Top 3 Marketing Tips for new Technology Startups

(1) Profile your target customer. This should be a paragraph description of everything you think or hope about this person. (2) Think about credible sources for that target audience. Where do they get their insight, decide what is cool, or go to for answers? (3) Look at non-interupt ways to reach your audience based on your research on the two items above.

There is some significant research that shows interupt based marketing (email, direct mail, cold calls, anything that yanks the person from what they were doing to your message) is decreasingly ineffective.

Interest based marketing - social media being just one possibility - may appear to be a less agressive method but is a far more effective method to reach real prospects and to build your brand.

Nice post Ed (sorry, can't comment yet)

1. Build an exceptional user experience. Word of mouth is everything at an early stage. Yes you need influencers and releationships with the media but they are all for naught if the product doesn't sell itself. - Poll your users on a scale of 1-10 about their satisfaction with the product (this is called a Net Promoter score) with 10 being highly satisfied. If your users aren't at least sevens, go back to the drawing board.
2. Community but let me add to that content. The value of community is multi-layered: establishing transparency and credibility, viral marketing, organic customer support, but also SEO. Create good, authoritative content to supplement your community. SEO everything and Google will quickly surprise you.
3. Network, network, network. This is what I consider the other answers are getting at. Be on twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, etc. But recognize that those channels take time and need work just as going to a conference and networking in the traditional sense is hit and miss. The more you get the word out, the more it will get itself out.

I'll just share 3 ideas using Social Networking. And yes, just pick the current big three. Don't spend time on dozens of smaller sites. Unfortunate but true, you will have more traffic and exposure with a focus on a few key places than spending time on dozens of smaller places.

1) Join Twitter. The latest popular place. Do searches, find people who have similar interests with your product. Follow them. Post tweeds in the subject area (not just your product).

2) Join LinkedIn. Join groups. Add friends with people from those groups that work in your field. Post updates (similar to twitter).

3) Join Facebook. Become fan of some pages with similar interests. Add friends. Post status updates.

I don't think there's something that "every" technology startup should do to get the word out or build traction. It depends on your product, your market, where your target audience is, the vehicles to reach them, what the competitive landscape looks like, etc. "Traction" might mean media coverage, it could mean support from influencers, could mean a certain level of customers/sales.

Maybe it's a copout answer but for me the "what every startup should do" is to make sure you have a marketing plan (whether written or the knowledge in someone's head). Target market, trends, competition, value proposition, unique positioning, target audience, objectives, etc. With that you can define exactly what "traction" means and determine the three most important strategies/tactics to achieve it. And it doesn't mean writing a marketing plan that looks like a book. In some scenarios it could mean just filling in the outline of a marketing plan in a relatively short working session. Just depends.

Best of luck.

As a starting point, before you begin developing marketing strategy and tactics, there are three general elements I believe are crucial to your success. Together I refer to them at the E3 Social Media Strategy, but they would apply to any startup, whether you are devoted to Social Media or not.

Here they are:

The 3 “E’s” are Effectiveness, Efficiency and Efficacy:

1. Effectiveness means “getting the RIGHT job DONE.”

If you’re doing the wrong job, it doesn’t matter how well you do it. If you’re heading in the wrong direction, it doesn’t matter how fast you run. If you don’t know where you’re going, it doesn’t matter which course you follow. The E3 strategy enables you to plan your work, and then to work your plan. Effectiveness is not the same for every company, so there are no cookie-cutter solutions. Be sure to clarify your vision, solidify your mission, chart your direction, and ensure your satisfaction.

2. Efficiency means “getting the JOB done RIGHT.”

If you have the right vision, mission and direction, but you are performing inefficiently, you will not achieve the satisfaction you merit. If you achieve your objectives, but do so at too great an expense, in time or resources, you will have accomplished less than you deserve. If you are spinning your wheels more than is absolutely necessary, you are wasting your energy, time and momentum.

3. Efficacy means the “CAPACITY or POWER to PRODUCE the DESIRED RESULT.”

You have identified your vision, mission and direction; but now you need the horsepower to get there. Furthermore, to justify the cost, to chart your progress and to recognize your destination when you arrive, you must have solid analytical benchmarks along the way — we call them “metrics.” Up until recently, Social Media Metrics have been the most elusive component of strategy execution. The E3 strategy incorporates, relies and depends upon, the best analytical theory and practice, from the best thinkers and thought leaders, that is currently available. Without a tool for testing results, you can never know where you are.

New answer:

• There are two critical elements for growth in a lot of startups - viral spread and partnerships. Both will help you grow your business beyond a specific ROI on marketing dollars. Rarely can you spend your way to the number of customers you want. So that means a great product that makes customers want to tell others...and focusing on companies who have the same target audience that you can leverage to reach them in ways that don't require cash like advertising and many other marketing tactics require.