6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups
Good startup marketing starts with good messaging. You can have the greatest product in the world but if you can’t clearly communicate the value you deliver to your customers, nobody will ever be able to figure that out. Here are 6 ways to build better messages for your startup that will lead to better marketing:
- Reduce the number of words you use – People have short attention spans and they won’t read a page of text just to figure out what you do. Take your one page description that describes your key differentiated points of value for your market. Then pare it down to a paragraph. Then whittle it down to 2 sentences. Now tell me in 8 words or less. You need to be able to communicate what you do, why people care, and who the people are that should care in as simple a way as possible. Simple value statements work better.
- Lose your pointless tagline – Why do so many startups I come across have pointless taglines? Some even have great one line descriptions of what they do and then add a completely non-differentiating tagline that not only fails to add to anyone’s understanding of the offering but distracts from the decent description they do have. Follow, forget, fail. If it can’t stand alone than just don’t do it. Write a solid one-line description of what you do and leave it at that.
- Get rid of not just buzzwords but also jargon or overly technical terms – Startups in particular often fall into the trap of using terms that are very familiar inside the company but less so to potential customers. Simple terms always work better in high-level messaging. Remember that in your deeper content (whitepapers, e-books, etc) you will have plenty of room to get into as much detail as you need to.
- Get to the good stuff sooner – Many startups try to cram too much into their high level messages, trying to articulate an overly long list of reasons why customers should buy. Remember the goal in your high level messaging is to help customers determine if they should spend the next 5 minutes with your site. Get the most compelling stuff front and center and there will be plenty of time to go deeper after you’ve convinced the prospect to stay a while.
- Highlight value, not features – inside your startup, you product and development team is very focused on delivering features but your marketing should reflect the value those features deliver for customers. It’s simple to say but I still see many technology startups spending too much time on feature descriptions while spending too little time describing why customers would find those features valuable.
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Blog post: 6 Steps to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd #startup #prodmgmt
April, thanks for a concise list and the reminders. When working with with startups and early stage companies, we often forget about their passion and zeal. However, this doesn’t need to spill over into “crisp” Marketing.
The world would be a better place without “gobbledy gook” techno-jargon as sited by David Meerman Scott. http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/documents/3703Gobbledygook.pdf
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups: Good startup marketing starts with good… http://goo.gl/fb/3zxTZ
RT @aprildunford: Blog post: 6 Steps to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd #startup #prodmgmt
RT @aprildunford: Blog post: 6 Steps to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd #startup #prodmgmt
Wise counsel! RT @aprildunford: Blog post: 6 Steps to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd #startup #prodmgmt
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://ow.ly/2vTDl
RT @BizLaunch: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://ow.ly/2vTDl
RT @aprildunford Blog post: 6 Steps to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd #startup #prodmgmt good article, thanks!
RT @aprildunford Blog post: 6 Steps to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd #startup #prodmgmt good article, thanks!
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups : http://tinyurl.com/2bas3gx via @aprildunford
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
Concise and precise. Good list RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd via @manidoraisamy
RT @ashish_bhagwat: Concise and precise. Good list RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd via @manidoraisamy
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
Excellent points, and amazingly simple, although many people fall back to “Ivory Tower” marketing.
I did a competition a couple of years ago (during US elections) and saw a wide range of quality
http://fivepond.com/2008/09/04/presidential-nominee-demandware
More recently I found an example of extremely poor messaging
http://fivepond.com/2010/07/20/oxygen-messaging-that-covers-everything
RT @sureshsambandam: RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
Concise & precise. RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd via @manidoraisamy
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups by @aprildunford http://ht.ly/2vLVm
Good reminder! 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd #marketing #startups
RT @StephanieTilton: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups by @aprildunford http://ht.ly/2vLVm [Gr8 List!]
@evanpro I think you can do better. @aprildunford writes on that topic: 6 Secrets to Better Mktg Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
Clear & concise!"6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups" http://tinyurl.com/2bas3gx by @aprildunford via @Jim_Holland #prodmgmt
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd Solid advice for ANY size company, IMHO.
#marketing "6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups" http://ow.ly/2BKJR
RT @moniquepowell: #marketing "6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups" http://ow.ly/2BKJR
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/ce4mYR
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
Effective marketing strategies for #startups http://bit.ly/bcjFee #TAOM #entrepreneur #prodmgmt
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
RT @aprildunford: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups | Rocket Watcher Product Marketing for Startups http://revw.us/98Rrnw
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups : http://tinyurl.com/2bas3gx
6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups : http://tinyurl.com/2bas3gx
if you can’t clearly communicate the value you deliver to customers….http://bit.ly/fQbqH9
Good advice. RT @AaronAyer @aprildunford For Start-Ups: 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages http://bit.ly/cvsEFd
A5: See @aprildunford ‘s post, 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups, http://bit.ly/gnfXIG #ProdMgmtTalk
RT @joshua_d: A5: See @aprildunford ‘s post, 6 Secrets to Better Marketing Messages for Startups, http://bit.ly/gnfXIG #prodmgmttalk