Marketing in a Start-Up Spring Faculty Boot Camp Creating the Marketing Plan Process What is Marketing? • • Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (AMA Definition 2007) Awareness Brand Company Position Lead generation Customer Acquisition 3 Marketing Begins at Company Inception Company inception Business Goals (#’s/$$$) Acquire Funding & Talent (AFT) Product Development AFT Identify & secure first customers Soft launch Product launch AFT Solid initial Customers Generate prospect list Audience Investors Employees Early adopters Investors Employees Prospects Customers Investors Employees Revenue Ramp AFT Develop pipeline & close business Establish Partnerships Prospects Customers Partners Investors Employees 4 Developing an Effective Marketing Plan Business Goals Marketing Objectives and Strategy (Positioning and Messaging) Refinement Marketing Plan Measurement Customer Acquisition Cost 5 Relating Business Objectives to Marketing Objectives The End Game Business Objectives Marketing Objectives •Acquire customers • Trial customers (alpha/beta) • Revenue customers • Subscribers •Acquire partners •Enter new markets •technology •geographic •customer segment •Introduce new products •Establish a position (near term and long term goals) •Market education •Credibility and validation •Create awareness • Drive positive opinion •Communicate value •Generate sales leads •Subscriber growth * Establish * Achieve * Generate * Expand * Change * Evolve * Reinforce * 6 Creating the Marketing Plan Marketing Objectives Marketing Requirements Deliverables Programs Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Sales tools/ collateral Deliverable $$ Deliverable $$ Deliverable $$ Deliverable $$ Deliverable $$ Deliverable $$ Website Public relations Analyst relations Events Social media 7 Positioning Pay Attention! Company and Product/Brand Positioning • The foundation for all marketing activities • The magic ingredient in Exit valuation • Key considerations – Where do you want to be in 1, 3, 5 years? – What credible position can you stake out today? – Where do you have an opportunity for a market leadership position? – Who are you talking to? – How do you differentiate yourself from the competition? Don’t start the conversation until you know what you want to say!!! 9 The Starting Point: Understand your Universe Prospective Customers Market Environment Media You Industry Experts Competition 10 Is This Differentiable? Enabling mobile access to any content, on any device, on any network, at any time • Competitor 1: Your Video Anywhere •Competitor 2:Discover, create and share anytime. Experience anywhere. •Competitor 3:Engage your consumers anytime anywhere 11 Creating a New Market Category • “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” – William Shakespeare 1594 • Unless you have something that is completely new this should be a last resort option • Category creation: • Requires buy-in from customers, analysts and the press • Is a time consuming and distracting process, requires a great deal of investment in market education • Is potentially high risk (you don’t want to be in a category of 1) • Won’t work if it is just a marketing game 12 Company Identity Equipe Doink Vuuch • Name • • • • • Can you pronounce it? Can you spell it? Is it unique? Is the domain available? Does it work globally? 13 Taglines: This is Not You! 14 Product Nomenclature • Socializing a brand name takes time and money • Does it make sense for your business to try and socialize two brands at once? • Company • Product • Chances are your audience will only internalize one brand at a time – which is more important to you? • Keep it simple! ADOBE Acrobat The Barking Dog Ltd. 15 Leading with the Product Brand 16 Aggghhhh 17 Launch Strategies & the Marketing Mix Programs Stealth Soft Launch Full Visibility Sales tools/collateral Y Y Y Website Simple billboard Y Y Search Engine Marketing SEO only Y Y Public relations N Editorial opportunities Start ups to watch Awards Full engagement Analyst relations N Y Y Social media N Blog Full engagement Direct marketing N Y Y Speaking Ops N Y Y Advertising N SEM only Full engagement Events Venture? Small presence Full engagement Viral marketing N N Y Mobile N N Y 18 Remember this……. • There is no magic formula!!!!!!!! • Always ask • Does this program serve my business objectives? • Can I afford to do this? Does the expected return justify the cost? • Is this right for my company? 19 Elevator Pitch May 2011 Ian Mashiter Executive-in-Residence The Elevator Speech • • • • What Is It? Video Why Is It Important? How Do You Develop? 21 What Is An Elevator Speech? • Imagine You Get on an Elevator – …With an Important Person… • What Is Your Objective? • What Do You Say? • Example 22 Must Be Clear, Concise, Engaging • They Should Understand Your Business Concept • They Should Become Interested • They Should Want to Hear More • Example Video 23 Why Is This Important? • Sometimes, Your Only Chance • Average Investor Listens for Only 90 Seconds • Process Forces You to Clarify Your Concept – Usually You Understand More Clearly 24 How to Develop? • Describe the Business • Ask Yourself “What Must They Remember?” • Answer the Key Questions – What’s the Problem? – How Will You Solve It? – Can You Do It? – Will They Make $ By Helping You? • Practice!! 25 Elevator Pitch Components • The Hook: Grabs the listener's attention • The Connection: Make a connection • The Benefit: What’s in it for them • The Ask: Request for next step 26 Try This Sample • Let me introduce to my company______ We do __________We solve the problem of__________(Hook) • We have put together a team that includes ____ and _____, who have ______. Our Advisory Board includes ______. • Your background in ______ would be ideal as an ________. (Connection) • We have raised _____ thus far and are now seeking _____ to finance _______. (Benefit) • Would you be interested in meeting to discuss this in greater detail? (Ask) 27 Key Ingredients • It’s Not Just the Words! • Don’t Forget: – Eye Contact – Pace & Voice – Body Language • You Want to Convey Confidence and Passion! 28 Preparing the Pitch Ian Mashiter Executive-in-Residence Lecturer, Strategy & Innovation Making your pitch The Goal • To Make Your Points… – Clearly – Professionally – Memorably • Which requires… – Thoughtful Planning – Careful Preparation – PRACTICE! – Video 30 Preparation • Know your audience – Technical or Not – Known vs. Unknown (to You) – Why are they here? • Define your purpose – – – – – To Inform? To Entertain? To Motivate? To Persuade? What Would Be a Good Outcome? • Consider time – Understand your constraints – Be respectful & appreciative of audience’s time 31 My Outline • What is your business? – Elevator Pitch • Why would anybody need it? • How are you going to market and sell it? • How are you going to make money – Business model • Why is this team qualified to do it? • How much investment is needed? • What are the deal terms? 32 Presentation DOs and DON’Ts NOT this . . . Measure This . . . Time Variable B Run Chart Variable A Frequency Scatterplot Measurement Histogram Unit 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Tim e-1 16 18 14 17 16 14 16 20 19 16 17 14 15 18 18 16 17 15 17 16 16 19 22 Tim e-2 43 58 52 62 44 47 52 44 50 49 48 49 52 57 40 44 47 48 53 55 57 49 42 Tim e-3 35 35 38 35 36 38 32 32 33 38 39 35 36 36 29 33 33 30 36 36 37 37 35 33 PRACTICE! • • • • • • Review for Clarity Review for Flow Review for Impact Manage Pace / Timing Prepare for Q&A Dress Rehearsal 34 Style - Be Professional • Dress & Appearance • Know Your Audience • Try to Match Their Dress Code or dress better • Definitely Match Each Other • Language • (Avoid “Ummm” and “Ya Know”) 35 Role of the executive summary • Important document to distribute – E.g. email • Make sure it looks visually stimulating – Magazine not term paper • One or 2 pages 36 37 What Now? • Networking – Boston as a great entrepreneur eco system www.greenhornconnect.com – linkedin • Use a mentor (s) – BU now has the excellent Kindle mentoring program • Enter Business Plan competitions – BU has 1k and 50K competitions – More info on bu.edu/ITEC 38