Techstars Growth Marketing Presentation by Jim Huffman

@JimWHuffman Jimwhuffman.com

A Growth Marketing Workshop for Startups

Jim HuffmanCEO of GrowthHit

growthhit.com

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Who is this guy?

My name is Jim Huffman . . .Techstars Mentor

Co-Founder of GrowthHit.comGrowth Advisor to Universal Standard

General Assembly Marketing Instructor

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When to Call Me?

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If they can do it . . .

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$24B Valuation

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“Try Before You Buy”Easy adoption for companies. (No Internal Approval Needed)

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Acquired for $1.2B

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ONLY Focused on Ruby Developers. Meetups and T-Shirts VS. Expensive Ads

Free Trials (Only 20% will pay)

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Valuation at $1.75B

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The Right Distribution Channel with the Right Message at the Right

Time.

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About those Distribution Channels . . .

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Here are 19 Traction Channels1. Viral Marketing2. PR3. Unconventional PR4. SEM5. Social & Display Ads6. Offline Ads7. SEO8. Content Marketing 9. Email Marketing10.Engineering as Marketing11.Targeting Blogs12.Existing Platforms13.Business Development14.Affiliate Programs15.Trade Shows16.Community Building17.Sales18.Offline Events19.Speaking Engagements

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Increased Demand Makes Channels More Expensive

Popular Channels with increasing demand result in higher advertising prices

Getting in before the everyone else gives you the best chance for a strong ROI.

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Now Lets Talk about You

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What Part of the Conversion Funnel are You Focused on?

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How to Find the Right Channel?1. IDENTIFY: Choose the channels you think will work.

2. TEST: Test channels and track the progress. (Warning: Lots of your tests will fail.)

3. EXPLOIT: Create guidelines as for each channel. (Types of content / Frequency)

4. AUTOMATE: Allocation the right time, money and resources to that channels

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What to Consider When Testing Traction Channels?

• Biggest Impact

• Free vs. Paid

• Fastest Feedback Loop

• What segments are you targeting? (80/20 rule)

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What Drives Your Marketing Tests?Your Revenue Model Determines Your Marketing Channels

NO

• SEO• Email Marketing• Content Marketing• Manual Outreach• Be Scrappy

YES

• SEM• Facebook Ads• Display Ads• Retargeting• Branding

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What to Manage Your Budget?

LTV (Life Time Value of Customer) > CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

$2,000 in Facebook Ads = $10,000 in Sales YES!

$2,000 in Gmail Ads = $1,000 in Sales NO.

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Answer These Two Questions

BUT Before You Start Marketing . . .

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1. Do You Have Product Market Fit?Definition: Product/market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.

“The #1 company-killer is lack of market." Marc Andreessen

“You can always feel when product/market fit isn’t happening. The customers aren’t quite getting value out of the product, word of

mouth isn’t spreading, usage isn’t growing that fast, press reviews are kind of “blah”, the sales cycle takes too long, and lots of deals never

close.” Marc on HAVING PRODUCT MARKET FIT

And you can always feel product/market fit when it’s happening. The customers are buying the product just as fast as you can make it

— or usage is growing just as fast as you can add more servers. Money from customers is piling up in your company checking account.

Marc on NOT HAVING PRODUCT MARKET FIT

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Wait, Do I Have Product Market Fit?

How do you measure Product Market Fit?

1. 40% of Users would be “Very Disappointed” if your product disappeared.

2. What’s Your NPS (Net Promoter Score)?

How would you feel if you could no longer use [product]?(A) Very disappointed(B) Somewhat disappointed(C) Not disappointed (it isn’t really that useful)(D) N/A – I no longer use [product] (Survey.io)

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2. Are You Even Ready to Grow?

CONVERSION: Can you convert a user?

RETENTION: Can you keep a user?

If your marketing strategy works, are you prepared for traffic???

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Case Study: How TheTake Messed Up Conversion & Then Fixed It

Under 1% Sign-Ups

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Digital Marketing Crash Course

1.Target Demographics2.CRO & Website Design 3.Analytics4.SEO 5.Email6.Social Media7.Content Marketing8.Growth Hacking

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Who is Your Target Demographic?Groups of individuals who share similar characteristics, traits and motivations for buying your product. Who is NOT in your target demo?

RESEARCH TOOLS TO USE

Audience Insights (Facebook)Market Size and profiles

SimilarWebAnalysis Your Competition

FollowerWonkFind Twitter Users by bio description. EX: “Drone developer”

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Why it Pays to Understand Your Users?It Drives Your Marketing

How to find out about a sites numbers: SimilarWeb.com

STRIPE: Developer First Platform

(Events)

NEW RELIC: Ruby Developers

(Marketing language)

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CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)Conversion Rate Optimization Design TipsDesign & Content should solve a problem, answer their questions and/or teach them how to use your product. Have the least amount of friction possible.

