How to Test Your Startup's Marketing Launch Plan Without Breaking the Bank.

Chandra JacobsDirector of Product Development Boston Office

Jason McDonald DirectorParis Office

stringcaninteractive.com

@StringCanEU

stringcaninteractive.fr

@StringCanEU

Web Series Recap • Episode 1 - MVP –Building your Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

- 4 Critical Questions your Lean Startup Hasn't Answered.

• Episode 2 - BETA –How to go from MVP to Beta: Developing a

Product Investors will Fund.

• Episode 3 - Launch –How to Test Your Startup's Marketing Launch

Plan Without Breaking the Bank.

Where we will Focus Today

MVP Beta Launch

Leads Acquisition

X Leads!

Lead Acquisition Strategy

• Know your ideal users– Based on MVP and BETA testing ID your ideal

audience

• Focus on Strategies Focused on Your Audience – You strategy has to engage your ideal

audience and get them to act.

• Test your strategy–Use small case studies to test your

assumptions.

Case Study tripchi

1 Million potential leads

For Hong Kong launch

• @tripchi• www.tripchi.com

1 Million Potential Leads Hypothesis –We can build an email marketing list

of 1,000,000 organically through social media

–This will be a cheaper strategy than buying the list.

Facebook Ads Methodology

• Set up a landing page for signups • Identify Facebook pages/groups that target

customers have interest in • Set Bidding • Set up Facebook targeting: – Geography targeting to APAC – Demographics to 21-65 – Language = English (for now) – Life Events that indicate travel – Interest in Air travel – Behaviors of frequently traveling

• Run 5 different ads varying copy/pictures to A/B test

Facebook Landing Pages

What’s your hook? How will you get them to weed themselves out?

Creating the ad (1 of 3)

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• Make sure to add code to the landing page so Facebook can track conversions

• You don’t have to buy images – Facebook has a Shutterstock gallery to use

• Don’t forget to connect you Facebook page

Creating the ad (2 of 3)

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Choose an image – use the Facebook stock images

Creating the ad (3 of 3)

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• We’ll cover the targeting (Audience) and bidding in the next section• Make sure to choose “optimize for click”

Facebook – pricing (bidding)

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This is our sign-up action – script embedded on website to

track

Facebook – targeting (0 of 3)

Facebook Prospects Page LikesHave Been here

Hong Kong Int'l Airport (unofficial) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hong-Kong-International-Airport/111970368819399

117305 4505475

Hong Kong Int'l Airport (official) https://www.facebook.com/hkairport.official 20361 378

Hong Kong (official) https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverHongKong 783,010

Hong Kong (unofficial) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hong-Kong/113317605345751#

653639 7065397

The Peninsula Hong Kong https://www.facebook.com/ThePeninsulaHongKong 68163 106764

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong https://www.facebook.com/MandarinOrientalHongKong 26956 75017

Cathay Pacific https://www.facebook.com/cathaypacific?brandloc=DISABLE 902,531 297,297

What'sApp https://www.facebook.com/whatsapp.official 16,657,513

Plaza Premium Lounge https://www.facebook.com/plazapremiumlounge 18,050 17,073

Cathay Pacific Lounge - HKhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cabin-Cathay-Pacific-Lounge/191511154213053 1,297 38,981

Zuji https://www.facebook.com/zujihk 124,602

WeChat https://www.facebook.com/wechatapp 3,037,039

Interesting groups Members

Hong Kong Expats https://www.facebook.com/groups/2257668489/?ref=br_rs 7599

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Facebook – targeting (1 of 3)

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Can target by:

• Geo• Age• Gender• Language• Life Events

Facebook – targeting (2 of 3)

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• More Demographics

• Interests

Facebook – targeting (3 of 3)

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• Behaviors

Facebook Targeting

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Facebook – best performing

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Facebook Trial Results – Best Ad• CONVERSIONS: 67• REACH: 15,563• FREQUENCY: 6.35• TOTAL SPENT: $20.80• CLICK THRU RATE: 0.145% (best performing ad)• AVG. COST PER CONVERSION: (CPA) $0.31• # added in my database: 4 (see explanation next

slide)

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Target signups Cost # to target Spend 1000000 CPA (signup) (trial) $0.31 689,655,172 $310,000.00 CTR (trial) 0.145%

