Startup Launch Marketing
I think there is a lot of confusion over what the word “launch” means and what marketing things a startup should be doing when they launch.
I don’t believe that demoing at an event like TechCrunch Disrupt is equivalent to a launch. Nor do I believe that a launch ends the moment your product/service is generally available to the public. I’ve done a bunch of launches (5 at startups and 2 new businesses inside a larger company) and I’ve seen a lot of things that worked and didn’t work. In my opinion a launch is a multi-phase event that has distinct phases and there are different things you do at each phase.
I was chatting with a startup founder about this last week and sketched this out. Here’s the picture I came up with:
Note that every stage is inclusive of the previous stage – you continue to do what you were doing pre-release, after you have released, you just add a set of new tactics. The same happens when you move from release to post-release.
Some notes on this:
The idea here was to capture the purely marketing tactics that are executed at different phases of a launch. That doesn’t mean that these are the only things marketing is working on. For example, I would expect marketing to be involved in product development and definition (particularly pre-launch), pricing, channel strategy, etc. That said, I’m sure I’m missing tons of thing that should be on this graphic so please add them in the comments.
I have some big catch-all categories in the graphic such as “outbound lead generation”, and “retention programs” that include multiple tactics (for Outbound that would be things like advertising and tele-prospecting, for retention programs that would include things like User events and rewards programs). Tactics in those categories vary so much from business to business that I thought it made sense to lump them in categories. That doesn’t mean those categories have the same weight as other individual tactics – often they require a huge effort.
There are a bunch of terms on here that might not make sense to people but rather than defining each of them I thought I would just wait and see which ones people don’t understand (sorry, I’m lazy like that). If it’s confusing, ask.
This was inspired in part by Eloqua’s excellent Content Grid which maps content types to a buyer progression. I thought to myself “Hey I should map that for launch marketing activities over the different stages of a launch and make it look way uglier!” and here we are.
I also enjoyed Josh Duncan’s post – A Product Launch is like? that talks about different types of product launches and clearly illustrates the multi-phase nature of a launch.
Category: Startups
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This is fantastic, April. Although it sounds like it should be a cliche, I insist internally that the launch itself is the “start line” not the “finish line”. Sure it’s not entirely accurate, but it does help recalibrate people’s perspective on a launch. Your outer-ring is immensely valuable. My question is, what does “momentum marketing” consist of? That sounds like a class of tactics, not a tactic itself. -Joe
Thanks Joe,
Momentum marketing is a term I picked up at a big company I worked for years ago. The idea is that in the pre-release phase you are talking a lot about the problem that your prospects are having and why there is a need for a solution. In the release phase you are talking a lot about why your offering is a great solution to that problem. Once you have released and you have customers you can talk about how the market has validated that the problem exists and your solution is a good fit by talking about the momentum you have achieved in the market. The proof points for that are things like number of downloads/users, awards you have won, positive reviews of your product, specific customer examples or any other milestone or achievement you can point to to back up your story. There are a variety of ways to get that out depending on your business (traditional PR, blog posts, articles, in your speaking engagements, etc.). I put it there as a separate category because I think it’s an important post-launch step that lots of companies don’t do or do too late.
April
I’m such a fan of this. Would like just a point of clarity – by articles in the pre-release stage you mean PR, and securing coverage, right? (Or inbound marketing, writing blog articles?)
Hi Janet,
I use “articles” here in the most generic form possible. If you are lucky you are getting some coverage in the pre-release stage so that counts but for many startups the only way to get articles out in the world is to publish them themselves (especially pre-release) as blog posts or to write the articles and try to have other outlets (blogs or traditional media) pick them up. It’s becoming easier and easier to write your own press coverage and have publications accept your article as a guest writer or opt-ed because there are fewer and fewer journalists around to write them.
As you move beyond pre-release to release and post-release, your ability to successfully secure coverage goes up (for a startup anyway) but you’ll still likely be doing a lot of your own writing and pushing that out too.
Does that make sense?
April
That was so helpful. Thank you!
You are welcome!
April
Hey RG,
Great post. Nice to see what we’re not doing, that we should be.;) Can you elaborate on what you think some of the objectives & targets (measures) might be used (generically) to track progress for each of these stages?
Thanks.
Clever way to put it, just what I needed to explain what we should do! RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/eRzoCqb
Startup Launch Marketing – A launch is a multi-stage event. This is a framework for startup marketers that shows di… http://htl.li/1dvTs3
RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/ASv067P
April,
Great post and thanks for the mention! Love all the deliverables you have captured here and the graphic.
The only change I would like to capture (not sure how) is the iterative, continuous nature of the process. It might not be technically a launch any more but one of the points I was thinking of with my post is that a lot of launch activities are not a one time event. Now with content marketing, the videos, white papers, demos, etc that you produce at launch may need to be updated and added to during the process along with introducing new material.
