HowtoStartaStartupWeek4 – Launch AUAYerevan
Whatdoeslaunchinglooklike?
Whatlaunchingactuallylookslike.
StartupmarketingisHARD.
Launchingisnotasingularevent.
Customeracquisitionis#1
Common“Free”AcquisitionChannels
1. Organicsearch2. Contentmarketing3. Inboundreferrals4. Wordofmouth5. PR6. GrowthHacking
OrganicSearch
Alsoknownas“SERPs”forSearchEngineResultsPages
Companiesspend$65BannuallyonSEO(SearchEngineOptimization)
SEOBreakdown
PROS- Longtermasset,difficulttoimitate- “Free”trafficsource- Competitiveadvantageagainstnewcomers
CONS- TakesforevertobuildupSEOjuice- Lotsofcompetitionincompetitivemarkets
ContentMarketing
Creatingandsharingcontentwiththegoalofbuildingreputationand
visibilityofyourbrand.
Manyshapesandsizes
1. Videos2. Podcasts3. Imagesandpresentations4. eBooks5. Infographics6. Whitepapers
Referrals
Referralsaretheoftenthehighestqualitysourceofnewtrafficfor
startups.
“Peopleinfluencepeople.Nothinginfluencespeoplemorethanarecommendationfromatrustedfriend.Atrustedreferralinfluences
peoplemorethanthebestbroadcastmessage.AtrustedreferralistheHolyGrailofadvertising.”
StartupPR
Gettingpressmattersbutisn’tcrucialtostartupsuccess.
Whydoesitmatter?
1. Onlineandprintpublishershavelargeaudiencesthatcandisseminateinformationaboutyourproductmorequicklythanyouwouldbeabletoonyourown
2. Convincesotherpartnersandbusinessdevelopmentrepresentativesthatyouarethe“realdeal”andareworththeirtime
HowtoengageinPR
1. Don’thireaPRfirm.Trytodoityourselffirst2. Readtheindustrypapersandfindtherelevant
topicsinyourgenreorniche3. Reachouttoreporterswithashortbutgenuine
pitchandseeifthey’dliketocoveryourstory4. Don’tannoyjournalistsbutdobepersistent
TheHustle – BadExample
TheHustle – GoodExample
GrowthHacking
Scalingtolotsofusersatlowcostwithouttheuseoftraditional
advertisingormarketingapproaches.
GrowthHackingcaninclude…
1. SEO/SEM2. ContentMarketing3. UsertestingandUX4. Viralloopswithinproducts5. Strategicdiscountsorpricing6. Conversionoptimization
AirBnB builtontopofCraigslist
HotmailFooterHack
1. Hotmailaddedafooteratthebottomofeachemailsentfromitsproduct.
“PS.Iloveyou.GetyourfreeemailatHotmail”2. Grewfromzeroto12Musersin1.5years3. AcquiredbyMicrosoftfor$400M
LinkedIn– PublicProfiles
1. Searchforanyone’sname->Signup
CommonPaidAcquisitionChannels
1. GoogleAdwords2. FacebookAds3. Newspapers/Print4. TV5. Radio6. DirectMail
Directvs.Indirect
1. DirectSales– customergoestotheirplatformofchoice,seesanad,clicksonthead,goestoyoursite,andthenbuysyourproduct
2. IndirectSales– customergivesyouaphonenumberoremail,isthenengagedlateronbyarepresentativeordripemailcampaign
AdWordsTips1. Startsmall– maybe$5budgetperday2. Targetexactlywithkeywordtools,don’ttryto
competeongenericcampaigns3. Keywordsmustmatchthelandingpagecopy!4. Measureandadjusttermsconstantly5. ALWAYSkeepacloseeyeonCAC,LTV,overallROI.
Veryeasytospendlotsof$$$onGoogle
CAC=Customeracquisitioncost
LTV=LifetimeValueoftheCustomer.Requiresestimatingthecustomerlifespan,retentionrate,churnrate,referralrate(virality),andprofit
marginspercustomer.
Rememberthe3:1ratiowhencalculatingCAC:LTV
TargetingiskeywhenbuyingadsonFacebook.
SmallerPaidChannels
1. Reddit2. LinkedIn3. Twitter4. Bing/Yahoo5. Displayadnetworks(BuySellAds)6. Myadvice-- startw/freechannelsfirst
Q&A