- 1. Startup Marketing:Rules for Revolutionaries Michael Gaiss
Senior Vice President [email_address] Twitter: @MichaelGaiss
2. Workshop Agenda
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- Technology Startup Stages
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- Old School versus The Digital World
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- More like suggestions on how to approach things
3. Nasdaq: VPRT $120,200,000Internet-based printing
$295,000,000Acquired by Lucent Switching equipment Acquired by
Staples Specialty retailer Nasdaq: ODSY $54,000,000Hospice care
provider $355,000,000Acquired by Tellabs Optical access solutions
Nasdaq: NXCD $120,000,000Online credit provider
$5,400,000,000Acquired by Terra NetworksGlobal internet network
Nasdaq: LULU $32,760,000Specialty apparel retailer Nasdaq: CKFR
$86,4000,000Electronic bill pay systems Nasdaq: BFRE $67,200,000
Performance-based online marketing Nasdaq: AVID $56,000,000Video
editing systems Nasdaq: ASKJ $42,000,000Online Search
$567,000,000Acquired by Cisco SystemsBroadband VPN solutions
Nasdaq: CONR $78,000,000Acquired by J&J for $1.4B Drug eluting
stents Nasdaq: EXAS $65,000,000Genomics-based technologies Nasdaq:
HLCS$48,600,000 Developer of instruments for DNA sequencing
$1,100,000,000Acquired by AOLAdvanced mapping solution Nasdaq: SYBS
$49,600,000Relational database management software
$325,000,000Acquired by Cisco SystemsWeb-enabled call center
Nasdaq: STAR $126,000,000 Infrastructure Products 4. My
Background
- Highland Capital Partners (since 1999)
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- Gentia Software/Planning Sciences (Boston/UK)
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- Unisys (Minneapolis, New Zealand, Blue Bell, PA)
- University of Michigan (Engineering)
- University of St. Thomas (MBA)
- TiE-Boston Charter Member
5. Technology Startup Stages
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- Key element is creating the basic value proposition and testing
it in the market
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- Key element is product development
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- Business focus is researching potential market opportunity to
refine the business model
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- Product is raw but customers are using it
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- Key element is market adoption
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- Proving that customer are willing to use and pay for your
products
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- Business focus is sales & marketing
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- Whole product is complete
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- Business focus is accelerating market adoption
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- Product line extensions to address new market
opportunities
6. Changing Paradigm Communities Target Audience Powerful
Networks Powerful Media Real Time Deadlines People &
Relationships Institutions Build Community Tell Your Audience
Informal & Conversational Formal & Instructive Influence
& Persuade Command & Control Advocate Preach Engage &
Participate Transmit The Digital World Old School 7. Startup
Marketing Rules
- Immerse Yourself in the Flow of Your Industry
- Embrace Thought Leadership
- Get Creative for Early Customer Access
- Establish a (Far) Superior Online Presence
- Leverage Media Relations to Project Credibility
8. 1. Immerse Yourself in the Flow Immerse Yourself 9. Immerse
Yourself 10. Google Alerts Immerse Yourself 11. Google Reader
Immerse Yourself 12. TweetDeck Immerse Yourself 13. 2. Embrace
Thought Leadership A thought leader is a person/organization that
is recognized among peers and the industry for innovative ideas and
demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as
actionable distilled insights. A distinguishing characteristic of a
thought leader is therecognition from the outside world that the
company deeply understands its business, the needs of its
customers, and the broader marketplace in which it operates.
Thought Leadership 14. The Real Opportunity
- Intellectual capital that distinguishes your position as a
knowledge resource and subject matter expert
- Point-of-view platforms to shape and influence market
perceptions
- Objective is to ultimately establish yourself as a trusted
client advisor
- IMPORTANT NOTE - Being a thought leader requires that you have
actual leading thinkers in your organization.
Turn your organization activity (your content development and
deployment strategy) into: Thought Leadership 15. How to
Accomplish?
- Establish a differentiated and compelling position
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- Whats your vision, perspective and insight?
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- Is it relevant, knowledgeable, compelling, provocative &
unique?
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- Does it deliver value to your marketplace?
- Package into messaging, content & points-of-view (POV)
- Engage the industry influencers
- Incorporate feedback, refine and build buy-in
- Articulate and further communicate it
Thought Leadership 16. Thought Leadership 17. 3. Get Creative
for Early Customer Access
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- Product Advisory Councils
Early Customer Access 18.
