6. Understand Your Market
• Know who
are you
selling to.
• Know where
buyers look
for info?
• Cultivate &
nurture user
communities.
7. Jon Hoffman
Head of Infrastructure at foursquare
"We're now enjoying email
delivery rates of 96% and have
saved thousands of dollars in
engineering resources."
Customer
References
SendGrid Approach
8. Define Your Brand
• Be Relevant
• Be Consistent
• Be Clear
• Create
Emotional
Attachment
16. Building a Brand
January, 2009 – Begin working on SendGrid
Today
- 150k Customers
- 100b Emails
- 130 Employees
August, 2009 – TechStars Graduate
SendGrid is Born!
December, 2009 – Raised $750k
April, 2010 – $5M Series A Round
Jan, 2012 – $21M Series B Round
Dec, 2012 – 100K Customers
18. Accelerator Partner Offer for
500 Start-up Clients
• Discounted
SendGrid plans
– Free Silver Plan for
6 months (up to
100k emails / mo.)
– $79.95 off Gold or
Platinum Plan for 6
months (up to 300k /
700k emails / mo.)
Ask question – what is a brand?Not product, logo, website or name.What customers perceive about you and how you make them feel.
Question: What is a brand?Good brands:Save time (Nike)Projects right message (BMW)Provides an identity (Apple)Pics to representAsk question: What is a brand? What customers perdeive about you and how you make them feel. Whatever the consumer thinks of when he/she hears your company’s nameFoundation of your communication that builds relationshiops w/ you and your customers.
Nike / Volvo and Apple all big companies with brands that have been developed over time…but what can you do now to help grow your brand?
Issues - Ford did not understand market for Edsel. Never tested concept on real buyers. Priced vehicle in way that actually cannibalized sales from other divisions. Also had reliability issues.Key PointsWho are you selling to? Why would they buy from you?Buyer personasWhere do buyers look for info?Leverage these channels to communicateCultivate / Nurture User Communities
Social Media Marketing Blog posts Social channelsBook – The Referral Engine – Teaching your Business to Market itself by John Jantsch
Examples of brands who are good at defining who they are in the market?Consumers are bombarded by information all day every day. Images pop / various brands / mediums (TV / Radio / Banner Ads / mobile devices)In order to be effective in our information overload economy, you need to figure out what is your brand message.Helps consumers understand who you are / where you sit within the market
Social Media Marketing Blog posts Social channelsBook – The Referral Engine – Teaching your Business to Market itself by John Jantsch
Do: Orville RedenbockerCommoditized market PopcornTurning commodity into a brand and commanding premium price for it. Value prop: Every kernel of corn pops. Search for creation of world’s best popcorn.Quality wins (better product than generic versions)Market purchased b/c found Orville endearing / unique brandHis corn was worth more b/c had a personality
Social Media Marketing Blog posts Social channelsBook – The Referral Engine – Teaching your Business to Market itself by John Jantsch
Quality wins…marketing
Social Media Marketing Blog posts Social channelsBook – The Referral Engine – Teaching your Business to Market itself by John Jantsch
Isaac entrepreneur. Co-founder and CTO for a couple previous start-ups providing web-based application. Familiar w/ boostrapping companies. Became frustrated by lack of services to help companies deliver email.Learned need to validate your market / market opportunity before you do anything. Leveraged online forums to help validate opportunities.
