Email Marketing doesn’t work
Social Media Marketing (SMM) is not for B2B
Search Engine Marketing, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads are a waste of money
Search Engine Optimization is not for startups
Tradeshows and Events are expensive
Content Marketing is very crowded
We do not want to sound too salesy
We are not ready for community development
We don’t need PR, spending on branding is a waste
Startup founders go through either or multiple of these assumptions or conclusions. Some times these assumptions could also be formed based on opinions from their networks and fellow founders. While some founders can choose to believe others and not test themselves, the inevitable question cannot be avoided by startup founders who are desperate to grow.
How should I select the top scalable marketing channels for my business growth?
Bullseye framework comes to rescue here.
Gabriel Weinberg in his book Traction describes this framework and builds a case for the growth he was able to get for Duck Duck Go using it.
The 19 channels for growth are:
➜ Affiliate Marketing
➜ Blogs
➜ Business Development and Partnerships
➜ Community Building
➜ Content Marketing
➜ Email Marketing
➜ Existing Platforms (Influencers)
➜ Offline Ads
➜ Offline Events
➜ Product led growth
➜ Publicity
➜ Sales Team
➜ Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
➜ Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
➜ Social & Display Ads
➜ Speaking Engagements
➜ Trade Shows
➜ Unconventional PR
➜ Viral Marketing
Using the bullseye framework is fairly simple. You select 6 channels at a time, and run experiments to test them. Shortlist top 3 based on the results you achieve. Write the top 3 in the innermost circle. Then repeat this exercise until you are confident about the top 3 channels which you can keep growing to scale your business.
You’ll know what those 3 channels are when you can define the ROI from investments in these channels very well.
You can be really frugal in conducting these tests. Limit your spend before you start spending aggressively.
Each business can have a different set of channels.
It is not necessary that the same channels which work for your competitors or friends will work for you.
Hence conduct as many experiments you can.
How many channels have you tested for your business? Tell me in comments below 👇
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