Successfully sailing the seas...
There are countless ideas for the next great app, world-changing technology or ways to solve complex market needs. So why do some make it to market successfully, while others never get out of the harbor?
It’s often not the quality of the vessel. The standardization of design and manufacturing platforms create a level playing field for creators. Engineering schools are turning out brilliant minds daily.
So what are the reasons Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Reid Hoffman and others were able to create awareness, shape perception and drive results to successfully navigate across the ocean?
Everyone wants to see their new product or company on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, the lead story on Tech Crunch or mentioned by Quinten Hardy in the New York Times. “Just right me a press release, so we can get into the major dailies,” they cry.
I’ve sat in countless meetings with some brilliant minds over the past 15 years. I’ve heard this expectation being repeated many times. I have never seen it happen, despite knowing journalists at each of these publications. It never happens because a PR pro simply creates a press release. That doesn’t mean you don’t needa press release, it means there is more to the game.
There a few CRITICAL elements you need before you draft that all important release.
The first thing you need is a PLAN. This is what Jobs, Zuck, Hoffman and the rest had. The PLAN should answer important questions like; who will buy your product and why? If you are selling a product into the enterprise, (a b2b play), is demand generated by fear? If it is, a different plan is required than if you are selling to consumers, (b2c), who may purchase on appeal, sparkle, or desire. What if you are selling b2b2c, the ocean is now more complex.
Knowing this will determine your target audience? What if they don’t read the New York Times? Why would you want to be where your target audience isn’t? Sounds simple. Makes a lot of sense, right. Then why do I continue to hear this false expectation?
The public relations and journalism milieu is an ever-changing ecosystem comprised of over 300,000 influencers, all of whom are tasked with entertaining and enlightening a dynamic, often jaded audience. If you want to be in the WSJ, then you better have a story that will entertain and enlighten a million readers in just a few minutes. Plus the editor has 1000 pitches a day sent to them. When you look at the challenge in these terms, hiring someone on Upwork to write a press release is like bringing a water pistol to the gunfight at the OK Corral.
Creating awareness for your product or company deserves the same patience and respect as any other investment. Here are the three most common go-to-market mistakes tech entrepreneurs make:
1. No Plan - Would you set off to sail across the ocean without a plan, a compas,s and navigational tools? Why would you risk the all-important perception of your product, business, and reputation by not having a solid go-to-market plan?
2. Under Capitalized: There are two ways to be under-capitalized, 1) No money to invest in the professional marketing and services required to successfully launch. If you want to buy a new car, do you go to the dealer and say, “I put all my money into getting to your dealership, so let me drive one of your cars for free for awhile, then when I have money I will pay you it?” How long do you think you would last on the dealer’s lot? Yet, this is very request I hear from technology entrepreneurs all the time. If you have put all your money into the development of the product and cannot afford sales and marketing, you need to either sell that idea to someone who can, or raise funds to create a company to launch it properly, AND 2) intellectually under-capitalized. I once had a client who was moving from a traditional industry into a digital industry with a really good product idea. The problem was he had no digital footprint; no website, no LinkedIn profile, no Twitter account and no idea how to present his new offering online using Go To Meeting. But he was sure he was all ready to launch his new product to an important client group.
He worked hard on his Powerpoint presentation and made countless phone calls to the prospect. Then when he was finally invited to a face-to-face meeting to pitch no one had business cards to give him. He had spent months fighting to get this meeting and had not developed a way to understand, condition and follow-up with his audience the way they expected. Yet this was where his prospect lived and did business. He was told to set these elements up and play the game the way his target audience expected, but he did not. He wanted to be a digital company, yet not act like one. The result was a not good. As Mark Twain once quipped, “It's not what you don’t know that will kill you, its what you know for sure that will.”
3. Wait Too Long: It takes the proper amount of time to create the right plan, research the market, develop the messaging, test and refine, define and condition the media and build the tools required to successfully launch your product or company.Waiting a week before you want to launch falls into the intellectually undercapitalized category.
Even with all the right plans and tools, there is no guarantee that you will successfully navigate the seas and launch your product in such a way to create the results you desire. But isn’t it better to set sail with a properly funded plan and experienced sailors?
