Hey GirdleyWorld,
Hope you had a great week! This issue I want to break down an amazing framework from an amazing book. And it solves one of those problems that every business has…
- How to find the best marketing channels for your business
Let’s dive in!
(By the way: thanks to all of you, we’re now at over 21,000 GirdleyWorld readers! If you want to get your company or product in front of that audience… sponsor an issue! We put the revenue back into producing more helpful and positive content. Reach out to ty@girdley.com for more info.)
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Everybody’s gotta market
A business is only as healthy as its ability to make customers aware of its offering.
If people don’t know about you, they aren’t going to buy from you.
Enter marketing, which is generating awareness in the market.
Here’s the stupid simple system I’ve used repeatedly to build marketing channels that work.
The Bullseye Method
This comes from an amazing book called Traction by Gabriel Weinberg. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read on marketing for early-stage companies.
It gives you a clear method to find your first few customers and absolutely nail product-market fit.
(Not to be confused with Traction by Gino Wickman… which is also great, but totally different!)
Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Cast a wide net
The Bullseye method is a process of narrowing down your marketing options.
So first we go wide.
Start with this list of the 19 different “traction channels”, or ways you could generate awareness.
Then brainstorm 1 possible marketing idea for all 19 channels, and define success for each idea.
- Blogs
- Publicity
- Unconventional PR
- Search Engine Marketing
- Social & Display Ads
- Offline Ads
- SEO
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Eng as Marketing
- Viral Marketing
- BizDev
- Sales
- Affiliate Programs
- Existing Platforms
- Trade Shows
- Offline Events
- Speaking Events
- Community Building
You should now have 19 different “possible” marketing ideas. Next we’ll put them in the Bullseye.
Step 2: Triage your ideas
This is where the “bullseye” comes in.
All of the ideas you came up with in Step 1 are the outer ring of “What’s Possible”.
Now it’s time to promote some of those ideas to “What’s Probable”.
Some of this triage will be obvious. But it helps to understand what channel strategies have worked in your industry, and the history of other companies in the space. Talk to people with experience.
And remember: you don’t have to get this perfectly right.
Step 3: Cheap tests
Once you’ve promoted a handful of ideas from “possible” to “probable”, pick 3 to 5 of them and run some cheap tests against them.
Cheap tests should cost $1000 or less, and take no more than a month.
Make sure your tests answer at least the following 3 questions:
- How much will it cost to acquire customers through this channel?
- How many customers are available through this channel?
- Are those the kind of customers you want right now?
The results tell us what will possibly work and where to dig in further.
Step 4: Laser focus on a single channel
By now you’ve collected some data on your “probable” channels.
Next, pick the most successful test and explore it completely. Wring every bit of traction out, and figure out how to optimize your growth.
Iterate on your ads, time of day, customer characteristics, etc. Explore those variables to see how to make the most of that channel.
Data collection is crucial at this point. Find tools to answer the following questions:
- How many prospective customers are landing on my site?
- What are the demographics of my best and worst customers?
- Are customers who interact w/ support staff staying longer?
Step 5: Use what you learn
This is the step where many businesses don’t close the loop.
You’ve spent time and money to learn valuable information about your market… so feed that back into your product development.
In other words, use your marketing data to inform the product you’re building.
Sales and product development have a symbiotic relationship. Each side informs the other.
If you’ve learned that green-eyed men don’t buy decaf, stop developing your green-eyed decaf blend.
Two final thoughts
- Failure is progress. Keep in mind that even if your marketing experiments fail, you’re still collecting important data. Poking holes in your model is a good habit that will keep you on your toes.
- Dig deep, not wide. It’s tempting to constantly start new projects. But if you strike gold in a channel, mine it completely before moving on. In my experience, most businesses only have 1-2 really high value channels. One channel will REALLY work and deliver 70% of the outcome from marketing. A second channel will KINDA work and deliver 30% of the outcome. The rest of the 19 won’t move the needle at all.
What I’ve written here barely skims the surface of Gabriel Weinberg’s book. I can’t recommend it highly enough for anyone on the quest for customers.
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Three things from this week
Appetizer: This is the most painful mistake I see when starting a new business: Playing House. (I’m experimenting with shortform video. What can I do better?)
Main: I love it when my cohosts drop knowledge bombs. Heather Endresen gave us a masterclass on buying Med Spas on this week’s Acquisitions Anonymous.
Dessert: You can’t argue with McDonald’s. Right near the top for both revenue per store and # of stores. But Holy-Closed-On-Sundays look at Chick-fil-A’s revenue?! (From the Chartr newsletter, read more or one-click subscribe)
That’s it for this week!
My question for you: what framework do you keep going back to in your business? Send me your systems!
See you next time,
Michael
