How Marketing Should Be Done In A Startup

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


Step 1: Build an experimental product




Step 2: Measure how users respond to your experiment




Step 2: Measure how users respond to your experiment

Step 3: Learn whether your experiment worked or not





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 2: Then draw a line in the sand (what’s your goal post?)

Step 3: Figure out how you’re going to measure it



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



Creates Awareness


Creates Sales


Creates Awareness


Creates Sales


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

www.shoedazzle.com

www.shoedazzle.com

Lets users personalize their experience

Do anything possible to get immediate action

http://www.ideeli.com

http://www.ideeli.com/

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.


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.


Humanize - Being human works!



Always elicit the desired condition NOT theproblem your products solve


Selling fashion? Sell looks not items.


Selling clothes? Show people looking well dressed and classy





Btw, have you ever seen a dentist advertise bad teeth they can fix?




Btw, have you ever seen a dentist advertise bad teeth they can fix?

(it’s a rhetorical qusestion)


Design - Make use of whitespace

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.






























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. :)


Remember, marketing is art + craft.




























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


Evernote clearly communicates ‘what’ and ‘how’. As a result, their landing page is very easy to follow.



KISSmetrics uniquely differentiates from their major competitor

What else should you be testing on your landing page? http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK

Always be testing

http://bit.ly/1h6mKnK



Always be testing




Always be testing




Always be testing




Always be testing




Always be testing




Always be testing



Startup Pyramid + Marketing Type


Direct Response Marketing


Positioning & Growth Hacking




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.

How can I help you?

Email: [email protected]

Hit me up on Twitter: @areahouse40

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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How Marketing Should Be Done In A Startup