Defining Your Market &Your Go To Market Strategy

Startup BootCamp - Day 2

Agenda 10:00 - 10:30: Presentation10:30 - 11:30: Activity 111:30 - 12:00: Presentation12:00 - 13:00: Activity 2

Tips from an Entrepreneur1. GET STUFF DONE!! 2. Work with other entrepreneurs to pool resources.3. Network like crazy.4. Surround yourself with optimists.5. Find a mentor who has launched a business.6. Don't give up!

After 10 Years of Trying...

Cinemagr.am

What We'll Cover in This Workshop

1. Establishing your business' Point of View2. Defining your Target market3. Identifying your Competition4. Creating Competitive advantage5. Market sizing, metrics 6. Developing a go-to-market plan

Business Point of View● Establish a Point of View. What makes your business

unique?

● The better you know yourself the better relationship you can have with your customers.

● Ask yourself why you are in business in the first place. Why THIS business? Why THIS product?

Know who you are as a business BEFORE you start putting it out there.

Create Your Company's Brand Your brand is:● The name● Logo ● Slogan● Design of your company

Allows your company to be immediately identifiable to your target market.

Marketing Strategy

● Use your Point of View to guide your marketing strategy

● Use a mixture of marketing methods.

● Kickstart your marketing before you launch your product/service.

Defining Your Market

● Targeting a specific market does not mean that you have to exclude people

● Allows you to focus your marketing dollars, brand message

● Helps you define if you are on the right track or not.

Defining Your Market1. Check Out Your Competition Who are your competitors targeting? Who are their current customers? =>Find a niche market that they are overlooking.

2. Analyze Your Product/Service● List each feature of your product or service. ● Next to each feature, list the benefits they provide (and

the benefits of those benefits). ● List of people who have a need that your benefit fulfills.

Defining Your Market3. Choose Specific Demographics to TargetFigure out not only who has a need for your product or service, but also who is most likely to buy it.

Think about the following factors:● Age ● Location● Gender● Income level● Education level● Marital or family status● Occupation

Defining Your MarketConsider the Psychographics of Your TargetPsychographics are more personal characteristics of a person, including:● Personality● Attitudes● Values● Interests/hobbies● Lifestyles● Behavior

How does your product fit into your target's lifestyle?

Defining Your Market

● Are there enough people that fit my criteria?● Will my target really benefit from my product/service?● Will they see a need for it?● Do I understand what drives my target to make

decisions?● Can they afford my product/service?● Can I reach them with my message? Are they easily

accessible?Remember, you can have more than one niche market.

Test the Market!

● Talk to potential customers● Product testing● Market testing

● Focus groups● In-store test

Market Sizing Example

Online Takeout Orders

Top Down● 511B spent on dining out annually

Bottom Up● 100M people eat out everyday● Approx 4% of meals are ordered online.● In 5 years 20% of meals are ordered online.● Avg takeout order cost is $12.● Total market size today: 50M daily, 20B annually● In Future: 250M daily, 100B annually

Competitive Analysis

● What other options does the target market have to satisfy those benefits?○ At what price / performance points?○ Consider direct and indirect (substitute)

competition

● What is distinctive about what you have to offer?

SWOT Analysis

● Identify your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

● Identify your competition's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

Activity - Part 1

1. Identify your business' Point of View.

2. Identify your target market and market size.

3. Identify 2-3 competitors.

4. Define how you are different from your competition.

Marketing Channels

Online

Offline

Marketing Metrics

Which of these is best - How do you know ● 1,000,000 one-time unregistered unique visitors● 500,000 visitors who view 2+ pages, stay 10+ sec● 200,000 visitors who clicked on a link or button● 20,000 registered users with email address● 2000 passionate fans who refer 5+ users per month● 1000 monthly subscribers at $5 per month.

Marketing Metrics

Acquisition: Users come to site from various channels

Activations: Users enjoy 1st visit: happy experience

Retention: Users come back, visit site multiple times

Referral: Users like product enough to refer others

Revenue: Users conduct some monetization behaviour

Marketing Metrics

Acquisition: ● Social networks, blogs, SEM, SEO, Campaigns,

Contests, Direct (TV, Tel), biz dev.

Retention:● Emails and Alerts, time-based features, Blogs, News

feeds

Marketing Metrics

Activation:● Homepage, Product Features, Subscriptions, Ads

Referral:● Viral, emails, affiliates, contents.

Testable Conversion Metrics

Define 1-5 testable conversion metrics of value

● Usage (session time, clicks)● Customer Data (email, profile)● Revenue (direct, indirect)● Retention (visits over time)● Referral (users evangelize to other users)

Go To Market Strategy

Pre-Launch Marketing

Build a Splash Page● Include a device image, some branding relevant to the

app, very basic details about the app’s functionality and social media links.

● Creating a newsletter sign-up form gives people the opportunity to stay updated.

Pre-Launch Marketing

Do a Sneak PeekDribbble, Forrst, Ember. These sites are specifically built to share sneak peeks of works in progress. Represent free places to get extremely high quality feedback from the best in the business.

Create a Teaser VideoShowcase the key features and include some upbeat background music or interesting narrative. Remember, what you want to highlight is the promise of the app.

Pre-Launch Marketing

Rally Beta TestersWorking with beta testers is one of the best examples of how marketing helps development and vice versa.

Share Promo Codes With Key ContactsIf an app is approved but not yet released, promo codes are often available.

Allows you to get your app into the hands of key contacts (press, influencers, friendlies, etc.), even if it’s not publicly available.

Startup Marketing

1. Choose a niche market.● A niche helps you fully understand the pain points of

your target customer and market directly to them. ● Focus and perfect with a smaller group first, expand

when you’re ready.

2. Set a goal.Amount of revenue you’ll need to self-fund the business. Number of users or customers.

3. Set a budget.Set a marketing budget to reach your goal.

Startup Marketing4. Assume a conversion rate.If you reached out to 100 potential customers, how many will actually convert into paying customers? Make a smart assumption.

5. Brainstorm ideas.Where do your potential customers congregate? Think of ways and places you can reach your audience with the highest ratio of potential customers. This can be both online and offline. Think blogs, trade shows, Facebook, meet-ups, etc.

Startup Marketing6.Test and execute.Online pet supply store.

Niche Market: Sell dog beds to dog owners in New York. Goal: Sell 100 dog beds and use those profits to expand. Budget: $5,000. Assumption: 100 potential customers, only one will purchase, a 1% conversion rate.Brainstorm Ideas: You've come up with a list of ideas of how to reach 10,000 dog owners in NY for $5,000. =>Allocate a small piece of your budget to test your most viable ideas.

Startup Marketing

7. Give users a compelling way to spread the word.Word-of-mouth marketing can be huge for a start-up. You’re able to interact with your target customers on a more personal level than big companies. Take advantage of social media!

8. Make it exclusive.People like being a part of something new and exclusive. Limit your invites to the right early adopters that will become advocates of your brand and help you improve your product along the way.

Startup Marketing

9. Target the influencers.Identify thought leaders in your niche and regularly interact with these people whenever possible.

Goal is to get them to try and like your product, so they can spread it to their large networks. Don’t forget bloggers and journalists.

Startup Marketing

● Marketing your startup is all about adapting. ● Some of things you try will fail.

● Learning from your mistakes and changing your strategy will be a key factor in your success.

Activity - Part 2

1. Draft a Go-to-Market Plan to include:-Which marketing channels you will use.-Which metrics you will test-Cost estimates.-Timeline