In the startup world, you either market or die. Having a killer product just is not enough anymore. How you position and market can be the ultimate factor in deciding your success. Which begs the question: is there a framework startups can follow to make sure they start off on the right foot?
Below you will find our ideal startup marketing framework. Keep in mind this template will need to be customized based on your product and industry.
Define your product, target user and positioning
Start with a simple exercise. What does your product do? What problem does it solve? And who is it for? If you can answer those three questions, you are on the right path. If not, then you have a little soul searching to do.
After you have answered them, it is time to determine who your target user base will be and how you position the product to them. Once you know your target user, see if there are any other potential users. These will be the people you build target personas around.
Building target customer personas
Buyer personas are an important part of the framework because they put you in the shoes of the people you want to sell to. Personas guide how you position the product, how you market, what messaging and content you create, how you price, even how you build your roadmap. Here is the information you need at minimum for a viable persona:
- Name of the persona: choose something that reflects the person you are trying to sell to.
- Demographics: age, gender, salary or household income, location, family.
- Goals and challenges: primary goal, secondary goal, and how you help achieve them.
- Biggest challenges: the top problems they face and how you help solve them.
- Values and fears: their top values and the common objections you expect when selling to them.
- Additional info: hobbies and interests.
Naming and positioning your product
What is in a name? A lot. Some people choose something random, others use SEO to name it, and some choose a word in a different language. I advise looking at your customer persona and your answer to what your product does. If your product chops wood, name it something clear and memorable if you can. I tend to advise against naming your product in a foreign language: if there is any chance someone will mispronounce it, go back to the drawing board. Tech companies get a little more freedom with abstract names.
Now for your positioning statement. Look at your buyer persona and fill in the gaps: "[brand name] helps [target customer] achieve their [goals] by overcoming [challenges], through [how you solve the problem]." That is your starting point. Refine it and clean up the language.
How to validate your product in the market
If you have already built your product, chances are you had friends or colleagues who would benefit from it. Hopefully you tested the product and idea with them before dedicating the hours to build it. If not, reach out to people who would be your target user and test your positioning statement and concept with them. It is worth it.
Building your startup website
Start simple. Use actual product photos or screenshots. Condense your value proposition into a one-liner; that becomes your website's opening statement. Define what your product is and what it does. Next, address the three main benefits your product brings to your target user, define that user in the messaging, and close with a statement that addresses their pain points and positions your product as the solution, with a clear call to action. At a minimum, that is what you need. Do not overcomplicate it; save the extras for V2 and V3, because there is always a V2 and V3.
SEO for startups
We have covered building SEO plans in previous posts. It will not be the end-all solution for your business, and it certainly does not drive results overnight, but it is still an essential part of growing. Part of building an SEO strategy is analyzing your competition and the terms your target customers are searching for. Start by analyzing competitors or products that could be seen as replacements for your solution. Take notes on what they name their products, the keywords they use in titles and headings, and throughout their content. You can speed this up with a tool like SEMrush, which lets you analyze competitor domains for keywords and export the list. Once you have those keywords and their search volumes, start working iterations of them into your content. This list will also be useful when you build out articles.
Email marketing campaigns for startups
Start with a tool such as an email automation platform, or send messages manually to begin. Tie in your value proposition and the SEO research you did. Are there searchable terms that relate directly to your product? Start with pain points, interesting stats or trends, or templates. These tend to be popular with prospects and let you reach out in a less direct, trust-building way. Email them with information that improves their business processes or their day, and subtly reference your product where you can. That content becomes your first email.
Keep it simple. An email with a direct subject line rarely goes wrong. State who you are, that you are happy to connect, and offer the reason for your outreach. That is email one, and its point is to establish a relationship. Then follow up in a way that ties your content to your product or service. Aim to write at least four or five emails in a series that hit on their pain points and discuss your value proposition, kept short and to the point.
After writing your series, build a list of people to email. A public database of company names works well; for B2B, something like Crunchbase is a great tool. Pull company names, build a list of ideal contacts that match your target profile, and find their emails. Then it is time to start emailing and generating your first paying customers. As a starting point, this framework is a great way to win your first customers and set your company up for future success. If you would like some of the templates we have, get in touch.