The Lean Startup Process
Step 1: Build an experimental product
A better way to do a startup
The Lean Startup Process
Step 1: Build an experimental product
Step 2: Measure how users respond to your experiment
A better way to do a startup
The Lean Startup Process
Step 1: Build an experimental product
Step 2: Measure how users respond to your experiment
Step 3: Learn whether your experiment worked or not
A better way to do a startup
The Lean Startup Process
A better way to do a startup
The Lean Startup Process
A better pictorial representation
Step 1: Decide What you want to learn?
The Lean Startup Process
A better pictorial representation
Step 1: Decide What you want to learn?
Step 2: Then draw a line in the sand (what’s your goal post?)
The Lean Startup Process
A better pictorial representation
Step 1: Decide What you want to learn?
Step 2: Then draw a line in the sand (what’s your goal post?)
Step 3: Figure out how you’re going to measure it
The Lean Startup Process
A better pictorial representation
Case Study: Airbnb
One day, one of the co-founders hypothesized that professional photography would help Airbnb hosts attract more renters.
Case Study: Airbnb
One day, one of the co-founders hypothesized that professional photography would help Airbnb hosts attract more renters.
So they ran an experiment
Case Study: Airbnb
Airbnb hired 20 professional photographers on a trial basis. The photographers met with a small subset of hosts and took photos of their homes and spare bedrooms.
Case Study: Airbnb
Then they measured how the new photos performed. And true to their guess, listings with professional photos got 2-3x more bookings!
Case Study: Airbnb
Airbnb’s hypothesis was validated, so they expanded the program. Now they do 5,000 photo shoots a month because they know they increase their bottom line.
Case Study: Airbnb
But not all experiments are successful
So, when should you pivot or quit?
Lean analytics framework helps you make honest, pragmaticdecisions about your progress and what to do next.
Pivot when you know what you’re pivoting to,
quit if you don’t.
Entering Startup Marketing
Direct Response MarketingBrand Marketing
There are two types of marketing
Creates Awareness
Direct Response MarketingBrand Marketing
There are two types of marketing
Creates Awareness
Direct Response MarketingBrand Marketing
Creates Sales
There are two types of marketing
Creates Awareness
Direct Response MarketingBrand Marketing
Creates Sales
There are two types of marketing
Brand marketing doesn’t work because startupsdon’t have resources...
At a certain scale, awareness/brand building makes sense. But for the first year or two it’s a total waste of money.
- Sean Ellis
http://www.startup-marketing.com/awareness-building-is-a-waste-of-startup-resources/
Direct response marketing drives revenue quickly, is measurable, and can improve efficiencies and close rates.
...it’s designed to elicit an immediate response from consumers who might be interested in your product.
www.shoedazzle.com
Lets users personalize their experience
Do anything possible to get immediate action
http://www.ideeli.com
Use Reason - ‘Why’ Copy
The saddest thing about poverty is wasted talent.
Unlocking this human potential is the driving force behind CloudFactory where we aim to connect 1 million people to basic computer work over the next 5 years.
http://cloudfactory.com/pages/social-mission.html
Use Reason - ‘Why’ Copy
The saddest thing about poverty is wasted talent.
Unlocking this human potential is the driving force behind CloudFactory where we aim to connect 1 million people to basic computer work over the next 5 years.
http://cloudfactory.com/pages/social-mission.html
Telling people the reason why you are doing something is one of the most powerful influences of human behavior.
Create a sense of irresistible value in your direct marketing response
http://www.dailylook.com/g/Invite-Friends/2212.html
Humanize - Being human works!
https://twitter.com/honzavalustik
Honza got hundreds of responses, from some of the most well known startups.
https://twitter.com/honzavalustik
Humanize - Being human works!
Always elicit the desired condition NOT theproblem your products solve
Always elicit the desired condition NOT theproblem your products solve
Selling fashion? Sell looks not items.
Always elicit the desired condition NOT theproblem your products solve
Selling clothes? Show people looking well dressed and classy
Selling fashion? Sell looks not items.
Always elicit the desired condition NOT theproblem your products solve
Selling clothes? Show people looking well dressed and classy
Selling fashion? Sell looks not items.
Btw, have you ever seen a dentist advertise bad teeth they can fix?
Always elicit the desired condition NOT theproblem your products solve
Selling clothes? Show people looking well dressed and classy
Selling fashion? Sell looks not items.
Btw, have you ever seen a dentist advertise bad teeth they can fix?
(it’s a rhetorical qusestion)
Always elicit the desired condition NOT theproblem your products solve
Design - Make use of whitespace
http://blog.landerapp.com/how-to-design-a-landing-page-when-youve-never-designed-in-your-life/
Design - Make use of whitespace
First impression matters!
http://blog.landerapp.com/how-to-design-a-landing-page-when-youve-never-designed-in-your-life/
First impression matters!
Remember, marketing is art + craft.
http://blog.landerapp.com/how-to-design-a-landing-page-when-youve-never-designed-in-your-life/
Design - Make use of whitespace
Design - Make use of whitespace
You don’t need to be world class designers, you just need to space things well then you can fool a lot of your visitors. :)
First impression matters!
Remember, marketing is art + craft.
http://blog.landerapp.com/how-to-design-a-landing-page-when-youve-never-designed-in-your-life/
Communicate your value proposition
What is the value being communicated?
Communicate your value proposition
What Value Proposition is NOT
It’s not a slogan or catch phrase.
It’s not a positioning statement
It’s not your product’s benefit or feature statement
Neither, it is your business model
value proposition is a clear statement that...
explains how your product solves customers’ problems or improves their situation (relevancy)
delivers specific benefits (quantified value)
tells the ideal customer why they should buy from you and not from the competition (unique differentiation).
What exactly is a value proposition?
Good value proposition example
Good value proposition example
Evernote clearly communicates ‘what’ and ‘how’. As a result, their landing page is very easy to follow.
Good value proposition example
Good value proposition example
KISSmetrics uniquely differentiates from their major competitor
What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK
Always be testing
What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK
Always be testing
What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK
Always be testing
What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK
Always be testing
What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK
Always be testing
What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK
Always be testing
What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK
Always be testing
Startup Pyramid + Marketing Type
Startup Pyramid + Marketing Type
Direct Response Marketing
Startup Pyramid + Marketing Type
Positioning & Growth Hacking
Direct Response Marketing
Startup Pyramid + Marketing Type
Direct Response Marketing
Positioning & Growth Hacking
Branding
Remember, marketing is selling at scale.
Remember, marketing is selling at scale.
...and it doesn’t make any sense to market something that is not ready to scale.