This document discusses various traction channels that can be used to generate customer demand for a startup company. It defines 19 different channels including viral marketing, public relations, search engine marketing, social ads, content marketing, and speaking engagements. For each channel, it provides 1-2 sentences on how to effectively utilize that channel and what metrics to measure. The overall document emphasizes testing different channels, focusing resources on the most effective ones, and continually optimizing and pivoting channels over time as customer acquisition changes.
3. 19 Channels
Viral Marketing
Public Relations
Unconventional PR
Search Engine Marketing
Social & Display Ads
Offline Ads
SEO
Content Marketing
Email Marketing
Engineering as Marketing
•Targeting Blogs
•Business Development
•Sales
•Affiliate Programs
•Existing Platforms
•Trade Shows
•Offline Events
•Speaking Engagements
•Community Building
4. As I’m creating this presentation I received two
time delay emails from Slideshare showing me
how to use the product. This is a great example
of Lifecycle messaging as I had not yet become an
active user as defined by them. If only those
tutorials were more readily available on the site
maybe I would have finished the presentation
there rather than on Powerpoint. Good attempt
Slideshare, you can’t win them all.
5. 1. Brainstorm-Think of at least 1 idea for every channel
2. Rank-Rank your best options
3. Prioritize-Tier your options selecting those you will focus on
4. Test-Test your options focusing on your “inner circle” first
5. Focusing-Focus on your best traction channel and optimize
Repeat
6. 50% Product 50% Traction
•Divide your time equally between developing the
product and developing traction for your company
•“Move the needle” Focus on tactics that provide a
measurable benefit to your company
•Remember metrics: have a way to measure your
efforts with actual numbers and data
7. Once you find a traction channel that works
scale it and continue to monitor progress
When customer acquisition from a channel
drops too low (the channel becomes saturated)
pivot and select another channel to focus on
Some channels will work early on but will not
scale as well once your startup grows
8. Definition-Eventually every marketing channel
becomes saturated
Implications:
Continually test your traction channels to see
which are performing
Know when to pivot to a new channel
Do A/B testing to optimize your channels
9. Set specific goals you can work toward
Develop milestones to reach that goal
Measure each decision you make against how
it furthers your goals
*Remember to measure your moves with metrics
so you can see the affect your efforts have
10. Going Viral-Every user that signs up brings another user
to the platform
Viral Loop-A user of your product exposes others to it and
they become users themselves then repeat this cycle
Viral Coefficient (K)=# of invites sent * conversion rate
*It’s all about numbers. Measure your viral coefficient and
make incremental improvements to increase efficiency
11. Definition-All of your company’s public
messaging
Start small and target blogs that bigger news
sources draw on for content
Build relationships with reporters, bloggers,
and other figures in your industry
When you pitch make sure you have
something worth pitching
12. Definition-Generating a buzz through stunts or
uncommon actions
Publicity Stunt-Doing something out of the
ordinary to generate media awareness
Customer Appreciation-Small uncommon acts of
appreciation toward your customers that
generate word of mouth and sometimes media
coverage
*It is difficult to be successful in this space but if
done right it can have huge dividends
13. Definition-The placement of ads on search
engines
Have a good set of keywords
Craft and continually test landing pages
Having a high quality score gives better ad
placement
Once your campaign is running use advanced
tools like; retargeting, negative keywords,
scripting and conversion optimizer
14. Definition-Ads placed on social sites
These ads generate demand and work to build
the brand
The trick is to make your ad feel like content
that the consumer wants to engage with
Social ads are about building a relationship
with the consumer and converting them to a
sale over time rather than immediately
15. Definition-Traditional advertisements through
print, radio, television, etc…
It is very difficult to directly measure the
effects of offline ads
Offline ads are best used to build brand
awareness and recognition rather than drive
sales
Be creative with how you use offline ads. The
medium has been saturated and consumers
typically ignore you unless you can do
something differently
16. Definition-Optimizing your ranking on a search
engine to appear higher in the results.
Rankings are based on content and the number
of links to your site.
Two Strategies:
Fat Head-Ranking high for a few terms that
directly describe your company
Long Tail-Ranking high for many longer terms
that are highly specific
*The majority of searches done are long tail
17. Definition-Generating awareness by providing
content customers want to interact with
Develop content your target audience cares
about
Blogs are a popular form of content marketing
that drive traffic to your site and increase your
SEO
It takes time for your blog to perform well.
Allow six months for it to gain traction
18. Definition-Emailing customers directly
Don’t just buy an email list, that is spam
Exchange content (blog posts) for customer email
addresses
Lifecycle Email-Emailing customers at different times
depending on their interaction with your product
in order to help drive them to an “active” state
Use this to upsell customers as they max out their
current account limits
Leverage your users’ contacts by providing
incentives for them to invite friends
19. Definition-Creating useful tools through
engineering that give your company exposure
to the customer
Tools your engineers create for your business
can also be provided to customers
Providing customers with a useful tool is a
good way to introduce them to your company
and make them more likely to convert
Think of what you create as assets that can
continually generate customer leads
20. Definition-Generating support from blogs your
customers are interested in
Works well early on but doesn’t necessarily
scale well
Smaller blogs are sometimes a feeder for larger
news outlets
Increases the number of links to your site
driving SEO
21. Definition-Developing mutually beneficial
business partnerships
Pick a business partner that can help you
Think about the value you provide to your
business partner as well
Many partnerships fall through so have a
continual pipeline of potential partners ready
22. Marketing should both direct sales toward
relevant leads and provide them the material
they need to display the product and convert
the customer
Build a repeatable sales model so that it can be
scaled
Utilize SPIN selling by asking leads questions
Get verbal confirmation for each step of the
sales process
23. Definition-Paying another company for
generating a lead or sale
Affiliate programs are especially popular when
your product is expensive (insurance)
Look to existing affiliate programs like
Clickbooth and Neverblue
24. Definitions-Platforms that already have a large
user base (App store, Facebook, Twitter, etc…)
Target your customers by utilizing the
platforms they typically use
New platforms pay off well if you can enter
that space because it is not yet saturated
25. Definition-Industry specific shows that allow
companies to show their products to others
within the industry
Make sure a trade show lends itself to your
current traction goals
Make sure your booth and interactions aim to
specifically further your goals
26. Definition-Sponsoring some kind of event in
order to have beneficial interactions with
customers or potential partners
This is an underutilized space for most start-
ups
Effective early on but can be more difficult to
scale
Start with a small event and scale up
27. Definition-Speaking about your company at an
event that garners an audience
Conferences are often centered around a topic
or industry so choose one that you bring value
to
Industry specific conferences can gather a large
number of influential industry members to one
place
Tell a story that directly relates to your
company and is engaging
28. Definition-Building a community around current
users
Create evangelists or consumers that are
passionate about your product and actively
recommend it
Foster connections between evangelists and
typical users
Start this process early on to set the stage as
your company grows