guideto startup marketing · 2020-01-21 · your tech startup journey 39 ... with it new pressures...

THE TECH FOUNDER'SGUIDE TO STARTUPMARKETING6 SIMPLE STEPS TO GENERATE LEADSAND DRIVE REVENUE GROWTH

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CONTENTS

WELCOME 03

SECTION 1THE TECH FOUNDER'S CHALLENGE 04

SECTION 2WHY YOU NEED MARKETING 12

SECTION 3HOWTO MARKET YOUR STARTUP 17

SECTION 4

YOUR TECH STARTUP JOURNEY 39

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MARKETING IS EASY - MARKETING IS HARD

With the continued rise of digital channels, mobile communicationsand social media platforms, today anyone can be a marketer. Justas with YouTube, anyone can be a broadcaster - but then noteveryone can be the BBC or Netflix.

We are witnessing a time when technology is making marketingeasier than ever before, but where navigating the complexity andgetting it right has never been so hard. And startup marketing -

especially for tech startups - brings with it an additional set ofchallenges, pressures and demands for ambitious innovators,entrepreneurs and founders as they strive to build and grow theirbusinesses.

That's why we wrote this simple-to-use guide. We'll help youunderstand the dynamics of startup marketing and show you howto cost-effectively generate leads and drive your revenue growth.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

The key challenges facing tech founders todayWhy you need effective marketing to achieve successHow to deliver a startup marketing programme in 6 easy stepsTop tips for accelerating your tech startup journey

WELCOME THE TECH FOUNDER'S GUIDE TO STARTUP MARKETING

SECTION ONE

THE TECHFOUNDER'SCHALLENGE

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THE TECH FOUNDER'S CHALLENGE

AS YOU PROGRESS ALONG YOUR OWNHIGH-GROWTH STARTUP TRAJECTORY,YOUR PRIORITIES AND FOCUS WILLCHANGE.

Business planningProduct market fitCustomer profilingProposition developmentBusiness strategy

EACH NEW STAGE OF GROWTH BRINGSWITH IT NEW PRESSURES AND NEWDEMANDS FROM VENTURE CAPITALPARTNERS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERSAS YOU PLAN, BUILD AND GROW YOURBUSINESS.

Driving revenueLead generationBrand awarenessSales conversionMarketing strategyBUILD

Building scalabilityInternal teamExternal partnersProcess automationGrowth strategyGROW

SECTION ONE THE TECH FOUNDER'S CHALLENGE 05

BALANCING YOUR PRIORITIESWith the clock ticking and limited resources available, meetingthe unique challenges of each funding stage requires a delicatebalancing act. IT WOULD BE WISE TO START THINKING

ABOUT SCALING YOUR BUSINESS,BUT THEKEY PRIORITY WILL BE BUILDING A LEADGENERATION MACHINE AND DRIVINGSALES REVENUE.OF COURSE,TO DO THATYOU WILL NEED A MARKETING STRATEGY.

SEED CAPITALWhen initial seed capitalinvestor - has been secured, your main focus is likely to be onbusiness strategy and planning activities such as product marketfit, customer profiling and proposition development.

or in your earliest stage, an angel

KEY FOCUS METRICS

Business planningPLAN In the absence of a firm sales history, attracting further investment at thisearly stage will rely heavily on qualitative feedback and customerengagement metrics - like website visits, completed contact forms andother expressions of interest.

BUILD Driving revenue

GROW Building scalability


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SERIES A

When Series A funding has been secured, your goal will be toattract the Series B investment needed to fuel further growth andreach the next milestone in your scale-up trajectory.

Your business plan will still be evolving at this stage and thequestion of how you will build scalability in the future will still be aconcern, but the main focus will shift to developing and deliveringa powerful - yet cost effective -marketing strategy to drive revenuegrowth. You will need a plan that details exactly how you will raisethe awareness of your brand in your chosen markets, how you willgenerate leads from prospects that are ready to buy and how youwill convert your sales opportunities into paying customers.

At this crucial stage, the task at hand is no longer about validating anidea or proving a concept - it is about providing a solid 'proof ofbusiness'. You will need to demonstrate that you can realise repeatablerevenue and put your company on the path to sustainable growth.

As you align your new offering with the needs of customers in yourchosen market segment, flexibility, agility and the ability to adaptquickly will be vital to your success.

METRICS

Investors will need you to report regularly on key growth metrics andperformance indicators.

KEY FOCUS

Business planningPLAN Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)Customer CountGross ChurnCash

Average Revenue per AccountCustomer Acquisition Cost/Customer Lifetime Value(LTV:CAC Ratio)Up-front Invoicing


Building scalabilityGROW


SERIES B

Moving beyond Series B funding is not for the faint hearted.

The revenue expectations are high and forgiveness scarce. Withsuch aggressive revenue goals, it is easy to see why so manycompanies run out of energy before reaching the Series C round. HAVING FOUND ONE VEIN OF

REPEATABLE REVENUE IN THEPREVIOUS FUNDING ROUND,THECHALLENGE IN SERIES B IS TO DO ITAGAIN AND AGAIN.YOU WILL NEEDTO FURTHER DEVELOP THE HANDFULOF THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN PROVENTO WORK,WHILST AT THE SAME TIMEEXPLORING NEW OPPORTUNITIESAND REVENUE STREAMS.

