Jim Huffman's Growth Marketing Presentation from the 2016 Techstars IOT batch. The presentation was geared towards startups and covers digital marketing, CRO, SEO, social media, growth hacking, email, analytics and how to run your growth process. See more at growthhit.com.

1. @JimWHuffman Jimwhuffman.com
A Growth Marketing
Workshop for Startups
Jim Huffman
CEO of GrowthHit
growthhit.com

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Who is this guy?
My name is Jim Huffman . . .
Techstars Mentor
Co-Founder of GrowthHit.com
Growth Advisor to Universal Standard
General Assembly Marketing Instructor

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When to Call Me?

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If they can do it . . .

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$24B Valuation

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“Try Before You Buy”
Easy adoption for companies. (No
Internal Approval Needed)

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Acquired for
$1.2B

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ONLY Focused on Ruby Developers.
Meetups and T-Shirts VS. Expensive Ads
Free Trials (Only 20% will pay)

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Valuation at
$1.75B

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The Right Distribution
Channel with the Right
Message at the Right Time.

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About those Distribution Channels . . .

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Here are 19 Traction Channels
1. Viral Marketing
2. PR
3. Unconventional PR
4. SEM
5. Social & Display Ads
6. Offline Ads
7. SEO
8. Content Marketing
9. Email Marketing
10. Engineering as Marketing
11. Targeting Blogs
12. Existing Platforms
13. Business Development
14. Affiliate Programs
15. Trade Shows
16. Community Building
17. Sales
18. Offline Events
19. Speaking Engagements

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Increased Demand Makes Channels
More Expensive
Popular Channels with increasing demand result in higher advertising
prices
Getting in before the everyone else gives you the best chance for a strong
ROI.

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Now Lets Talk about
You

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What Part of the Conversion Funnel are
You Focused on?

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How to Find the Right Channel?
1. IDENTIFY: Choose the channels you think will work.
2. TEST: Test channels and track the progress. (Warning: Lots of your tests will fail.)
3. EXPLOIT: Create guidelines as for each channel. (Types of content / Frequency)
4. AUTOMATE: Allocation the right time, money and resources to that channels

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What to Consider When Testing
Traction Channels?
• Biggest Impact
• Free vs. Paid
• Fastest Feedback Loop
• What segments are you targeting?
(80/20 rule)

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What Drives Your Marketing Tests?
Your Revenue Model Determines Your Marketing Channels
NO
• SEO
• Email Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Manual Outreach
• Be Scrappy
YES
• SEM
• Facebook Ads
• Display Ads
• Retargeting
• Branding

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What to Manage Your Budget?
LTV (Life Time Value of Customer) > CAC (Customer Acquisition
Cost)
$2,000 in Facebook Ads = $10,000 in Sales YES!
$2,000 in Gmail Ads = $1,000 in Sales NO.

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Answer These Two Questions
BUT Before You Start Marketing . . .

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1. Do You Have Product Market Fit?
Definition: Product/market fit means being in a good market with a product that
can satisfy that market.
“The #1 company-killer is lack of market."
Marc Andreessen
“You can always feel when product/market fit isn’t happening. The customers
aren’t quite getting value out of the product, word of mouth isn’t spreading,
usage isn’t growing that fast, press reviews are kind of “blah”, the sales cycle
takes too long, and lots of deals never close.”
Marc on HAVING PRODUCT MARKET FIT
And you can always feel product/market fit when it’s happening. The
customers are buying the product just as fast as you can make it — or usage is
growing just as fast as you can add more servers. Money from customers is
piling up in your company checking account.
Marc on NOT HAVING PRODUCT MARKET FIT

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Wait, Do I Have Product Market Fit?
How do you measure Product Market Fit?
1. 40% of Users would be “Very Disappointed” if your product disappeared.
2. What’s Your NPS (Net Promoter Score)?
How would you feel if you could no longer use
[product]?
(A) Very disappointed
(B) Somewhat disappointed
(C) Not disappointed (it isn’t really that useful)
(D) N/A – I no longer use [product] (Survey.io)

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2. Are You Even Ready to Grow?
CONVERSION:
Can you convert a user?
RETENTION:
Can you keep a user?
If your marketing strategy works, are you prepared for traffic???

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Case Study: How TheTake Messed Up
Conversion & Then Fixed It
Under 1% Sign-Ups

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Digital Marketing Crash Course
1.Target Demographics
2.CRO & Website Design
3.Analytics
4.SEO
5.Email
6.Social Media
7.Content Marketing
8.Growth Hacking

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Who is Your Target Demographic?
Groups of individuals who share similar characteristics, traits and motivations for
buying your product. Who is NOT in your target demo?
RESEARCH TOOLS TO USE
Audience Insights (Facebook)
Market Size and profiles
SimilarWeb
Analysis Your Competition
FollowerWonk
Find Twitter Users by bio
description. EX: “Drone
developer”

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Why it Pays to Understand Your
Users?
It Drives Your Marketing
How to find out about a sites numbers: SimilarWeb.com
STRIPE:
Developer First Platform
(Events)
NEW RELIC:
Ruby Developers
(Marketing language)

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CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)
Conversion Rate Optimization Design Tips
Design & Content should solve a problem, answer their questions and/or teach them how
to use your product. Have the least amount of friction possible.
1. State the Main Benefits to Your Users (Do NOT state features)
2. Hero Image or Video that showcases Product
3. Section with Social Proof: Logos of Press, Partner logos, Testimonials,
etc.
4. Clearly List or Show your Main Features
5. A Clear Call to Action with Language on the CTA Button that’s Unique
5 Tips for Your Landing Page According to Optimizely

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Analytics: Where to Start? FREE
3 Things To Do First:
(1) Google Analytics, (2) Google Tracking Links, (3) Facebook Pixel for Tracking

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Analytics: What to Ask?
How are people finding my site, landing on my site?
- Facebook, organic search, another site, blogger, another device, etc.
What are they doing once they are on my site?
- Bounce rate, session duration, invite a friend, search for things, etc.

