Minimum Viable Inbound Marketing
For Pre-Seed to Seed Stage Startup Founder
Let’s Prime the Traction Pump!
Pre-Seed: from idea to customer discovery (problem/solution fit)
Seed: Prototype, MVP, pre-revenue or post-revenue but pre-Product/Market fit
🎉This Minimum Viable Inbound Marketing is the easiest, cheapest and most efficient marketing you could offer to yourself and your startup.
🚨Yes, this MVIM is fucking time-consuming and requires you to step out of your comfort zone ... but do you have other options?
Phase 1: Personal Branding of You as the CEO
Goal: Your targeted customers will know and love you as the CEO of (Your Company Name).
How: CEO Brand awareness with video vlogging
=> 30-60 video challenges: 2-4 videos per week (during ~4 months)
You will initiate the challenge with a series of questions covering every subject concerning YOU as an entrepreneur - who you are, your deep why, the values you believe in, your expertise and achievements -, the problem you want to solve, you will talk about other methodologies and solutions out there and why they are not satisfying, and of course, you will talk about your target customers and users - their job-to-be-done, their pains/frustrations/frictions/problems, expectations of benefits and the transformation you promise them to achieve -.
You'll call people so they can ask you questions about what you said in the video, and you'll answer them in the comment section of Youtube or LinkedIn.
Expected outcomes of Phase 1: you will systematically call your audience to sign up your newsletter with their email (email list for email marketing).
Expected outcomes of Phase 1: with the commentaries and feedback from people watching your videos, you will focus on what are the preoccupations of your audience. Then you will design webinars with ppt slides and invite the audience to join for free and learn about how they can solve their problem (Phase 2).
[ I can provide you with a list of questions (spreadsheet doc). You pick any question in the spreadsheet doc that inspires you, and you provide an answer by filming yourself with your mobile phone (you can be walking in the street, at your office, at home, in a Starbucks, in your car …) or facing your webcam office computer. ]
The goal is to provide authentic videos - like if you just received the question and you reply in the following moment -.
Duration: 1min to 3min max.
Do not hesitate to film several versions until you like the result.
You can add any question you want directly to the spreadsheet. Ask your team to contribute to the questionnaire either.
You can also bring in the spreadsheet the questions you heard from your clients and users.
You will gradually upload the videos on your Youtube account in a dedicated playlist, each video will have its thumbnail, title and description.
Initiate your Cult, lead the sheep to the light
Launching a startup is a social and cultural adventure. It's not about a great idea, it's not about technology, it's not about the product, it's not even about the clients (at first)! Therefore, I am convinced the only course a first-time entrepreneur should follow should be one in leadership "How to Become an Amazing Guru, the Leader of a Cult".
If your pleasure is only about solving problems, you are an engineer or a designer, and it's great but you are not a CEO. Accept it and leave the seat.
Phase 2: Awareness of the problem that your startup/product solves
Goal: Establish your Startup as the Brand expert in your domain
Goal’: Raise awareness of the problem that your startup solves in the mind of target users & customers.
- Live educational webinars with You and VIP Guests in your field of expertise
- Live educational webinars with You: “Learn why the problem addressed by your startup is important”.
Call-to-Action at the end of webinar => email opt-in of people interested to follow your sales webinars (qualification) => email list (expected outcome)
Phase 3: Sales webinars
We buy from People we know and trust, and because they solve our Problems.
How: Sales webinars to qualified prospects
With the outcomes of Phase 2, you will launch an email marketing campaign to different qualified prospects.
Each webinar will be connected to a sales funnel: emailing to qualified prospects => live webinar => sales page
Example of implementation
Simply put
We buy from people:
- We know (familiarity)
- We trust (sympathy)
- Who solve our problem (utility)
A con man is a virtuoso in using that system. The difference between a con man and a legit entrepreneur/marketer/salesman is the relevance of the solution sold to clients. So once again, marketing/branding is not the problem, the problem is what you do with it.
Ultimate sum-up
- Familiarity by the reccurence of seing your face => Do videos of yourself pitching your business (or business idea).
- Sympathy by sharing good emotions and your values => Be friendly and radiate good emotions in your content, share what your believe in.
- Utility => Pitch the value of your solution and call to action (call to buy) / How you solve the problem, how you bring benefits, how you will transform the life of your target clients.