The business strategy should be broadly established by this stageand with your foot still firmly on the 'driving revenue' pedal, yourattention will turn to developing a credible growth strategy andbuilding scalability.

KEY FOCUS

Business planningPLAN




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SERIES B

Of course, the team will need to grow to meet these new demandsand a number of marketing specialists - like product marketing,content marketing and digital marketing- will probably beamongst your key hires.

IN A NUTSHELL,MARKETING INNOVATIONIN THE B ROUND LAYS THE FOUNDATIONSFOR SCALING THE BUSINESS ANDCREATING THE PRODUCTION EFFICIENCIESREQUIRED FOR SERIES C FUNDING.

Focusing on a handful of strong buyer segments, you will be able tostreamline the customer journey-mapping your communicationsto the customer needs and pain points at each stage - and beginto automate more and more of your marketing processes.

METRICS

Investors will need you to report in new ways and measure not onlyperformance but longer-term growth and value creation potential.

Net ChurnUp-sell and Cross-sellGross MarginCost of Goods SoldCohort AnalysisExpenses

KEY FOCUS

Business planningPLAN Forecasted SalesSales QuotasEarnings Before Interest, Taxes,Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA)Customer Numbers (MoM and YoY)Revenue Growth (MoM and YoY)




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SERIES CYOUR MARKETING GOALS WILL BECOME MOREACHIEVABLE AND SUCCESS MORE PREDICTABLE.When you have secured Series C funding, you will know what has

worked well in Series B and will be able to scale the business andimprove operational efficiencies- whilst continuing to grow salesand drive revenue. Strong management will be required as more mature marketing

processes are automated and integrated into the wider businessoperations. Avoiding the formulation of silos - especially within thesales team and marketing department - will be a key challenge hereand maintaining alignment and cross-functional collaboration is crucial.

At this stage, strategy, creativity and innovation still have a role toplay but the focus will often shift away from implementing newmarketing programmes to optimising the existing ones - andincreasing the return on investment (ROI).

METRICS

The range of performance indicators and the breadth of analyticalreporting requirements will increase a lot at this stage.

KEY FOCUS

Business planningPLANDeferred RevenueMarketing Penetration

Segmentation AnalysisExploratory AnalysisBUILD Driving revenue



WORKING SMARTER - AND HARDERAs we've seen, the challenges that need to be overcome to securefunding at each stage of the startup journey are very different - butthe one thing that remains constant is the need to attract customers,drive sales and grow revenue.

Unlike larger or more established businesses, tech startups don't alwayshave huge budgets to throw at marketing. So, your biggest challenge isto drive revenue growth with a limited marketing budget and thatmeans working smarter - more strategically. In competitive markets,there is no time to waste, so that means working harder too.

There are no shortcuts to delivering an effective tech startup marketingprogramme but there are some simple steps that you can follow andsome good marketing agencies that can help to lighten your load -

although not all will be specialist agencies.

BEFORE WE PRESENT OUR 6 STAGE PROCESS FORSTARTUP MARKETING, LET'S TAKE A STEP BACKAND EXPLORE WHY YOU EVEN NEED MARKETINGIN THE FIRST PLACE.


SECTION TWO

WHYYOU NEEDMARKETING

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TODAY'S TECH BUYERWHY YOU NEED MARKETING

AS AN INNOVATOR AND VISIONARY, YOU PROBABLYNEVER THOUGHT YOU'D HAVE TO WORRY ABOUTDEVELOPING A NEW SET OF SKILLS - ESPECIALLY NOTIN MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS AND SALES.

If business-to-business (B2B) marketing is a discipline, then techmarketing is a specialism. That's because the technology industryis different - it 's more competitive and more fast-moving than moretraditional sectors.

Customers are also becoming more and more sophisticated. Mostpurchases are now heavily researched online and many customerswill only seek direct engagement with a sales team once they havesufficient information and knowledge to hand. Essentially, whenthey are much, much further into their purchase journey than everbefore.

BUT AS A TECH ENTREPRENEUR AND STARTUPFOUNDER, YOU NEED TO ACHIEVE THE REVENUEGROWTH LEVELS THAT INVESTORS EXPECT TO SEE-

AND IDEALLY DO IT FAST.The number of people involved in a B2B purchase decision isgrowing all the time too - and the more complex the decision-

making unit (DMU), the harder it will be to reach and influencethem.

TO GROW REVENUE, YOU NEED TO ATTRACTCUSTOMERS, GENERATE LEADS AND CLOSE SALES-

AND THAT'S WHERE MARKETING COMES IN.Traditional marketing funnels move prospects through a definedset of sale stages - but that's not how your customers see theworld. It's important to put your prospects at the heart of yourmarketing strategy and develop an approach that see thingsfrom their point-of-view - not yours.

