pr & marketing for startups

Courtney Boyd MyersDirector of Audience Development, General Assembly

MARKETING & PRFOR STARTUPS

Thursday, January 10, 13

INTRODUCTION

‣Member of #10’s Tech City Advisory Group‣Mentor at BBC WorldWideLabs, Ignite100 ‣Recovering Technology Journalist‣The Next Web, The Huffington Post, Forbes‣@CBM

COURTNEY BOYD MYERSDIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT, GENERAL ASSEMBLY EUROPE

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AGENDA

‣Mission, Vision + Values‣Branding, Design + Messaging‣Traditional vs. Inside Out Marketing‣Social Media‣Analytics + Tools‣PR‣Relationships, Relationships, Relationships‣Q & A

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MARKETING & PR FOR STARTUPS 4

‣Vision: The company’s long-term, aspirational business goals. What's the change you want to make in the world?

‣Mission: The company’s purpose and reason for being. What are the big first steps to make that change?

‣Values: How will you make those choices, changes and first steps?

MISSION, VISION + VALUES

SourceThursday, January 10, 13

http://www.cezary.co/post/35062231564/startup-key-message



‣Fitocracy ‣ Vision: create a world where fitness is possible for anyone‣Mission: empower everyone to reach their next level of health & fitness

‣One Fine Stay‣ Vision: Become the world’s largest network of “unhotels”‣Mission: Provide quality sensitive travelers with a “live like a local” experience while taking care of the home for homeowners.

MISSION VS. VISION EXAMPLES



We empower individuals to find purpose and meaning in their work in the context of a global community inspired by the entrepreneurial experience.

We provide direct instruction from top practitioners and engender a culture of collaboration and mutual support.

We provide multiple touch points to engage with our content and community—which in aggregate form an iconic and aspirational brand.

We offer robust educational programs to build competency in Technology, Design, and Entrepreneurship.

GA’S MISSION



“Many companies try to dive into driving awareness for their product or service before they figure out who they are, what they stand for, and what they are driving for. At Eventbrite, we set out 6 years ago to democratize the ticketing industry through innovative products and top notch support. The great news is that through all the growth we’ve had – in customers and in company size – these are still our primary areas of focus.”

-JULIA HARTZ, CO-FOUNDER OF EVENTBRITE



BRANDING EXAMPLES



MESSAGING

Text

It’s is the one thing you want to tell people about your startup.

-It needs to be compelling (NO BS!) and different from your competition.





MESSAGING

Text

It’s is the one thing you want to tell people about your startup.

-It needs to be compelling (NO BS!) and different from your competition.

Source

Text

A fun online world where kids can adopt their very own monster, go on adventures, play games, solve puzzles, be creative, and communicate with their friends.





Text

Source

Text





MESSAGING FOR A TWO-SIDED MARKET



‣According to the NY Times, people are exposed to 5,000+ marketing messages each day. With new platforms and screens in front of our faces, our attention spans are only getting worse.

WHY MESSAGING?


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/business/media/15everywhere.html?pagewanted=all





“TRADITIONAL” MARKETING

‣L



INSIDE-OUT MARKETING EXAMPLES

‣Your actions speak louder than words.



PARTNER MARKETING>Tactics

•Find non-competitive partners with large complementary audiences

•Establish what a mutual win will look like

>Methods

•”Swaps” - Dedicated Email Campaigns•Partner Events - Breakfasts, Happy hours, sweepstakes



PRODUCT AS MARKETING• Hotmail’s growth was almost entirely due to a “Get your free email at

Hotmail” sentence at the bottom of every email.

• Airbnb reverse-engineered Craigslist to let users post listings automatically despite no public Craigslist API.

• Allowing users to embed videos was key to the success of YouTube and Vimeo.

• Slideshare included a plain-text link in their embed code, driving traffic back to their site to get an SEO boost to boot.

• Dropbox incentivized referrals by giving free extra storage space – a strategy they claim accounted for 60% of their growth. Source


http://www.viralblog.com/viral-cases/how-hotmail-became-a-viral-hit-once/




http://andrewchen.co/2012/04/27/how-to-be-a-growth-hacker-an-airbnbcraigslist-case-study/

http://andrewchen.co/2012/04/27/how-to-be-a-growth-hacker-an-airbnbcraigslist-case-study/

http://www.quora.com/growth-hacks/Slideshare-embed-code-classic-growth-hack

http://www.quora.com/growth-hacks/Slideshare-embed-code-classic-growth-hack

http://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587

http://www.slideshare.net/gueste94e4c/dropbox-startup-lessons-learned-3836587

http://technori.com/2012/10/2600-up-and-to-the-right-why-growth-hackers-are-taking-over-startup-marketing/



GROWTH HACKING





SOCIAL MEDIA>Facebook>Twitter>Pinterest>Tumblr>LinkedIn>Foursquare>YouTube>Instagram...and more.



BEST PRACTICES> Improve your inbound

>Make more original content>Curate other people’s content - Like, Share and RT

>ENGAGE!- Answer questions, tweets, comments, etc.>Be opinionated

>Throw a Party (Get to know people IRL first)

>Make your details public + up to date

>Get off social media!



PINTEREST - GUESS WHOSE PAGE THIS IS?



INSTAGRAM



YOUTUBE

-Viewed more than 7 million times-instantly went viral + jointly conveyed the brand personality and the benefits of the service destly.



ANALYTICS + OTHER TOOLS>Google Analytics>Google AdWords>LaunchRock>Wufoo>PunchTab>Shopify>Goodsie>Jux and more...



