Getting First 1000 Users is Easy; Marketing 101 [Part III]

This is the third part of a three part series on getting the first 1000 users. Read the first and second part.

Get PR

PR can seriously make your company’s launch effective that’s because getting attention in notable publications helps you get early exposure for your brand.

• Identify publications that would potentially write about your launch
• Gather information about specific reporters to pitch
• Start developing relationships with these reporters as early as you can
• Craft a message that is interesting, novel, and will catch the reporters’ attention
• Follow up

Remember, if your start-up solves a problem that others have tried and failed to do, harp on it. Google+ targeted Facebook’s privacy settings. Apple targeted Window’s viruses in their commercials. PR people love to cover such news items.

Offline presence

Create offline presence by attending relevant conferences and networking events. The goal here is to build relationships with your target market and potential partners. Despite launching in the online world, developing a physical presence can attract a lot of attention. One great way to reach out to early adopters is to attend events focused on new start-ups.

If you have a prototype ready, participate in some of the competitions that may help you showcase your product to rest of the world. Through Twitter, LinkedIn and other sources, find out relevant contacts near your vicinity, go and meet them. Believe me; they will be more than happy to support you. Offline presence and conversations is probably more effective than online connections in India.

Facebook Ads and Google Adwords

Learn the tricks as this can get lot of people if you are ready to pay some amount.

Don’t forget

Whenever someone gives you their email address, you should have a series of emails that get sent to them on a predefined schedule – don’t make it irritating though. Whenever someone likes your Facebook page, ensure that every time they log into their Facebook, you are visible. Easier said than done- right?

Done?

By now, you should have got more than 1000 users. If you don’t get a good response after doing above activities, you should take a step back and plan something else.

But believe me, that would not happen; this medicine should work in all the cases unless you do it crappily.

This article is largely applicable to product / service focusing on mass – market. Want more suggestions. Get in touch with @pllv on twitter.

About the Author

Pallav Parikh, a corporate professional with 10 years of experience intertwined with 3 attempts at starting up. Pallav is an avid reader about the startup space and especially in the internet domain.

Twitter handle: @pllv