SECTION TWO WHY YOU NEED MARKETING 13

For tech buyers, the journey starts with them being aware that theyhave a problem to solve - not with them being aware that yourbrand exists. This is an often misunderstood aspect of awareness.BUYER'S JOURNEY

Your initial communications need to help them realise that theyhave a problem, rather than directly promoting your capabilitiesand offering. It is about them, after all.

Once they have established that they have a problem, they willactively research the topic and consider different ways to solve it -one of which may be to fix things internally and not look outside forsolutions. It's only in the final stage of their buying journey, that theyare ready to make a decision and compare a range of differentproducts and services - hopefully including yours. And that is therole of marketing.

If you understand your prospects, you can provide useful and timelyinformation to help nurture them through their customer journey.You can also explore ways to short-circuit the process andaccelerate the sales cycle.

Ultimately, you need to inspire your prospects with a vision of whatis possible - what their world will be like with your solution in it -and fill them with the confidence that you are the right partner totake them on that journey.

ProblemAWARENESS

SolutionCONSIDERATION

ProductDECISION


FEEDING THE SALES TEAM

Some B2B customer journeys can be completed online, without theneed to interact with a member of the sales team. Unfortunately,most enterprise sales are not that simple - and some salescycles can be much longer than others.

MARKETING METHODOLOGY

ATTRACT CONVERT CLOSE DELIGHT

k kkVisitorsStrangers Customers Promoters

F


It's generally the job of marketing to attract new customers and createqualified leads for the sales team to follow up and close. This is becauseit's often more efficient for marketing to generate leads at scale, than itis for the sales team to produce leads for themselves.

This is a good division of labour too, as it means the sales team can usetheir skills and experience to focus on the value-added elements of theprocess - such as developing opportunities, building relationships andclosing sales.

Ultimately, the goal of marketing is to engage your target audience andnurture them through their buying journey - ensuring that your websiteand campaigns are fully optimised to generate leads and drive revenuegrowth along the way.

OK. YOU NEED REVENUE GROWTH- PURE AND SIMPLE.YOU NEED A POWERFUL STARTUP MARKETINGPROGRAMME- NO PROBLEM.

LET'S SHOW YOU EXACTLY HOWTO DO THAT.


SECTION THREE

HOWTO MARKETYOUR STARTUP

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HOWTO MARKET YOUR STARTUPAs we said at the beginning, marketing is easy - but it can behard too.

There is no secret to achieving growth - no special sauce and nosilver bullet. As with many things, the devil is in the detail. Ofcourse, nothing replaces strategic thinking, creativity and hard work- but we hope this guide makes your journey a little easier.

HERE YOU'LL LEARN THE 6-STAGEPROCESS THAT MANY OF THEFASTEST-GROWING TECH STARTUPSUSE TO GENERATE HIGH-QUALITYLEADS AND DRIVE SUSTAINABLEREVENUE GROWTH.

6 SIMPLE STEPS

Over the last ten years we've developed a proven methodologyfor planning and delivering startup marketing programmes- and we've honed it down to these six simple steps.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP 18

1. RESEARCH

A LOT OF RESEARCH WILL ALREADY HAVE GONE INTOYOUR WIDER BUSINESS PLANNING PROCESS-

ESPECIALLY INTO ESTABLISHING THAT THERE IS AGOOD PRODUCT/ MARKET FIT. BUT WHEN IT COMESTO ACQUIRING NEW CUSTOMERS IN THE REALWORLD, WE NEED TO DELVE DEEPER.

BUYER PERSONAS

CUSTOMER JOURNEYS

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

THE FOUNDATIONS OF A GOOD MARKETING PLANARE BUILT ON SOLID RESEARCH AND THERE ARETHREE CENTRAL PLANKS TO THAT STRATEGICUNDERPINNING.

BUYER PERSONAS

Developing a deep understanding of your potential customersallows you to craft communications, content and creative that willresonate with them and drive engagement. Before identifyingexactly who your buyers will be and determining which roles willmake up their decision-making unit (DMU), you'll first need toestablish your target audience and the characteristics of an idealclient. For example, will you be targeting consumers (B2C) orbusinesses (B2B), enterprise accounts or SMEs? Firmographiccriteria such as company size, industry sector and geographicregion can be a useful way to profile your chosen audience andeven segment them into smaller groups for a more targetedapproach.

Understanding the problems, challenges and pain points of yourbuyer personas will help you to see things from their perspective -

giving them a name and a face will help you to identify with themas real people. And this will enable you to hook your messages onrational needs and anchor your stories on emotional triggers.

This is not the time for thinking about how you would like things tobe, but to focus hard on how they actually are. A good way to dothis is to consider what genuine concerns your prospects mighthave and what sales objections they might come up with furtherdown the line. This will allow you to be more pro-active, positiveand impactful with your communications - heading potential issuesoff at the pass. Having someone from outside come in to playdevil's advocate at this stage could prove invaluable.

INNOVATION ENTERPRISE

Glenn

DECISION-MAKING UNIT (DMU)

INNNOVATION OPERATIONS BUSINESS

BUT YOU MUST BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF HERE -

BRUTALLY HONEST.MOBILISER

EDGE

BUYER PERSONA PROFILES

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP|RESEARCH 20

CUSTOMER JOURNEYS

With your buyer persona profiles created and the decision-makingunit (DMU) agreed, you can now start to think more broadly abouttheir customer journeys - and more importantly how you caninfluence, accelerate and short circuit those journeys.

