Words that come to mind when launching a startup: fear, pressure, excitement, anxiety…really a complete plethora of emotions. Taking a product from 0 users to Facebook status is quite a daunting task.
Folsom Street Foundry – Promoting Post Launch Meetup
This is now my life, working at a startup in San Francisco and having never launched a brand new product to the public. So I’m doing what I can to soak up knowledge and get as smart as I can from others. My good fortune brought me to the Huge SF Meetup last week at the Folsom Street Foundry with the appropriate topic of “Promoting Post Launch”. The panelists included Michael Presysman, Founder and CEO of Everlane, Adam Fishman, Director of Growth at Lyft and Jamie Viggiano, Head of Marketing at TaskRabbit. These innovators have all embraced the challenge of bringing a brand to life and building a dedicated user base into the thriving companies they are today.
The panelists inspired me to think more creatively and push the boundaries when it comes to launching a new product in uncharted territory. Here are a few of my major takeaways from the event.
Empower your community
Lyft realized before launch that their drivers were an asset and differentiator. Empowering the driver community to be the ambassadors of the brand built trust and credibility among riders. At launch (and every city launch thereafter) Lyft took the time to interview every driver to ensure quality. In return, Lyft evokes pride in their drivers by highlighting them on social media and providing driver lounges in each city.
Do whatever it takes to get noticed
Jamie Viggiano explained how the TaskRabbit team has done some crazy stuff to get the brand off the ground. One such assignment Jamie herself took on was to run a marathon as a task on TaskRabbit – now that’s commitment! They even hired a break dancing crew to perform in Union Square to get noticed. Lyft went door-to-door to startups to get the tech community to start using the service. They came bearing gifts of balloons and cupcakes to sway the techies. While this method is not necessarily scalable it worked very well to get off the ground and drive momentum around the brand. Little activations such as these are pieces to the bigger puzzle.
Incentivize users with your unique ‘currency’
Word-of-mouth is the foundation of gaining brand awareness and growing a user base. The give $10 get $10 is already a stale model and comes across a little slimy. While everyone wants a deal you don’t want to weaken your brand value by dishing out money for every desired user action – nor should you have to. The fact is if you have a great product people will want to share it with others. Word-of-mouth is better than a referral incentive any day but referral models can work if you find an innovative incentive. Dropbox found its unique currency by dishing out more storage for every referral rather than money. Lyft didn’t launch with a referral program but just initiated give a ride, get a ride. No restrictions or monetary limit. Find what your users want and deliver.
Powering On 