Quincy Chamber of Commerce "Business Launch" SMB Marketing Workshop
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Transcript of Quincy Chamber of Commerce "Business Launch" SMB Marketing Workshop
Startup MarketingIdentify, Reach and Convert
Your First CustomersChris Nahil
Message & Medium, LLC Communications and Marketing for
Emerging Growth CompaniesMary 22, 2014
Achieving Product/Market Fit is the Holy Grail of a New Company.
Does the product you offer closely match the needs of customers in a specific market?
How do you find out?
Product Market Fit
Identify a Beachhead Market
Bowling on the Beachhead
Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet, Managing Director, Martin Trust Center for MIT
Entrepreneurship Well funded? Easily reachable? Compelling reason to buy? Whole product? Entrenched competition? Springboard into new markets? Consistent with passions, values and goals
of founders?
Finding a Great Beachhead Market
A group exercise
1. Make a list of 3 potential markets for your product
2. Add 6 more markets that you can jump to from the original 3
3. Share and discuss the connections
(Brain)storming the Beachhead
• End user• Application• Benefit• Leading customers
and influencers• Market insight• Partners and players• Market size• Competition
• Age, gender• Geography• Income• What drives them• What keeps them
awake at night• Media consumed &
info sources• Contact details and
permission
Know Your Beachhead Well
Market Research Sources
Research Informs Story & Message Story is built on messages
◦ Who are you?◦ What do you deliver?◦ Who do you do it for?◦ Why do you do it better than others?◦ Why are you different?◦ Why should we care?!
Good messages:◦ Compelling, credible, consistent◦ Not what you do, what you do for others◦ Magnify strengths (credibly)◦ Diminish weaknesses (credibly)◦ Adjust to accommodate change
Owned ContentYou make it, you own it!
Web site, blog, collateral, videos, podcasts, graphics, events, signage/in-store/POS
Earned Media CoverageYou earn you way to accolades from someone
else!Media coverage, endorsements and case histories
Paid Media & ContentYou paid for the placement on a third-party
platform or network! Radio, TV, print, online ads; search engine marketing
Research Drives Marketing Mix
Reaching First Customers
Web site! Strong content, SEO, clear contact info, samples/stories, email sign
up, news section, refresh regularly The Blog…why and how?
Social media profiles up to date Listen, share, engage
Marketing calendar Blog posts and comments Content: news, case histories, graphics, user/partner-generated Email marketing Events: host and attend Promotions
Basic PR programBuild relationships with media, influencersSteady “drumbeat” of news, features
Customer Engagement: Tactics for Today
Paid MediaConsider: AdWords, sponsored Tweets, FB ads
(targetability)Traditional advertising
Speaking opportunities Video
YouTube, Vimeo Marketing automation for small businesses
Landing pagesLead nurturing, account managementVendors: BoingNet, HubSpot, Hatchbuck, Silverpop
Customer Engagement: Tactics for Tomorrow
Web siteWix, SquareSpace, GoogleSites, 1and1, Weebly
Surveys and PollsSurvey.ioSurvey Monkey
Monitoring/researchGoogleAlertsMentionFeedlyMuckRackHootSuite, TweetDeck, search.twitter.com
Blogging/sharingWordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Buffer
Email MarketingConstantContact, Mail Chimp, iContact, VerticalResponse
Customer Engagement: Tools
Focus on delivering a GREAT product and service experience and
turn earliest customers into champions
Communicate: feedback and ideasBuild trust and credibility, share everythingCreate community, help build connectionsFind credibility-building partnersCultivate referrals via every channel
Customer to Champion
Commit to CONSISTENCY
Use what you know about your customers
Treat your audiences as part of the family
Be credible and creative
Earn your reputation as a trusted, sought after source and partner
Success Checklist
Books Disciplined Entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steve Blank Marketing in the Round, Gini Dietrich, Geoff Livingston Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead, David
Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan
Blogs and Web Sites DuctTapeMarketing.com, John Jantsch MarketingProfs.com, Ann Handley Startup-marketing.com, Sean Ellis
Sources and Resources