You can then layer on top of this, the type of content they like toconsume, the places they go to learn to new things and the peoplewho influence them the most. With this rich and detailed view ofyour customer's world, you can look for insights that will help toshape your marketing strategy and target your campaigns

When we looked at today's tech buyer (page 13), we laid out thethree stages to their journey-AWARENESS that they have aproblem, CONSIDERATION of a range of potential solutionsand finally, a DECISION on which is the best product or servicefor them to buy- and these will form the basis of yourcustomer journey.

Once you've mapped out the steps of the journey in more detail,you can start to think about what kind of questions your prospectsmight ask at each stage and what sort of information they wouldfind useful.

DECISION

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IMPORTANT NOTEThe customer journey will be different for each tech startupbusiness- it will vary depending on the nature of the productoffering, the target audience and the sales process - so the journeymap will need to be built from the ground up each time. To help,we have a planning workshop exercise that we can share with you. CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP|RESEARCH 21

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

You will already have researched the competition and spotted agap in the market for your product or service.

Understanding how your competitors are using digital marketingchannels like search, social and content - there are some cleverways to look behind the scenes and find these things out - canyield invaluable strategic insights.This research is concerned with analysing how your competitors

present themselves to the market - their key messages, brandpositioning and visual identity - and what channels they use toconnect with their audience.

You can adopt the things that seem to be working well and ditchthe things that don't - but most importantly it allows you tocompete.

The point here is to ensure that your story not only promotes whatyou do but helps to differentiate your offering in the eyes of yourcustomers - it needs to make you stand out from the crowd.

AS SUN TZU SAID; IF YOU KNOW THE ENEMY ANDKNOW YOURSELF,YOU NEED NOT FEAR THERESULT OF A HUNDRED BATTLES.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP | RESEARCH 22

2.STRATEGY

DEVELOPING A WINNING MARKETING STRATEGY-

ONE THAT IS INTEGRATED ACROSS CHANNELS ANDOPTIMISED TO DRIVE PERFORMANCE- SEEMS LIKETHE OBVIOUS STARTING POINT FOR AN AMBITIOUSTECH STARTUP, BUT SURPRISINGLY FEW HAVE ADETAILED PLAN IN PLACE BEFORE THEY STARTPERHAPS THE LURE OF EASY-TO-ACCESS TACTICALSOLUTIONS IS TOO GREAT, BUT WE WOULD ADVISECAUTION.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

MESSAGING PLATFORM

STRATEGIC BLUEPRINT

IT#S A CLICHE TO SAY THAT TAILING TO PLAN ISPLANNING TO FAIL' BUT THERE IS CERTAINLY SOMEMERIT IN IT WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP|STRATEGY 23

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MARKETING OBJECTIVES MESSAGING PLATFORM

The first part of the strategic planning process is to agree exactlywhat your marketing objectives are - establishing precisely whatyou are seeking to achieve and how you will measure success.

Before you can start to create content and craft communications,you need to know what your story is - what your key messages are.Your story should be based on your buyer personas and theircustomer journey and take into account what you competitors aresaying. It should be your story - it should be unique.With limited budget and resources, focusing your efforts on a set of

achievable goals is imperative, as you won't be able to doeverything at once. You'll need to find out what parts of your salesfunnel are working well and where you need an extra push.

You need to know what specific challenges you are trying toovercome - for example;

Do you need more leads to feed the sales team or betterqualified leads to accelerate the process?Do you have enough qualified leads, but not enough high-

quality collateral for the team to close the sale?Do you need a way to reach more customers or a cost-effectiveway to keep prospects engaged throughout a lengthy salescycle?

You'll need to develop a coherent framework of compellingmessages that are aimed directly at your target audience - not atjournalists or the public - inspiring them to act and overcomingtheir concerns. This messaging platform will inform your sales andmarketing content and ensure consistency across communicationsand channels.

ANY GOOD DOCTOR WOULD PERFORM ATHOROUGH INVESTIGATION AND MAKE ANINFORMED DIAGNOSIS BEFORE WRITING APRESCRIPTION.AND IT'S THE SAME WITHMARKETING.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP | STRATEGY 24

STRATEGIC BLUEPRINT

As a tech startup with limited budgets, the overriding strategic direction that yourmarketing takes will likely be a combination of these three tried-and-tested approaches.And this will be one of the first big marketing decisions you'll need to make.

INBOUND MARKETING CONTENT MARKETING ACCOUNT BASED MARKETING

Traditional outbound marketing interrupts andshouts to be heard. Inbound marketing attracts,pulling prospects towards your company whenthey are actively seeking solutions just likeyours. Inbound cuts through all the marketingnoise - so you can be heard above thecompetition.

Content marketing is all about attractingprospects and converting them into payingcustomers by creating and sharing content thatis relevant and valuable to them. The focus willbe on designing and delivering a programme ofstrategic, structured and cost-effective content-

driven marketing campaigns that engage yourtarget audience and nurture them through theirbuying journey.

