UNCOOLMarketing Channels

That Work for StartupsThursday, November 7, 13

Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/YouTube are sexy, cool, and enticing...

Thursday, November 7, 13

And they are REALLY valuable for *some* startups:

Thursday, November 7, 13

But that isn’t the case for most companies.

DON’T give into the temptation to spend all your time worrying about likes, views, retweets, etc.

Thursday, November 7, 13

Why resist the cool marketing channels everyone talks about?

• TONS of noise

• Not great for customer & user acquisition

• Most startups ignore channels that are boring/lame/ugly

Thursday, November 7, 13

Some uncool channels to try out:

• 2nd/3rd tier blogs

• Webinars

• LinkedIn

• SlideShare

• Podcasts

• Forums

Thursday, November 7, 13

Non-TechCrunch blogs

• Usually have devoted fanbase

• (Obviously) more likely to cover you

• Building relationships pays off

• Steady drum beat press > giant spike every 6 months

• People WILL notice – it will help build credibility

•Your customers ≠ Silicon Valley

Thursday, November 7, 13

Webinars* (*please don’t fall asleep)

• Great if your product isn’t 100% intuitive (it probably isn’t)

• Cultivate power users

• LEAD GENERATION (make people better at their jobs)

• Customer research

• Easy to run if you know your product

Thursday, November 7, 13

#WebinarDiva

Thursday, November 7, 13

much webinar

amaze

such knowledgewow

Thursday, November 7, 13

LinkedIn

• Where the SaaS/SMB/Enterprise people hang out

• Get product recommendations

• Can contact anyone (for a price)

• Groups = targeted marketing

• More receptive to “serious” marketing content (white papers, case studies, reports)

Thursday, November 7, 13

Groups (stalk people)

Products (bug people to review you)

Thursday, November 7, 13

SlideShare• Embeddable in Tweets (a big deal)

• Pimp yourself out (be a “thought leader”)

• FORMS OMG FORMS

Thursday, November 7, 13

View an entire presentation on Twitter

Thursday, November 7, 13

HubSpot at it again...

Thursday, November 7, 13

Go viral**if you’re lucky

Thursday, November 7, 13

Podcasts

• People LISTEN

• Be a news source for potential customers

• More opportunity for “thought leadership”

• EASY to produce (video is usually awkward unless you spend $$$)

Thursday, November 7, 13

“Do people still listen to podcasts?”

Thursday, November 7, 13

Figure out your niche!

Thursday, November 7, 13

Forums

• Rule 34

• Contact individuals for feedback on MVP (just don’t be a creep)

• Steal competitors’ customers (forums = people complaining)

• Test out offers

Thursday, November 7, 13

Don’t assume people give a shit about what YOU do. Make it about them.

Thursday, November 7, 13

Q&A

Thursday, November 7, 13