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SEO: What Googles Care About?

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Search: Your SEO Checklist
Is Your Content/Website SEO friendly? Here’s a check list:
1. Sitemap: A special document created just for search engines. Ycan use sites like
xml-sitemaps.com to generate one.
2. Google Webmaster Tool: Sign your site up with Google Webmaster Tools to
ensure that it’s being indexed and returned by Google.
3. Keyword Research for high volume / low costs keywords (Keyword Planner)
4. On Page Optimization: Keywords on Page, URL structure, Meta Description,
Headlines, Copy, Links in copy. Images (Links, File Name, Alt Text), Strong Word
Count, Optimized for Mobile? (Mobilegeddon)
5. Build Your Backlinks: Build Links to your page through Credible websites (What
backlinks do your competitors have? )
Bonus: Google+, Youtube Account, Twitter Handle & Linkedin Summary write name
of your business
Tools: Google Sitemap Generator, Google Webmaster Tool, Moz, Yoast, SEMrush,
Google Keyword Planner

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Email: Best Practices
• Create a mobile friendly version of your email.
• Design with the preview pane in mind.
• Use Buttons for your Call to Action
• Create a Automated Email campaigns by Segment (New Users, Doormat users, By
segment, etc.)
• Shorter subject lines perform best. (Keep it under 50 characters.)
• Make sure the From name is trusted and recognizable. (Person vs. Company)
• A/B Test every single email
SOCIAL PROOF:
“Suits designed by a NASA engineer”
AUTHORITY:
“Warren Buffet’s #1 Investment Tip”
SCARCITY/DEADLINE
“24 hours left to sign up”
FEAR & ASPIRATION
“7 Biggest Time Wasters for Social Media Marketers”
Subject Line Inspiration

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Social Media: Popular Networks
Facebook: Create a community. Let your customers know who you are. Customer engagement.
Twitter: Short messaging service. Have public “private” conversations. Short life span but immediate.
LinkedIn: Platform for your professional network. Forums, Groups and they own SlideShare.
Pinterest: Visual. Artistic/creative. People can put Pins on Boards. Use to curate what you find
interesting, not just to promote your own stuff.
Instagram: A photo newsfeed. Similar to Pinterest but less browsing, more of a newsfeed. Great for
sharing photos of your work to your followers, content gets stale a lot faster.
Google+: Limited people/traffic, gearing up for SEO impact.
YouTube: Online videos. Create a company channel for customer service, interesting entertainment.
Quora: Question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, edited and organized
by its community of users.
Snapchat: An ephemeral social video messaging platform on mobile.

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FACEBOOK: Frequency
BUFFER’S 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA
FREQUENCY GUIDE
• Post to Facebook five to 10 times per week.
• When a brand posts twice a day, those
posts only receive 57% of the likes and 78%
of the comments per post. The drop-off
continues as more posts are made.

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TWITTER: Frequency
BUFFER’S 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA FREQUENCY GUIDE
• Post to Twitter at least 5 times a day. If you can swing up to 20 posts, you might
be even better off.
• Post to LinkedIn once per day. (20 times per month)

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LINKEDIN: Frequency
BUFFER’S 2016 SOCIAL MEDIA FREQUENCY GUIDE
• 5 Posts per week of 25 words
• Share Industry Insights, listicles and top content

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Social Media Ads: Facebook
STEP 1: Start Testing Custom
Audiences with your Email List
and/or Your Facebook Pixel
STEP 2: Create a Lookalike
Audience from your audience in
Step 1.

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Content Marketing & Distribution
EXAMPLES OF CONTENT:
• Quizzes and Polls
• GIFs and Infographics
• Videos
• Short form content and Lists
• Long Form Content (Thought Piece)
• eBooks

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Focus 50% of Time on Distribution
The Content Marketing Playbook
1. Send to your email list
2. Share on social media
3. Syndication (Outbrain)
4. Send an outreach email
5. Mention an influencer
6. Submit to a content community (Quora,
Medium, StumbleUpon, etc.)
7. Connect with a mentoring/peer group
8. Make it easy for readers to share
9. Focus on the places that get the best
results
10. Paid ads and remarketing
11. Repurposing (New headlines)

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Growth Hacking
What is Growth Hacking?
Sean Ellis (Dropbox) came up with the phrase “Growth Hacker” in 2010 when he
was trying to hire his replacement. Because all the Marketing candidates weren’t
working out.
“A Growth Hacker is
a person whose true
north star is Growth.
” – Sean Ellis

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Wait, So What Does that Mean?
“After product-market fit and an
efficient conversion process, find
scalable, repeatable and sustainable
ways to grow the business.”
– Sean Ellis

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Evernote: Find a New Growth Channel
• App Store = New Distribution Channel
• “We really killed ourselves in the first couple of years to always be in all of the
app store launches on day one.”
• 19,000 New Sign-Ups / Day

45. @JimWHuffman Jimwhuffman.com
Jim Huffman
info@growthhit.com
Twitter: @jimwhuffman