We are delighted to bring you the first series of Startup Panel speakers, where we chat with industry leaders to bring you tips, tactics, and insights into building successful startups. In this first series, we are talking about startup marketing 101 with our speakers:
Kendra Ross – VP of Marketing at Oak & Rumble
Tiffany daSilva – Founder of Flowjo, Growth hacker, and Mashable’s 25 Most Influential Marketers
Eric Rafat – Moderator
Tune into chat on getting started with startup marketing, building inbound links, SEO, and more.
1. What advice do you have for early-stage startups when it comes to launching their product?
Kendra Ross – “Just do it”. I hate to steal this from Nike. Just start. So many startups just spent tons of time of refining their go-to-market strategy. There’s absolutely a need for smart planning. but there’s also a need to get your product into customers’ hand. Leverage networks. Leverage social media. Start what you can do tonight.
Tiffany daSilva – You just have to go. You can’t over think it. You will get lost in the details. Find influencers to connect with. Have nice landing pages with clear call to actions. Find people that will help you spread the message.
2. How do you build an audience for your product or service?
Tiffany daSilva – Based on the product, what problem are you trying to solve? Use Google’s framework; See, Think, Do, Care. At the see stage, people don’t know you exist, what can I create for them? Maybe it’s a white paper or blog. You have to give in order to get.
Kendra Ross – The great thing about the internet is that you get your product out to millions but it’s also easy for everyone. We’re competing for attention. The key differentiator is “Are you adding real value?”. You can build an audience that cares about about you in the right way, not spammy way.
3. What are some inbound and outbound strategies for startups early-on?
Tiffany daSilva – Inbound it’s the content you have on your site versus outbound, what am I doing outside to bring visitors into the site such as paying ads.
Kendra Ross – You have to adjust by what’s working. Outbound can get you quick results. Focus on low resources and high impact. Building the base content is critical (e-books, case studies, etc.). 50%-50% is a great start.
4. When it comes to SEO everyone talks about getting inbound links from other websites. How does one go about doing that?
Kendra Ross – Not wait for other people to find it. Ask if you can contribute content to their website. Ask. Look for partnership opportunities.
Tiffany daSilva – Go into the right community like growthhackers.com and start contributing. Can I get a quote from you? Email the person and include them and start the sharing process. RankTank has brand mentioned, which you didn’t get a link and you can ask those site to link back to you.
5. What are some mistakes do you see startups make when it comes to marketing?
Kendra Ross – No one cares about your tech. It’s your impact. How are they better off? Not thinking about the target audience. Think about the human element. How do we add value?
Tiffany daSilva – For landing page super clear about what you do. Get a three word answer of what you do.
Marketing Careers
6. What would you say every marketer should have in his or her toolkit? What kind of skills and competencies does every aspiring marketer need?
Kendra Ross – Content needs to be human focused. Marketers need to be curious and empathetic. Put yourself into customer’s shoes.
Tiffany daSilva – Follow your passion and find areas you like. Don’t follow anyone else’s lead. You have to learn by doing. Do website audits. Do your own websites. Get involved with a not-for-profit.
7. For someone who has no marketing experience, but wants to break into marketing, what are some of the things they can do to increase their chance of breaking into the field?
Kendra Ross – Not-for-profits need help. Go to the not-for-profit and say “Hey I can do social media strategy for you?”. If you want to work on e-commerce build on an e-commerce website and test it. Lots of startups to get involved with. Be part of the community. People will have coffee with you.
Tiffany daSilva – Be part of the community. Talk to as many people as possible. Look for small opportunities.
To get in touch with our speakers:
Kendra Ross
VP Marketing Oak and Rumble: https://oakandrumble.com/
https://twitter.com/_KendraRoss
Tiffany daSilva
Flowjo product: https://flowjo.co/
There’s a discount code in the video.
https://twitter.com/bellastone
Eric Rafat
https://twitter.com/FounderEric