Build Your Audience While Building Your ProductMarketing for Pre-MVP Startups

Sovita ChanderVP Strategylesaint.ca/healthcare

Le Camp Intensive MVP Program, Quebec City, Canada

© 2015 SOVITA CHANDER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Why are we here?

No MVP? No problem. Get started anyway.

Source: deathtothestockphoto.com

Why should you listen to me?

• Entrepreneur. Started when I was 26.

• Been in the big company and startup trenches.

• Built a career taking local tech and pushing it out to international markets.

• I’m not from around here. So I’ve never been able to afford to make market assumptions.

Today’s talk

Source: gratisography.com

8 things you need to put on your to do list.

And do.

1. Get your website up

Hint: Wordpress

is pretty easy

Say no to DIY branding.

• Instead, go get a Wordpress theme. A one-page responsive theme is fine.

• Get a SECURE premium theme (under $100). • It’s cheaper than fixing a hack.

(Or you might end up on http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/)

2. Start marketing

Product Audience

Traction

3. Segment your market

Target your segments because,• Limited resources (not IBM resources)• Courir plusieurs lièvres à la fois : spend your time

and money most effectively

• Great segmentation resource: Bill Aulet’s Disciplined Leadership

What’s a good segment?

Photo Credit: atomicShed via Compfight cc

It’s not the whole pie.

Good vs. bad segmentationDON’T DO THIS

“We target physician practices.”

DO THIS

“Our initial target market is physician practices with 20 or more physicians, in the United States, located in zip codes with >$75k household income and median population over 55.”

But won’t this limit our market reach? Remember: Target Addressable Market (TAM) ≠ Initial Target Segment•Drill down to be effective. •Get your revenue (or other proxy metric).•Get your ROI/benefits.•Once you’re successful in that segment, then start moving on.

Bombardier v1.0

ALL about traction.

4. Build a buyer profile

• You’re in the Intensive MVP Program, so you’re already doing customer development

• Take it one step further: document who your buyer is

• Key questions:• Where do they seek out info and advice? (hint: these are

good marketing channels) • What’s going to stop them from buying your product?

Need a profile template?

Ask me @sovita.chander@lesaint.ca

5. Start mapping your buyer’s journey• Buyer’s journey: a map of how they buy.

Awareness

• Do I have a problem?

• How painful?• Impact?• What are

others doing?

Consideration

• Can I ignore it?

• Do I need help?

• What should I look for?

Engagement

• How long?• How much?• How

disruptive?• Impact on

business / performance?

Why do this?

• Start understanding their questions, their sales objections.

• Buyer’s journeys are different for each market – sometimes each segment.

• Big companies ≠ SMBs or startups.• Dads who drive BMWs in California ≠ Grandmas

who drive Subarus in Boston

6. Start building your audience

Source: youtube.com

Hint: This is a movie, not

real life.

“But I don’t have a marketing budget”

I bought myself a MacBook Air instead.

Source: deathtothestockphoto.com

You still have options.

Source: deathtothestockphoto.com

Build a pre-launch listCase study: Harry’s. 100,000 emails a week before launch

Source: harrys.com

Build a following (there are no boring industries)• Case study: Maersk Shipping. 800,000 on Facebook,

40,000 Twitter followers, 22,000 on Instagram.

Source: sgmaersk.wordpress.com

Get your thought leadership out• There are no boring topics, only boring angles.• Educate, don’t sell. (Nobody cares about the product)• Be insanely helpful• Or fun• Or both• Examples: Unbounce, Caristix, Groove• More here: http://www.slideshare.net/Sovita/hitmc-

2015-sovita-chander-thought-leadership-content-marketing-slideshare

Groove’s CEO blog is awesome

Source: groovehq.com

Interested in content marketing?

Source: gratisography.com

Here’s my pitch

7. Start testing tactics and channels

Best tactics resource

• Traction, by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares• 19 traction channels to consider• Pick what makes sense for your business

8. Iterate.

Source: gratisography.com

Keep calm and carry on.

Build incremently

• It will take time.• You will course-correct.• It will be frustrating at times.• Do it anyway.

Thank you!Sovita Chander(418) 802-2435sovita.chander@lesaint.ca