Account based marketing - or ABM- is astrategic marketing approach that allows you to

target only the companies that matter most to

you, with messages and content that aretailored just for them. This maximises theimpact your communications will have on yourtarget accounts. It also has the added benefit offlying under your competitors' radar.

COST-EFFECTIVE MARKETINGPROGRAMMES THATDELIVER RESULTS.

PROVIDING RELEVANT CONTENT TOATTRACT, ENGAGE AND CONVERTYOUR TARGET AUDIENCE.

FOCUSING YOUR MARKETING BUDGETON THE COMPANIES THAT MATTERMOST TO YOU.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP | STRATEGY 25

STRATEGIC BLUEPRINT

Once you've completed the research, planning and strategy stage,the output will be a strategic plan- a blueprint that can be usedto implement a series of marketing campaigns.

Here are the main areas your blueprint will need to include:

MARKETING OBJECTIVESYour priorities, goals and challenges. STRATEGY MUST

ALWAYS COMEBEFORE TACTICS

TARGET AUDIENCEYour buyer personas and their customer journeys.

COMMUNICATIONS OBJECTIVESWhat you want your target audience to think, feel and do.

MESSAGING PLATFORMYour key messages, brand positioning and competitivedifferentiation.

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TACTICAL BUILDING BLOCKSYour most effective content, channels and quick-win tactics.

BUDGET AND KPISYour performance measures, success metrics and reportingframework.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP| STRATEGY 26

3.WEBSITE

WHETHER YOUR WEBSITE IS TRANSACTIONAL ORPURELY INFORMATIONAL, IT WILL BE YOUR VIRTUALSTOREFRONT-YOUR WINDOW TO THE WORLD. YOURWEBSITE WILL NOT ONLY ACT AS A REPOSITORY FORKEY CONTENT BUT SHOULD ALSO BE THE CENTRALDESTINATION FOR PEOPLE ON OTHER ONLINE ANDOFFLINE CHANNELS- SUCH AS SEARCH, SOCIAL,EVENTS AND PAID MEDIA.

BRAND POSITIONING

USER EXPERIENCE

LEAD GENERATION

FOR MANY COMPANIES,THEIR WEBSITE IS THEMOST IMPORTANT MARKETING ASSET THEYOWN - AND THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE FORTECH STARTUPS.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP|WEBSITE 27

BRAND POSITIONING USER EXPERIENCE LEAD GENERATION

The overall look-and-feel of your website playsan important role in positioning your business inthe mind of your target audience, but it's realjob is to help generate leads.

Your website is what your prospects andcustomers will use to find out who you are, whatyou do and how you can help them. They willform an opinion about your products, yourservices and your business - and first impressionscount. Even the best product offering can be letdown by a poorly designed website that looksunprofessional and is difficult to use.

Visitors to your website will have a particulargoal in mind -whether they have arrived atyour website following a search on Googleor after reading a relevant social media poston Linkedln - and you need to help themachieve that goal as quickly and easily aspossible.

Again, this is not something that happens byaccident but is something that needs to becarefully planned.

But that doesn't happen by accident.For example; you can't insist that prospects giveyou their contact details before accessing eventhe most basic content on your website - but atthe same time, you can't let them visit yourwebsite and leave without enticing them to getin touch directly or to exchange their personalinformation for a piece of valuable content.

You need to decide upfront how you would like tobe perceived by your target audience and agreehow your brand should be positioned alongsideyour competitors. If your current website doesn'tportray the desired image, then it may be timefor a quick refresh or even a full-scale re-design.

The user experience (UX) needs to becarefully planned and designed to provide africtionless journey- taking into account yourbuyer personas and the wider customerjourneys that you created. You need tofacilitate user journeys that allow yourcustomers to meet their objectives, whileallowing you to meet yours too.A WELL-PLANNED AND WELL-DESIGNED

WEBSITE MAY BE ONE OF THE BESTMARKETING INVESTMENTS YOUEVER MAKE.

Getting the balance right here is not easy, butit is what will turn your website into a leadgeneration machine - a marketing tool that isfinely tuned and fully optimised to captureleads, convert sales and drive growth.

Put simply, you need to engage yourprospects and nurture them through theirbuying journey.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP | WEBSITE 28

4. PLAYBOOK

WITH YOUR WEBSITE OPTIMISED TO GENERATE HIGH-

QUALITY LEADS, IT'S NOW TIME ATTRACT THEVISITORS YOU NEED TO CONVERT INTO CUSTOMERS. DIGITAL CHANNELS

CONTENT CREATIONIT'S TIME TO TURN YOUR STRATEGIC BLUEPRINT(PAGE 25) INTO A GROWTH-DRIVEN CAMPAIGNPLAYBOOK-USING YOUR TACTICAL BUILDINGBLOCKS TO CREATE AN ACTIONABLE MARKETINGPLAN AND A REPEATABLE PROCESS.

CAMPAIGN PLANNING

CONTENT NEEDS TO DELIVERVALUE BEFORE SALES MESSAGES

TOP TIPSpage 42

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP |PLAYBOOK

DIGITAL CHANNELS

SEARCH SOCIAL BLOGSocial medial platforms - likeLinkedln, Twitter, Facebook andInstagram - provide a greatopportunity to reach a wideaudience, share your content anddeliver your sales messages.

