How to Start a Startup · the goal of building reputation and visibility of your brand. Many shapes...

HowtoStartaStartupWeek4 – Launch AUAYerevan

Whatdoeslaunchinglooklike?

Whatlaunchingactuallylookslike.

StartupmarketingisHARD.

Launchingisnotasingularevent.

Customeracquisitionis#1

Common“Free”AcquisitionChannels

1. Organicsearch2. Contentmarketing3. Inboundreferrals4. Wordofmouth5. PR6. GrowthHacking

OrganicSearch

Alsoknownas“SERPs”forSearchEngineResultsPages

Companiesspend$65BannuallyonSEO(SearchEngineOptimization)

SEOBreakdown

PROS- Longtermasset,difficulttoimitate- “Free”trafficsource- Competitiveadvantageagainstnewcomers

CONS- TakesforevertobuildupSEOjuice- Lotsofcompetitionincompetitivemarkets

ContentMarketing

Creatingandsharingcontentwiththegoalofbuildingreputationand

visibilityofyourbrand.

Manyshapesandsizes

1. Videos2. Podcasts3. Imagesandpresentations4. eBooks5. Infographics6. Whitepapers

Referrals

Referralsaretheoftenthehighestqualitysourceofnewtrafficfor

startups.

“Peopleinfluencepeople.Nothinginfluencespeoplemorethanarecommendationfromatrustedfriend.Atrustedreferralinfluences

peoplemorethanthebestbroadcastmessage.AtrustedreferralistheHolyGrailofadvertising.”

StartupPR

Gettingpressmattersbutisn’tcrucialtostartupsuccess.

Whydoesitmatter?

1. Onlineandprintpublishershavelargeaudiencesthatcandisseminateinformationaboutyourproductmorequicklythanyouwouldbeabletoonyourown

2. Convincesotherpartnersandbusinessdevelopmentrepresentativesthatyouarethe“realdeal”andareworththeirtime

HowtoengageinPR

1. Don’thireaPRfirm.Trytodoityourselffirst2. Readtheindustrypapersandfindtherelevant

topicsinyourgenreorniche3. Reachouttoreporterswithashortbutgenuine

pitchandseeifthey’dliketocoveryourstory4. Don’tannoyjournalistsbutdobepersistent

TheHustle – BadExample

TheHustle – GoodExample

GrowthHacking

Scalingtolotsofusersatlowcostwithouttheuseoftraditional

advertisingormarketingapproaches.

GrowthHackingcaninclude…

1. SEO/SEM2. ContentMarketing3. UsertestingandUX4. Viralloopswithinproducts5. Strategicdiscountsorpricing6. Conversionoptimization

AirBnB builtontopofCraigslist

HotmailFooterHack

1. Hotmailaddedafooteratthebottomofeachemailsentfromitsproduct.

“PS.Iloveyou.GetyourfreeemailatHotmail”2. Grewfromzeroto12Musersin1.5years3. AcquiredbyMicrosoftfor$400M

LinkedIn– PublicProfiles

1. Searchforanyone’sname->Signup

CommonPaidAcquisitionChannels

1. GoogleAdwords2. FacebookAds3. Newspapers/Print4. TV5. Radio6. DirectMail

Directvs.Indirect

1. DirectSales– customergoestotheirplatformofchoice,seesanad,clicksonthead,goestoyoursite,andthenbuysyourproduct

2. IndirectSales– customergivesyouaphonenumberoremail,isthenengagedlateronbyarepresentativeordripemailcampaign

AdWordsTips1. Startsmall– maybe$5budgetperday2. Targetexactlywithkeywordtools,don’ttryto

competeongenericcampaigns3. Keywordsmustmatchthelandingpagecopy!4. Measureandadjusttermsconstantly5. ALWAYSkeepacloseeyeonCAC,LTV,overallROI.

Veryeasytospendlotsof$$$onGoogle

CAC=Customeracquisitioncost

LTV=LifetimeValueoftheCustomer.Requiresestimatingthecustomerlifespan,retentionrate,churnrate,referralrate(virality),andprofit

marginspercustomer.

Rememberthe3:1ratiowhencalculatingCAC:LTV

TargetingiskeywhenbuyingadsonFacebook.

SmallerPaidChannels

1. Reddit2. LinkedIn3. Twitter4. Bing/Yahoo5. Displayadnetworks(BuySellAds)6. Myadvice-- startw/freechannelsfirst

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