Monday, October 3, 2022

How to promote software startup

Build an army of superfans by diligently serving one client at a time

Suitable if: the client knows what he needs, is not actively looking for a solution, and requires a comprehensive, detailed solution for a unique case.


Examples:


Substack - Hamish (co-founder) knew that Bill Bishop (famous writer and blogger) wanted to subscribe to his publications, and the Substack team worked closely with him to create their product.

Vanta - Christina (co-founder) found out that the Segment team is not being given an SOC-2 audit (cybersecurity certification). She sent them the solution on her own initiative.

Check - the idea came to the team from the first client, Homebase, who wanted to create a payroll, but could not due to the complexity and cost of the process. Together they created the first version of the product.

Top ways for startup to enter the market

 Today I want to talk about the variety of ways to enter the market. Each method answers two questions:


How do people find out about your product?

Why are they buying it?

The answers are interrelated. In the flowcharts below, I provide algorithms for choosing the most effective promotion channels in accordance with the reasons that motivate people to look for new products. My findings are based on a study of 120+ unicorns and public companies.


For clients with a generated request

If people have a conscious request for what you are doing.


#1 Produce content that is easy to find

Suitable if: the client knows what he needs, actively searches for a solution on the Internet and gets frustrated by its absence.


Examples:


Zapier created landing pages for search queries like ([Company name 1] and [Company name 2]), thanks to which they quickly pumped up the SEO of their site and flooded it with traffic from search engines.

Door Dash - at the start, they did not bother with the name and registered the PaloAltoDelivery.com domain in order to appear in first place in Google results for the query "Palo Alto Delivery". Thus, they reduced the cost of promoting and testing the business hypothesis.

How to promote software startup

Build an army of superfans by diligently serving one client at a time Suitable if: the client knows what he needs, is not actively looking f...