This document discusses how random, unfocused marketing tactics are ineffective for startups and recommends developing a marketing model tailored to your business. It suggests gathering inputs about your customers, offering, and buying process then using that information to strategically select, measure, and improve tactics. Developing a marketing model considers who your customers are, how they view solutions, and how they buy to execute the right tactics for your business rather than copying others.

1. Random Acts of Marketing are
Killing Your Startup
April Dunford, co-founder, RocketScope

2. Marketing is Big
Branding
ContentLead Generation
Social Media
Sales SupportPR & Media Relations
Partner MarketingEvents
Messaging

3. Marketing Questions Google Can Answer
How do I increase
blog traffic?
How do I run a
better event?
How do I convert
more trials to
paid customers?
How do we improve
sales effectivness?
How do I create
better content?
How to I build a better
landing page?
How do I get more
followers on Twitter?
How do I get more
customer reference?
How do I get more
email signups?
How do I
improve SEO?
How do I write
better ad copy?
How do I build a better
product demo?

4. Marketing Questions Google Can’t Answer

5. What Tactics are Right for My Business?

6. How Do I Tailor Tactics for My Business?

7. How Do I know I’m Doing The Best
Marketing I Can For My Startup?

8. Problem: The Cycle of Marketing Meh
Marketing
Fashion
Assessment*
Select
tactics
ExecuteMeasure
Improve
* Where you look at what everyone else is doing

9. You Need a Marketing Model

10. 3 Inputs Related to Customers
Who They Are How They View
Solutions
How They Buy

11. Company Characteristics (B2B):
Geography, size, industry
Customer they serve, how they sell, their ecosystem, budgets,
risk tolerance, etc.
Decision Maker Characteristics:
demographics, education, skills, interests, motivations, goals
Pain:
What drives them crazy
Where they hang out:
Social networks, communities, associations/groups, events
Where they find out about stuff:
Search engines, word of mouth, peers, media outlets, blogs,
experts, influencers/famous people
Who They Are

12. What do we do?
What market are we in?
Competitive Alternatives:
Examples: Do nothing, manual effort, Word/Excel,
competitive product
Key Differentiated Points of Value
When compared to the alternatives above the specific
value you bring that the others don’t.
Proof
Customer references, 3rd party reviews, statistics,
metrics, expert endorsements
How They View Solutions

13. How They Buy
No Need Need Eval. Buy Enjoy Re-new
Knowing the
cost of not
solving the
problem
Knowing the
Value of
solving the
problem
Knowing the
value of
your
solution
Why
purchase
now?
Using and
enjoy the
offering
Knowing I
can’t do
without the
offering
Current
solution
good
enough
Value not
compelling
Risks too
high
Not knowing
how to
evaluate
Great but
not for me
I might
change my
mind
Too much $
Bad service,
Bad user
experience
Not using
Decided
there was
no need
Move to
other
solution
Accelerators
Friction points

14. Metrics

15. Analysis

16. The Cycle of Marketing Awesome
Tactical
Execution
Outputs
Analysis
Inputs
Customer
Offering
Buying Process
Metrics
Conclusions
Project plans