Mindshare for Startups: Building Thought Leadership & Community
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Mindshare is the degree to which a brand is top-of-mind in a category of products or services. In this presentation at the MIT Entrepreneurship & Innovation Bootcamp in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I spoke about strategies for building mindshare, using four startup case studies as examples. At the bootcamp, I also coached a group of global innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers on the topics of startup PR and marketing to help them make headway into growing their companies outside of the startup pitch competition that took place within the one-week bootcamp. Learn more at: http://bootcamp.mit.edu/entrepreneurship/brazil/
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Mindshare for Startups: Building Thought Leadership & Community
- 1. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Mindshare Building Thought Leadership & Community MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP
- 2. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Discussion Overview • What is mindshare? • Strategies for building mindshare • Lessons from other startups 2
- 3. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Content Is My Life 3
- 4. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Content Is My Lifeblood 4
- 5. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Content Is My Hobby 5
- 6. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP MINDSHARE: The degree to which your brand is top-of-mind 6
- 7. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP SEARCH ENGINE 7
- 8. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP SOCIAL NETWORK 8
- 9. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP TAXI APP 9
- 10. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP PROFESSIONAL NETWORK 10
- 11. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP COFFEE 11
- 12. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP 12 A BRAND IN A CATEGORY SYNONYMOUS AS ONE OF THE BEST PRODUCTS OR SERVICES SUCH THAT IT BECOMES WITH THE CATEGORY THE AIM OF MINDSHARE IS TO ESTABLISH
- 13. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Being Synonymous 13 Adhesive bandages Facial tissue Lip balm
- 14. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Synonyms in Tech 14 Just it. Should we there? I’ll it.
- 15. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP HOW? Strategies for building mindshare. 15
- 16. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Many Marketing Channels Website SEO / SEM Social Media Email Podcast White papers Ebooks Media Events Sponsorships Retargeting Advertising Videos Infographics 16 Bottom line: Understand your audience and what they need.
- 17. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Two Domains For Building Mindshare Thought Leadership Community Building 17 Being the go-to opinion leader in an area of expertise. Gathering your target audience around a shared goal.
- 18. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Startup Case Studies 18 Contently Oola Entrepreneur Kid
- 19. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Contently 19 Case Study • 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
- 20. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Key Strategies 20 Contently The Content Strategist (marketers); The Freelancer (writers) 01. BLOGS + SOCIAL + EMAIL Freelance Writers Meetup (NY); Content Conversations Meetup (NY); The Contently Summit; Contently Awards 02. EVENTS + CONFERENCES An entire section on the website, dedicated to helping marketers, capturing leads. Plus, a trade book co-authored by the founder/Editor in Chief. 03. EBOOKS + GUIDES A tool all writers need. But also an industry standard-setting portfolio that makes Contently network applications and client matching smoother. 04. WRITER PORTFOLIOS
- 21. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Oola 21 Case Study • 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
- 22. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Key Strategies 22 Oola Testing concept and building early adopters with crowdfunding. Raised 225% of goal, a total of $33,790 raised from 115 backers. 01. INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN 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. 02. LADIES-ONLY EVENTS 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.) 03. MEDIA COVERAGE Highlighting influencers and commenting on relevant news and trends in the modest activewear community. 04. BLOGS + SOCIAL
- 23. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Entrepreneur Kid 23 Case Study • Audience: 5-8 year olds; Parents and teachers who want to teach children entrepreneurship • Problem: Children do not have access to quality entrepreneurship education at young ages (5-8) • 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)
- 24. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Key Strategies 24 Entrepreneur Kid Beta list of 50 parents and entrepreneurs who became early advocates through input on manuscripts and illustrations 01. BETA READERS 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. 02. SEO + BLOG + SOCIAL Targeted speaking opportunities at youth entrepreneurship camps, entrepreneurship classes, and entrepreneurship-related teacher trainings 03. SPEAKING Creating standards-aligned lesson plans for easier implementation in classrooms 04. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
- 25. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP LESSONS: What can you learn from these case studies? 25
- 26. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP 26 Lessons Learned 1 2 3Focus on audience needs. Meet them where they are. Provide immense value.
