10 marketing lessons for tech startups
GVA LaunchGurus translated for you an article by Mark Custer, a partner of Upfront Ventures, on how and how not to promote technical start-ups.
Mark Saster:
With my first startup, I made all the typical mistakes that are possible, and therefore I hope, with the second I succeeded better. By trial and error we learn. Common sense comes with experience, and experience comes from our mistakes.
So, if I can help you avoid my first mistakes, this will be my little victory. I will cite the lessons that I learned from my experience in marketing a startup in the early stages of development. Since marketing is a very broad concept, I will focus on PR marketing (leaving aside optimization, product marketing, etc.).
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1. When it's good to be invisible. Now they argue a lot about whether startups need to avoid attention before launching or not. The only correct answer to this question is no.
My rule is that it is useful not to extend too much about your product at the stage of its development and market testing. “Not to spread too much” does not mean becoming paranoid and trusting no one. This does not mean to keep silent about their plans for the future. It only means that you should not get drunk at parties with other techies and boast about your prospects. This means not to provide unnecessary details about the project to venture funds and other investors.
In fact, we are working in a very narrow sphere, and the news spreads like lightning. And in the early stages it is completely undesirable for three more teams to learn about your ideas, and they have already begun to think about how to compete with you while you are not even standing firmly on your feet. Many oppose such modesty. They believe that only by openly testing your ideas, you can succeed. This advice should be treated very carefully.
You should also be wary of venture funds. Most of these funds adhere to very high ethical standards, but if they hear about your idea, they will not be able to simply get it out of their head. And these ideas can emerge in the course of negotiations with portfolio companies, in the variant: “And you never thought to try this, this and this?”.
Basically, this is not done on purpose, but tacit knowledge about your ideas quickly spreads among the overly talkative elite. I prefer entrepreneurs more cautious, less arrogant, and generally more thoughtful in their actions.
2. When bad to be invisible. I also come across a completely opposite, overly secretive behavior among entrepreneurs. I worked with an entrepreneur who canceled a speech at an industry event and did not talk about his project, because considered that he should not shine, and that his speech could put the project at risk. I advised him to speak (the event was a high level), but to talk about general topics in the areas in which his business is going to compete. In our area there are very few truly innovative ideas, and a conversation on the general themes of the area will not betray its global strategy. And he went to the event, but declared to everyone that "for the time being, they keep their plans in secret, and he cannot disclose what they are doing." He went down like a lead balloon.
The main problem with excessive secrecy is that you are depriving yourself of very valuable resources for testing your ideas, getting feedback, and being able to identify potential shortcomings of the chosen approach.
In my experience, entrepreneurs who frantically hide any bit of information rarely succeed. It is very difficult for them to find consultants, as it is very difficult to work with companies that are afraid to talk about what they are doing.
3. Catch the puck, but do not roll where it goes. I often say to aspiring entrepreneurs that “rolling where the puck goes” is a metaphor, meaning that you have to think about the future and take appropriate measures.
But it’s a mistake to tell too many people about your future plans. I call this “marketing futures”, which can be useful, for example, to companies involved in software, as they will be able to take into account the wishes of potential customers in short-term plans. The procurement cycle ranges from three to six months, so it is reasonable to look ahead for such a period. But do not disseminate information known to you in the mainstream press.
I would generally advise start-up companies to refrain from long-term marketing plans. We all know that the majority of new technology startups owe their success to patience, because often, what you are working on now will bring more substantial results only in a few months. Therefore, I advise you to talk colorfully and in detail about the puck that is now lying at your feet, and to apply less on the topic of where it is going. And while competitors are busy trying to copy your technology, your team will be developing the next project.
No one seems to follow this strategy more scrupulously than Apple. And look how everything turns out.
4. Do not enter the market with a bad product. Perhaps the most important thing for beginners to learn is that you cannot sell a bad product well. It is very difficult to recover from a terrible marketing campaign that you overestimated. In a world where everyone calls to launch their product as early as possible, and collect feedback from customers, the concepts of product launch and marketing campaigns are often confused.
