Presentation I did at Singularity University Ventures as part of a marketing workshop with entrepreneurs, early-stage start-up founders

1. Marketing for early stage
start-ups: building your brand
Singularity University Ventures
@CecileSF
linkedin.com/in/cecilethirion
By Cecile Thirion

2. Today’s objectives
• Learn something new
about marketing and
branding
• Give you actionable
steps

3. { }1 Why a brand matters

4. Brand Quiz
Who said…

5. Your brand is what other
people say about you when
you’re not in the room.“ “

6. Your brand is what other
people say about you when
you’re not in the room.
- Jeff Bezos
“ “

7. A brand is a promise. A good
brand is a promise kept.
“
“

8. A brand is a promise. A good
brand is a promise kept.
- Muhtar Kent“
“

9. A brand is simply trust.
“
“

10. A brand is simply trust.
- Steve Jobs
“
“

11. Your brand or your name is
simply your reputation, you
have to fight in life to protect
that as it means everything.
Nothing is more important.
“ “

12. Your brand or your name is
simply your reputation, you
have to fight in life to protect
that as it means everything.
Nothing is more important.
- Richard Branson
“ “

14. { }2A brand strategy framework

15. 15
Where do we start?

16. Build your brand
early on
• Your positioning
• Your promise
• Your differentiators
• Your personality
• Your story

17. Your brand positioning
• What you do, for whom and how you do it:
• Who is your customer?
• What are your customer’s pain points?
• How does your product solve your customer’s problem?
• Hint: [Brand] provides [target audience]
with [unique value] than any other [your
Industry] by [proof points].

18. Your brand promise
• The “human connection” with your
customers
• Emotional hook
• Be Aspirational
• Talk from the heart
• Hint: “We promise….”

19. Your brand differentiators
• What unique value you offer to your
customers
• What are your differentiators?
• What’s your value proposition?
• Why you versus your competitors?
• Hint: should be specific to and audience
and stand out

20. Your brand personality
• Tone of voice: the way you talk to
your customers
Don’t use jargon
Keep it simple and easy to understand
Engage like you would have a conversation
• Visual elements: how your customers
recognize and remember you
Be deliberate and consistent

21. Your brand story
• What your brand does and stands for
Not a fiction
Truthful and authentic
Your impact, difference
• Hint: Your brand story can be used
for your elevator pitch

22. Case study: Starbucks
YouTube Video: The Man Behind Starbucks Reveals How He Changed the World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnA7n9qSB7E

23. Inspiring and nurturing the
human spirit—one person,
one cup, one neighborhood
at a time.
Action item:
To say Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees is very
true. That’s the essence of what we do – but it hardly tells the whole story….
Go on: https://www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information
“ “

24. The beginning of
a journey…

25. { }3How to build brand awareness

26. Content marketing is a marketing technique of
creating and distributing valuable, relevant and
consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly
defined audience – with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.
- Content Marketing Institute
“ “

27. Bad content…
Talks only about ourselves
Boring and uninteresting
Not targeted, not personalized
Doesn’t address the buyers needs/ industry issues
Inconsistent
No Strategy
27

28. Great content challenges and inspires
Valuable
Relevant and personal
Interesting
Teaches customers something new about their business
Tell a story
Provides a compelling reason to take action
28

29. Different buyer stages need different content types
(especially in B2B)
Stimulates ideas for
action and change
Builds the case for
change
Education
Supports a buyer
through the selection
process
Solution Selection
“Snackable” Short Form
Short Video
Blogs
Infographic
Tweets
Quadrants
Podcast
Analyst
Reports
Webinar
Case
Studies
Long Form
Whitepapers
Demos
Long Form - Tools
“How to” guides
Process ToolsROI calculator
Checklists
Curated
29

30. The Content Hop on topics that matter to your audience
Blog
posts
Articles,
newsletter
Email
series
Short
videos
Social
posts
Website
pages
Curated
on key
themes
Visuals,
infographics
Case
studies*
Cecile Thirion 30
* If you already have some early adopters,
customers

31. Slack Blog

32. Salesforce Customer story
At DreamforceWebsite:
https://www.salesforce.com/customer-success-stories/adidas/

33. MOCCA (NPO): “zero budget”

34. Suggested Metrics
Tracking impact of content marketing on
brand awareness, and content
performance
• Brand mentions, social shares, # of blog visits per month, post
engagement (comments), reach/impressions, CTA click-through
rates, e-mail subscriptions rate, total number of website visits,
% new/returning readers and website visitors, mobile vs.
desktop website visits, engaged time on site, conversion rates
etc
Hint: Take the best of what works, and
make it better: measure, learn, improve,
repeat and scale…

35. Bonus: Build your
personal brand
• Your story = your start-up
story
• Build your digital presence
• Become a thought leader in
your industry

37. Marketing is
much more than
Branding….