1. State the Main Benefits to Your Users (Do NOT state features)2. Hero Image or Video that showcases Product3. Section with Social Proof: Logos of Press, Partner logos, Testimonials, etc.4. Clearly List or Show your Main Features 5. A Clear Call to Action with Language on the CTA Button that’s Unique

5 Tips for Your Landing Page According to Optimizely

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Analytics: Where to Start? FREE3 Things To Do First: (1) Google Analytics, (2) Google Tracking Links, (3) Facebook Pixel for Tracking

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Analytics: What to Ask?How are people finding my site, landing on my site? - Facebook, organic search, another site, blogger, another device,

etc.

What are they doing once they are on my site?- Bounce rate, session duration, invite a friend, search for things, etc.

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SEO: What Googles Care About?

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Search: Your SEO ChecklistIs Your Content/Website SEO friendly? Here’s a check list:

1. Sitemap: A special document created just for search engines. Ycan use sites like xml-sitemaps.com to generate one.

2. Google Webmaster Tool: Sign your site up with Google Webmaster Tools to ensure that it’s being indexed and returned by Google.

3. Keyword Research for high volume / low costs keywords (Keyword Planner)

4. On Page Optimization: Keywords on Page, URL structure, Meta Description, Headlines, Copy, Links in copy. Images (Links, File Name, Alt Text), Strong Word Count, Optimized for Mobile? (Mobilegeddon)

5. Build Your Backlinks: Build Links to your page through Credible websites (What backlinks do your competitors have? )

Bonus: Google+, Youtube Account, Twitter Handle & Linkedin Summary write name of your business

Tools: Google Sitemap Generator, Google Webmaster Tool, Moz, Yoast, SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner

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Email: Best Practices• Create a mobile friendly version of your email.• Design with the preview pane in mind.• Use Buttons for your Call to Action• Create a Automated Email campaigns by Segment (New Users, Doormat

users, By segment, etc.)• Shorter subject lines perform best. (Keep it under 50 characters.) • Make sure the From name is trusted and recognizable. (Person vs. Company)• A/B Test every single email

SOCIAL PROOF:“Suits designed by a NASA engineer”

AUTHORITY:“Warren Buffet’s #1 Investment Tip”

SCARCITY/DEADLINE “24 hours left to sign up”

FEAR & ASPIRATION “7 Biggest Time Wasters for Social Media Marketers”

Subject Line Inspiration

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Social Media: Popular NetworksFacebook: Create a community. Let your customers know who you are. Customer engagement.

Twitter: Short messaging service. Have public “private” conversations. Short life span but immediate.

LinkedIn: Platform for your professional network. Forums, Groups and they own SlideShare.

Pinterest: Visual. Artistic/creative. People can put Pins on Boards. Use to curate what you find interesting, not just to promote your own stuff.

Instagram: A photo newsfeed. Similar to Pinterest but less browsing, more of a newsfeed. Great for sharing photos of your work to your followers, content gets stale a lot faster.

Google+: Limited people/traffic, gearing up for SEO impact.

YouTube: Online videos. Create a company channel for customer service, interesting entertainment.

Quora: Question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited and organized by its community of users.

Snapchat: An ephemeral social video messaging platform on mobile.

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FACEBOOK: Frequency BUFFER’S 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA FREQUENCY GUIDE• Post to Facebook five to 10 times per

week.• When a brand posts twice a day, those

posts only receive 57% of the likes and 78% of the comments per post. The drop-off continues as more posts are made.

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TWITTER: Frequency BUFFER’S 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA FREQUENCY GUIDE• Post to Twitter at least 5 times a day. If you can swing up to 20 posts,

you might be even better off.• Post to LinkedIn once per day. (20 times per month)

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LINKEDIN: Frequency BUFFER’S 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA FREQUENCY GUIDE• 5 Posts per week of 25 words• Share Industry Insights, listicles and top content

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Social Media Ads: FacebookSTEP 1: Start Testing Custom Audiences with your Email List and/or Your Facebook Pixel

STEP 2: Create a Lookalike Audience from your audience in Step 1.

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Content Marketing & DistributionEXAMPLES OF CONTENT:• Quizzes and Polls• GIFs and Infographics• Videos• Short form content and Lists• Long Form Content (Thought Piece)• eBooks

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Focus 50% of Time on Distribution

The Content Marketing Playbook1. Send to your email list2. Share on social media3. Syndication (Outbrain)4. Send an outreach email5. Mention an influencer6. Submit to a content community

(Quora, Medium, StumbleUpon, etc.)

7. Connect with a mentoring/peer group

8. Make it easy for readers to share9. Focus on the places that get the

best results10.Paid ads and remarketing11.Repurposing (New headlines)

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Growth HackingWhat is Growth Hacking?

Sean Ellis (Dropbox) came up with the phrase “Growth Hacker” in 2010 when he was trying to hire his replacement. Because all the Marketing candidates weren’t working out.

“A Growth Hacker is a person whose true north star is Growth. ” – Sean Ellis

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Wait, So What Does that Mean?

“After product-market fit and an efficient conversion process, find scalable, repeatable and sustainable ways to grow the business.” – Sean Ellis

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Evernote: Find a New Growth Channel• App Store = New Distribution Channel• “We really killed ourselves in the first couple of years to always be

in all of the app store launches on day one.”• 19,000 New Sign-Ups / Day

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Jim Huffmaninfo@growthhit.com

Twitter: @jimwhuffman