An illustrative example is at the moment turntable.fm. A buggy, but cool product. I did not hear them beat their fists in the chest, or launch large-scale advertising campaigns. They work on the principle of “by invitation only” and can control the number of users, and accordingly satisfy their wishes. But by the time they become available to the general public, I’m willing to bet that all minor flaws will be eliminated. And the impatience to see, finally, the product will increase.
They use the so-called "velvet rope" principle, which is used in nightclubs to stir up the interest and the desire of the public to get there. Rope also limits the number of people so that too many people do not get in too early.
5. Do not rush to be the first. Of course, it is tempting to blow you first on the market, so everyone is in a hurry with the announcements. I know, because I myself made a similar mistake in the early 2000s. We rushed to be the first and even got a great overview in the Financial Times (we worked in London). But our product was not ready for the premiere, and we had to strain ourselves to meet the expectations, which we also spurred.
6. Talk to your target audience. I often watched startups scribbling blogs about the difficult life of an entrepreneur. If your target audience is entrepreneurs, then it’s right. But you need to clearly understand who your product is focused on and what you want to convey to potential customers. I wrote in my post about how to write blogs for startups.
7. Do not be distracted by the hype around. If you pay attention to every announcement of the closest competitors, it is easy to fall into despair. Do not let them drag you into the whirlpool of their advertising hype.
Those of us who have long been in this business for a long time are used to not paying attention to the loud statements of competitors. They come and go. Even fly by. Life goes on. Announce the development of iMessage. Newspaper NY Nimes immediately publishes a list of instant messengers that will go to the bottom after the next WWDC (world conference of developers on the Apple platform). But life goes on. The product is very focused. And life goes on.
8. Your competitors and you look the same, if you remove all the assumed. CEO startups often forget how marketing campaigns of competitors decompose the team spirit of their employees. They read great news about competitors, their press releases and blogs every day. And they think that their own company will soon fly to hell.
Such a feeling always appears at the beginning. There are always too many problems, too many workers leave, not enough money, customers complain, etc. For competitors, things are the same. And they also read your releases, and think: "And they have it all the way." In fact, nothing they have in no way. And it is important that your employees understand this and do not lose heart.
9. Make connections. Many aspiring entrepreneurs think that they can at any moment find a journalist, tell about their company and publish their story right there. It does not happen. Impatient businessmen always press journalists. Hold the horses. Meet journalists, even if you do not want to publish now.
Follow them on Twitter. Show respect for their profession. Read their articles. Comment on. Ask if you can help with anything. Greet them at conferences. Get into the details of their work. It is important to understand that in writing the article the “angle of view” of the journalist is crucial, and if you do not take part in the formation of this angle, then you will not wait for publications. The more you help a journalist, the more there will be an article about your company when you need it.
10. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Some startups are trying to cram as many announcements as possible into the release for more effect. For example, you are announcing a venture capital fund that will invest in your company at the same time as reporting major customers you have acquired, product characteristics, or important milestones in the company's development. Do not do this.
Venture capital investment should be announced separately. This is a significant event. Many journalists spend a lot of time covering such events. Concentrate on this. Then later it will be time to talk about their major customers and important partners. If you develop a cool feature, you should tell about it separately.
But I do it all for the distribution of mini-releases between different journalists, so that everyone has their own unique piece of information. Nobody likes to repost.
Mark Saster is an Upfront Ventures partner. He joined the company in 2007, after 8 years already collaborated with Upfront Ventures as an entrepreneur “on two fronts”. Prior to joining Upfront, Mark held the position of Vice President of Production Management at Salesforce.com, after the company was bought by Koral, where he in turn was one of the founders and CEO. Prior to Koral, Mark ran his own BuildOnline- European software company (SaaS), which was later bought out by the SWORD group. Mark is always looking for enthusiastic entrepreneurs to invest in projects in the early stages of technology development. His areas of interest include digital content and distribution, AdTech, consumer Internet technologies, and SaaS companies; Mark has impressive experience in this sector, given that he has already founded and sold two companies. Follow the link to read his articles in his blog "Two Sides of the Table " ("On two chairs").
