The Guide to Growing a Startup with Inbound Marketing
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Transcript of The Guide to Growing a Startup with Inbound Marketing
INBOUND MARKETING
THE GUIDE TO GROWING A STARTUP WITH
Some entrepreneurs
think marketing is
A NECESSARY EVIL.
Others think it is
AN UNNECESSARY EVIL.
Others think it is
AN UNNECESSARY EVIL. Why care about marketing?
1
So, let’s start with WHY
entrepreneurs often avoid marketing.
(not you, of course, those other entrepreneurs)
WHO NEEDS MARKETING?
I’m building something people
will LOVE.
AWESOME!
Marketing can help you
find people to love it.
“I’m just going to
hire a PR agency.”
(I’m all set.)
Stealth mode is for aircraft,
not startups.
Stop worrying that
somebody will steal
your idea.
(Start worrying that nobody will care about it.)
“I’m just not ready.
I believe in marketing. Just not right now.”
I UNDERSTAND.
But you should start marketing
the day you start building your product.
(Waiting until you are “ready” is too late.)
“Marketing seems really unpleasant.”
YOU’RE NOT ALONE. The marketing industry has a problem.
Less Trusted More Trusted
Car Sales Stockbrokers Lobbyists Lawyers Marketers
But, that’s old-school marketing.
When done right, marketing isn’t unpleasant.
“I’ve raised funding.
I’ll just buy my way through.”
CONGRATS! (on the funding)
But, there are a few issues with
buying your way through.
You’re not really
buying attention,
you’re renting it.
Ads are TEMPORARY. When you stop paying the “rent”, you stop getting the attention.
Your well heeled
competitor has a
massive marketing budget.
And you…
not so much.
Startups shouldn’t get into the arms race for attention.
You can’t outspend
the behemoths.
Not only do they have more money,
they have fewer brain cells.
Oh, and one last issue
with interruptive marketing…
NOBODY wakes up
and thinks:
“I hope I get
spammed today.”
95% of people
don’t like being
interrupted.
The other 5%
hate it.
“OK, fine. I don’t want to annoy people. What’s a better way?”
INBOUND MARKETING
Others think it is
AN UNNECESSARY EVIL. What’s Inbound Marketing?
2
Inbound takes the
marketing people
know (and hate)
and turns it
on its head.
It focuses on
attracting people
instead of annoying them.
It also helps startups get long-term leverage.
you
“I like the sound of
that... …tell me more.”
It’s simple. (but not easy)
It’s about providing value
instead of pushing your way in.
And the most common way to do that
is to create content that’s helpful.
You’ve heard of
product/market fit?
If not, add this to your
reading list.
You can always feel when product/market fit
isn’t happening.
The customers aren’t quite getting value and
word of mouth isn’t spreading.
MARC ANDREESEN (he coined the term in 2007!)
Inbound marketing starts with
content/market fit?
Some types of content you can create…
Blogs Photos &
Infographics
Videos &
Podcasts
Presentations
& eBooks
Software/
Tools
Build your marketing machine
just like you build your product.
Release early, release often.
Publish early, publish often.
And, validated learning applies here too.
Publish
Learn Measure
Now, back to the types of content.
ONE word of advice.
In short…
So that’s a bit about
strategy and philosophy.
Now, let’s dig in to some details.
To better understand this,
here’s a typical flow…
Typical applications
needed for
marketing
Blogging CMS Social SEO
Calls-to-action
Landing pages
Email nurturing
Sales Analytics CRM
Top Of The Funnel is about pulling visitors
to your website.
Blogging CMS Social SEO
Calls-to-action
Landing pages
Email nurturing
Sales Analytics CRM
Middle Of The Funnel is about converting
visitors into leads.
Blogging CMS Social SEO
Calls-to-action
Landing pages
Email nurturing
Sales Analytics CRM
Others think it is
AN UNNECESSARY EVIL. How do I attract visitors?
3
Did you know there are
5.9 BILLION searches on xxxxxxxxx
every day?
(me neither, had to look it up)
Maybe a few of those people
would be interested
in your product?
You need to know
at least the basics
of Search Engine Optimization
(SEO)
“Wait, can’t I just buy pay-per-click (PPC) ads?”
Yes, you can.
PPC ads are a great
way to learn what works?
But a couple of issues.
#1: You’re still renting attention.
#2…
90% of the links searchers click on are organic— not paid.
Why pay to reach the 10%,
when the other 90% are
free low marginal cost?
So, invest in organic search.
As ye SEO, so shall ye reap.
Before you do any SEO,
you’ll need to choose
the search keywords
you will focus on.
Be careful
about the
keywords you
choose.
You want keywords that have
decent search volume
(people search for that word)
Don’t pick keywords
that are so
competitive that
you’ll never rank.
(Don’t pick a fight with a ninja.)
There are tools available
to help with keyword
discovery and selection.
Now, prepare for the
advice on SEO you will ever hear…
(at least from me)
Solve for the searcher
not the search engine.
Relevant, useful content makes people happy.
Fast websites make people happy.
Clear, well-designed sites
make people happy.
Invest in great design
and user experience.
Mobile friendly websites
also make people happy.
Once you’ve created content,
and optimized it…
the next step is to spread it.
That’s where social media can help.
Make it simple to share your content. Put sharing buttons on your site. The easier it is to share, the more people will share it.
For social to work, you’ll need followers (social marketing is not much without it)
What’s the best way to get fans?
Create value for the connections
you hope to get someday.
Don’t try and
automate
getting fans or
followers.
Numbers may
go up, but
your brand
goes down.
Others think it is
AN UNNECESSARY EVIL. How do I convert visitors?
4
So, you’re creating a bunch
of great content, rockin’ on
social and people are
starting to visit your
website.
It’s not a torrent of traffic,
but everyone has to start
somewhere.
Now, you need to start
converting these random visitors.
Based on your business,
you want them to become:
1. users/trials
2. leads
3. customers
First thing you should do:
Implement “Calls To Action”
Here are some examples:
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Now, a life-changing
question you may be asking
yourself…
Others think it is
AN UNNECESSARY EVIL. Who should I hire for marketing?
5
Us, of course (shameless plug)
We will jump in and
start helping your future
users/customers.
Our team is comprised of
inbound marketers,
content writers,
designers and developers.
Others think it is
AN UNNECESSARY EVIL. What should I do next?
6
Read this book
This is an easy read.
Request a free 30-minute
marketing assessment
GET A FREE MARKETING ASSESSMENT
THANK YOU!
Hope this was helpful and fun.