Roadmap to Marketing Success for Start-ups, Product Launches, or Career Changers

By Maurice Hofmann

Roadmap to Marketing Success for Start-ups, Product Launches, or Career Changers is a different kind of marketing book. In it, battle-tested entrepreneur, marketing, and customer success specialist Maurice Hofmann provides exactly what he promises: pragmatic m

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maurice Hofmann
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781735444109

Maurice Hofmann

Maurice Hofmann is a serial entrepreneur, marketing and customer success specialist, who is known for his innovative drive as well as his ability to lead cross functional teams to achieve the highest level of success. As the Global Vice President of Customer Success at Open-Xchange, Inc., Maurice is responsible to guide OX's customers towards like GoDaddy, Telekom, Orange or TalkTalk highest level of sustainable success. Follow Maurice on Twitter as @moreeze.

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Copyright ©2021 Maurice Hofmann

Disclaimer: The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances, and it should not be relied upon as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking action or not taking action based on the information in this publication. The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020913035

ISBN EPUB: 9781735444109

Editor: Joann Sandone Reed

Index and e-book design: Walter Greulich

Print book design: HMDpublishing

Illustrations: Christian Amouzou

Cover: Mira Falkenberg

Acknowledgements

To one nerd and slightly weird person to another – my wife, Saskia. I don’t know what I would do without you in my life. It’s not easy to find another person who loves to travel and loves nature as much as I do – especially when we can watch it through a window while sitting comfortably on a couch or in a car.

It’s hard to find someone who likes the same weird people we both seem to attract like honey attracts bees. The tech stuff, your future projections of how we one day will live on this earth. Or our son, who is way too fond of certain places and is all over robots. Like, even toothbrushes are robots. Or sticks. Chairs. Vacuums. Anything. Everything.

The weirdness we share. The journeys we take. Expanding our minds one nutty idea at the time. Shoes, shirts, cars, projects… nothing ever shocks you. I love you and love we can share it all – your husband.

To my editor, Joann. Structuring me when it’s needed. Making me feel good about my writing that is at best a Germerican hotchpotch before you sort it out and translate it for all to understand. For creative ideas and the openness for left turns.

And right turns.

And left.

Little more left.

No, right.

Let’s start over.

Oh, I’ve written another book.

Are you ready?

Starting to work with you was easily the best idea I had with all of this. You made the curiosity I had about writing fun. So much so, that we have more, much more to work on.

Let’s keep rocking this, my walking, cycling, running, and skiing friend.

PS: I still don’t get how you like the cold.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

What You Will Learn in Roadmap to Marketing Success

How and Why I Wrote Roadmap to Marketing Success

How to Work with this Book

Reader Profiles for Workstreams

A. Product Launch

B. Launch a Company-Wide Marketing Effort

C. Learn Marketing Essentials and Processes

Why Should You Listen to Me About Marketing?

From PsyOps to Marketing

PsyOps in Action

Interest Yields Insights

Authentic Attention

Confident + Prepared = Upstart Success

Research and More Research

Listen and Learn

Around the World to Home

Introduction

Bake the Cake First

Commit to the Long Haul

Data Drives Success

Know When to Ask for Help

Go-to-Market (GTM) vs. Corporate Marketing

Which Comes First?

Challenges for Marketers in 2021

Empowered Consumers

Channels: All Streams Flow to Your Message

Data Drives Success

Privacy

The European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Impacts Businesses Worldwide

The GDPR Levels the Playing Field

A Few Words About Plans

Types of Plans

Strategic Plans

Business Plans

Marketing Plans

Transactional Plans

Get Started: Create a Go-to-Market (GTM) Campaign

A Quick Overview

First Things First

What is your product or service?

Who is your product for?

Which problems does your product or service solve for your customers?

How Does Your Customer Learn about Your Product/Service?

Where Do You Reach Your Customers?

What is Your Winning Message?

How to position yourself, your company, and your product?

What is your objective?

How do you want to reach your objective?

Do you have a plan?

Have you formulated a strategy?

Strategy

Definition of Strategy

Games are Fun

Two Ways to Market Your Product

Case Study: The Photographer Expansion

Strategy Models

Your Objectives Define Your Strategy

Example: Different Growth Strategies for Different Goals

Scale Dictates Strategy

My top strategy tips:

Marketing and Communications

Time to Get Started!

Segmentation and Why You Need It

Curiosity is Key, Even in the Military

A Little Empathy Goes a Long Way

Be the General

Disloyal Consumers = Opportunity

Build Customer Loyalty via Relationships

Segments and Then Personas

Get Started with Segmentation

The Product

You and Your Company

What Does Your Current Infrastructure Look Like?