The original article can be read on the link in the Fortune blog .
Mark Saster:
With my first startup, I made all the typical mistakes that are possible, and therefore I hope, with the second I succeeded better. By trial and error we learn. Common sense comes with experience, and experience comes from our mistakes.
So, if I can help you avoid my first mistakes, this will be my little victory. I will cite the lessons that I learned from my experience in marketing a startup in the early stages of development. Since marketing is a very broad concept, I will focus on PR marketing (leaving aside optimization, product marketing, etc.).
')
1. When it's good to be invisible. Now they argue a lot about whether startups need to avoid attention before launching or not. The only correct answer to this question is no.
My rule is that it is useful not to extend too much about your product at the stage of its development and market testing. “Not to spread too much” does not mean becoming paranoid and trusting no one. This does not mean to keep silent about their plans for the future. It only means that you should not get drunk at parties with other techies and boast about your prospects. This means not to provide unnecessary details about the project to venture funds and other investors.
In fact, we are working in a very narrow sphere, and the news spreads like lightning. And in the early stages it is completely undesirable for three more teams to learn about your ideas, and they have already begun to think about how to compete with you while you are not even standing firmly on your feet. Many oppose such modesty. They believe that only by openly testing your ideas, you can succeed. This advice should be treated very carefully.
You should also be wary of venture funds. Most of these funds adhere to very high ethical standards, but if they hear about your idea, they will not be able to simply get it out of their head. And these ideas can emerge in the course of negotiations with portfolio companies, in the variant: “And you never thought to try this, this and this?”.
Basically, this is not done on purpose, but tacit knowledge about your ideas quickly spreads among the overly talkative elite. I prefer entrepreneurs more cautious, less arrogant, and generally more thoughtful in their actions.
2. When bad to be invisible. I also come across a completely opposite, overly secretive behavior among entrepreneurs. I worked with an entrepreneur who canceled a speech at an industry event and did not talk about his project, because considered that he should not shine, and that his speech could put the project at risk. I advised him to speak (the event was a high level), but to talk about general topics in the areas in which his business is going to compete. In our area there are very few truly innovative ideas, and a conversation on the general themes of the area will not betray its global strategy. And he went to the event, but declared to everyone that "for the time being, they keep their plans in secret, and he cannot disclose what they are doing." He went down like a lead balloon.
The main problem with excessive secrecy is that you are depriving yourself of very valuable resources for testing your ideas, getting feedback, and being able to identify potential shortcomings of the chosen approach.
In my experience, entrepreneurs who frantically hide any bit of information rarely succeed. It is very difficult for them to find consultants, as it is very difficult to work with companies that are afraid to talk about what they are doing.
3. Catch the puck, but do not roll where it goes. I often say to aspiring entrepreneurs that “rolling where the puck goes” is a metaphor, meaning that you have to think about the future and take appropriate measures.
But it’s a mistake to tell too many people about your future plans. I call this “marketing futures”, which can be useful, for example, to companies involved in software, as they will be able to take into account the wishes of potential customers in short-term plans. The procurement cycle ranges from three to six months, so it is reasonable to look ahead for such a period. But do not disseminate information known to you in the mainstream press.
I would generally advise start-up companies to refrain from long-term marketing plans. We all know that the majority of new technology startups owe their success to patience, because often, what you are working on now will bring more substantial results only in a few months. Therefore, I advise you to talk colorfully and in detail about the puck that is now lying at your feet, and to apply less on the topic of where it is going. And while competitors are busy trying to copy your technology, your team will be developing the next project.
No one seems to follow this strategy more scrupulously than Apple. And look how everything turns out.
4. Do not enter the market with a bad product. Perhaps the most important thing for beginners to learn is that you cannot sell a bad product well. It is very difficult to recover from a terrible marketing campaign that you overestimated. In a world where everyone calls to launch their product as early as possible, and collect feedback from customers, the concepts of product launch and marketing campaigns are often confused.