- 27. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP CHALLENGE: Dominate mindshare. Become synonymous. 27
- 28. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Email me at hi@ericaswallow.com. Tweet me @ericaswallow. udemy.com/startuppr Promo Code: MITRIO
- 29. JULY 28 – AUGUST 3, 2018 RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL MIT INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOTCAMP Photo Credits Side 12: Oriijoy, Ocean Light Slide 26: Chung Ho Leung, Note Taking 29
Editor's Notes
- Today we are discussing Mindshare. How do you capture the hearts and minds of your audience when there’s so much noise in the world? We’ll be talking about building thought leadership and community.
- - Started my career in marketing @ The NYTimes (Was there I learned about the power of storytelling and journalism, the importance of information) Fascinated by media, became an editor at Mashable, where I led supported content. My role was to help enhance advertiser click through rates with content that’s more relevant for their target audiences. (Example: We worked with BMWi, the electric vehicle arm of the car manufacturer BMW, to create the Global Innovation Series focused on innovations in urban planning and transportation. I later became the Director of Community at a media startup, Contently, where I was in charge of building one side of our marketplace between journalists and content marketers. Journalists were my focus. I’ll share that case study a bit later. I now apply my media and marketing expertise to education, the sector dearest to my heart. Meanwhile, I consult with all kinds of businesses on their content and digital media strategies, through my agency Southern Swallow
- Let’s go through a few examples. I’m going to say a category, and you shout out the first company that comes to mind…
- Uber
- Starbucks
- - What all of these companies you’ve named have in common is that they’ve achieved dominance of mindshare, the degree to which they are top-of-mind in a particular category - As startup founders, it’s important that you develop a strategy for your own companies to achieve dominant mindshare in your respective categories
- - You and your roommate are heading to dinner, but neither of you know the address. You might suggest… Just Google it. - You’re at the door, ready to leave, but you’re really not in the mood to drive, and taking a train will take too long. You turn to your roommate: “Should we Uber there?” - It’s a cold day, and you’ve had a runny nose. On the way out, you reach into the Kleenex box to get a tissue, only to find you’re out of Kleenexes! No worries, you say, “I’ll Amazon Prime it.”
- There are many marketing channels, and often founders think about marketing channels like Pokemon: “Let’s collect them all!” Let’s do it all. 
A better approach is understanding your audience and what they need. So far in this bootcamp, you’ve learned some valuable strategies for starting up, around: Defining your target audience Deeply understanding their problem Determining the value you bring to them The big marketing question: How will you reach them? How will you get your solution (product or service) into their hands?
- Thought Leadership example: If your startup is focused on cyber security… being a thought leader would entail Bloomberg calling your CEO for comment when there’s a big data breach Community Building example: Your target audience turns to you in order to get advice from other consumers in your category. For example, you may have a children’s clothing company, and as a part of your community building, you run a parenting support group on Saturdays, where moms and dads bring their children to play together and share parenting war stories. The next time one of those parents has a question about teething or diaper rash, guess who they’ll be turning to… likely someone in your community, thanks to your work. They will associate that problem-solving, that value to your organization. That is where WOM starts.
- 1. Marketing is essential. It is not an after thought or a nice-to-have. It is the means by which you reach your audience and generate demand. Contently clearly understands what marketers and writers need, and they built their product and marketing programs around those needs.
 2. Each case study started with audience, problem, and solution. From there, we discussed channels. With Entrepreneur Kid, we know exactly where to go to reach teachers and parents. We make budgeting tradeoffs based on where we think we’ll have the most success.
 3. To start, your product must have a phenomenal Unique Value Proposition. And every marketing effort must also support that proposition… Oola provides modest activewear where there is very little competition, and they also add to the value they provide by giving women options (through their events) for exercising. Must be a “must-have” not a “nice-to-have” solution.