Josh
Hi Josh,
I totally agree – I was trying to capture that with the concentric circles – at every stage you add new things but you continue to do the things you did in the previous stages (the focus and content will change). I’m graphically challenged so I’m sure there’s a better way to represent it. Any ideas?
April
I do like the concentric circles – it does a great job expressing the building concept. I am also graphically challenged so should have acknowledged the great job done with a tough concept!
Thanks again,
Josh
LOL – thanks! But seriously, some non-engineering type I am sure would do a better job at this than me but for this blog I’m the all the graphics support I’ve got
April
Great article by @AprilDunford Startup Launch Marketing http://bit.ly/iOwDee capturing the launch marketing tactics
#Startup Launch Marketing from @aprildunford http://ow.ly/5sQWx
blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #startup #prodmgmt
blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #startup #prodmgmt
blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #startup #prodmgmt
blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #startup #prodmgmt
blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #startup #prodmgmt
blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #startup #prodmgmt
The Content Grid v2 provides inspiration for @aprildunford's Launch Marketing diagram. http://bit.ly/lllBCB
The Content Grid v2 provides inspiration for @aprildunford's Launch Marketing diagram. http://bit.ly/lllBCB
RT @aprildunford: blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://bit.ly/l9FBml 3 stages and what you do at each #startup
Thanks! This is great! RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/P9WhJEX
great post and thanks for the mention! RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://rocke.tw/jYAmnW #startup #prodmgmt
great post and thanks for the mention! RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://rocke.tw/jYAmnW #startup #prodmgmt
@meladorri Thx for the call yesterday, sorry I had to bail early. For our idea #1, hava look http://bit.ly/kSqFcf – panelist perhaps?
Great reads: @joshua_d A Product Launch is Like? http://ow.ly/5t2kF & @aprildunford Startup Launch Marketing http://ow.ly/5t2tH
blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #startup #prodmgmt
Startup Launch Marketing: http://bit.ly/jsT2D3
Here are the #marketing tactics that are executed at different phases of a #productLaunch. http://t.co/DxPRkdd #startup
Blog post: a Startup Launch Marketing framework http://t.co/i8YkhEp #startup
Blog post: a Startup Launch Marketing framework http://t.co/i8YkhEp #startup
Good one. RT @aprildunford: Blog post: a Startup Launch Marketing framework http://t.co/i8YkhEp #startup
Great post. I have been using a slightly different launch stages chart, but I really like the way your chart depicts the ongoing nature of the pre-launch stages into the launch and post-launch.
Well done!
I think I will share this with my audience, as well (if that’s okay)
Rick
Thanks Rick – share away!
April
I would draw a rocket at the bottom of the graphic, pointing straight up, and as it climbs to the sky, the circles get larger. And put a monkey in the cockpit too.
LOL – I’m an engineer OK? You are lucky you get any graphics out of me at all, let alone anything fancy!
Wait, does that make me the monkey?
April
no, you can be Princess Leia
Startup Launch Marketing http://bit.ly/koRJcI
thxs! RT @clintonk: Great reads: @joshua_d A Product Launch is Like? http://ow.ly/5t2kF & @aprildunford Startup Launch http://ow.ly/5t2tH
RT @centercode @aprildunford: blog post – #Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/i8YkhEp 3 stages and what you do at each #prodmgmt
RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/BgNDHXW
Fantastic write up! So helpful… RT @aprildunford: Blog post: a Startup Launch Marketing framework http://t.co/6yEgG29 #startup
Startup Launch Marketing | Rocket Watcher: Product Marketing for Startups http://htl.li/5sUfW
RT @aprildunford: blog post: Startup Launch Marketing http://bit.ly/l9FBml 3 stages and what you do at each #startup
[INFOGRAPHIC] Startup Launch Marketing – http://su.pr/2lwIyH
#entirl #client Startup Launch Marketing framework http://rocke.tw/jYAmnW
RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/lrjM5aS
Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/lrjM5aS
[INFOGRAPHIC] Startup Launch Marketing – http://su.pr/2lwIyH
Startup Launch Marketing http://bit.ly/koRJcI
RT @aprildunford: Startup Launch Marketing http://t.co/QQdqjRw
Startup Launch Marketing http://j.mp/lVBPhE
Startup Launch Marketing http://j.mp/mI64a5
Startup Launch Marketing http://bit.ly/k5JERR #prodmktg
Startup Launch Marketing | Rocket Watcher: Product Marketing for Startups http://bit.ly/puxvfV
Startup Launch Marketing http://bit.ly/iOwDee By @aprildunford