The 3-Step Startup Marketing Framework We Created to Grow KISSmetrics

The 3-Step Startup Marketing Framework We Created to Grow KISSmetrics

In the early stages of a business, one of the most important aspects to figure out is marketing. You need to answer three big questions: How do you identify your target audience? Where can you find them? How do you engage them? At KISSmetrics, we realized that we needed to get more specific in identifying our target customer. Building a business on assumptions is not wise, and our assumptions were not specific enough. We needed to find a place of opportunity where we could listen, learn, and provide value.

One of the core ideas behind content marketing is giving value, ideally for free. This is exactly what we wanted to do with KISSmetrics. Our tool was designed to provide actionable metrics, so our marketing had to be valuable for marketers. Scalability is crucial for any business, and that includes marketing. Twitter in 2008 was an underused opportunity for us. We noticed that hashtags were becoming popular, so we started using the hashtag WeFollow to gain new followers who were marketers. We also shared other marketers' content to spread goodwill and build our Twitter audience. This strategy worked, and our site started receiving a significant amount of referral traffic from Twitter.

One actionable advice we can take from this is to identify underused opportunities in the selected platform. It's essential to find emergent trends within those tactics to engage with your target audience. For example, Airbnb knew that their target audience was searching on Craigslist, so they hacked Craigslist to promote their listings. Snapchat also identified their target audience in the high school demographic and incentivized popular students to share the app with others.

Another important advice is to focus only on the users that matter. It's a waste of time to engage with followers who are not interested in your product or service. You should concentrate on delivering massive doses of value and expect nothing in return. This will attract the right audience who genuinely wants to engage with you.

To identify your target customer, you need to understand what your product does, what problem it solves, and who wants this problem solved. Finding out where your target audience hangs out involves creating a master list of potential places, establishing criteria for solid marketing channels, and vetting your list according to those criteria. Finally, to engage with your customers, you should identify your method of engagement, expand as far as the method allows, confine your reach only to the target audience, and aim to deliver a high amount of value.

In recent years, a new trend called the "Passion Economy" has been gaining attention in the United States. This trend focuses on leveraging individuality and unique skills to create services. SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms have played a significant role in nurturing micro-entrepreneurs. The concept of the Passion Economy used to be limited to digital content, with platforms like YouTube leading the way. However, it has now expanded to include specialized SaaS platforms. In 2019, the Passion Economy 3.0 emerged, with face-to-face services like Uber, Taskrabbit, and Care.com taking advantage of the gig economy trend.

In conclusion, the key to successful startup marketing lies in identifying your target audience, finding underused opportunities, and delivering value. By focusing on the users that matter and engaging with them in meaningful ways, you can create scalable marketing strategies that will contribute to the growth of your business.