An illustrative example is at the moment turntable.fm. A buggy, but cool product. I did not hear them beat their fists in the chest, or launch large-scale advertising campaigns. They work on the principle of “by invitation only” and can control the number of users, and accordingly satisfy their wishes. But by the time they become available to the general public, I’m willing to bet that all minor flaws will be eliminated. And the impatience to see, finally, the product will increase.
They use the so-called "velvet rope" principle, which is used in nightclubs to stir up the interest and the desire of the public to get there. Rope also limits the number of people so that too many people do not get in too early.
5. Do not rush to be the first. Of course, it is tempting to blow you first on the market, so everyone is in a hurry with the announcements. I know, because I myself made a similar mistake in the early 2000s. We rushed to be the first and even got a great overview in the Financial Times (we worked in London). But our product was not ready for the premiere, and we had to strain ourselves to meet the expectations, which we also spurred.
6. Talk to your target audience. I often watched startups scribbling blogs about the difficult life of an entrepreneur. If your target audience is entrepreneurs, then it’s right. But you need to clearly understand who your product is focused on and what you want to convey to potential customers. I wrote in my post about how to write blogs for startups.
7. Do not be distracted by the hype around. If you pay attention to every announcement of the closest competitors, it is easy to fall into despair. Do not let them drag you into the whirlpool of their advertising hype.
Those of us who have long been in this business for a long time are used to not paying attention to the loud statements of competitors. They come and go. Even fly by. Life goes on. Announce the development of iMessage. Newspaper NY Nimes immediately publishes a list of instant messengers that will go to the bottom after the next WWDC (world conference of developers on the Apple platform). But life goes on. The product is very focused. And life goes on.
8. Your competitors and you look the same, if you remove all the assumed. CEO startups often forget how marketing campaigns of competitors decompose the team spirit of their employees. They read great news about competitors, their press releases and blogs every day. And they think that their own company will soon fly to hell.
Such a feeling always appears at the beginning. There are always too many problems, too many workers leave, not enough money, customers complain, etc. For competitors, things are the same. And they also read your releases, and think: "And they have it all the way." In fact, nothing they have in no way. And it is important that your employees understand this and do not lose heart.
9. Make connections. Many aspiring entrepreneurs think that they can at any moment find a journalist, tell about their company and publish their story right there. It does not happen. Impatient businessmen always press journalists. Hold the horses. Meet journalists, even if you do not want to publish now.
Follow them on Twitter. Show respect for their profession. Read their articles. Comment on. Ask if you can help with anything. Greet them at conferences. Get into the details of their work. It is important to understand that in writing the article the “angle of view” of the journalist is crucial, and if you do not take part in the formation of this angle, then you will not wait for publications. The more you help a journalist, the more there will be an article about your company when you need it.
10. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Some startups are trying to cram as many announcements as possible into the release for more effect. For example, you are announcing a venture capital fund that will invest in your company at the same time as reporting major customers you have acquired, product characteristics, or important milestones in the company's development. Do not do this.
Venture capital investment should be announced separately. This is a significant event. Many journalists spend a lot of time covering such events. Concentrate on this. Then later it will be time to talk about their major customers and important partners. If you develop a cool feature, you should tell about it separately.
But I do it all for the distribution of mini-releases between different journalists, so that everyone has their own unique piece of information. Nobody likes to repost.
Mark Saster is an Upfront Ventures partner. He joined the company in 2007, after 8 years already collaborated with Upfront Ventures as an entrepreneur “on two fronts”. Prior to joining Upfront, Mark held the position of Vice President of Production Management at Salesforce.com, after the company was bought by Koral, where he in turn was one of the founders and CEO. Prior to Koral, Mark ran his own BuildOnline- European software company (SaaS), which was later bought out by the SWORD group. Mark is always looking for enthusiastic entrepreneurs to invest in projects in the early stages of technology development. His areas of interest include digital content and distribution, AdTech, consumer Internet technologies, and SaaS companies; Mark has impressive experience in this sector, given that he has already founded and sold two companies. Follow the link to read his articles in his blog "Two Sides of the Table " ("On two chairs").
The original article can be read on the link in the Fortune blog .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/295530/
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