lean marketing for startups - how to survive the early years

LEAN MARKETING FOR STARTUPS

How to survive and grow on a shoestring

Hi!

Who is this guy?

General Manager of Talent Cupboard (more on this in a minute)

I’m an “accidental entrepreneur”

Comp Sci w/ Business grad but have since morphed into a jack of all trades.

Find me on twitter: @AdamJBall

What is Talent Cupboard?

Talent Cupboard is an online marketplace connecting businesses with the best student and graduate digital talent for freelance projects and jobs.

How it works:

Post a project -> set a budget & deadline -> pick a freelancer

We’re passionate about helping businesses to grow and young people to gain vital work experience. It’s a win:win.

First, a problem

The problem

It’s never been easier or a better time to start a business.

The problem

Great support networks, alternative access to finance and the internet has changed

the game.

The problem

But surviving and growing a business is as hard as it’s ever

been.

The problem

500,000+ new businesses registered with Companies House last year.

Only 43% of businesses survived their first 5 years between 2008 and

2013.

A lack of growth is part of the problem.

What people thing growth will be like

What it actually looks like

How to tackle growth

What I want to talk to you about

Some fundamental marketing tactics to help you through the early years and achieve growth.

- Metrics - define success for you- Targets - make a commitment- Audience - pick your tribe- Channel - make some noise- Track - fail fast & learn

Metrics - define success for you

Metrics - define your success

What is the single most important metric to your

business?

Revenue?Users?

Metrics - don’t get distracted

Targets- make a commitment

Pick a target, then be relentless about it

Make your target weekly

Weekly Yearly

1% 1.7x

2% 2.8x

5% 12.6x

7% 33.7x

10% 142.0x

http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html

Growth becomes the compass that guides you.

“Will this meeting help me hit my growth target this

week?”

Audience- pick a your tribe

Your audience

Your audience

Have a firm idea of who you want to be selling to.

Create user personas to help you do this.

Read this:

http://marketingbeforefunding.com/2013/02/26/complete-guide-to-creating-a-customer-persona-for-your-startup/

Pick a channel- make some noise

Where to start?

Your website

Where to start?

Where to start?

Only 50% of SMEs and charities in the UK have a website!

Where to start?

It’s 2015 and every business needs to have a strong online presence in order to survive.

That’s why we’re launching a new initiative that gets businesses

online for a low monthly fee rather than a huge upfront cost.

We handle the design, build and hosting.

Email website@talentcupboard.com if you need help with a website.

Where to start?

Where to start?

Pick two or three channels to test at the beginning. Gain insights into which one works best for you.

Content SEO Email

Content

Content

The normal responses to “Do you produce content?”

“I don’t understand content”

“I just don’t have time to write a blog”

“Where do I even start?”

Content in 4 steps

1. Plan 2. Execute

3. Distribute 4. Learn

Content in 4 steps

Plan

We write for our customers. Figure out what problems &

challenges they face and help by writing great

content on the subject.

Come up with 15-20 different blog post titles.

We use Trello to organise ideas within the team.

Content in 4 steps

Figure out what’s worked for others

Content in 4 steps

Carve out time for blog writing.

Come up with a schedule for when content should be live and stick to it.

Content in 4 steps

Execute

You need to build a content habit.

Whether that’s 500 words a day over a few days or a Sunday spent writing 2000 words in

one go.

Content in 4 steps

Pro-tips

Make content 2,000 words+

Usehttp://www.hemingwayapp.com/

Content in 4 steps

Distribute

Content in 4 steps

Learn

SEO

SEO

SEO

Some quick SEO wins

SEO

Use woorank.com to get insights into where you website can improve. Use this as your cheat

sheet when talking to agencies.

SEO

Blog. A LOT.

SEO

Make sure your site is mobile optimised.

Over 60% of traffic is now via mobile. Google has recently updated it’s algorithm to weight websites on this factor.

Email

Email

Email > Social

Customer acquisition rate (%)

Email

Social is awesome for connecting with people.

But there is a shift towards getting you to pay for eyeballs as social networks monetise.

Email

Email lists let you keep control.

Use a service like Mailchimp to help you manage

subscribers, grow your lists and send mobile responsive

emails easily.

Some final tips

Some final tips

Celebrate the small wins

Some final tips

Don’t be afraid to mess up

Some final tips

Do what you do best, outsource the rest

- Bloggers- Coders- Designers

- Animators- Copywriters- Marketers

Head on over to talentcupboard.com

Thanks!

Get in touch!

@AdamJBall