Startup Marketing: Rules for Revolutionaries

Startup Marketing: Rules for Revolutionaries Michael Gaiss Senior Vice President [email_address] Twitter: @MichaelGaiss

Workshop Agenda
Background
Frame of Reference
Technology Startup Stages
Old School versus The Digital World
Startup Marketing “Rules”
More like suggestions on how to approach things

Nasdaq: VPRT $120,200,000 Internet-based printing $295,000,000 Acquired by Lucent Switching equipment Acquired by Staples Specialty retailer Nasdaq: ODSY $54,000,000 Hospice care provider $355,000,000 Acquired by Tellabs Optical access solutions Nasdaq: NXCD $120,000,000 Online credit provider $5,400,000,000 Acquired by Terra Networks Global internet network Nasdaq: LULU $32,760,000 Specialty apparel retailer Nasdaq: CKFR $86,4000,000 Electronic bill pay systems Nasdaq: BFRE $67,200,000 Performance-based online marketing Nasdaq: AVID $56,000,000 Video editing systems Nasdaq: ASKJ $42,000,000 Online Search $567,000,000 Acquired by Cisco Systems Broadband VPN solutions Nasdaq: CONR $78,000,000 Acquired by J&J for $1.4B Drug eluting stents Nasdaq: EXAS $65,000,000 Genomics-based technologies Nasdaq: HLCS $48,600,000 Developer of instruments for DNA sequencing $1,100,000,000 Acquired by AOL Advanced mapping solution Nasdaq: SYBS $49,600,000 Relational database management software $325,000,000 Acquired by Cisco Systems Web-enabled call center Nasdaq: STAR $126,000,000 Infrastructure Products

My Background
Highland Capital Partners (since 1999)
Various Tech Companies
Gentia Software/Planning Sciences (Boston/UK)
IQ Software (Atlanta)
Unisys (Minneapolis, New Zealand, Blue Bell, PA)
University of Michigan (Engineering)
University of St. Thomas (MBA)
TiE-Boston Charter Member

Technology Startup Stages
Concept
Key element is creating the basic value proposition and testing it in the market
Seed
Key element is product development
Business focus is researching potential market opportunity to refine the business model
Product is raw but customers are using it
Early
Key element is market adoption
Proving that customer are willing to use and pay for your products
Business focus is sales & marketing
Whole product is complete
Growth
Key element is scale
Business focus is accelerating market adoption
Product line extensions to address new market opportunities

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

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
Harness Word-of-Mouth
Scale Smartly

1. Immerse Yourself in the Flow Immerse Yourself

Immerse Yourself

Google Alerts Immerse Yourself

Google Reader Immerse Yourself

TweetDeck Immerse Yourself

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 “the recognition 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

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

How to Accomplish?
Establish a differentiated and compelling position
What’s your vision, perspective and insight?
Is it relevant, knowledgeable, compelling, provocative & unique?
Does it deliver value to your marketplace?
Package into messaging, content & points-of-view (POV)
Engage the industry “influencers”
Industry analysts
Partners
Media
Incorporate feedback, refine and build buy-in
Articulate and further communicate it
Thought Leadership

Thought Leadership

3. Get Creative for Early Customer Access
Relentlessly work assets
Board of Directors
Employees
Potential Investors
Social Network contacts
Stack the deck
Advisors
Product Advisory Councils
Early Customer Access

Product definition well defined but 9 months from going live
Brought on inside sales person to validate their assumptions
Established Product Advisory Council
Walked through value proposition, pitch
Solicited feedback and input
Signed up nearly 1,000 members
Primed the sales pump
Early Customer Access

4. Establish a (Far) Superior Online Presence
Smart website architecture
Content management system (CMS)
Database management system
RSS
Professional look-and-feel
Look like the “big guys”
Own the “Golden Triangle”
Compelling content strategy
SEO, SEM, Social Media
Online Presence

What’s 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

Compelling Content Strategy
Content is “King”
Create highly relevant site content
Thought pieces / White Papers
News & articles
Customer case studies
Podcasts/Videos/Webinars
Newsletters
Product information
Blogs – under right conditions
Offer value that draws visitors
Online Presence

Exploit the Architecture of the Internet
On-Page Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Title Tags, Meta Description, Keywords
Relevant Body Content with keywords worked in
Add Headings Tags, ALT text to images
Off-Page SEO
Linking strategy
Directories
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Am I present everywhere people discuss my industry? Online Presence

SEO & SEM All Starts with Keyword Optimization
Sources
Brainstorm from messaging
Relevant to your target markets
Google Analytics (how are people currently find you)
Competitive analysis (meta keywords tags)
Keyword Tools
Selecting keyword phrases
Objectives
Search volume (goal = high)
Relevance (goal = high)
Competition (goal = low)
Types
Core competitive
Long-tail keywords
Segment into multiple lists
Primary
Secondary
Online Presence

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

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.

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.

Off-Page SEO Linking Strategies
Competitive Intelligence – Analyze the backlinks of your competitors. Try to get links from the same sites
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 doesn’t like it

HubSpot’s WebSite Grader Online Presence

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Paid Search Organic Online Presence

SEM Process Define Your Goals
Campaign Management
Keyword Development
Campaign Structure
Match Type Refinement
Bid Strategies
Creative Execution & Testing
Landing Page Testing
Test & Monitor KEEP Keywords PRUNE Keywords O p t i m i z a t i o n Online Presence

Google AdWords Online Presence

Pursue Social Media Channels Online Presence

Resources
SEO/SEM Website Analysis
HubSpot’s www.websitegrader.com
Keyword Tools
Google AdWords keyword tool
HubSport’s KeywordGrader
WordTracker (advanced)
Free Link Research Tools
Google & Yahoo’s Site Explorer - siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com
Netconcepts’ Link Checker - www.netconcepts.com/linkcheck
WeBuildPages’ Neat-o Tool - www.webuildpages.com/neat-o/
SEO For Firefox - tools.seobook.com/firefox/seo-for-firefox.html
TouchGraph GoogleBrowser - www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html
Tattler - www.webguerrilla.com/down-loads/tattler.zip
Online Presence

5. Leverage Media Relations to Project Credibility
Establish direct connections and personal relationships
Focus on trades
Be opportunistic with beat reporters
Another channel for your thought leadership
Contributed articles
Expert commentary
Feed with news flow
Stay focused and watch costs
Media & Credibility

Additional Resources
PR Web
Cheaper news release distribution channel
Optimized for SEO
HARO – www.helpareporter.com
Twitter
Follow key reporters
Media & Credibility

6. Harness Word-of-Mouth
Build referenceable constituencies
Do the hard work
Make it part of the culture
Turn them into communities
User groups
Advisory councils
Extranets
LinkedIn Groups
Word of Mouth

More on Word-of-Mouth
Give them something to talk about
Align with their vision and be a resource
Bring them together with other customers
Develop promotions that encourage referrals and benefits your existing customers
Leverage
Customer testimonials
Content
Social networks
Word of Mouth

7. Scale Smartly
Build repeatable lead gen engines
Webinars
Direct marketing
Newsletters (automated)
Optimize landing pages
Own more in the sales funnel
Scale Smartly

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 visitor’s experience by avoiding multiple steps to finalize their request
Don’t direct traffic only to your main page. Your landing page should be as specific as your searched keywords. Scale Smartly

Own More in the Sales Funnel

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
Harness Word-of-Mouth
Scale Smartly

Startup Marketing: Rules for Revolutionaries Michael Gaiss Senior Vice President [email_address] Twitter: @MichaelGaiss

Startup Marketing: Rules for Revolutionaries

by Michael Gaiss

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