Presented at the 2018 Arab Innovation Academy in Doha, Qatar, this talk focuses on three startup case studies and how they are building mindshare in their communities, even though they are just getting started.

1. MINDSHARE
BUILDING THOUGHT LEADERSHIP & COMMUNITY
01.08.18
#AIA2018

2. CONTENT IS MY LIFE
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3. CONTENT IS MY HOBBY
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4. The degree to which your
brand is top-of-mind.
MINDSHARE

5. SEARCH ENGINE

6. SOCIAL NETWORK

7. TAXI APP

8. PROFESSIONAL NETWORK

9. COFFEE

10. THE AIM OF MINDSHARE
IS TO ESTABLISH
A BRAND
AS ONE OF THE BEST
PRODUCT OR SERVICES
IN A CATEGORY
SUCH THAT IT BECOMES
SYNONMOUS
WITH THE CATEGORY.
Madden, Charles S. "Marketers Battle for Mind Share," Baylor Business ReviewVol. 9 (Spring, 1991). 8–10.

11. BECOMING SYNONYMOUS
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Adhesive bandages Facial tissues Lip balm

12. SYNONYMS IN TECH
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Just it.
Should we there?
I’ll it.

13. Strategies for building
mindshare.
HOW?

14. MANY MARKETING CHANNELS
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WEBSITE
SEO / SEM
SOCIAL MEDIA
EMAIL
PODCAST
WHITE PAPERS
EBOOKS
MEDIA
EVENTS
SPONSORSHIPS
RETARGETING
ADVERTISING
VIDEOS
INFOGRAPHICS
Bottom line: Understand your audience and what they need.

15. TWO DOMAINS FOR BUILDING MINDSHARE
THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP
COMMUNITY
BUILDING
@ericaswallow #AIA2018
Being the go-to opinion
leader in an area of
expertise.
Gathering your target
audience with a shared
goal in mind.

16. 02 OOLA 03 ENTREPRENEUR KID01 CONTENTLY
STARTUP CASE STUDIES
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17. A
B
C
D
E
Audience: Marketers & Writers (two-sided market)
Problem: Marketers need content creation help.
Freelance writers need more clients.
Solution: A platform and marketplace for content
creation, from matchmaking to publication.
Strategy: Build out both sides of the market while
becoming go-to experts in content marketing
Success: Works with top brands including GE,
American Express, IBM, Walmart, Facebook.
Have a high-quality network of 100,000
freelancers spanning 60+ countries.
CONTENTLY
CASE STUDY
@ericaswallow #AIA2018

18. 01. BLOGS + EMAIL + SOCIAL
The Content Strategist (marketers)
The Freelancer (writers)
02. EVENTS + CONFERENCES
Freelance Writers Meetup (NY)
Content Conversations Meetup (NY)
The Contently Summit
Contently Awards
03. EBOOKS + GUIDES
An entire section on the website,
dedicated to helping marketers,
capturing leads.
Plus, a trade book co-authored by
the CEO and Editor in Chief.
04. WRITERS PORTFOLIO
A tool all writers need. But also
an industry standard-setting
portfolio that makes Contently
network applications and client
matching smoother.
CONTENTLY’S KEY STRATEGIES
@ericaswallow #AIA2018

19. A
B
C
D
E
Audience: Active women who wear modestwear
Problem: Difficult to find stylish, modest activewear
Solution: Performance-engineered, loose-fitting
headcovers, tops, and pants
Strategy: Building an enthusiastic community of
early adopters
Success: Landed distribution in Qatar’s top
sports apparel store (Sports Corner) within first
six months of launch.
OOLA
CASE STUDY
@ericaswallow #AIA2018

20. 01. INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN
Testing concept and building early
adopters with crowdfunding.
Raised 225% of goal, a total of
$33,790 raised from 115
backers.
02. LADIES-ONLY EVENTS
Doha-based, ladies-only athletic events,
such as Oola Run, where women
gather to exercise (run, bike, walk,
dance). Opportunity to test and
introduce products.
03. MEDIA COVERAGE
Coverage in Al Jazeera, The Gulf
Times, Doha News, Entrepreneur,
Sisters Magazine. (Ex: When Nike
launched sports hijab, Al Jazeera
requested comment from CEO
Haya Al Ghanim.)
04. BLOG + SOCIAL
Highlighting influencers and
commenting on relevant news and
trends in the modest activewear
community.
OOLA’S KEY STRATEGIES
@ericaswallow #AIA2018

21. A
B
C
D
E
Audience: 5-10 year olds; Parents and teachers
who want to teach children entrepreneurship
Problem: Children do not have access to
entrepreneurship education at young ages (5-10)
Solution: A suite of products (starting with children’s
books) that teach youth entrepreneurship
Strategy: Tell child entrepreneur success stories in
order to inspire future child entrepreneurs
Success: Pre-sold >1,000 books on Kickstarter
($20,010 raised from 226 backers in 27 states
and 13 countries)
ENTREPRENEUR KID
CASE STUDY
@ericaswallow #AIA2018

22. 01. BETA READERS
Beta list of 50 parents and
entrepreneurs who became early
advocates through input on
manuscripts and illustrations
02. SEO + BLOG + SOCIAL
Google is a common tool for parents
and teachers seeking entrepreneurship
education resources. From our name to
blogging to social and Amazon
distribution, we are optimizing for
search.
03. SPEAKING
Targeted speaking opportunities at
youth entrepreneurship camps,
entrepreneurship classes, and
entrepreneurship-related teacher
trainings
04. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Creating standards-aligned lesson
plans for easier implementation in
classrooms
ENTREPRENEUR KID’S KEY STRATEGIES
@ericaswallow #AIA2018

23. What can you learn
from these case studies?
LESSONS

24. 1 2 3
MINDSHARE LESSONS LEARNED
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Focus on audience needs. Meet them where they’re at. Provide immense value.

25. Dominate mindshare.
Become synonymous.
CHALLENGE

26. E
T
hi@ericaswallow.com
@ericaswallow
Reach out if you’d like to chat about startup marketing, education, or youth entrepreneurship!
CONTACT INFORMATION
P 870.565.5200
@ericaswallow #AIA2018

27. PHOTO CREDITS
@ericaswallow #AIA2018
Slide 1: Tooma, AIA Day 6
Side 10: Zsolt Fila, Cabbage
Slide 24: Chung Ho Leung, Note Taking