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#HIGHLINEtalks is about supercharging your weekday afternoons with a themed talk, entrepreneurial minds, and lots of free coffee. Come to HIGHLINE for a dose of inspiration and return to your work refreshed and ready for some more hustle. Mark Evans of ME Consulting discussed what an early-stage startup needs in their sales and marketing content portfolio. Mark Evans helps startups tell better stories (aka marketing). He works with startups to articulate how they’re unique and the value customers get from their products. Mark is focused on three marketing "buckets": marketing strategies, core messaging, and content creation. Before starting ME Consulting, Mark worked with three startups (Blanketware, b5Media and PlanetEye). He also spent more than 10 years as a tech reporter with the National Post, Globe & Mail and Bloomberg. Mark writes a blog about startup marketing and a weekly newsletter featuring hand-picked startup content.
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What’s in Your Startup’s Marketing and Sales Portfolio?
Toronto’s Startup Marketing Landscape
Lots of excited, enthusiastic entrepreneurs
Startups that have built product
Startup with traction and/or cash
Startups that want to do marketing
Startups that do marketing
What I Do
Marketing Strategies Core Messaging Content Creation
Clients(startups and fast-growing companies)
Low Hanging Startup Marketing Fruit
Effective Website
Clear messaging– What do you do?Value propositions – What it’s in for me?Easy navigation – How do get more info?Strong calls to action – What do I do next?
One-Pagers (aka Sales Sheets)
• Provides a “slice” of what your company
does and its products
One-Pagers (aka Sales Sheets)
• Answers key questions: oHow will your product benefit me?oWho are your customers?oHow can I contact you?
• Multiple roles as advance marketing, leave behind or an education/nurturing tool
Competitor Comparisons
• Effectively positions your company against rivals• Highlight key differences and advantages:
o Featureso Benefitso Price pointo Great UI/UXo Better customer supporto Target verticalo Integrations
Battle Cards
• Internal cards to educate sales people on the best approaches.
o Key elements: o Product overviewo Key benefits and featureso Differentiationo Points of paino Case studieso Pricingo FAQ
Case Studies
• Tell stories; not the traditional boring rinse & repeat approach
• Tell different kinds of stories to connect with potential customers with different needs
• Embrace the power of design to engage
Newsletters
• Deliver value-added information, not sales and marketing pitches
• Build a regular (monthly?) relationship; stay top of mind
• Build and nurture an email database
Celebrate the
customer
The “Soft Sell”
Section
Value-added
content
Blogs- Thought leadership- Value-added insight
- Answer customer questions- Nurtures corporate culture
- SEO
