chapter 15: engaging customers through marketing and pitching and pitch decks

marketing

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.

the role of marketing and pitching in entrepreneurship

• Marketing helps entrepreneurs attract customers and build awareness.

• Pitching helps them communicate their idea clearly to investors, partners, and customers to gain support and funding.

marketing mix

a framework that helps define a brand or company and differentiate it from the competition

components of the marketing mix

• product

• price

• promotion

• place (distribution)

product

• tangible or intangible goods offered by the company

• what are the benefits and features of my product?

price

• the cost of the product/service, its perceived value, and how much the cost can be adjusted

• what is the value of my offering, and what are customers willing to pay?

promotion

• the various ways companies communicate with their customers

• how will they know my business exists?

place

• where the product or service is distributed to the market

• how will my customers be reached? where will they buy my product or service?

S.A.V.E framework

• solution

• access

• value

• education

instead of procduct

we have solution

instead of place

we have action

instead of promotion

we have education

instead of price

we have value

solution

how the product meets customers needs rather than emphasizing its features

access

the focus is on how accessible your company is to your target customer

customers want a business that cares about customers and is available for support

value

customers want to know the value your business brings vs price

education

educate customers by providing information that they want to read and is up to date and relevant

entrepreneurial marketing

a set of processes adopted by entrepreneurs based on new and unconventional marketing practices to gain traction and attention in competitive markets

by marketing you can

• build community through social media, content, and interactivity

• the buyer is more in control today

• main features: innovation, risk taking and resourcefulness

• marketing and sales are not separate units

characteristics of entrepreneurial marketing

• resource constraints

• growth and scale

• speed and experimentation

• integrated communications

• brand building

resource constraints

constraints associated with money, people, and time

word of mouth i snow “social media marketing”

chasing reputation, credibility, and buzz

speed and expermimentation

• experiment with different marketing tactics, and iterate how they promote, price, and place product and services based on feedback and real time data

• low cost experimentation works well

integrated marketing communications

practice of producing consistent messaging across channels to produce a unified brand experience for customers

brand building

• focus on developing a compelling value proposition, building brand loyalty, and establishing a distinct, resonant image

growth & scale

a startup has to grow to survive, all marketing tactics must be designed to increase market share to increase the business

guerilla marketing

a low budget strategy that focuses on personally interacting with a target group by promoting products and services through surprise or other unconventional means

branding

the process of creating a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies a product or service and differentiates it from others

brand strategy

a long term plan to develop a successful brand

building a brand

• choose a name

  • SMILE test

• design a logo

• spread the world

• know your customer

• become your brand

• write a tagline

• always deliver on your brand promise

• be consistent with your brand

SMILE - the qualities of a power name:

• Suggestive: gives a hint of what type of brand it is

• Memorable: it will be familiar to your customers

• Imagery: visually evocative, creates a small mental picture

• Legs: carries the brand, lends itself to a theme and wordplay

• Emotional: empowers, entertains, engages, and enlightens

SCRATCH it off the list it is has these:

• Spelling-challenged: you have to tell people how to spell it

• Copycat: similar to competitors names

• Restrictive: minimizes future growth

• Annoying: hidden meaning, forced, frustrates customers

• Tame: flat, uninspiring, boring, nonemotional

• Curse of knowledge: only insiders get it

• Hard to pronounce: no obvious, relies on punctuation

Social responsibility marketing

marketing approach designed to attract customers who want to support a cause or make a positive change via their purchasing decisions

user generated content (UCG)

brand specific content created by customers and posted on social media in the form of images, videos, reviews, blog posts, or podcasts

content marketing

provide an easy to understand, engaging content that appeals to target audience

email marketing

sending content to a list of subscribers via email

influencer marketing

a type of social media marketing where brands collaborate with influencers to promote products or services

long tail

• focus is shifting away from mainstream products from big brands to a variety of smaller niche markets

• the internet allows small businesses with a change to take market share away from megabrands

true fans

• buy anuthing you produce

• wait in line for your products

• drive hours to attend events

• preorder next product

• building a lasting sustainable business is based on 1,000 true fans

slogan or tagline approaches:

• stake your claim: death wish coffe “the worlds strongest coffee”

• make it a metaphor: Skittles “taste the rainbow”

• adopt your customers attitude: dunkin “america runs on dunkin”

• leverage labels: cards against humanity “a party game for horrible people”

• describe it literally: NY times “All the news that fits to print”

• write a rhyme: Bounty “the quicker picker upper”