WATCH THE REPLAY: http://katie-martell.com/replay-slides-inbound-19-the-7-deadly-sins-of-startup-marketing @KatieMartell --- Snow White had seven dwarfs, the world has seven seas. Likewise, startups often make seven critical mistakes when bringing a new brand to market. Founders and startup marketers must navigate a particular set of challenges: you’re strapped for time, cash, resources, and facing down a barricade of indifference from buyers. How does any brand break through in these conditions? In this session, “unapologetic marketing truth-teller,” startup marketer, and B2B entrepreneur Katie Martell gets real about why MOST early-stage businesses fail at marketing, and what it takes to succeed. VIDEO HERE: http://katie-martell.com/replay-slides-inbound-19-the-7-deadly-sins-of-startup-marketing

1. DEADLY SINS OF
STARTUP MARKETING
@ K A T I E M A R T E L L
#INBOUND19
7

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ1oRqlDaII

3. Hi, I’m
@KatieMartell

4. “transgressions
fatal to spiritual
progress”
DEADLY SINS
@KATIEMARTELL

5. “DEADLY” SINS
“transgressions
fatal to startup
growth”
@KATIEMARTELL

6. “DEADLY” SINS HARD TRUTHS
@KATIEMARTELL

7. TRUTH #1
Everyone has
an opinion on
marketing.
(You know what they say about opinions…)
@KATIEMARTELL

8. 1ST DEADLY SIN OF STARTUP MARKETING
Poor expectations
@KATIEMARTELL

9. Marketing is
magic.
Marketing is
unnecessary.
@KATIEMARTELL

10. What most people think marketing is:
Affiliates
Advocates
Articles
Banner ads
Blogs
Books
Brochures
Bulletin boards
Business cards
Cause marketing
Catalog
Chatbot
Classifieds
Clubs / Associations
Co-marketing
Cold Calling
Communities
Contests
Content marketing
Courses
Demo
Direct mail
Email
Experiential
Employee advocates
Free trial
Guest posting
Guerilla stunts
Influencers
Landing pages
Speaking
List buys
Marketing automation
Media relations
Merch displays
Native ads
Networking
Newsletter
Marketplaces
OOH
PPC
Podcast
Point of Purchase
Product placement
Product-led growth
Radio ads
Referral program
Roadshow events
Sales enablement
SEO
Seminar/workshop
Social media
Social ads
Speaking
Survey/study
Telemarketing
Testimonials
Text messaging
Thought leadership
Trade show
Video
Voice search
Webinar
Website
WoM
@KATIEMARTELL

11. You should
hire your
nephew…
@KATIEMARTELL

12. AlignedStrategic
Not tactic soup. To business goals.
Essential
Not an afterthought.
@KATIEMARTELL

13. TRUTH #2
Your most important
marketing goals are
your most important
business goals.
@KATIEMARTELL

14. Funding is not the goal.
TRUTH #3
@KATIEMARTELL

15. STAGE MARKETING GOALS ACQUISITION
Initial
growth
Some revenue number ($1M),
looking for product-market fit,
learning from early users,
channel and messaging tests
Word of Mouth, high demand and
low supply launches, creative
partnerships / stunts, early
adopters, uber-targeted digital
marketing @ low cost
Growth
Product-market fit is found,
looking for proven, repeatable,
profitable revenue process
(including retention*)
Integrated marketing mix with
more funding and person-power
Scale
Optimization, cost reduction,
and scalability
Traditional media, massive scale,
mass marketing
@KATIEMARTELL

16. WHAT IF THE
PRODUCT
ISN’T
PERFECT
YET?
@KATIEMARTELL

17. STAGE MARKETING GOALS ACQUISITION
Incubation
Discovery, market insights, MVP,
build awareness of founders /
business (radar)
Confirm: Who are the right
customers who are willing to
pay for you to solve the right
problem?
Initial
growth
Some revenue number ($1M),
looking for product-market fit,
learning from early users,
channel and messaging tests
Word of Mouth, high demand
and low supply launches,
creative partnerships / stunts,
early adopters, uber-targeted
digital marketing @ low cost
Growth
Product-market fit is found,
looking for proven, repeatable,
profitable revenue process
(including retention)
Integrated marketing mix with
more funding and person-
power, digital marketing
targeting lookalike customers
Scale
Optimization, cost reduction, and
scalability
Traditional media, massive
scale, mass marketing
@KATIEMARTELL

18. What comes first...
brand/buzz or
product?
@KATIEMARTELL

19. TRUTH #4
Depends on your
tolerance.
@KATIEMARTELL

20. Buyers don’t do business
with companies they’ve
never heard of, and brands
they do not trust.
Raising funding
War for talent
Air cover for sales
Trust & loyalty
Do startups need PR?
@KATIEMARTELL

