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Why Startups Suck at Marketing
The document discusses common marketing pitfalls that startups face, emphasizing the importance of effective branding, strategic marketing approaches, and understanding target audiences. It outlines specific issues such as poor naming, the dangers of growth hacks, and the necessity of building a community before product launch. Key strategies include focusing on long-term investments, optimizing funnels with the right audience, and maintaining a strong brand promise.
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Similar to Why Startups Suck at Marketing
Why Startups Suck at Marketing
- 1. Rand Fishkin, Wizardof Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com The 8 Ways Startups SUCK at Marketing Why so many founders & early teams fail to get acquire right customers, with tactical tips to help solve these dilemmas.
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- 3. Too Many StartupsDie Because They Can’t Get Customers
- 4. CB Insightscompiledan analysisfrom startuppost- mortems. These 5 are mostly “couldn’t find enough customers” or “couldn’t affordably find customers”
- 5. To stay focusedon marketing, I’m going to assume your startup has* a: A)productpeoplewant&willpayfor B)serviceablemarket C)teamthatcanexecute,learn,&improve *don’thavethese?Get‘emfirst,thencomebacktothemarketingprocess
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- 18. This is along process, with many steps
- 19. Yay! You madeit to the top of PH & received 15,000 visits + 500 email signups But, only ~0.01% of people are looking for email verification APIs that day
- 20. Every day, afew dozen people search for this (and don’t find you)
- 21. Loads of searchesfor your service, but none of these people can find you
- 22. They visit thislist (and you’re not here)
- 23. They ask friends+ colleagues (who’ve never heard of you)
- 24. They rely onexisting providers
- 25. They lean onsocial proof from their networks
- 26. If you onlyplay here (first exposure) Or here (decision time) You’re gonna have a bad time
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- 28. Audience Problem Market Existing Solutions Channels Position Message Strategic startupmarketing encompasses all of these The MVP way to do it: Digital Marketer’s Framework
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- 30. Hack-Chasing Usually Leadsto Death Before Success Via ProStart Hack Hack Hack Hack Crap.
- 31. Don’t Fight the“Law of Shitty Clickthrough Rates” Via Andrew Chen A lot of exploitable, short-term “growth hacks” start here And end here
- 32. Great Marketers Focuson Flywheels (systems that scale w/ decreasing friction)
- 33. Moz’s Flywheel KW Research +Industry Intuition Publish Content Promote via Social Channels Push to email + RSS subscribers Earn Links + Amplification Grow social, email, RSS, & WoM channels Grow Domain Authority Earn Search & Referral Traffic Rank for More Competitive KWs
- 34. KW Research +Industry Intuition Publish Content Promote via Social Channels Push to email + RSS subscribers Earn Links + Amplification Grow social, email, RSS, & WoM channels Grow Domain Authority Earn Search & Referral Traffic Rank for More Competitive KWs In 2006, I was lucky if new content led to any links or rankings at all
- 35. KW Research +Industry Intuition Publish Content Promote via Social Channels Push to email + RSS subscribers Earn Links + Amplification Grow social, email, RSS, & WoM channels Grow Domain Authority Earn Search & Referral Traffic Rank for More Competitive KWs But, by 2017, nearly every post earns a handful of links, & some earn a lot!
- 36. Moz is aBusiness Built on Content
- 37. Dollar Shave Club wasBuilt on a Press & Media Flywheel Via NYTimes
- 38. Dribbble was Builton a UGC/Community Flywheel
- 39. But… Almost EveryFlywheel Finds a Point (or Points) of Friction Publish Content Promote via Social Channels Push to email + RSS subscribers Crap… We’re not reaching anyone who will link/amplify us
- 40. Growth Hacks Can Acceleratea Flywheel
- 41. Hacks aren’t necessarilyevil, spammy, or without value. They can be useful when applied to a sound marketing strategy.
- 42. Find a BalanceBetween Long-Term Investments & Short-Term Hacks High upfront costs Pay (in time/$$) as you go Long-Term Investments Slow to show ROI Earn customers while you sleep Low Risk (PR/legal/etc) Can Show Fast ROI Effort In = Links Out Often High Risk Short-Term Hacks
- 43. The Formula forMarketing that Will Work for Years to Come: Strategic Roadmap Scalable Flywheel Long-Term Investments Hacks to Remove Friction + + +
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- 46. TheFirstTimeSomeoneHearsAboutYou… You want my creditcard & email???
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- 48. Which One(s) ShouldYouDo? Createablog? Participateinforumdiscussions? Buildacommunityonyourownsite? Becomeaguestcontributortoothercommunities? Participateinevents&conferences? Growrelationships/awarenessviasocialmedia? InvestinvideoonaYouTubechannel?