Search engines- like Google andBing- provide an excellentopportunity to attract prospects thatare actively looking for solutions likeyours.

Publishing blog posts - which canbe found by search engines andshared on social media - is one ofthe most powerful ways to attractvisitors to your website, where youcan convert them into leads.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST CAMPAIGNPLANNING DECISIONS YOU WILLNEED TO MAKE IS THE CHOICEOF DIGITAL CHANNELS.

To make sure you are found though,you will need to understand the kindof things your prospects aresearching for - we call that strategickeyword research - and ensure thatyour content and website isoptimised so that it appearsprominently in the search resultswhen they do (SEO).

YOU WILL THEN NEED TOESTABLISH EXACTLY HOW YOUWILL PLAY TACTICALLY INEACH ONE.

Blogs can be the perfect gateway todeeper content and the start of abuying journey.

They allow you to engage withrelevant groups and connect directlywith key prospects. The goal hereshould be to build your communityand not just publish your content. Regular blogging can also help to

establish your authority on a chosensubject and position your businessas a thought leader in your industry.

While many platforms are free touse, it would be wrong to see socialmedia marketing as 'free' as it cantake time, effort and resource to setup and sustain.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP |PLAYBOOK 30

DIGITAL CHANNELS

WEBSITE CONTENTPAID MEDIA EMAILYour website will be one of themost important marketing assetsyou own. It will be the destinationthat you drive traffic to from all theother paid and organic channels.

Unlike digital display advertising,blog publishing, search enginesand social media are marketingtactics that you can use withouthaving to pay for. But there will betimes that you want to give yourmarketing a little extra push andput some budget behind it.

The content you produce may startby explaining the products andservices you provide, showcasingthe customers you already workwith and presenting theexperienced team and credibleorganisation you have built.

Once you have attracted visitors toyour website and converted theminto leads, that is not the end of thestory. Many prospects will not yet beready to engage directly with yoursales team.

But not all prospects should be sentto the same place. You may need tocreate dedicated 'landing pages'that are carefully designed to helpthem take the next step in theirjourney and maximise theopportunity for you to generateleads.

Email provides the perfect way tostay in touch with your prospects -

to gently nurture and guide themstep-by-step through their buyingjourney and closer to a sale.

But this information won't berelevant until your prospects areready to make a decision - see thebuyer's journey on page 1 4 - s oyou will need to create meaningfulcontent focusing on the problemawareness and solutionconsideration stages too.

You could pay Linkedln to promoteyour posts to your target audienceor pay Google to present yourcontent at the top of the resultspage for any given search term(PPC).

Regular emails and newsletters canalso be a great way to keep yourexisting customers engaged and touncover new cross-sell and up-sellopportunities.

SECTION THREE HOWTO MARKETYOUR STARTUP | PLAYBOOK 31

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CONTENT CREATION CAMPAIGN PLANNING

The context of the reader is an importantconsideration too. Perhaps a podcast ormobile-optimised content would be easierfor people to consume while they arecommuting to and from work.

This is where all the pieces of an integratedcampaign come together - the targetaudience and customer journeys, the digitalchannels and content.

As well as creating just the right content toinspire, engage and inform your different targetaudience groups, it's also important to choosethe best format for that content - and that willdepend, to a large extent, on the nature of yourbuyer and their stage in the decision-makingjourney.

This is also where you need get ready fordelivery - for campaign execution.Having your content professionally written

and designed may make it more usable andimpactful too and may also help to promotethe kind of image you wish to portray.

You'll need to establish exactly who is goingto do what - whether that is your team oryour marketing agency - and when. You'llneed to figure out what tasks are dependenton others being completed first and whatworkstreams can be run in parallel.

For example, some of your buyer personas mayprefer shorter more 'snackable' content andsomething that is more visual - others mayrequire something that is more substantial,formal and authoritative.

When you've analysed your buyer personasand established the information they willrequire at each stage of their customerjourney, it's likely that you will need morecontent than you can realistically produce inone go. And that's where prioritisationcomes in again. You'll need to focus on themost important areas - in-line with yourstrategy - and develop a pragmatic contentcalendar that allows you to roll-out therequired content over time.

SOME POPULAR CONTENT FORMATS Depending on the complexity of yourprogramme, you may also want to create adetailed project plan to help manage theprocess.

WHITEPAPERS VIDEO

EBOOKS CASE STUDIES

BLOGS INFOGRAPHICS

GUIDES

SECTION THREE HOWTO MARKETYOUR STARTUP | PLAYBOOK 32

5. EXECUTION

SO, YOUR PLANNING IS COMPLETE, YOUR CAMPAIGNPLAYBOOK IS SIGNED OFF AND YOUR DELIVERYSCHEDULE HAS BEEN AGREED. YOU, YOUR TEAMAND YOUR AGENCY PARTNERS ARE READY TO GO.

