Modern markets are noisy. In our rush to launch new or improved products we tend to forget that customers don’t buy what they don’t understand.
From working with hundreds of startups there are 5 lessons learned to build the right product features within the target market. In this session we’ll discuss marketing positioning, founders blindess, the importance of analytics and experimentation and how to use all of this to grow your product faster.
4. The best pitch ever: The Penny Machinehttps://medium.com/@acroll/the-penny-machine-ec1bd0a0ebc5
5. An entrepreneur walks into a boardroom:
Entrepreneur: Does anyone have a penny on them?
Investor 1: Yes, here’s one...
Entrepreneur: Now watch!
(The entrepeneur puts the penny in the machine, there’s a pause, and then a shiny nickel tumbles out of
the machine)
Investor 2: That’s a great trick, do it again...
(The entrepeneur again puts the penny in the machine, there’s a pause, and then again a shiny nickel
tumbles out of the machine)
Investor 1: How many pennies an hour can I put in there?
Entrepreneur: It takes 5 seconds to cool down, so you can insert 720 pennies an hour. That’s $36 in
nickels and hour, with a margin of 80%
(the audience pauses)
Investor 1: Can I put nickels into it?
Entrepreneur: I’ve tried it with dimes, it works. It produces neatly folded dollar bills. I haven’t tried more
than that
Investor 2: How many machines can you make an run at once?
Entrepreneur: I think we can have five hundred running around the clock
Investor 2: One more questions and I think we have a deal. Why can’t someone else build one?
Entrepreneur: I have intellectual property protection and I’ve signed an exclusive agreement with the US
mint....
http://differentbetterbook.comSee:https://medium.com/@acroll/the-penny-machine-ec1bd0a0ebc5
22. New
Current
Current New
Market
Dominate:
Go for market
leadership to
increase revenues,
market share and
brand differentiation.
Segment:
Wrap your product
around customers
understanding of
market. High reward,
less potential growth
Based on H. Igor Ansoff’s matrix
Product category
23. New
Current
Current New
Market
Reframe:
Beat leadership by
creating new
category from
existing one. Focus
on innovation
Based on H. Igor Ansoff’s matrix
Dominate:
Go for market
leadership to
increase revenues,
market share and
brand differentiation.
Product category
Segment:
Wrap your product
around customers
understanding of
market. High reward,
less potential growth
24. New
Current
Current New
Market
Reframe:
Beat leadership by
creating new
category from
existing one. Focus
on innovation
Create new:
Merge existing
categories to create
blue ocean.
Convince the world
for first mover
advantage
Based on H. Igor Ansoff’s matrix
Dominate:
Go for market
leadership to
increase revenues,
market share and
brand differentiation.
Product category
Segment:
Wrap your product
around customers
understanding of
market. High reward,
less potential growth
32. A positioning statement describes
your unique value for something that an
identified market segment
truly cares about
http://differentbetterbook.comSee:
33. What is it?
A short statement that describes what you
are/do
Target Segment
The specific target market you are
targeting in the short term (aka which are
the leads you’re most likely to close?)
Market Category
Describe the market that you’re competing in
Competitive Alternatives
If your customers don’t use you, what
products/services do they use?
Primary Differentiation
The one thing (yes, one!) that sets you
apart the most from competitive analysis?
Key benefit
The biggest benefit your target market
derives from your offering?
Positioning Canvas
http://differentbetterbook.comSee:
45. “”Zero moment of Truth:
That moment when you grab your laptop, mobile
phone or other device and start learning about a
product/service you’re thinking about trying.
It’s a moment where consumers make choices that
affect the success and failure of nearly every brand
in the world...
56. “Your best customer”
“I need a vehicle to get around,
be productive, and enjoy my life.”
“I want to own a car because it’s
convenient; it’s a personal
relationship; I don’t trust others.”
“I want to save money and fuel. I
also care about the environment
and want to be seen as ‘green’.”
People who want to driveA.
Prospective car buyersB.
People looking for a hybridC.
Honda Civic OwnersD.
Everyone in the world
57. “Your best customer”
Those who don’t need
cars
•I’m too young to drive
•I’m too old to drive
•I can walk or take public
transit
Car users who won’t buy
•It’s too expensive for me
•I will use a shared car service
•It’ll get stolen
Those who won’t buy
hybrids
•Hybrids are gutless
•Batteries are toxic & explosive
•In the end it costs more than it
saves
I will buy another brand
•I’ve always driven a VW
•Toyotas are reliable
•I want something prestigious
“I need a vehicle to get around,
be productive, and enjoy my life.”
“I want to own a car because it’s
convenient; it’s a personal
relationship; I don’t trust others.”
“I want to save money and fuel. I
also care about the environment
and want to be seen as ‘green’.”
People who want to driveA.
Prospective car buyersB.
People looking for a hybridC.
D.
Everyone in the world
Honda Civic Owners
59. Those who don’t need
cars
•I’m too young to drive
•I’m too old to drive
•I can walk or take public
transit
Car users who won’t buy
•It’s too expensive for me
•I will use a shared car service
•It’ll get stolen
Those who won’t buy
hybrids
•Hybrids are gutless
•Batteries are toxic & explosive
•In the end it costs more than it
saves
I will buy another brand
•I’ve always driven a VW
•Toyotas are reliable
•I want something prestigious
“I need a vehicle to get around,
be productive, and enjoy my life.”
