7 tips for marketing your lean startup

7 TIPSFOR MARKETINGYOUR LEAN STARTUP

Bob Samii | @cultureslurp

Expensive Cost-effective

Push/Outbound/Interruption Pull/Inbound/Attraction

SEMDisplay

AffiliatesRetargetting

TVPrint mediaBillboards

Sponsorships

SEOBlogs

Content MarketingCRM

Social MediaLanding pages

Word of mouthSocial / Shares / Mentions

1. Find a talented writer

SEO (content pages, articles, …)

Social Media (blog posts, shareable content, …)

SEM (ad copy, landing pages, …)

PR (press releases, corporate comms, …)

Biz dev (white papers, case studies, …)

CRM/Email (newsletters, promos, …)

Plenty of resources…

Full-time

Part-time

In-house External

or

Freelancers (Elance, Odesk, …)

Paid services (Content.ly, Scripted)

2. Produce high quality, relevant content

Become an authority in your industry by producing

great content (original, useful, educational, entertaining)

Content comes in

many shapes and

colors…

Link to infographic: http://bit.ly/AlNoDG

Blog postsInfographicsSurveysGuidesReportsInterviews

VideosWhite papersCase studieseBooksPresentationsArticles

3. Orchestrate the distribution

“CONTENT PIECE“ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________

YOUR WEBSITE

Publish, Distribute, Rinse, Repeat

Build buzz SEO links Brand awareness Traffic & leads

Pro tip: Give exclusivity to influencers

Public launch day

*Contact influencers*

Share to public

PRE

LAU

NCH

POST

LAU

NCH

4. Network, network, network

Who´s there (everyone!):Bloggers JournalistsAnalystsInvestorsPartnersCustomers

Where: Conferences Trade shows Startup competitions Meetups

5. Develop a SEO strategy

1. Keyword reasearch (Adwords tool, KeywordSpy, SEMRush …)

2. Technical modifications of website

3. Action plan for ongoing initiatives (link building, content marketing, …)

4. Measure and track progress

Head vs. Long tailBranded keywords Non-branded keywords

Head keywords“shoes”

Long-tail keywords“red mens running shoes”

“Nike”

Pro tip: Use KeywordSpy to find out what your competitors are doing

6. If you can’t measure it… don’t mess with it

Conversions(transactions, user registrations, sales leads)

Visitors

1. Decide on key metrics (relevant to your business objectives)

2. Establish monthly reporting

3. Track competitor benchmarks

4. Analyze your traffic sources

SEO

PPC

SocialMedia

Email

Display

Channel SEO PPC Social media Email Display

Total Visitors 5000 6500 3200 2400 1500

Share of visits 27% 35% 17% 13% 8%

Total Conversions 38 30 8 4 5

Conversion Rate 0,30% 0,46% 0,25% 0,17% 0,13%

Total Cost 800 600 200 150 500

Total Revenues 1900 1500 400 200 250

Net income 1.100 € 900 € 200 € 50 € -250 €

CPA (cost per acquisition) 21 € 20 € 25 € 38 € 100 €

Net income per acquisition 29 € 30 € 25 € 13 € -50 €

measure often, analyze a lot, iterate quickly

Data is your friend

Drill down deeper…

SEO:Keyword rankingsTop converting keywordsTop converting landing pages% Branded vs. Non-branded% Head vs. Long tailBounce rate of pages# Pages with at least 1 visit

Email:Open rateCTRBounce rateUnsubscribes

Social Media:Follower growthTotal reach InteractionsMentions% Positive v negativeVirality

PPC:Avg positionAvg CPCCTRsTop performing AdsTop performing keywords

7. Focus on your productConsumers have high bullshit meter these days

and… WOM remains as the most powerful and highest converting segment for any business

Take aways

1. Find a writer2. Produce relevant content3. Orchestrate the distribution4. Network, network, network5. Develop a SEO plan6. Measure, analyze, iterate7. Focus on building great stuff

Bob Samii | @cultureslurp