Marketing for Startup Incubator - January 2012
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Rebecca Steinberg Herson Presented to: TheHive@Gvahim Startup Incubator January 3, 2012 1 Marketing for Early Stage Start-ups Copyright © 2012 Rebecca Steinberg Herson
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This is an updated, shortened & interactive version of a lecture I presented one year earlier. The audience was startup company founders participating in TheHive@Gvahim, an incubator in Tel Aviv, Israel. The companies' marketing targets are a very broad range, including B2B enterprise, B2C, SaaS and social enterprises. The lecture included mini-assignments for participants to do for a few minutes between lecture segments.
Transcript of Marketing for Startup Incubator - January 2012
Rebecca Steinberg HersonPresented to: TheHive@Gvahim Startup Incubator
January 3, 2012
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Marketing for Early Stage Start-ups
Copyright © 2012 Rebecca Steinberg Herson
So this is marketing…
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What we’ll discuss today
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Getting to know your customersSegmenting your marketIncreasing your influenceCalls to actionPromotionIdentifying what’s working (calculating ROI)
Your Solutions Solves A PAIN. Who Suffers from this pain?
Getting to Know your (potential) Customers
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Your Customer is Not You
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How to get to know your customer
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Old daysFocus GroupsPhone surveysAnalyst ReportsTrade Shows
Today
Market Surveys
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Use surveys to test product ideas confirm your instincts refine your message discover new potential customers
Google docs - its completely free Can be edited collaboratively (whoever you allow) Lots of available designs, or embed in your own web page or blog
LinkedIn Polls Survey your own network for free Survey specific demographics for a fee (~$1/response)
Learning @ LinkedIn
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Copyright (c) 2010 Rebecca Steinberg Herson10
Copyright (c) 2010 Rebecca Steinberg Herson11
Jump in to Social Media
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Identify key people in your industry
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Search Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook for relevant people, groups, comments, companies
Follow, read their tweets, check their blogsRetweet relevant content – people appreciate it and it builds
your credibilityTweet your own thoughts – be authentic Join relevant groups on LinkedIn, Facebook “Lurk” for a while before you jump in – think cocktail partyThen, start discussions (LinkedIn)Correspond with people who enter the discussionDM influencers (Twitter)Reach out to people – they are people, and most want to help
Become part of the conversation
Trade Shows – a concentrated learning tool
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If you attend, do your homework Check on twitter what people are saying about the event, tweetups
planned Review all the exhibitors and speakers – who do you want to talk to?
Do you want to meet the exhibitors or the attendees? Most of the people in the booths are sales reps – is that who will be
most useful for you? Some companies also send executives, but they don’t hang around waiting for visitors; you need to book an appointment
The Press are also there. Don’t bother with them unless you already have a customer they can talk to
Look up the people you want to meet on LinkedIn and memorize what they look like – you just might run into them in a hotel lobby
Identify 3 ways you can learn more about your customers
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Learn more
about
custo
mers:
Segmenting Target Markets
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Identify your ideal customer(s) Build marketing personas
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Customer company size / end-user demographicVertical industry – finance, medical, retail,
automotive, etc.Geographic locationWho is my potential buyer? What is his/her job title?Who are my influencers? What are their job titles?What is the total addressable market?Who competes in this market already?
Segmenting the market
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Different segments will require different marketing strategies
May require slightly different product featuresTry to limit yourself to the quickest acting segment at
first – for first customersLater, focus on the most profitable segment
Think of three ways you could potentially segment your target market
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Segmentation
Possibilit
ies:
Increasing Your Influence
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Why you need a blog (or FB Page, or Vlog, or Tumblr, or Twitter feed, or…)
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It’s the second thing people will look at when they want to understand you and your company
(the first is your LinkedIn profile)Great for SEOIt becomes your own media channel - who needs
ComputerWorld anymore?Gives you more credibility with the mainstream media – you
can become a source for them Gives you something to tweet, for people to retweet, and for
them to comment on – gets you into the conversationOf course, you need to have something to say
Start your blog (or X…)
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Blog can be your own personal blog, that is, if you have enough to say on your own
If you open a company blog, you will have more options for contributors Facebook pages have lots of blog-ish options; main drawback: not
searchable Be authentic Talk about issues in the industry Comment on newsworthy items Offer advice Blog at least 2 months before you want to publicize it
This ensures you know what you’re getting into and can maintain itYou will have archived content from day 1
If you’re vlogging, include keyword-heavy descriptions for each video Include CALLS TO ACTION in your blog or near your posts
Think of 5 ideas you can blog/vlog/tweet about
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Blog ideas:
The Call to Action
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Calls To Action
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Sign up for our newsletterVisit our web siteDownload this white paperEnter this contestMeet us at this eventWhat do you think about X? Tell us in the commentsRegister for our free versionView this webinarAnswer our surveyCall our hotline… operators standing by……BUY!!!