BUT AS PETER DRUCKER ONCE SAID: PLANSARE ONLY GOOD INTENTIONS UNLESS THEYIMMEDIATELY DEGENERATE INTO HARD WORK.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP|EXECUTION 33

FAST-TRACK DELIVERYWe've reached stage five in the six-step process and still we havenothing in-market - nothing new in the hands of our prospects,nothing new to engage and nurture them through their buyingjourney.

IMPLEMENTATIOCAN BE EASY WITTHE RIGHT TAND PROCESS

But as we learned in THE TECH FOUNDER'S CHALLENGE(page 05), you need to deliver revenue growth to secure furtherinvestment- and do it fast.

There is no time to waste. What you need is a fast-track approachto delivery that gets you to market as quickly as possible - withouttaking any shortcuts that could negatively impact your overallperformance.

TOP TIPSTHE TRICK IS NOT TO SKIP ANY OF THESE STEPS BUTTO TACKLE THEM HEAD ON-TO KNUCKLE DOWN,

TO DO THE HARD WORK AND TO SEEK HELP WHERENECESSARY. BEING INCISIVE ABOUT IT, YOU NEED TOWORK SMART, WORK HARD AND WORK FAST.

page 43

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP|EXECUTION 34

CAMPAIGN EXECUTION SALES FOLLOW-UP

So far, we've talked about startup marketing,strategic blueprints, campaign playbooksand lead generation- but these are just themeans to an end. What you need is revenuegrowth; more customers and more sales.

Your marketing machine is now up and running.Your campaigns are all set up and generatingtraffic. Your website is optimised and deliveringleads. Your content calendar is on schedule.Your team are performing, and your marketingagency is delivering.

But on another, there is a more practical andmundane challenge. The leads need to becaptured, the contact information needs tobe stored and the engagement activity needsto be considered. At low volumes, this can behandled by email systems and spreadsheets,but as the business grows, thought will needto be given to more scalable solutions -like salesforce automation tools, customerrelationship management (CRM) systemsand marketing automation platforms.

It may go without saying, but a key part ofthe process is sales follow-up. Ideally, yoursales team will have helped shape themarketing strategy and given their input intothe campaign planning. But when the leadsare in, it is down to them to create theopportunities and close the sale. Feedbackfrom the sales team is vital to ensure thatmarketing is delivering the right type of leadand the right quality of lead, the rightquantity of leads and the right frequency ofleads.

Whilst campaign execution is only one smallstep in this overall startup marketing process, itis actually the one that accounts for the mosttime. It is the business-as-usual state you will bein once the upfront research, strategy andplanning has been done. You will always beexecuting some aspect of your marketingprogramme -whether that is actively or morepassively.

YOUR STRATEGIC BLUEPRINT WILLIDEALLY INCLUDE SOME QUICK WINTACTICS THAT YOU CAN DEPLOY TOSTART GENERATING RESULTSSOONER RATHER THAN LATER, BUTWE WOULD CAUTION AGAINSTJUMPING INTO TACTICALEXECUTION BEFORE THE STRATEGICPLANNING HAS BEEN DONE.

On one level, this is all about sales andmarketing alignment, two-waycommunication, collaboration and a sharedpurpose.

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP | EXECUTION 35

6. REPORTING

ALTHOUGH REPORTING IS THE LAST STEP IN THISSIX-STEP PROCESS, IT IS ACTUALLY WHERE YOUNEED TO BEGIN. REPORTING FRAMEWORK

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTIN THE TECH FOUNDER'S CHALLENGE (PAGE 05) WEOUTLINED THE VARIOUS METRICS THAT INVESTORSWILL BE MONITORING AND THE PERFORMANCETARGETS THEY WILL EXPECT YOU TO HIT

CAMPAIGN OPTIMISATION

IN THE FIRST STEP OF THIS PROCESS, WE ALSOEXPLAINED THAT YOUR STRATEGY WILL BE DRIVENBY YOUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND THAT ONEOF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF YOURSTRATEGIC BLUEPRINT (PAGE 23) WILL BE THEPERFORMANCE MEASURES AND SUCCESS METRICSTHAT YOU AGREE UPFRONT

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP| REPORTING

REPORTING FRAMEWORK

With reporting then, we are simply closing that loop. Youknow what you need to measure at the highest level - thehandful of key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter most.A reporting framework should be developed that cascadesdown from these primary financial and sales-driven metrics tomore engagement-level measures.

REPORTING AND OPTIMISATION MUSTBE BASED ON PERFORMANCE DATA

TOP TIPSpage 43

For example, you would want to measure the number orvisitors to your website and the number of times one of yourblog posts was shared on social media - but these are notmeaningful metrics in themselves. They are only important asthey roll up into the next level; the more social shares youhave, the more people will see your content; the more peoplethat see your content the more visitors you will get to yourwebsite; the more visitors you get to your website, the moretime they will spend engaging with you; the more time theyspend engaging with you, the more leads you will create; themore leads you create, the more sales you can make and themore sales you make, the more revenue we will generate. Tickfollows tock. i

HUBSPOT DASHBOARD

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP|REPORTING 37

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGN OPTIMISATION

You can measure performance against your goals with theseabsolute numbers, but there is also a multiplier effect at eachstage. To maximise revenue growth, you need to measure andoptimise the conversion rates too; particularly conversionsfrom visitors to leads, from leads to opportunities and fromopportunities to sales. Improving conversion rates can oftenhave a more dramatic effect on sales and revenue growth thansimply increasing the number of leads.

