Where to spend the first $10k?

Steven Dupree (@MarketFound)November 4, 2016

Weapons of Mass Distribution

State Highway 7New Zealand

April 2008

Who is this guy?

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

A handy checklist: Invest in “zero cost” channels Pull through active seekers Copy your competitors Harass your early adopters Test on the cheap Mitigate business hurdles Learn from failure

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

1. Invest in “zero cost” channels

Consider front-loading “zero cost” acquisition channels such as search engine optimization, content, and social

Understand the true cost of “zero cost” channels

Distinguish between long-tail initiatives and hits-based initiativesKey idea: For a young startup with upside, “zero cost” channels can yield long-tail returns at $0 CPA (excluding the cost of your time)

Credibility

CrawlabilityContent

Three “C”s of Search

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

2. Pull through “active seekers”Understand the difference between push

marketing and pull marketingKnow the advantages of pull marketingIdentify sources of “active seekers”

Key idea: It’s much more cost effective to acquire customers who have a need for and are actively seeking your product or service.

PUSH

PULL

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

3. Copy your competitorsIdentify the 800-pound gorillas (and 80-

pound chimps) that you can study as a starting-off point

Include complimentary products or services that you can learn from too

Realize your competitors are not investing in certain channels for a reasonKey idea: People generally discount competitors as inferior, but there’s usually a reason they do things the way they do. And hey, it’s better than starting from scratch.

Source: Whiteflash.com

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

4. Harass your early adoptersLearn everything you can from your first 100

customersHave multiple people in your company

administer interviews and/or read survey feedback

Track “How did you hear about us?” in addition to cookie data and attribution modelsKey idea: Your early customers know better than you or I. Glean everything you can from them to surface ideas for tests or channel opportunities.

Early adopter data points:Books

MoviesInfluencersLife eventsRecent purchasesSocial media habits

MusicSports

EducationMobile usage

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

5. Test on the cheapFind paid channels that allow you to start with

small testsTry a traffic light approach: scale, tweak, or

kill new channels based on ROIBuild a queue of incremental tests and

transformational tests

Key idea: Initially test channels (such as Google) that enable you to smart small, scale, and run adjacent tests. As your company grows, your test budget will allow for larger tests.Steven Dupree

@MarketFound

6. Mitigate business hurdlesIdentify the hurdles your prospects must

overcome to become customersNote that your conversion rate is the product of

success rates across all hurdlesPrioritize tests that naturally mitigate hurdles

Key idea: All things equal, channels that naturally overcome hurdles in your business have higher likelihoods of success. Examples may include “active seeker” campaigns and online channels generally.

X% are qualified

Y% get off their butt

Z% trust enough to pay

Conversion Rate: XYZ%

Sample hurdles:

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

7. Learn from failureRecognize tests with greater upside tend to have

higher probability of failure (transformational vs. incremental)

Parameterize future tests based on past learning

Key idea: Failed tests yield knowledge which inform future tests and improve ROI. The worst thing to do is nothing.

Steven Dupree@MarketFound

Q&A Invest in “zero cost” channels Pull through active seekers Copy your competitors Harass your early adopters Test on the cheap Mitigate business hurdles Learn from failure

Email me: steven.g.dupree@gmail.comFollow me: @MarketFound

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