- 50. Invest in 2-3tactics long before you launch a product. So that when you do, there’s a pre-existing community that wants to support & amplify you.
- 51. Relying on PaidAds #5
- 52. Via Wordstream This happenswhen your CTR & engagement are high
- 53. Via Wordstream This happenswhen you have an unknown brand or target a new/unexposed audience
- 54. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,& display ads all work the same way Via Resolution Media
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- 56. Not Prioritizing an Easy-to-ReachAudience #6
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- 61. easiertoreach hardertoreach Knowyoupersonally(&wouldhappilymeetforcoffee) Knowofyou,likeyou,&followyourworkclosely Arealreadyconnectedtoyouviaemail Alreadyfollowyouonsocialmediachannels Havevisitedyourwebsiteatleastonce Haveheardofyourcompany(andcanrecallit) AreinyourtargetaudienceandreachableviaFB/GGads 1) Lacking anystrategy to increase the size of these groups
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- 63. easiertoreach hardertoreach Knowyoupersonally(&wouldhappilymeetforcoffee) Knowofyou,likeyou,&followyourworkclosely Arealreadyconnectedtoyouviaemail Alreadyfollowyouonsocialmediachannels Havevisitedyourwebsiteatleastonce Haveheardofyourcompany(andcanrecallit) AreinyourtargetaudienceandreachableviaFB&GG 3) Aiming 100%of your tactics at only these groups
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- 69. easiertoreach hardertoreach Knowyoupersonally(&wouldhappilymeetforcoffee) Knowofyou,likeyou,&followyourworkclosely Arealreadyconnectedtoyouviaemail Alreadyfollowyouonsocialmediachannels Havevisitedyourwebsiteatleastonce Haveheardofyourcompany(andcanrecallit) AreinyourtargetaudienceandreachableviaFB/GGads Pro Tip: Havinga lot of target customers in your personal network makes EVERYTHING about starting up easier.
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- 71. Most Marketers and SitesFocus on Optimizing for Conversion Get More and More People Through These Steps And Get Paid $$But startups usually lack this “right audience” at the top of their funnel
- 72. Most Marketers and SitesFocus on Optimizing for Conversion Get More and More People Through These Steps And Get Paid $$ And often lack the data & tools to move people through this funnel, too.
- 73. Searching Google Browsing Social ReadingNews Engagingin Discussions FollowingInfluencers If you getto know your audience well enough, you’ll know what they do before they ever reach your funnel
- 74. Research If You Don’tKnow… Via GrowingYourAudiencew/ RandomAffinities Via Use Customer Surveysto DefineYour Content Marketing Efforts Ask
- 75. Once you havereal people signing up for your product, you can learn more about them
- 76. Now we justneed to find out where people like this guy hang out
- 77. Have a community& can find/recruit folks excited about your product? Do that!
- 78. Then you can surveythis audience to identify their clones
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- 80. I’ve found itincredibly helpful to visualize our funnel I want to see sources And how each contributes to various levels
- 81. I also usethis to ID areas (and channels) where my visitors aren’t turning into customers
- 82. Then I canidentify the traits that separate right prospects (who’ll use & love our product) from wrong (those who won’t).
- 83. My Favorite Process: From ConversionRate Experts’ case study Boom. And Shakalaka.
- 84. Didn’t try theproduct Tried, but didn’t love it Tried & loved the product What do you think the product does? What made you try it? What made you try it? What would make you more likely to try it? What are your biggest objections to signup? What objections did you have and how did you overcome them? What caused you to stop using the product? What would have made you stay a customer? What objections did you have and how did you overcome them? What’s been most valuable to you? If you’ve loved it, can we share your story?
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- 92. Beforeyoucanbrand,youneeda BrandPromise We provide… We evoke feelings… We remindyou of… We share the values of… product/ service that solves a problem you have that make our customers most anxious about whether our solution is right for them Memories that our target demographics & psychographics will have ++ associations with People who are statistically most likely to be our best customers
- 93. How can Penzey’scall 22% of Americans “racist” and maintain a consumer business?
- 94. Online sales up59.9%. Customer cancellations up 3%.
- 95. EverythingShould(Subtly)ReinforcetheMessage SEO Snippets PPC Ads Big Content CommentsTweets Photos Landing Pages UI& UX Brand Name Facebook Posts Emails Product Names Videos Visual Branding Outreach Onboarding Press & PR The Brand Promise
- 96. Rand Fishkin, Wizardof Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com Bit.ly/starketing