There are plenty of technology startups that figure out a profitable marketing strategy before they run out of capital…
…But also THOUSANDS that fail in the process, effectively depriving their customers of the potential of their technology.
You spent years developing a disruptive solution.
Yet, what is the point in having a superior product if no-one ever signs up for it?
Getting your marketing strategy right is paramount for a technology startup success.
Whether you got stuck with your marketing efforts and are looking for help, you are launching a new technology and want to make sure you’ll get your marketing right, or you want to take your business to the next level with a trusted marketing partner, avoiding the following mistakes will give you a solid foundation for success on the market.
1. Not understanding their target customers
Fact: Our research shows that the root cause of marketing in 80% of both new and developed businesses lies in not understanding their Customer Avatar. Don’t be left behind! We suggest spending some time mapping out your Customer Avatar or Personas (Yes, you can have more than one! Ask us what the ideal number is!)
2. Not knowing their audience awareness level.
Have you ever evaluated your Customer Avatar’s awareness level towards your product? Are they aware that solutions like your exist? Are they aware they have a problem you are trying to solve in the first place? If not, your marketing strategy needs to include more educational content and a longer funnel. Knowing where your audience stands on the awareness scale will save you a lot of time and money. Numerous SaaS businesses put huge advertising dollars down the drain because their marketing strategy was not in line with their audience awareness stage.
3. Not running strategically designed market research surveys
The simplest way to make money is to offer people what they want. And there’s no easier way to find out what your audience wants than asking them. Customer interviews and correctly designed surveys can help you identify the main segments of your customers. Once you know what distinct groups exist in your market, you can market your product to them using personalized messages which will translate into higher conversion rates. Running surveys can also help you find out their insider language. If you communicate with them with their own words, your customers will feel you are a part of their tribe. Because of that, they will be more likely to trust you and buy your solution.
4. Not using video to explain your value proposition
Even if your technology solves your customer’s most pressing problem, if they don’t get how it works, they will not buy it. The easier you make it for the customer to understand your solution, the more users you’ll attract. New ideas are best explained using video! Having an animated video on your website is proven to increase conversion rates.
5. Not knowing your numbers (LTV, CAC, Conversion rates)
You’d be surprised but a lot of SaaS businesses don’t go beyond tracking their monthly recurring revenue. Knowing Customer Lifetime Value can tell you how much you can spend on acquiring new customers to still make a profit.
6.Neglecting the onboarding process
If you are experiencing a high churn shortly after users subscribe, there’s a high chance your users feel left alone and don’t see how to use your app to get the benefits that they’re after. Training videos or tutorials can help users understand the UI, but to really get them hooked, you need to take them by the hand to reach the first milestone. Creating a short relevant in-app or email course with a gamified experience will make your solution more engaging, increase your daily app usage and decrease the churn during the free trial period.
7. Not retargeting users who bounce off the website
Using only a cold audience, with no retargeting usually results in poor performing campaigns. Statistics are clear on this: website visitors who are retargeted are 300% more likely to click on your ad and 70% more likely to purchase from you. By running retargeting ads you can rescue sales that would otherwise be lost.
8. Not analyzing users interactions with your website and app
Using software such as Hotjar or CrazyEgg you can record user interactions with your website or software. In what almost looks like a camera recording you can see which parts of it they interact with and where do most of the users lose their interest. This market research data is invaluable both for making marketing and product development decisions.
9. Not using cohort analysis to see how new features and marketing campaigns affect lead conversions and user retention.
Every time you implement a new feature or a test campaign, you create a new unique group of users that had a different experience with your brand. Because of that, they will behave differently resulting in different conversion rates and churn/retention rates. To make an accurate evaluation of the impact of the implemented elements, you should analyze each cohort of users individually, for example using Google Analytics Cohort Report or Firebase Cohort Report.
Also, always make sure you’re tracking results on at least two different platforms. This can show gaps or tracking errors and give you an accurate picture of your marketing performance.
10. Not running periodic Conversion Rate Optimisation split tests on your website/landing page.
Do consider this. Once you are getting enough traffic to your website, you can start running A/B tests to increase your conversion rate that can yield statistically significant results. Keep in mind that even a small conversion lift from 5% to 10% means 2 times more profit for your business!
If you are you ready to take your business to the next level with a trusted marketing partner, let’s talk!
Our Marketing Experts at LeadGenomics with over 20 years of combined experience help Technology Startup Founders market their Web or Mobile Applications using ROI-focused Data-Driven Market Research, Digital Advertising, and Conversion Rate Optimisation.
Whether you need to grow your user base, increase your Customer Lifetime Value or lower your Cost of Acquiring a Customer, our proven strategies, risk-reducing market research and systematic testing process give your application an unfair advantage in the ride to market domination!