Spend $310,000 to acquire 1,000,000 sign-ups on Facebook

What I learned• This image performed the best

– Targeted at men AND women

• This image performed the worst– I was able to deactivate my 3 worst performing ads after a few days of running

• Facebook has a variety of stock images• People clicks Facebook ad, got to landing page, but weren’t signing up

– Only 4 people have hit my Mailchimp list– I tweaked the copy on the landing page to encourage a higher conversion

rate– This could also be because I require a double opt-in

• Tip: fiddle with copy/images in the Facebook ads real-time (mid-campaign)

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Twitter Ads Methodology• Set up a landing page for signups (already did this for

Facebook)• Run two types of Twitter ads –

– Interest based– Keyword based

• Identify Twitter pages/groups that are target customers have interest in

• Set up Twitter targeting around these groups, as well as other key categories like:– Geography - VERY LIMITED– Language - English (for now)– Interests around travel

• Set Bidding• Run 2 different ads with different copy/pictures to A/B test

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Twitter trial results

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REACH: 17,641TOTAL SPENT: $49.50CLICKS: 166CLICK THRU RATE: 0.94%AVG. COST PER CONVERSION: (CPC) $0.30CPA CONVERSIONS: 11 (# added in my database) at $4.50 each

What does this mean?

• That we can spend $4.5M USD to acquire 1,000,000 sign-ups through Twitter

• CPA comes out to be $4.50 much higher than Facebook

NOT FEASIBLE

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# to target SpendCPC $0.30 $4,527,272.73

Initial CTR 0.940% 1,605,415,861 Signup Rate 7% 15,090,909

CPA (signup) (trial) $4.50

What I learned

• Twitters ads - easier to and provides better analytics

• But, targeting is limited – especially by geo• Like Facebook, I was able to deactivate my worst

performing ad after a few days of running• Unlike Facebook, there are no stock images• Half way through campaign, Twitter added the

same CPA functionality with the code embedded on your signup page that Facebook has

• Advice for either: fiddle with copy/images in the Twitter ads real-time (mid-campaign) (like Facebook)

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Facebook vs. Twitter Performance metrics

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Facebook ad performance – Market Data

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My ad: CPC = $0.31CTR = 0.145%

Facebook ad performance for top 25 countries (Facebook Ads Benchmark Report)

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My ad: CPC = $0.31CTR = 0.145%

Buying a list of 1,000,000 opt-ins

Opt-in (again) 10%Total to target 10000000Cost per name $0.50 TOTAL COST $5,000,000.00

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Opt-in (again) 3%Total to target 33,333,333Cost per name $0.03TOTAL COST $1,000,000.00

Good list

Not so good list

Recommendation• Hypothesis validated

• Do not buy lists!!!

• Facebook vs. Twitter Conclusion– Use Facebook for Desktop/Laptop with 75% budget

• Better targeting (by geo)• Higher conversions

– Use Twitter for mobile, 25% budget• Twitter performed better with mobile users• Advertise Facebook campaign on Twitter

• Run organic campaign for $350,000– $262,500 for Facebook– $87,500 for Twitter

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4 Must Dos for Launching 1

4

2

3

$ Breakdown Is Your Gate Open?

Learn From HeroinDoes Your House Smell Like Cats?

1#) Dollar Break Down • How much of the budget should you

spend on lead acquisition? –SaaS’s are not traditional businesses–During launch, quality leads are your

#1 and #2 goal

2#) Is Your Gate Open • If you are spending up to 80% of your

budget on leads – your gate can make them all worthless in seconds!

3#) Does Your House Smell Like Cats?

Is your login / setup process easy and fun or like walking into a house full of cats…you can’t wait to leave?• A huge number of abandons happen

during the sign up process. • U/X and Design is a huge part to a

successful launch.

4#) Learn From Heroin • One hit and your user has to have more! –How do you get your users addicted to

your SaaS?–Gamification–Friends –Easy Integration –Amazing Product–Customer service

4 Must Dos for Launching 1

4

2

3

$ Breakdown Is Your Gate Open?

Learn From HeroinDoes Your House Smell Like Cats?

HeadquartersScottsdale,

Arizona European Office

Paris, France

Think the Grand Canyon?

Boston Office

THANK YOU!