LAUNCHROCK



PUNCHTAB



PRESS - ARE YOU READY?“Patience is important. Media coverage is easier and more effective once you have a killer product. If you’re trying to create buzz too early, you’re doing it wrong.

In terms of a great tip that companies don’t do enough:

Create content early. Build an audience by writing interesting content, even if it isn’t about your company or product. If you establish yourself as an expert on a specific industry, programming language or topic, then you’ll have an easier time hiring and building a reputation for your product once you’re ready to scale.”

-MICHELLE ZATLYN, CO-FOUNDER OF CLOUDFLARE



BEFORE PRESS‣ Your product has been thoroughly alpha tested with not only friends, family but a wide group of users so you know it works

‣mTurk.com, followerwonk.com, usertesting.com‣ You’re familiar with the media landscape and can name at least three journalists

‣ Best ways to prep? ‣Content is King‣Also, Hacker News‣MuckRack



GETTING PRESS‣Tell a Story‣Be technically prepared!‣Choosing Outlets‣Tech Press first?‣Think non-traditional


MARKETING & PR FOR STARTUPS

WHAT’S THE STORY?-”We’ve launched”-Funding-Trend Stories-We’ve hit X # of users-New features-Acquiring-Big, new hire-Future plans

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FINDING THE JOURNALIST1. Do your homework

2. STALK

3. Get an introduction!

5. Cocktail party rules apply

5. Talk like a human

6. Give them a scoop!



UK/EUROPE TECH MEDIA@TheNextWeb• @Jemimah_Knight• @RobinWauters• @MartinSFP

@TechCrunch• @MikeButcher • @IngridLunden

@KernelMag• @Nero (Milo

Yiannapoulos)

@WSJEurope• @BenJRooney

@WiredUK• @Olivia_Solon

@FinancialTimes• @Tim

@Telegraph• @Kate_Day

@GuardianTech• @CharlesArthur



WRITING THE PITCH1. Be brief.2. Craft an eye-catching subject line. 3. Don’t copy paste! Oh Hey Caroline at The Next Crunch..

4. Give us a reasonable time frame.5. Say why it's DIFFERENT 6. Avoid jargon like DISRUPTIVE, CURATED, HYBRID, INNOVATIVE, GAME-CHANGING etc.

7. Give an offer if you can: Beta invites. App Codes. Exclusive details, etc.



THE PITCH“Great products and companies do 1 of 3

things: Get you laid (Sex), get you paid (Money), get you made (Power). “How does

your solution tap into the emotional, powerful, evolutionary needs that we as

humans have?”

-Dave McClure, 500 Startups



Courtney B of the deep blue sea,Would you could you should you if you pleaseWhen you’ve got a moment so freeLet known when you could lend your ear to me?



Subject: Exclusive for TC: Launching XXX- make any blog look like a sexy iPad app

Hey Mike,

I’m George, the founder of XXX.

Launching XXX next week, on Thursday at noon EST and TC gets free reign on an exclusive before then. XXX makes any blog look and behave like a native iPad app. We’re talking accelerometer aware column resizing, swipe to advance articles, touch navigation, home screen icon support, and more. We’ve built somecool tech to make this happen smoothly, and it works with your existing layout...

PS- Would also be happy to do giveaways to TC readers. Thanks again and feel free to reach out if you have anymore questions (skype,phone,etc. listed below).

Video Demo: http://vimeo.com/13487300Live demo site (if you’re on an iPad): jasonlbaptiste.comFeature overviews: http://padpressed.com/featuresMy contact info: [email protected] , Phone:xxx.xxx.xxxx, Twitter: @xxx, Skype: xxx

-George#xxx.xxx.xxxxYou Should Check Out xxx.comThursday, January 10, 13

http://vimeo.com/13487300

http://vimeo.com/13487300

http://jasonlbaptiste.com/featured-articles/how-i-pitched-techcrunch-and-13-ways-to-get-press-when-you-launch-your-startup/jasonlbaptiste.com

http://jasonlbaptiste.com/featured-articles/how-i-pitched-techcrunch-and-13-ways-to-get-press-when-you-launch-your-startup/jasonlbaptiste.com

http://padpressed.com/features

http://padpressed.com/features

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

MARKETING & PR FOR STARTUPS

GIVE WRITERS EVERYTHING THEY NEEDProvide external links (not attachments) to:-Awesome Videos-Beautiful, High-Res Photos-Company Facts - Founded Date, Funding Details, # of employees, Founder’s Names, etc. Be Available!

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AFTER THE PITCH

1. Follow up! - Appropriate time on this? One week? 3-4 days?

2. Handling multiple outlets. Tell Multiple Stories. And Don't be misleading.

3. Don't break your own embargo.



TIPS FOR YOU-Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Is this on or off the record? What’s the story angle? Do they require exclusivity?

-Don’t say you “have no competitors” -- choose your competitors are or the media will choose for you.

- Put yourself in the mindset of the journalist. How will this story get them on Techmeme or featured by their editors? Is it like stories the journalist has written before?

-Be good to the journalist. Don’t just hit them up when you need them. They want your scoops, tips, etc. since you’re on the ground in the midst of it all.



TAKE NOTES



SHOULD YOU HIRE A PR AGENCY?

‣ Internal vs Agency‣Doing it on your own



RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS>Get Involved




>Make Friends with Founders, Investors, Journalists, Startup Wannabes, Coworking Space Heads, the Cleaning Ladies and everyone in between





> READ, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD READ.






> Tweet.






> Tweet.

> Write.






> Tweet.

> Write.

> Be happy. But know it’s OK and TOTALLY NORMAL to be sad, angry, frustrated, disappointed and insanely crazy too.


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