A Systems Approach to Startup Marketing

A solution to random acts of marketing

April Dunford@aprildunford

RocketWatcher.com

April Dunford

As a marketing exec:6 startups: 4 launches, $1B revenue, $2B acquisitions 3 big companies: 2 product line launches, $3B revenue, 8 acquisitions (buy side)

As a Marketing Bon Vivant/Gallivanter:project-based marketing work, advisor, instructor, investor, coffee/beer drinker

How does an engineer become a career marketer?

Step 1: Get friend to give you a marketing jobStep 2: Don’t get fired

(Pro tip: Step 2 is way harder than Step 1)

What I learned reading 100’s marketing books plus taking a

ton of marketing courses:

Marketing theory is useless

(until after you know what you’re doing)

The 5th P of Marketing:Pissed off!

Meanwhile:“Hack me some $$,

Growth Hacker!!”

So I started doing “marketing” stuff.

The Cycle of Marketing MehMarketing Fashion

Assessment*

Select tactics

ExecuteMeasure

Improve

* Where you look at what everyone else is doing

1. No relationship or consistency between the tactics

2. Assumptions were always a problem3. I couldn’t always answer “stupid”

questions

But sometimes I could

Can great startup marketing

be modeled?

Inputs

3 aspects of customer knowledge Who they areHow they view solutionsHow they buy stuff

Customer Worksheet

Company Characteristics:Geography, size, industryStuff they do, type of customer they serve, how they sell, their ecosystem, budgets, risk tolerance, power structure, etc.

Consumer/Decision Maker 1, 2, 3: Characteristics:

demographics, education, skills, interests, motivations, goalsPain:

list of things that drives this group crazyWhere they hang out:

Social networks, communities, associations/groups, events Where they find out about stuff:

Search engines, word of mouth, peers, media outlets, blogs, experts, influencers/famous people

Segment 1, 2, 3

Offering Worksheet (Customer Perspective)

Competitive Alternatives:Examples: Do nothing, manual effort, Word/Excel, competitive product

Key Differentiated Points of ValueWhen compared to the alternatives above the specific value you bring that the others don’t.

What do we do?

ProofCustomer references, 3rd party reviews, statistics, metrics, expert endorsements,

What market are we in?

Sales Process

Awareness Consider-ation Purchase Renewal

Buying Process

No Need Need Eval Buy Enjoy Re-

new

Knowing the cost of not solving the problem

Knowing the Value of solving the problem

Knowing the value of your solution

Why purchase now?

Using and enjoy the offering

Knowing I can’t do without the offering

Current solution good enough

Value not compelling

Risks too high

Not knowing how to evaluate

Great but not for me

I might change my mind

Too much $

Bad service,

Bad user experience

Not using

Decided there was no need

Move to other solution

Accelerators

Friction points

Tactics

Selected based on:Who you need to reachWhere you can reach themStages where the friction isWhat you need to do to move them to the next stage

Operations

Plans based on selected tacticsEmail marketing plan/process/calendarPaid traffic plan/processContent plan/calendarSocial media plan/calendarMedia/Influencer relations plan/calendar…

Metrics

How prospects are flowing through the buying process

Analysis

What conclusions can you draw? How do these impact the inputs?

The Circle of Marketing Awesome

Tactical Executio

n

Outputs

Analysis

InputsCustomer

OfferingBuying Process

Metrics

Conclusions

Project plans

Thanks!

@aprildunfordRocketWatcher.com