Marketing Strategies for Startups

This article dives into the crucial aspects of marketing for startups, covering everything from user acquisition and engagement to metrics, product design, and online advertising.

• The author discusses how to calculate cost-per-acquisition for startups, especially those relying on freemium, subscription, or virtual items business models.
• He explores the use of reward schedules to drive engagement, referencing the comparison of humans to lab rats.
• The article examines the "death spiral" phenomenon in social networks, where Metcalfe's Law can work against the network's growth.

User Acquisition Marketing

This section focuses on strategies for acquiring new users, recognizing it as a key challenge for web entrepreneurs alongside product development and financing.

• The author highlights the importance of understanding the "viral loop," which serves as the engine of adoption for a product.
• He emphasizes that relying solely on Adwords is insufficient for success in the consumer web space.
• The article analyzes the effectiveness of social network marketing, offering insights on reaching critical mass.
• The author also delves into "go-to-market" strategies for vertical social products.

Engagement Marketing and Product Design

This section discusses how to design engaging experiences for users, drawing inspiration from game design and analyzing consumer behavior.

• The author provides a list of reasons why users stop using products, offering an analysis of customer lifecycle.
• He explores the effectiveness of Facebook Apps, highlighting why they often focus on fun rather than utility.
• The article addresses the importance of user retention, analyzing different scenarios for retaining users and the pitfalls of relying on notification-driven retention.
• The author delves into the design of social spaces and the challenges of maintaining clean friends lists in social media.

Freemium and Online Advertising Marketing

This section explores the unique characteristics of social web products in relation to online advertising and monetization strategies.

• The author examines the factors that influence advertising CPM rates and identifies practices that lead to poor monetization of social networks.
• He analyzes the "free to freemium" model, drawing lessons from YouSendIt.com.
• The article covers the concept of data portability, examining whether social network data is valuable or not.
• The author discusses the role of behavioral data in online advertising and how it can be used to enhance ad revenue.

Marketing Metrics

This section emphasizes the crucial role of metrics in guiding web entrepreneurs, particularly in the context of building a data-driven business.

• The author addresses the potential downsides of relying solely on A/B testing, especially in relation to product quality.
• He outlines steps for building a metrics-driven business and emphasizes the importance of measuring the benefits you provide, rather than just the products you sell.
• The article discusses the use of "Recency Frequency and Monetization" (RFM) to optimize notification strategies.
• The author analyzes how to measure user satisfaction using cohorts and revisit rates.

Media and Games Marketing

This section focuses on the evolving landscape of traditional media, including TV, music, games, and movies, as they navigate the digital transformation.

• The author examines the challenges facing traditional media in the transition from analog to digital.
• He analyzes the virtual goods market and its relevance to web entrepreneurs.
• The article compares MySpace and Facebook, analyzing both traffic and ad revenue using Google Trends.
• The author discusses the cultural differences between the gaming and web communities.

Entrepreneurship and Startup Life in San Francisco Marketing

This section offers insights into the entrepreneurial ecosystem in San Francisco, based on the author's experiences.

• The author provides tips for meeting people at industry events.
• He explores the question of whether web startups are wasting time by solely focusing on early adopters.
• The article delves into the topic of building failure-tolerant systems, using examples from companies like Google, IDEO, and 37Signals.
• The author also shares tips for finding a co-founder.