Speculation is dead.
Creativity is waning.
Start-ups are going back to the basics.
But, don't take my word for it. Listen to what I'm being told. Since the market collapse, we've pitched many start-ups, listened to their marketing ideas, read their draft plans, meet with their CEOS, and this is what they had to say:
1) Planning for Q1 - One start-up we met with said they're leveraging inexpensive resources such as surveymonkey to question potential customers, asking them pointed questions about how they are using social media. The start-up plans to announce the results of the study in Q1, post presidential inauguration.
2) Launching partnerships - Another start-up said they're planning to hold and "launch" the announcement of a newly formed partnership in early Q1 to attract a new audience, also running contests on those partner sites with content from their site as part of the promotions.
3) Product launch - Pushing a product launch out to late Q1 was what a start-up told us is a good idea because it gives them enough time to get past the holiday hangover and find out what's up in the new year. The product is nothing like they have ever announced before and it will enhance their overall offering.
4) Building social media programs - Hey, I'm not talking about hiring some wanna be social media PR guy or agency or just hitting Facebook looking for folks who have an interest in bacon, if you're selling bacon salt (great marketing BTW), but seriously engaging with a social media strategist like Adam Metz to build out a small or big social media program, which is what a former consumer heavy weight said he was doing in advance of his web site launch. Build the base, he told us, make it go viral, if there's such a thing, then turn on the PR.
5) Throwing an event - One of the teams we met with had a short roster of very influential staffers, and was convinced they could create a quick and dirty party around their offering, invite some very key players and put their company on display, with good food and drink, of course. After the party, the staffers would take who they met, and use the phone and Internet to build a relationship with each and every person. Smart marketing.
6) Taking it to the street - One of the prospects already had more than 70,000 users - with very little PR and no marketing. In Q1, they want to take that number to the street and tell their business story, using it as a tool to basically, well, tell their story. No other like solution can match that power, and once their prospects get wind, that company will win, and win, and win, and win...
So often we PR people chronicle our successes as case studies on web sites, or in the next great book, but I think it's as powerful to inspire and let start-ups know what others are thinking of doing now or in the future, minus their company names, to get your juices flowing.
