#highlinetalks | startup marketing content portfolio | mark evans

Post on 29-Jun-2015

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#HIGHLINEtalks is about supercharging your weekday afternoons with a themed talk, entrepreneurial minds, and lots of free coffee. Come to HIGHLINE for a dose of inspiration and return to your work refreshed and ready for some more hustle. Mark Evans of ME Consulting discussed what an early-stage startup needs in their sales and marketing content portfolio. Mark Evans helps startups tell better stories (aka marketing). He works with startups to articulate how they’re unique and the value customers get from their products. Mark is focused on three marketing "buckets": marketing strategies, core messaging, and content creation. Before starting ME Consulting, Mark worked with three startups (Blanketware, b5Media and PlanetEye). He also spent more than 10 years as a tech reporter with the National Post, Globe & Mail and Bloomberg. Mark writes a blog about startup marketing and a weekly newsletter featuring hand-picked startup content.

TRANSCRIPT

What’s in Your Startup’s Marketing and Sales Portfolio?

Toronto’s Startup Marketing Landscape

Lots of excited, enthusiastic entrepreneurs

Startups that have built product

Startup with traction and/or cash

Startups that want to do marketing

Startups that do marketing

What I Do

Marketing Strategies Core Messaging Content Creation

Clients(startups and fast-growing companies)

Low Hanging Startup Marketing Fruit

Effective Website

Clear messaging– What do you do?Value propositions – What it’s in for me?Easy navigation – How do get more info?Strong calls to action – What do I do next?

One-Pagers (aka Sales Sheets)

• Provides a “slice” of what your company

does and its products

One-Pagers (aka Sales Sheets)

• Answers key questions: oHow will your product benefit me?oWho are your customers?oHow can I contact you?

• Multiple roles as advance marketing, leave behind or an education/nurturing tool

Competitor Comparisons

• Effectively positions your company against rivals• Highlight key differences and advantages:

o Featureso Benefitso Price pointo Great UI/UXo Better customer supporto Target verticalo Integrations

Battle Cards

• Internal cards to educate sales people on the best approaches.

o Key elements: o Product overviewo Key benefits and featureso Differentiationo Points of paino Case studieso Pricingo FAQ

Case Studies

• Tell stories; not the traditional boring rinse & repeat approach

• Tell different kinds of stories to connect with potential customers with different needs

• Embrace the power of design to engage

Newsletters

• Deliver value-added information, not sales and marketing pitches

• Build a regular (monthly?) relationship; stay top of mind

• Build and nurture an email database

Celebrate the

customer

The “Soft Sell”

Section

Value-added

content

Blogs- Thought leadership- Value-added insight

- Answer customer questions- Nurtures corporate culture

- SEO

Thanks!www.markevans.ca

@markevans

mark@markevans.ca

http://bit.ly/startupscanada

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