Copyright (c) 2010 Rebecca Steinberg Herson26
Copyright (c) 2010 Rebecca Steinberg Herson27
28 “If you share our vision, let’s work together”
Copyright (c) 2010 Rebecca Steinberg Herson29
Amazing, rich content. Where is the CTA?Where is the elevator pitch?
What are 5 different calls to action you can use to market your solution?
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CTAs:
Marketing Promotion
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Promotion
32 MIT Sloane School Marketing Management Course Lecture
Social Networking
Value Proposition, Elevator Pitch
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The unique value you offer to your customersBoil it down into a very short, medium and long
statementLiterally try saying it in the elevator – it’s hardTest it out on others, especially outside your companyPolish this before you start officially
promoting, to maintain consistency
Elevator Pitch Template
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From: http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/30/startups-give-us-your-best-one-sentence-pitch/
Public Relations
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Keep track of articles that cover your industry – these are most likely the journalists you will want to contact when the time comes
Journalists look for newsworthy stories:TimelyConflictUnexpectedMeaningful
Craft your “pitch” based on what you’ve learned about the journalist – what kinds of stories does s/he write?
Try for the less obvious publications – you may find coverage easier to achieve
Trade Shows/ Conferences
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You don’t necessarily have to exhibit (expensive!!) – try visiting the first time, and making appointments – great research tool
Apply for speaking engagements even if you don’t exhibitCheck with the organizers if they have any matching-type
services to bring relevant people to youRequest the press list in advance and reach out to relevant
journalists before you get thereTweet that you’re going; update your LinkedIn profile;
FacebookDon’t expect the relevant leads to show up just because
you are there. You need to bring them to your booth
Qualifying Show Visitors
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Majority of visitors will be tire-kickersCome up with 3 questions that immediately lets
you know if the visitor is qualifiedTrack the answers with the visitor’s business card
(badge scanner or staple the card to a lead sheet with the 3 questions pre-printed)
Send a follow up email to everyone who attended, highlighting your key positioning statements
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How to Know What’s Working (ROI)
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How to Measure What’s Working?
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SALES (of course) What if you’re not selling? Divide your pipeline into specific stages,
and track opportunities as they progress
Social/ SaaS:1-free trial registrant2-spent time on site/app3-populated personal profile4-asked support question…8-signed up for 1 month paid 9-extended for 1 year paid
Traditional Enterprise Product:1-Qualified suspect – meets our criteria2-Initiated contact3-Interest expressed – potential opportunity identified…9-Verbal commitment to purchaseClosed WonClosed LostStalled/Postponed
Sample Pipeline by Lead Source
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Stage 6
Stage 7
Stage 8
Stage 9
Sold0
2
4
6
8
10
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Trade Show LondonTwitterGoogle AdsWebinar on Se-curityArticlesemail ad - Computer-world
Interim Results, Prior to Sales
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For each lead source calculate:adjusted revenue = ∑ (Expected deal size x % likelihood to close)Temporary ROI (until deal closes)= [(adj. revenue - cost)/cost]*100
For cost, include your time – if you spend 3 days at a trade show this adds to the cost of the show
Likelihood to close is (typically) based on sales stage – stage 6 = 60%; stage 7 = 70%, etc.
In in long sales cycles, a lead doesn’t even become an “opportunity” until it hits stage 4
You can start by tracking in a spreadsheet; eventually you’ll need a CRM system / lead nurturing system
Enterprise sales: each account will have multiple contacts, further complicating your record keeping
Measuring Conversion Rate
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1175
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41Unique page views
Respondents58 Attendees
4700 Email blast sent
Invitations Opened
2% of invited
44% page conversion
25% open rate
Attendees > respondents indicates WOM
Iterate, Iterate and Iterate Again
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Build in feedback modelsA-B testingTrack opens, clicks, event attendance, registrations, etc.
Do it better the next timeAdjust your messageAdjust your demoAdjust your home pageAdjust your marketing channelTry to improve the # of leads coming into the funnelTrack and improve your conversion rate at every step in
the funnel
What conversion rates are meaningful for my business?
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Meaningful
Conversion
Rates:
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That first (second or third) customer
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Revenue is important, but in the early stage these are even more important:
Feedback that can help improve the productTestimonial - a customer approves a quote for your web
site or other marketing materials “This product is great because it solves such & such
problem…”Case study – customer goes on the record with before/
after data and quotesReference – customer agrees to talk to other potential
customers, journalists or analysts about how great you are
Useful Marketing Resources
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http://bit.ly/marketing-resources
Highly recommended reading:
Rebecca Steinberg [email protected]
054-444-2372http://il.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaherson
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Thank You!