Why Should a Customer Trust You (More)?

Personas

The Emergence of Personas

Living Personas

The Purpose of Personas in Marketing

How to Create Personas

Distinctions are the Name of the Game

More Thoughts on Personas

One person can have multiple personas based on behavior or context

People evolve from one persona to another

Personas change during the customer lifecycle

Do not forget about Negative Personas

Marketing and Communication Strategy

New Technology = New Marketing Tools

Integrated Marketing: A Holistic Approach to Marketing and Communication

Basic and Generally Agreed-Upon Rules of Marketing

How to Create a Marketing Communication Strategy

Create Content

Value Proposition

Messaging

Content Marketing Best Practices

Users First

User Needs and Problems

Solicit Feedback from your Users

By the User, for the User

Build a Brand, Not Keyword-Friendly Content

Deliver Value at Every Interaction (Without Talking about Yourself)

Create Content Specifically for Your Target Audience

Personalize Content for Users

Sell Subtly

Focus on Conversions

Wash, Rinse, and Repeat

Content Marketing Terms every digital marketer needs to know

Public Relations

The Reports of PR’s Death are Greatly Exaggerated

Create a Successful Story

Communication Channels

Your Website(s)

Product First

Do not Kill Your Business with Design

Be Creative with Your Resources and Outsource Functions away from Your Website

SEO/SEM: Keywords, Copy, and Messaging for Your Website

Customer Care/Support is Important

Analytics: Measure the Success of Your Site

The Different and Most Common Types of Websites

Your Website Must Generate Leads, or, Why Your Website Cannot Do It Alone.

Generate Leads

The Power of Landing Pages

Content Marketing and Distribution

Test. Test. Test.

Social Media

Definition and Basic Workings of Social Media

Social Media for Your Business

Users in Charge

Why Your Customers Use Social Media to Interact with You

Social Media: Strategy and Objectives

Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals for your Social Media Operation

Listen. React. Engage.

Listen

React

Engage

Social Media Channels

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Snapchat

YouTube

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Blogs

WordPress

Tumblr

Vimeo

Flickr

Communication Objectives and Roles for Social Media Channels

Lead Communication Channel

Secondary Communication Channel

Entertainment / Tertiary Communication Channel

Repository Channels

Get Started with Social Media

Competitive Analysis

Rules of Engagement - Guidance For Social Media

Look at Your Target Audience and Follow Their Lead

Find Your Voice and Be Yourself

Provide Value to Your Audience

You Are a Member of a New Social Group, Behave Accordingly

#-tags, Mentions and Other Tricks to Join and Start a Conversation

Create a Complete Experience that Tells a Story and Features Events

Plan and Automate Your Postings

Example of a Social Media Plan

Follower and Friend Management

Original Content Posting

Content Curation

Social Listening

Strategically Grow Your Followers — Twitter, Instagram

The Right Tools for You

Tools I Use and What I Use Them For Friend and Follower Management

Original Content Posting

Content Curation

Social Listening

Analytics

Honorable Mentions

Winning Followers and Friends

Getting Followers on Twitter

Ask Influencers for Their Support

Enlist Your Family, Friends, and Colleagues

Do Not Buy Followers on Any Channel!

Paid Content and Promotions

Roles and Responsibilities within the Communications Team

Successful Communication Starts at the Top

Communication is a Legal Situation

When a Good Party Goes Bad: Crisis Management

Two Key Crisis Communication Points

Prepare and Execute the Launch

Before the Launch Plan

Kick-off / Planning / Scope

Communication Rules

Preparation / Vendor Briefing / Iterations

Production

Implementation and Set-Up

Launch, Execution, and Monitoring

Post-Launch and Review

Create the Launch Plan

But Wait, There’s More

Customer Success: Your Success Depends on It

Know Your Customers Desired Outcome

Customer Success in Your Company

Customer Success: A Scientific Approach

Measure. Collect. Ask. Test. Start Over.

Analytics

Your Product

Website

Social Media networks and blogs

Customer Feedback

Surveys

Polls

Social Media

Your Customer: The Most Important Data Point

How to Implement the Essence of Customer Success

Executive Buy-In Propels the Success of the CS Team

A Fully Integrated CS Team Makes the Difference

What Kind of Customer Success Team Does Your Company Need?

Why Is Relationship Management So Important?

