10 insights on traction | justin mares
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Download the interview at http://33voic.es/indez2d Justin Mares is the former Director of Revenue at Exceptional, a software company that Rackspace acquired for 8 figures in 2013. He has previously founded two startups (one acquired, one bust) and runs a growth meetup in San Francisco. You can find his writing on marketing and personal-development on his blog, justinmares.com.TRANSCRIPT
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This presentation consists of highlights from the interview with Moe Abdou,
founder & host of 33voices®.
Justin Mares is the former Director of Revenue at Exceptional, a software company that Rackspace acquired for 8 figures in 2013. He has previously founded two startups (one acquired, one bust)
and runs a growth meetup in San Francisco. You can find his writing on marketing and personal-development on his blog,
justinmares.com.
Justin Mares@jwmares
Co-author of Traction
While the best marketing is a remarkable product; it’s the smart businessperson who makes it a priority to spend 50% of her time
on gaining marketplace traction.
Insight #1
Insight #2
When the core use of your product or service is enhanced as others use it, consider viral
marketing as an optimal strategy - test it with a high growth segment and a short viral loop.
Think Dropbox and Paypal.
Insight #3
SEO maybe elusive, still the only way you’ll become an authority is by publishing insanely
great content that’s highly relevant to your core audience.
Insight #4
Unless somehow Email vanishes, Email marketing will continue to reign supreme as a traction channel - Let it come from you, keep your tone human and your copy compelling.
Insight #5
Leverage the brainpower of your engineers to develop tools and resources that add immense value to your audience - think
Marketing Grader from Hubspot:
https://marketing.grader.com/
Insight #6
If you’re using content marketing as a traction strategy, keep it fresh, invite notables to
contribute, and consider sponsoring niched blogs. Here’s how Mint.com grew to under
1.5 Million users in under 2 years:
https://blog.kissmetrics.com/how-mint-grew/
Insight #7
Wikipedia fostered its community one person at time - they made it personal, inviting, vibrant,
and core to a shared set of values. Jimmy Wales explains:
http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/02/jimmy-wales-from-wikipedia-on-getting-traction.html
Insight #8
Pursue PR channels only after your product and marketplace position are in sync. Identify respected journalist in your niche, and give
them a compelling reason to share your story.
Insight #9
As you evaluate your traction channels, be cautious not to focus on the familiar, and never
stop testing to determine your best ones.
Insight #10
“Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold
things, not the strength to suffer.”
-Niccolo Machiavelli
What is the single best distribution channel for your
product or service?
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