12. @missrogue
“Subscription services
are a fad.”
BEFORE
“The market isn’t big
enough.”
“We don’t invest in high
costs with low margins.”
“Women don’t need this
service.”
14. @missrogue
“What a brilliant idea!”
AFTER
“Best tampon ad in the
history of the world.”
“What [revenue] took me
a month, I now do in an
hour.”
15. @missrogue
“My tiny company that had been limping along released a video. And the
video exploded...Suddenly I had a flood of orders and received an
outpouring of support in the form of emails from women and girls around
the world.”
Naama Bloom, CEO HelloFlo
16. l@missrogue | @tctotem | #startuplies
marketing is important
(and marketing is more than you think)
18. l@missrogue | @tctotem | #startuplies
where is the marketing problem?
AWARENESS RESEARCH DECISION USE RE-USE REFER LOVE
Do they
know you
exist?
Can they
find you
when they
are looking?
How do you
stack up
against the
competition?
What’s the
user
experience?
How
frequently
would
people use
your product
Is there a
reason that
people
would share/
recommend?
Do your
users fall in
love?
PR, WOM,
ads
SEO, SEM Reviews
Product*,
customer
service
Usage/
demand
Sharability/
Growth
Hacking
Community
We were in
the wrong
places, not
building
relationships
with the
right people.
Our SEO
was pretty
decent, but
we didn’t
have any
budget for
SEM.
Very few
reviews.
Most people
were raving
about
Pinterest
and
Shopstyle.
Took us a
while, but
we finally
got to a
great user
experience.
Too late…
The
frequency
for
searching
for specific
fashion
items too
rare.
People did
share when
they found
and used us.
A few did.
But we
didn’t build
the
community
we should
have.
19. l@missrogue | @tctotem | #startuplies
2. build stuff
people need +
they will come
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ep_jhu/3308079338
20. l@missrogue | @tctotem | #startuplieshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/28291679@N06/4039684475/
The market is saturated with
products, apps, and services. It’s
no longer about building
something that people need. It’s
about building something that
people love. That’s really hard.
23. l@missrogue | @tctotem | #startuplies
market research 101
Start with core assumptions. Here are a few:
1. a target customer (not everyone): Ours was “women
who love fashion + shop online”
2. the problem you are solving: Ours was “Shopping for
fashion is frustrating. Too much choice + not enough
personalization.”
3. knowledge of the current ‘solutions’ + why they don’t
measure up: Ours was Shopstyle + that it doesn’t account
for personal style and doesn’t include non-affilate shops
24. l@missrogue | @tctotem | #startuplies
http://www.talkingtohumans.com/
Talking to Humans
by Giff Constable.
BUY IT.
25. l@missrogue | @tctotem | #startuplies
market research 101
Now, challenge those assumptions with real research:
1. walk a day in your customer’s shoes (go through the
exercise of buying something or using something)
2. find a way to observe how people actually solve the
problem
3. ask people (strangers - not friends) who have just gone
through the exercise about their experience
http://www.talkingtohumans.com/