As well as reporting externally to investors and other stakeholdersand internally to sales teams and management, marketing alsoneeds to understand how well different content, channels andtactics are performing so campaigns - as well as the website - canbe optimised to generate more leads and drive revenue growth. Asyour marketing function evolves, you will be able to apply data andanalytics more intelligently to improve performance and optimise

Tactical performance metrics - like how well you rank onGoogle for a particular search term- are also important at theoperational level. While they may not be that interesting to apotential investor, they can be extremely helpful when itcomes to improving your overall campaign performance.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

SECTION THREE HOW TO MARKET YOUR STARTUP | REPORTING 38

SECTION FOUR

YOURTECH STARTUPJOURNEY

incisive

YOUR TECH STARTUP JOURNEYYou know how each funding stage has its own set of challenges toovercome, priorities to balance, performance metrics to report andskill-sets to master (page 06).

THE GROWTH JOURNEY FOR AN AMBITIOUS TECHSTARTUP FOUNDER LIKE YOU CAN BE AN EXCITINGBUT CHALLENGING ONE.

We outlined why you need effective marketing today to achievesuccess given the changing nature of the tech buyer, the ever-morecomplex decision-making units and hungry sales teams (page 13).

ACCELERATING YOUR TECH STARTUP JOURNEY

You learned the 6-STAGE PROCESS that many of the fastest-growing tech startups use to generate high-quality leads and driverevenue growth (page 18). Now we'll share some TOP TIPS fromthe Incisive Edge team to help you kick-start your own tech startupjourney and accelerate your progress. GOOD LUCK!

JAMES DAVID

SECTION FOUR YOUR TECH STARTUP JOURNEY 40

SALES FOCUS STRATEGIC THINKING TOP TIPS

MARKETINGONLY EXISTSTO HELP DRIVESALES

STRATEGYMUST ALWAYSCOME BEFORETACTICS

The sole purpose of marketing is to help generateleads and convert sales. The best way to achieve thisis to ensure that sales and marketing are fully aligned.

Research, analysis and clear-thinking is needed toensure that the right marketing tactics are deployed inorder to meet your key business objectives.

Too often tactics are chosen before a proper planningexercise has been undertaken. Very few tech startupshave a comprehensive - and documented- marketingstrategy in place.

Too many sales teams and marketing departmentsoperate in silos. To generate revenue successfully,they need to be aligned.

CHIEF STRATEGIST


CUSTOMER CENTRICITY VALUE-LED CONTENT TOP TIPS

CUSTOMERJOURNEYSMUST INFORMPLANNING

CONTENT NEEDSTO DELIVERVALUE BEFORESALES MESSAGES

JAMESAs a tech startup, it is natural to focus heavily on yourown product, but when it comes to marketing youneed to see things from your customer's perspective.

Of course, you want to reach your prospects anddeliver messages about your amazing product orservice, but we need to earn that right first.

Understanding the wider decision-making journey thatyour potential customers go through allows you toreach them more easily and with more impact.

Potential customers may not even know they havea problem that you can solve or that such a solutionexists. You need to provide value-led information tohelp inspire and educate them.

HEAD OF PLANNING


METRIC-DRIVEN PERFORMANCE FAST-TRACK DELIVERY TOP TIPS

REPORTING ANDOPTIMISATION MUSTBE BASED ONPERFORMANCE DATA

IMPLEMENTATIONCAN BE EASY WITHTHE RIGHT TOOLSAND PROCESSES

DAVIDInvestors will set performance metrics and deliverymilestones that must be met if growth and scale is tobe achieved and the next round of funding is to besecured.

Marketing can be deceptively easy but it is also easyto get wrong, not achieving the desired results.

Paradoxically, marketing can seem hard - the stepsneeded to plan, deliver and optimise a marketingprogramme can be daunting, but with the rightpartner, tools and resources, the whole process can bemapped out with ease and executed with confidence.

It is imperative that reliable data is available andreported in the correct format to show both pastprogress and future potential.

INVESTMENT SPECIALIST


ABOUT USThe approach we have honed over the years isdedicated to putting your sales prospects at theheart of your marketing strategy and nurturing themthrough their buying journey - ensuring your websiteand campaigns are optimised to generate leads anddrive revenue growth.

INCISIVE EDGE BEGAN LIFE INSTRATEGIC SALES BACK IN 2009AND IT'S STILL WHAT GIVES US OURCOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE TODAY.AS AN AMBITIOUS MARKETINGIAGENCY, WE SPECIALISE INSTARTUPS - AND WE LOVE TECH

FREE CONSULTATIONWe'd love to share our experience with you and offerstrategic recommendations - based on your goalsand objectives.

GET IN TOUCHEMAIL [email protected]

WEBSITE www.incisive-edge.com EDGEincisive

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guideto startup marketing · 2020-01-21 · your tech startup journey 39 ... with it new pressures...

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