Why Startups Suck at Marketing
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One of the biggest reasons startups fail is the inability to scalably attract customers at low cost. In this presentation, Rand covers 8 reasons startups miss out on marketing success, and tips for how to overcome these pitfalls.
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Why Startups Suck at Marketing
- 1. Rand Fishkin, Wizard of 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.
- 3. Too Many Startups Die Because They Can’t Get Customers
- 4. CB Insightscompiledan analysisfrom startup post- mortems. These 5 are mostly “couldn’t find enough customers” or “couldn’t affordably find customers”
- 5. To stay focused on marketing, I’m going to assume your startup has* a: A)productpeoplewant&willpayfor B)serviceablemarket C)teamthatcanexecute,learn,&improve *don’thavethese?Get‘emfirst,thencomebacktothemarketingprocess
- 18. This is a long process, with many steps
- 19. Yay! You made it 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, a few dozen people search for this (and don’t find you)
- 21. Loads of searches for your service, but none of these people can find you
- 22. They visit this list (and you’re not here)
- 23. They ask friends + colleagues (who’ve never heard of you)
- 24. They rely on existing providers
- 25. They lean on social proof from their networks
- 26. If you only play here (first exposure) Or here (decision time) You’re gonna have a bad time
- 28. Audience Problem Market Existing Solutions Channels Position Message Strategic startup marketing encompasses all of these The MVP way to do it: Digital Marketer’s Framework
- 30. Hack-Chasing Usually Leads to 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 Focus on 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 a Business Built on Content
- 37. Dollar Shave Club was Built on a Press & Media Flywheel Via NYTimes
- 38. Dribbble was Built on a UGC/Community Flywheel
- 39. But… Almost Every Flywheel 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 Accelerate a Flywheel
- 41. Hacks aren’t necessarily evil, spammy, or without value. They can be useful when applied to a sound marketing strategy.
- 42. Find a Balance Between 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 for Marketing that Will Work for Years to Come: Strategic Roadmap Scalable Flywheel Long-Term Investments Hacks to Remove Friction + + +
- 45. Via ASmartBear
- 46. TheFirstTimeSomeoneHearsAboutYou… You want my credit card & email???
- 47. Via ProductHunt
- 48. Which One(s) ShouldYou Do? Createablog? Participateinforumdiscussions? Buildacommunityonyourownsite? Becomeaguestcontributortoothercommunities? Participateinevents&conferences? Growrelationships/awarenessviasocialmedia? InvestinvideoonaYouTubechannel?
- 50. Invest in 2-3 tactics 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 Paid Ads #5
- 52. Via Wordstream This happens when your CTR & engagement are high
- 53. Via Wordstream This happens when 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
- 56. Not Prioritizing an Easy-to-Reach Audience #6
- 60. INSANITY is…
- 61. easiertoreach hardertoreach Knowyoupersonally(&wouldhappilymeetforcoffee) Knowofyou,likeyou,&followyourworkclosely Arealreadyconnectedtoyouviaemail Alreadyfollowyouonsocialmediachannels Havevisitedyourwebsiteatleastonce Haveheardofyourcompany(andcanrecallit) AreinyourtargetaudienceandreachableviaFB/GGads 1) Lacking any strategy to increase the size of these groups
- 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
- 64. But Rand…
- 69. easiertoreach hardertoreach Knowyoupersonally(&wouldhappilymeetforcoffee) Knowofyou,likeyou,&followyourworkclosely Arealreadyconnectedtoyouviaemail Alreadyfollowyouonsocialmediachannels Havevisitedyourwebsiteatleastonce Haveheardofyourcompany(andcanrecallit) AreinyourtargetaudienceandreachableviaFB/GGads Pro Tip: Having a lot of target customers in your personal network makes EVERYTHING about starting up easier.
- 71. Most Marketers and Sites Focus 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 Sites Focus 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 get to know your audience well enough, you’ll know what they do before they ever reach your funnel
- 74. Research If You Don’t Know… Via GrowingYourAudiencew/ RandomAffinities Via Use Customer Surveysto DefineYour Content Marketing Efforts Ask
- 75. Once you have real people signing up for your product, you can learn more about them
- 76. Now we just need 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 survey this audience to identify their clones
- 80. I’ve found it incredibly helpful to visualize our funnel I want to see sources And how each contributes to various levels
- 81. I also use this to ID areas (and channels) where my visitors aren’t turning into customers
- 82. Then I can identify the traits that separate right prospects (who’ll use & love our product) from wrong (those who won’t).
- 83. My Favorite Process: From Conversion Rate Experts’ case study Boom. And Shakalaka.
- 84. Didn’t try the product 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?
- 92. Beforeyoucanbrand,youneeda BrandPromise We provide… We evoke feelings… We remind you 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’s call 22% of Americans “racist” and maintain a consumer business?
- 94. Online sales up 59.9%. 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, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com Bit.ly/starketing