“I want to own a car because it’s
convenient; it’s a personal
relationship; I don’t trust others.”
“I want to save money and fuel. I
also care about the environment
and want to be seen as ‘green’.”
People who want to driveA.
Prospective car buyersB.
People looking for a hybridC.
D.
Everyone in the world
“Your best customer”
“Isn’t it time you got out of the city?”
campaign showing how cars make
nature accessible & ridiculing urban
hipsters.
Ads showing how cars are needed
any time (pregnancy, errands, urgent
business) and how a car is a
“personal assistant.”
Urgency (“every time you drive a non-
hybrid car you kill the planet a little”)
and testimonials from buyers who’ve
saved money.
Honda branding ads and model-
specific promotions.
Referral campaign to encourage
buyers to tell their friends
Honda Civic Owners
61. “I need a vehicle to get around,
be productive, and enjoy my life.”
“I want to own a car because it’s
convenient; it’s a personal
relationship; I don’t trust others.”
“I want to save money and fuel. I
also care about the environment
and want to be seen as ‘green’.”
People who want to driveA.
Prospective car buyersB.
People looking for a hybridC.
D.
Everyone in the world
“Your best customer”
Honda Civic Owners
Those who don’t need
cars
•I’m too young to drive
•I’m too old to drive
•I can walk or take public
transit
Car users who won’t buy
•It’s too expensive for me
•I will use a shared car service
•It’ll get stolen
Those who won’t buy
hybrids
•Hybrids are gutless
•Batteries are toxic & explosive
•In the end it costs more than it
saves
I will buy another brand
•I’ve always driven a VW
•Toyotas are reliable
•I want something prestigious
Sponsor a driving school
“Give the gift of driving”
campaign for grandparents.
Financing, cashback
Sell to carshares;
underscore their limitations
PR on dangers of commuting,
pedestrian deaths
Independent tests,
standard metrics (0-60 in
X)
Lab research, studies
Spontaneous accel. stories
Premium brand (Acura)
63. http://www.yearonelabs.com/three-questions-all-marketers-must-answer/
Decide how you will know if it worked, or need to adjust?
Who are you
targeting?
Size, reachability,
homogeneity.
What do you
want them to
do?
Specific, measurable
call to action.
Why should
they do it?
Laid, paid, made,
or afraid; message
fits their mindset.
How will you
know if they
did?
Analytics,
instrumentation.
72. Aunshul Rege of Rutgers University, USA in 2009
1000 emails
1-2 responses
1 fool and their money, parted.
Bad language (0.1% conversion)
Gullible (70% conversion)
1000 emails
100 responses
1 fool and their money, parted.
Good language (10% conversion)
Not-gullible (.07% conversion)
76. Correlated
Two variables that are
related (but may be
dependent on
something else.)
Causal
An independent
variable that directly
impacts a dependent
one.
82. ‣ A Facebook user reaching 7 friends within 10 days of signing up
(Chamath Palihapitiya)
‣ A Dropbox user who puts at least one file in one folder on one
device (ChenLi Wang)
‣ Twitter user following a certain number of people, and a certain
percentage of those people following the user back (Josh
Elman)
‣ A LinkedIn user getting to X connections in Y days (Elliot
Schmukler)
Some examples
(From the 2012 Growth Hacking conference. http://growthhackersconference.com/)
83. The simplest rule of causation:
If a metric doesn’t change behavior it’s a bad metric
92. Complete Web Monitoring
Web Analytics
(what did they
do on the site?)
Usability
(how did they
interact with it?)
93. Complete Web Monitoring
Web Analytics
(what did they
do on the site?)
Performance
(could they do
what they wanted
to?)
Usability
(how did they
interact with it?)
94. Complete Web Monitoring
Web Analytics
(what did they
do on the site?)
Performance
(could they do
what they wanted
to?)
VoC
(what were their
motivations?)
Usability
(how did they
interact with it?)
95. Complete Web Monitoring
Web Analytics
(what did they
do on the site?)
Competition
(what are they up
to?)
Performance
(could they do
what they wanted
to?)
VoC
(what were their
motivations?)
Usability
(how did they
interact with it?)
96. Complete Web Monitoring
Web Analytics
(what did they
do on the site?)
Competition
(what are they up
to?)
Performance
(could they do
what they wanted
to?)
VoC
(what were their
motivations?)
Usability
(how did they
interact with it?)
Social Media
(what were they
saying?)
97. Complete Web Monitoring
Web Analytics
(what did they
do on the site?)
Competition
(what are they up
to?)
Performance
(could they do
what they wanted
to?)
VoC
(what were their
motivations?)
Usability
(how did they
interact with it?)
Social Media
(what were they
saying?)
“Soft” data
“Hard” data
101. Voice of Customer PerformanceUsabilityWeb Analytics Social Media
Google Analytics Hotjar Usabilla Webpagetest Obi4Wan
Mouseflow
Optimizely
Qualaroo
Hotjar
Soasta mPulseMixpanel Sprout
Visual Web Optimizer
Google Experiments
SpeedCurveLocalytics
IntercomWoopra
Firebase
104. Analytics is your oxygen. Pick one metric at a time
Optimize for the right product/content fit
Experiment! Rinse, repeat to find causation
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3
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1 Build your positioning statement
Grow Better Products demystified
Then, scale your AARRR funnel5