CS Should Be an Integral Part of Your Sales Operation

How to Measure Success of the CS-Team

Growth Hacking Funnel: The Daily Business of Your Customer Success Team

The Holy Quintet of Customer Success

Acquisition

Activation

Retention

Recommendations

Revenue

Summary

References

Index

Preface

What You Will Learn in Roadmap to Marketing Success

Based on my work with large multi-national firms, I believe there is a problem with current marketing practices. I’ve studied marketing and read scores of books on digital marketing, customer behavior, audience segmentation, and general marketing strategy. I get the sense all the so-called experts have forgotten about the basics. Countless friends who own start-ups ask me to recommend marketing books, but they inevitably return with much of the same questions they had before reading the books. Of course, they learned about their higher purpose in life and great marketing concepts, but not enough about steps one through ten. Business owners want to know what they are supposed to do Monday morning when they turn on the lights. They wonder, what are the steps a talented software engineer, photographer, video producer, or fashion brand designer must take to reach their audience? Like them, you are reading this book because you want to know how to do marketing. Perhaps marketing isn’t your primary profession, or everything you know about the subject came from that one university class many years ago. Or maybe those marketing textbooks are too theoretical for your taste.

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That is where this book is different. It starts with what you should do Monday morning when you open the door and ends with what happens after you’ve launched your product or ran your first successful campaign.

This book covers the steps in a pragmatic and step-by-step fashion and will provide you with the core set of tools necessary to face your go-to-market campaign with the right strategic mindset. You’ll get the operational know-how to turn your strategy into actionable items that will significantly increase your speed-to-market and reduce losses from trial and error. You won’t find a one-size-fits-all collection of marketing jargon here. This book will guide you to the right marketing approach for you and your company, so you can pay the bills at the end of the month or deliver your project on time.

In the first part of the book, I will guide you and your team through a process that builds a strong working foundation and strategy. These planning steps range from rethinking the position of your product and services, customer segmentation, all the way to how to set up your go-to-market operation that will serve as your market and business model.

Once you complete this strategy part, you will find actionable measures and the tools to get the job done.

With this book as your guide, you can focus on getting your brand or product to the market, one step at a time. You will find this and much more in the chapters that follow. Hopefully, at the end of this GTM adventure, you will appreciate the journey and be proud of the outcome.

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How and Why I Wrote Roadmap to Marketing Success

I wrote this book for you. I wrote it to guide your day-to-day marketing effort or help you create your grand marketing vision and strategy. However, I realize not everyone is in the same situation, and, like all of us, those situations evolve. So, I thought long and hard about making this book the best possible tool for a broad range of people interested in marketing who may be at various stages of their professional lives.

To do this, I drank a sip of my own Research, research, research! Kool-Aid and did my homework. Most importantly, I asked people I thought were the potential audience for this book, What do you want from a marketing book? They said, We need actionable, day-to-day, applicable guidance. Tell us what to do that first Monday and what to keep doing to take us 100 Mondays later to our 101st.

Although that request is a tall order and one that may have to be supported by the NY Marketing Academy’s accompanying website and Facebook Page, it led to inspiring discussions and ultimately influenced how I organized this book. To help you get the marketing job done, I laid out focused workstreams that guide you, step-by-step, from creating a strategy to planning and executing a launch campaign.

Please scan the QR code to get to our Facebook Page.

The measures laid out apply to all industries and products, with minor adjustments. Many examples come from the software industry, where I worked for the last ten years. Product innovation, disruptive market entrees, and the start-up mentality culture of the software space are crying out for a book like this. Software is the foundation for some of the most successful and behavior-changing innovations of the past decades. Think Uber, Apple, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Netflix, or any of the top 10 apps you use daily. Software changes our lives every day.

This book is hands-on. If you want to get the work done, this is the book for you. I’ve studied many deep books and research papers on digital marketing and social media, which allows me to compare notes with other professionals and specialists. In Roadmap to Marketing Success and on our website, you will find links to helpful articles about the top tools to automate your messaging, get help for project management, and more.

Please scan the QR code to get to our website.

I wrote Roadmap to Marketing Success so all you have to do is open it and get to work.

How to Work with this Book

The best way to work with this book is to think of it as a tool and daily resource that starts here, right now.

From the profiles described below and based on your current needs, decide which description fits you best. After each chapter, look for activities outlined for three different reader profiles. Follow the steps and action items or workstreams for your category.

At the end of each chapter, you’ll also find links to resources from my website such as frameworks and templates, to help you with your particular workstream.

Reader Profiles for Workstreams

A. Product Launch

I geared this workstream for people who have little or no marketing experience. Follow workstream A for step-by-step guidance for launching your product.

A product launch requires the specific organizational and planning steps I’ve outlined and allows you to skip other activities to get your product