- Product definition well defined but 9 months from going
live
- Brought on inside sales person to validate their
assumptions
- Established Product Advisory Council
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- Walked through value proposition, pitch
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- Solicited feedback and input
- Signed up nearly 1,000 members
Early Customer Access 19. 4. Establish a (Far) Superior Online
Presence
- Smart website architecture
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- Content management system (CMS)
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- Database management system
- Professional look-and-feel
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- Compelling content strategy
Online Presence 20. Whats the Golden Triangle? Pay Per Click
($$$) Natural (Free) Stats - 85% click on natural (unpaid) results-
72% of searchers click on the first link of interest - 25.5% read
all listings first, then decide - Position 7-10 in natural listings
= top 4 PPC slots on the right hand side of the page Online
Presence 21. Compelling Content Strategy
- Create highly relevant site content
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- Thought pieces / White Papers
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- Blogs under right conditions
- Offer value that draws visitors
Online Presence 22. Exploit the Architecture of the Internet
- On-Page Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
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- Title Tags, Meta Description, Keywords
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- Relevant Body Content with keywords worked in
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- Add Headings Tags, ALT text to images
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Am I present everywhere people discuss my industry? Online
Presence 23. SEO & SEM All Starts with Keyword Optimization
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- Brainstorm from messaging
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- Relevant to your target markets
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- Google Analytics (how are people currently find you)
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- Competitive analysis (meta keywords tags)
- Selecting keyword phrases
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- Search volume (goal = high)
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- Segment into multiple lists
Online Presence 24. On-Page SEO Techniques
- Title Tags HTML element that displays the title of a web page
in your web browser and in the search results.
- Meta Description HTML element that summarizes the content of
your web page and enforces your marketing message.
Source: Todd Friesen Online Presence 25. On-Page SEO
Techniques
- Body Content must be readable and contain your key
phrases.
- ALT Tags HTML element describes images in the page. Alt tags
boost relevancy as well as provide a new avenue of traffic from
image searches.
Source: Todd Friesen Online Presence 26. On-Page SEO
Techniques
- Heading Tags an HTML element that provides structure and tells
search engines which parts of your page are most important.
- Internal Linking proper linking leads to better indexing. Using
your keywords in your internal links helps boost relevancy.
Source: Todd Friesen Online Presence 27. Off-Page SEO Linking
Strategies
- Competitive Intelligence Analyze the backlinks of your
competitors. Try to get links from the same sites
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- Google/MSN Search: link:www.hcp.com
- Submit to Quality General Directories
- Submit to Verticals/Topical Guides
- Search Ad Networks AdBrite, AdWords, Blog Ads, etc.
- Use Blogs and RSS Google loves blogs
- Create Podcasts/Screencasts Bloggers love posting them
- Buy Text Links But be careful. Google doesnt like it
Source: Todd Friesen Online Presence 28. HubSpots WebSite Grader
Online Presence 29. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Paid Search
Organic Online Presence 30. SEM Process Define Your Goals
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- Creative Execution & Testing
Test & Monitor KEEPKeywords PRUNE Keywords O p t i m i z a t
i o n Online Presence 31. Google AdWords Online Presence 32. Pursue
Social Media Channels Online Presence 33. Resources
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- HubSpotswww.websitegrader.com
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- Google AdWords keyword tool
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- Google & Yahoos Site Explorer
-siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com
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- Netconcepts Link Checker -www.netconcepts.com/linkcheck
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- WeBuildPages Neat-o Tool -www.webuildpages.com/neat-o/
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- SEO For Firefox
-tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
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- TouchGraph GoogleBrowser
-www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html
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- Tattler -www.webguerrilla.com/down-loads/tattler.zip
Online Presence 34. 5. Leverage Media Relations to Project
Credibility
- Establish direct connections and personal relationships
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- Be opportunistic with beat reporters
- Another channel for your thought leadership
- Stay focused and watch costs
Media & Credibility 35. Additional Resources
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- Cheaper news release distribution channel
- HARO www.helpareporter.com
Media & Credibility 36. 6. Harness Word-of-Mouth
- Build referenceable constituencies
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- Make it part of the culture
- Turn them into communities
Word of Mouth 37. More on Word-of-Mouth
- Give them something to talk about
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- Align with their vision and be a resource
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- Bring them together with other customers
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- Develop promotions that encourage referrals and benefits your
existing customers
Word of Mouth 38. 7. Scale Smartly
- Build repeatable lead gen engines
- Own more in the sales funnel
Scale Smartly 39. Landing Page Optimization & Testing
- An effective landing page results in better conversion
rates
- Landing pages must correlate with campaign keywords and ads in
order to remain relevant to customers
- Streamline your visitors experience by avoiding multiple steps
to finalize their request
Dont direct traffic only to your main page. Your landing page
should be as specific as your searched keywords. Scale Smartly 40.
Own More in the Sales Funnel 41. Recap Startup Marketing Rules
- Immerse Yourself in the Flow of Your Industry
- Embrace Thought Leadership
- Get Creative for Early Customer Access
- Establish a (Far) Superior Online Presence
- Leverage Media Relations to Project Credibility
42. Startup Marketing:Rules for Revolutionaries Michael Gaiss
Senior Vice President [email_address] Twitter: @MichaelGaiss