21. 2015 - $15M Series A 2019 - $107M total raised
“an all-in-one mobile platform
for business” – David Cancel
“new ways for people to work
together on documents –
adding & editing & annotating
them – on a variety of different
devices” – David Cancel
“the world’s first and only
conversational marketing platform”
+ massive marketing mix
@KATIEMARTELL

22. BUYER MARKETING’S ROLE
Aware of the problem Should I change? What’s the problem?
Acknowledging the
brand
Who are you? Why do you exist? What are
you about? What do you do?
Considering a solution What are my options? Who is best? Proof?
Sale / conversion /
delivery
Remove all barriers in the prospect’s path
towards becoming a customer. (PLG)
Post-sale
Reassurance. Did I make a good decision?
How can we get the most out of this product?
Should we renew? PREVENT CHURN.
Uber’s $20
first-ride
credits.
Don’t just fill
the funnel
@KATIEMARTELL

23. 2ND DEADLY SIN OF STARTUP MARKETING
Trying to do it all
@KATIEMARTELL

24. TRUTH #5
Marketing is a really
easy way to waste a
lot of money.
@KATIEMARTELL

25. #2 reason
startups fail is
running out of $
@KATIEMARTELL

26. How to waste all your money:
Step 1.
Target the
wrong buyers
(or everybody)
Step 2.
Spend $ across
a bunch of the
wrong channels.
Step 4.
Cry.
Step 3.
Lose track of
costs and ROI.
@KATIEMARTELL

27. How to avoid wasting all your money:
Step 1.
Focus on who
matters most.
@KATIEMARTELL

28. Who matters most?
 Started with black cars
 Great CX
 Ensured WoM + buzz
@KATIEMARTELL

29. TRUTH #6
People are more than
their age or job title.
@KATIEMARTELL

30. Who are they, really?
Global
citizen. Live
like a local.
Seeks to
simplify their
life. Tech-savvy.
Ocean + Duke.
Muses.
@KATIEMARTELL

31. Meet Ocean • 32-year-old professional
single woman
• Makes $100,000 a year.
• Engaged, her own condo
• Is traveling, fashionable
• 1.5 hrs to work out each day
"If you're 20 years old or you're graduating
from university, you can't wait to be that
woman. If you're 42 years old with a couple
children, you wish you had that time back.”
– Founder Chip Wilson
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/magazine/lululemons-guru-is-moving-on.html?_r=0 @KATIEMARTELL

32. Meet Duke • 35
• Makes more money than Ocean (!?)
• An “athletic opportunist” surfing in the
summer, snowboarding in the winter,
• Willing to pay for quality.
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/magazine/lululemons-guru-is-moving-on.html?_r=0 @KATIEMARTELL

33. How to avoid wasting all your money:
Step 1.
Focus on who
matters most.
Step 2.
Make money
moves.
@KATIEMARTELL

34. TRUTH #7
Creativity is free.
@KATIEMARTELL

35. Launch in a situation of high demand
and low supply.
• 2008 rollout
• Denver
• Lack of hotel space
• Terrible cabs
• Social riders (SFO)
• Tech/VC event free rides
@KATIEMARTELL

36. What are your accelerants?
Real life situations to spur
growth – a concentrated,
temporary need for Uber:
- Restaurants and nightlife
- Holidays and events
- Intense weather
- Sports
2X typical growth
@KATIEMARTELL

37. High impact, low $$.
@KATIEMARTELL

38. High impact, low $$.
@KATIEMARTELL

39. High impact, low $$.
@KATIEMARTELL

40. High impact, low $$ + trust
@KATIEMARTELL
Fewer than half
of marketers
(37%) use
research
reports as part
of their content
arsenal.
74% of B2B buyers
consider original
research from
brands to be
influential with
purchasing
decisions.
(Only peer-to-peer
ranked higher.) CMI

41. High impact, low $$ + trust
@KATIEMARTELL

42. High impact, low $$ + trust.
@KATIEMARTELL
INFOGRAPHIC ON-STAGE AT INDUSTRY EVENTS
ONLINE ADS BLOG CONTENT SOCIAL CONTENT
PR RELEASE + BYLINES WEBINAR
MICROSITE
INTERACTIVE
ASSESSMENT
ABM DIRECT MAIL
EMAIL / NURTURE
VIDEOS

43. How to avoid wasting all your money:
Step 1.
Focus on who
matters most.
Step 2.
Make money
moves.
CAC < LTV
Step 3.
Watch your
numbers.
@KATIEMARTELL

