Quincy Chamber of Commerce Small Business Launch: Identify, Reach, Convert Your First Customers

Startup MarketingIdentify, Reach and Convert

Your First CustomersChris Nahil

Message & Medium, LLC Donna Mavromates

MavroCreativeMary 20, 2015

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

Research Drives Everything: Know Your Market 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, email marketing, 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, LinkedIn

advertising, FB ads (targetability)Traditional advertising and direct mail

Speaking opportunities Video

YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia Marketing automation for small businesses

Landing pagesLead nurturing, account managementVendors: SharpSpring, BoingNet, HubSpot, Hatchbuck,

Customer Engagement: Tactics for Tomorrow

Web site Wix, SquareSpace, GoogleSites, 1and1, Web.com

Surveys and Polls Survey.io Survey Monkey

Monitoring/research GoogleAlerts Mention Feedly MuckRack HootSuite, TweetDeck, search.twitter.com

Blogging/sharing WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Buffer

Email Marketing ConstantContact, Mail Chimp, GraphicMail, 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