SSE Labs

Startup Marketing Basics

Adam RodnitzkyCMO, ReTel Technologies

What Marketing Isn’t

Marketing Isn’t Only

Advertising

Advertising Is A Part Of Marketing

What Marketing Is

1. Discoverin

g Core Needs In

A Particular

Market

1I. Learning

To Engage With

Users/ Customers Who Have The Need

III. Experimen

t To Engage More Users/

Customers With The

Need

IV. Working

To Grow & Retain Users/

Customers Over Time

Marketing

Lifecycle

Basic Marketing Concepts

The 4 P’s1. Price How much does it cost?

2. Product What are the features/benefits?

3. Promotion How do customers hear about it?

4. Place Where can customers buy it?

The 3 C’s1. Company What makes us different/better?

2. Competition What makes them a threat?

3. Customers Who are they, why will they care?

What Marketing Is

1. Discoverin

g Core Needs In

A Particular

Market

1I. Learning

To Engage With

Users/ Customers Who Have The Need

III. Experimen

t To Engage More Users/

Customers With The

Need

IV. Working

To Grow & Retain Users/

Customers Over Time

Marketing

Lifecycle

Discovering Core Needs1. Know Your Customers

Who Are They? | What Is Their Need? | How Is It Served Now?

Do They Pay For It?

1I. MethodsSurveys

Competitive Review

Vertical ForumsSEM & A/B Testing

1V. Interpretation

Intellectual Honesty

Long Tail FeedbackAspirin Vs. Vitamin

Statistical Relevance

Gut Instinct

1II. ToolsLimeSurveyGoogle Suite

(AdWords, Analytics)

V. Your End Goal:Build Something People Want To Buy Based

On What They Say, Not What You Think

Discovering Core Needs – Tip

Surveying is powerful when done right.Avoid leading questions.

Bad: How happy would you be if you had my product?

Good: On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being unhappy and 10 being very happy, how do you think this product

would make you feel?

Learning To Engage1. Know Your Customers

What Are Their Channels For Learning And/Or Buying? | How/When Do They Buy, & Who Decides? | What

Happens Next?

1I. MethodsSurveys

Competitive Review

Low-Cost Media Tests

Social MediaSEM & A/B Testing

1V. Interpretation

Intellectual HonestyLong TailStatistical Relevance

Gut Instinct

1II. ToolsLimeSurvey

Google Suite (Add Optimizer)

Social MediaEmail

WOM/Referral Tools

V. Your End Goal:Understand How & Where Customers/Users Learn About & Acquire Products Like Yours

Learning To Engage – TipAdWords ads don’t have to advertise

products.

Use them for market research!

Example 1 Headline: Lower Your Bills By

10%

Example II Headline: Organize Your Bills

Online

Example III Headline:

Stop Paying Late Bill Fees

Experimenting To Engage More

1. Know Your Channels & UsersHow Do You Test? | What Can You Test? | Which Variables Can

You Isolate? Early Adopters Vs. Mainstream?

1I. MethodsA/B Test As Much As Possible!

- Promotion: Message, Channel, Frequency, Target

- Product: Features, Pricing, Bundling, False Features

- Other: Virality Tools, Partnerships, Etc

III. ToolsGoogle Suite

Customer Use Logs

Virality Tools

IV. Your End Goal:Kaizen To Build Scalable, Repeatable

Customer Acquisition & Retention

Experimenting To Engage – Tip

Want to test market response to new

features?

Add it to your UI as if it were real.

Let people opt in to receive more info

Analyze response like a conversion funnel

Make your decision based on customer

behavior

Growing & Retaining Customers

1. Growth & Retention QuestionsWhat Do Users Love Most? | How Do You Message That?

How Do You Expand On That? | How Do You Help Users Market?

What Happens When Love Dies (Churn)?1I. Methods

Feature Testing/False

FeaturesFeedback &

SurveysVirality Tools

Churn AnalysisCOA/LTV Analysis

1V. Interpretation

Intellectual Honesty

Adopter ExclusionStatistical Relevance

1II. Toolssurvey.io

Net Promoter Score

Your ProductCustomer LogsVirality Tools

Spreadsheets

V. Your End Goal:Keep Your Users Happy, & Help Them Spend More Time (& Money) With You

Growth & Retention – TipKeeping Customers Is Often Cheaper Than Acquiring New Ones

Pay Customers To Stay, & Understand

Why They Wanted To Leave

• Know COA

• Know LTV

• Pay Up To COA To Retain An Existing

User - Once

Key Metrics & Tools• Customer Acquisition (COA)• Cost Of Acquisition• How Much Do You Spend To Acquire A

Customer?• Includes Cost Of Who You Didn’t Acquire• Direct Costs & Indirect Allocated Costs

• Avg Revenue/User (ARPU) & Avg Transaction Value (ATV)• Determine Your ATV & Unit (Time, Usage, Etc)• How Many Units Do Users Typically Consume?

• Lifetime Value (LTV)• ARPU x Average Lifespan Of User

• Churn Rate• Compounded % Of Users Who Leave• Understand Lost Revenue That Results From

Churn• You Can Pay Customers To Stay If It Makes

$ Sense

Key Metrics & Tools

• Conversion Funnels• Can Start Online Or Offline• Define Conversion Goal & Value• Track Where Prospects Drop Off & A/B Test To

Optimize• Latency• 100% – (Active Users/Total Users)• Try To Engage Latents To Understand Latency• Represents Huge Opportunity For Low-Cost

Acquisition• Lead Nurturing• Your Customers Buy On Their Schedule, Not

Yours• Understand How To Keep Them Engaged (And

Not Annoyed) So You’re Top Of Mind When They Want To Buy

Framework Recap

1. Build What

Users Say They

Want, Not What You

Think They Want

1I. How & Where Users

Purchase Products

Like Yours

III. Build Scalable, Repeatabl

e Customer Acquisitio

n

IV. Help Customers

Spend More Time & Money With You

Marketing

Lifecycle

What Does A Total Marketing Program Look Like?