44. How to avoid wasting all your money:
Step 1.
Focus on who
matters most.
Step 2.
Make money
moves.
Step 3.
Watch your
numbers.
Step 4.
Profit.
@KATIEMARTELL

45. 3RD DEADLY SIN OF STARTUP MARKETING
Imaginary market,
imaginary problem.
@KATIEMARTELL

46. TRUTH #8
70-90% of
startups fail.
@KATIEMARTELL

47. #1 reason
startups fail is
no market need*
*AKA no problem
to solve + no
market to market
to.
@KATIEMARTELL

48. May be unarticulated
DEAD
ENDS
WINNING
BET
Product is nice-to-have Need-to-have
Slightly better than current alternative Markedly better than current situation
Offers some future-state benefit Fixes a problem + delivers value NOW
Feature (replicable) Proprietary, distinct
Wildly unfamiliar Existing line item in budget (or close)
Uncritical, not priority Quells an immediate pain
No / small audience feeling pain Unmet need experienced by many
@KATIEMARTELL

49. Buyers are 3X more
likely to move away from
pain than move towards
potential gain.
- Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer, Corporate Visions
@KATIEMARTELL

50. A clear, articulated problem
impacting millions:
• Poor taxi experience
• No infrastructure in some cities
• Terrible service, dirty cabs
• No credit card payment
Solution:
Not just iteratively better, completely
redefined. Unmatched experience.
Undeniable value.
@KATIEMARTELL

51. $120M raised (Google VC arm)
$400 juicer + subscription
• The packs were
"calibrated by flavor"
• "connected data" is used
to manage supply chain
• It could "remotely
disable Produce Packs
if there is, for example,
a spinach recall."
Juicero CEO’s open letter:
@KATIEMARTELL

52. “Squeezing the
bag yields nearly
the same amount
of juice just as
quickly—and in
some cases,
faster—than using
the device.”
• Nice-to-have
• Not a large problem compared to existing solutions
• Nothing proprietary and meaningful
@KATIEMARTELL

53. floc·ci·nau·ci·ni·hil·i·pill·i·fi·ca·tion
An estimation of something as worthless.
@KATIEMARTELL

54. If you imagine* the pain,
you’ll build tech that solves
imaginary problems.
TRUTH #9
*over-exaggerate
assume
fail to prove
delude yourself into believing it’s more important than it is
@KATIEMARTELL

55. Donna Levin (co-
founder) couldn’t
find reliable care
for her children.
https://www.katie-martell.com/blog/2017/3/5/when-to-start-a-company
Start a company to fix a problem.
Zoe Barry, CEO
watched brother
wait months for
epilepsy meds.
Nataly Kogan, founder,
spent years seeking
happiness through
achievement.
@KATIEMARTELL

56. Don’t listen to lip service.
Paying customers and
active users are real
validation.
@KATIEMARTELL
TRUTH #10

57. TRUTH #11
Their obstacles
are your
opportunities.
@KATIEMARTELL

58. Don’t dismiss the barriers to adoption:
Requires an upfront
investment in
hardware or services
A long-term
commitment is
required (they’re not
ready to make it)
It’s just not a high
enough priority for
them
It’s too new, and
therefore too risky
They don’t understand
how it will create ROI
They can’t get buy-in
internally
@KATIEMARTELL

59. Consumers:
Airbnb room vs hotel room
Get creative to overcome initial obstacles.
Hosts using Craigslist:
Free pro photos
@KATIEMARTELL

60. Our great product
is not selling.
Why?
@KATIEMARTELL

61. The antidote to not falling
for your own BS:
Talking to real customers.
@KATIEMARTELL

62. 4TH DEADLY SIN OF STARTUP MARKETING
Competitive delusion
@KATIEMARTELL

63. TRUTH #12
There are more
businesses today
than at any point
in history.
@KATIEMARTELL

64. @KATIEMARTELL

65. @KATIEMARTELL

66. @KATIEMARTELL

67. @KATIEMARTELL

68. @KATIEMARTELL

69. @KATIEMARTELL

70. @KATIEMARTELL

71. @KATIEMARTELL

72. @KATIEMARTELL

73. TRUTH #13
It’s never been easier
to start a company.
@KATIEMARTELL

74. @KATIEMARTELL
130MStartups founded
annually, worldwide
1.78MTech startups founded
annually
80kNew US startups
a month
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor

75. How do you break free from
the pack when the pack looks
the same to the buyer?
Marketing
must draw a
clear
distinction.
When all the
options look the
same, you can
only compete on
price.
@KATIEMARTELL

76. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKcneQ6N50Q

77. @KATIEMARTELL

78. Know your competition, but don’t copy it.
@KATIEMARTELL

79. “…more than beautiful, shared
office spaces… a community. A
place you join as an individual,
'me', but where you become part
of a greater 'we'. Community is
our catalyst”
“…convenient, high-quality, fully serviced
spaces for people to work, whether for a
few minutes or a few years…”
$3b
$47b
@KATIEMARTELL

80. Sound familiar?
“More than just a workspace, we build spaces and
experiences intentionally designed to foster
personal and professional transformation.”
“Each one of our locations are uniquely designed to
reflect the personality of each community….”
“More than simply a place to plug in your laptop:
What really makes Spaces unique is
the community we’ve worked to cultivate.”
“We give our members much more than a shared
workspace…”
@KATIEMARTELL

81. Hall of lookalike shame
“…every coworking space seems to
be about something more than just
coworking. They are places of civic
engagement! Of community
building! Of beauty! They are
catalysts for professional
transcendence! They are not just a
collection of desks under a brand
name! What?”
Ruth Reader, Writer, FastCo
@KATIEMARTELL

82. 5TH DEADLY SIN OF STARTUP MARKETING
Underestimating the
real competition
@KATIEMARTELL

83. Your #1
competitor is
however the
customer is
solving their
problem today.
@KATIEMARTELL

84. “What would your customers
do if you didn’t exist?
For many new products, the
answer is: do nothing, or
hire an intern to do it.”
April Dunford
@KATIEMARTELL

85. Marketing’s job is to point out what’s
wrong with the current approach.
SAFETY.
@KATIEMARTELL

86. “Disruptive companies
change the way a buyer thinks
about solving their need.”
Tomasz Tunguz
VC at Redpoint
@KATIEMARTELL

87. @KATIEMARTELL

88. 6TH DEADLY SIN OF STARTUP MARKETING
Vague on value
@KATIEMARTELL

89. B2B buyers are 50% more likely to buy
when they see personal value for them, or
a positive impact on their career.
They are 8x more likely to pay a premium.
The power of WIIFM
Study from Google, Gartner, Motista @KATIEMARTELL

90. If my life’s work is in the cloud,
how will that change what my
workday looks like?
Julie Supan, Dropbox’s
first head of marketing
and communications
@KATIEMARTELL
“a modern workspace
designed to reduce
busywork- so you can focus
on the things that matter”

91. B2B VALUE
@KATIEMARTELL

92. @KATIEMARTELL

93. @KATIEMARTELL

94. @KATIEMARTELL

95. @KATIEMARTELL

96. [ Realm of personal value ]
[ Pre-requisites to being in business ]
@KATIEMARTELL

97. 7TH DEADLY SIN OF STARTUP MARKETING
Hiring the wrong
people
@KATIEMARTELL

98. Every hire is a huge
% of your startup.
“Bad hires resonate, loudly."
TRUTH #15
Mollie Lombardi
Human Capital Management Expert
@KATIEMARTELL

99. EARLY TEAM SCALE TEAM
Scrappy
Repeatable process, codified
culture, alignment,
collaboration
Experimentation Continual optimization
Pivot fast based on
feedback
Max growth at minimum cost
Low-tech, manual user
acquisition
High-tech, automation, scale
Creative, low-budget
ideas with big impact
Growing LTV and retention
Mantra: Done is better
than perfect
Mantra: Mind your margins
@KATIEMARTELL

100. • Comfortable with ambiguity
• OK with “NO”
• Self-starter (no adult
supervision)
• Beyond the job description
• Resilient
• Resourceful (learn to swim)
• Great listener
• Optimistic realist
DNA of a startup marketer:
@KATIEMARTELL
Digital
marketing
Email
marketing +
database
growth
Customer
interviews
Competitive
intel
Copywriting
Measurement +
reporting
Optimization
and testing
Planning
Sales
enablement or
conversion
paths
Content
marketing
Earned media
Events + owned
media

101. The only startup
marketing rules that
matter are yours.
TRUTH #16
@KATIEMARTELL

102. You will probably fail.
So what?
The biggest sin would be
to not try at all.
@KATIEMARTELL

103. Katie@Katie-Martell.com
The World’s Best
Newsletter
www.Katie-Martell.com
1. Poor expectations
2. Trying to do it all
3. Imaginary market, imaginary problem
4. Competitive delusion
5. Underestimating the real competition
6. Vague on value
7. Hiring the wrong people
7 Deadly Sins of Startup Marketing
@KatieMartell
GET ON THE LIST