Startup Marketing on a tiny budget

with @DaveBooth

zero

Assumptions!

Let’s assu

me you have…

• Some contact with potential end users• Zero customers• No mailing lists, CRM, lead databases• Almost no budget for marketing

• Just an incredible passion to make a difference in the lives of a key group of people

Tip #1

Do it Yourse

lf!

• Don’t hire a marketing VP until you have a decent revenue stream

> $100,000 USD annually

A little about

me..

• Consultant, Investor, Advisor, Mentor• CEO of a software startup for 2.5 years– Grew firm from 3 employees and $100k

annual revenue to 45 employees and $2.5M annual revenue

• Focus on enterprise infrastructure and tooling for software development teams

Today’s Goals

Start High, T

hen

Deep Dive

Today’s Goals

•

Get Atte

ntion

•

Find Product-Market F

it

•Convert

visitors

to custo

mers

•

Spend ZERO money on

marketing

Strategy

Product – Market Fit

Customer would be “very disappointed” if they couldn’t use

your product/service anymore

Customer proves fit by GIVING YOU

MONEY

Customer group is large enough

to build a scalable

business model

Strategy

Product – Market Fit

Customer would be “very disappointed” if they couldn’t use

your product/service anymore

Customer proves fit by GIVING YOU

MONEY

Customer group is large enough

to build a scalable

business model

First Q

uestion

?What if my product / service is free for End Users, and I make money by charging another group of people (Purchasers)? How do I know if we’ve reached the Product Market Fit?

Purchasers End Users

You can clearly show them ROI (Key Value Proposition)

Line up to use your solution

They actually receive it (your solution works)

Tell other people about it

They want to resubscribe Fit into a clearly definable market segment

Up Next: Hot

Tips

You know you’ve reached Product-Market Fit when...

Tip #2

Don’t waste

resources!

• Don’t Spend time, money or energy on:– Advertising– Exhibiting at Conferences – unless you’re

speaking– Purchasable mailing lists– Expensive CRMs– SaaS Email Marketing Solutions– A/B testing

Tip #3

Target Audience Carefully!

• BudgetB• AuthorityA• NeedN• TimelineT

Tip #4

Build a Community!

End Users

Purchasers

Enablers

Enablers?

EnablersNetwork Hubs

Media

Authors

Connectors

Group Leaders

How?

Find

• Look for groups who meet online or in person• Search for articles on relevant topics• Leaders of non-competitive companies in your space

Contact

• Approach them humbly – they’re probably very busy• Be PERSONAL• Use flattery – “I really like your article / company…”

Enlist

• Explain your vision: To solve Problem X• Make them feel like a trusted advisor – Advisory Board?• Ask them to help share your message (once in a while)

Build a list

Guard your list

Grow your list

Tip #5

Understand Success

Metrics!

• Set targets that you think will drive your business– Revenue– # of users– # of customers– Conversion rates:

• Visitor• Trial• Customer• Resubscriber

Tip #6

Content Marketing!

• Create content that is interesting for your target audience & share it through the Enablers, the groups, and ask the audience to share it with one another– Blog Posts– Surveys– Reports– Tweets– Humor– Stories

Tactic #1

(only one I have tim

e for)

NetworkHubs

Survey Collect Data

Update Website

Create Report

Promote

Report

Build Mailing

list

Post-Report Email

Customers

Marketing you can do

with almost zero $$$

• Website– Key Value Proposition & Credibility Indicators

• Blog– Content Creation, Inbound Marketing

• Community– Email Marketing, Social Sharing

Final Tip

Keep Learning!

• Email Marketing - List Building Tactics

• Search for Marketing Sherpa

Question Time &

Contact Info

Ask anything you like! (Corralejo Triple Distilled)

Feel free to connect:http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgbooth@DaveBoothBooth.david@gmail.com