The 4Ps of Marketing

For Lean Startupshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/horrigans/5898339783/sizes/l/in/photostream/

A BIT ABOUT ME…• STARTUP FOUNDER • MENTOR• I AM A RUNNER

Lean StartupCustomer Validation | Minimal Viable Product | Fail Early & Often

A Lean StartupFounded in 2007 | Revenues: $247M | Valuation: $10Bn

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Do the 4 Ps Of Marketing apply to lean startups?

A lot has changed since 1950s

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Has a marketing strategy?Do the 4 Ps from the 1950s still apply in 2012?

ProductMost important item on the list

Taken from www.apple.com

PriceGet this right as a bad price will hurt!

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PromotionNo longer about “As Seen on TV”…

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PlaceNot as important as it once was (at least for most)

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The Marketing PlaybookFor Lean Startups

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#1 – Make Things People Want#2 – Build a Loyal Following#3 – Experience vs. Awareness#4 – Customer Acquisition

#1 – Make Things People Want#2 – Build a Loyal Following#3 – Experience vs. Awareness#4 – Acquisition

Consumers have lots of choice

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Make People Want Things

A major disaster in 1985 for an such an iconic brand

http://www.diamondcokecans.com/CocaColaCans/

Make Things People WantApple demonstrates this consistently across all products.

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#1 – Make Things People Want#2 – Build a Loyal Following#3 – Experience vs. Awareness#4 – Customer Acquisition

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Think of early users as a flock of sheep.  They always finds the best grass. 

Most products have a few who consider it a must have.They are the keys to success.

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Listen for a signal about who loves your product, and why as soon as you release.

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Focus on the users’ perceived value (not yours)

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Often this means eliminating the cool features that don’t matter to the end user.

Your Phone & Music In One.

A very loyal customer base

Some more loyal than others!

#1 – Make Things People Want#2 – Build a Loyal Following#3 – Experience vs. Awareness#4 – Customer Acquisition

Focus on delivering great customer experiences.

Listen why customers love (or hate) your product.

Awareness campaigns are a waste of money for startups.

Investing in awareness campaigns too early can take you the wrong way

#1 – Make Things People Want#2 – Build a Loyal Following#3 – Experience vs. Awareness#4 – Customer Acquisition

Implement the business model that allows you to profitably acquire the most users.

For some startups, place is more than a physical location.

Place can be launching through an ‘App Store’

Private Beta Launch

Test messages for key target markets

Word of Mouth

Does your product benefit from a network effect?

Does your product value to one user depend on how many other users there are in total?

A few examples where size of the network is important

Knowing when to hit the gas pedal is key. Scaling awareness too quickly can spell disaster

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Focus on metrics that matter

For most startups, it is measuring:1. Acquisition2. Activation3. Retention4. Referral5. Revenue

Lots of affordable services and tools

Balancing ActMost successful entrepreneurs have a good balance of execution intuition and luck. 

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Most startups fail because the founders give up 

Hard Work Pays Off…So Don’t Give Up!

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Do the 4 Ps Of Marketing apply to lean startups?

Some of the photographs in this presentation were retrieved from Flickr and made available under a Creative Commons license. Please refer to each photograph for a link to the image source.

Contact Me:E-Mail: jthompson@about.me Twitter: @thomjeff