Pre-launch User Acquisition

Editor's Notes

• #3: I’m satit from ghath, have any of you heard about GHATH before? Before the training promotions happened? Yes? No? cool, good things? I hope so. Anyways no problem at all, just before we begin let me give you a quick intro to myself. My name is satit, I’m honestly really new to GHATH, actually just employed, but no worries, if I don’t do well today.. You guys probably won’t see me here anymore :P lol. Just abit about my background. I used to workin HF before joining GHATH and at hipflat I was luckily able to help them grow around 280% within my first 6 months at hipflat, mainly through SEO and including other factors aswell. With them I and GHATH have been able to produce this pre launch user acquisition powerpoint to share with you guys our insights. Honestly, some done my self and some have been things that I’ve learned from others.
• #4: Once you have a product or service ready, you face one of the biggest challenges of a startup which is “how do you actually build your userbase and retain those users?” Be sincere, it’s about them. We want to help every single company here grow. If you have questions just ask us, if we can answer it, we will, if we can’t then give us sometime. We don’t have answers to everything, and we’re not even going to pretend. Our true north is to help companies grow. And sustainably. If you come to us, no matter about anything, please do, we will try to help the best we can.
• #5: And our goal is to help you guys with these services.
• #6: What we hope you will get out of this is And I’ll explain to you what you’ll get out of this and more soon. But this course started becauase of this.
• #7: Movie field of dreams.
• #19: Refine your pitch. It takes time and tests to generate a message that strongly resonates and converts the most customers. Validate a product market fit. If you can’t convert people to leave their email address, you’re going to have a pretty hard time charging them money. Uncover distribution channels. Try directing traffic to your landing page from a number of sources and find out which source generates the most leads. FIND CUSTOMERS. I’ll repeat… This will take LONGER than you think. Start now or face the doom of launching to crickets… especially if this is your first new product.
• #23: Include a demo video to increase conversions by 10-20%. If you can’t include a video, think about including screenshots or interactive demos (if applicable). Use directional cues (e.g., arrows) to point visitors in the right direction. Narrow the options. Avoid outbound links. Make the next step as obvious as possible. Use numbered lists over plain bullets. Odd numbers perform better than even numbers. Keep your keywords in mind and use them in your copy to attract organic traffic. Keep it simple! Don’t use big words, and don’t use a design that’s too “busy,” etc. You want the page to be “scannable”. Don’t forget about color psychology. Use visual blocking. Breaking up the page with design and color contrast helps to organize it. The main image. This likely will be the first thing your visitors will notice, so choose wisely. The call to action. This has to demand attention. It’s the ultimate conversion point. The headline. Tie the headline into the landing page referral source (e.g., ad copy, HelloBar copy) to confirm visitors are in the right place. The benefits. Always list benefits over features. Use bullet points or numbered lists here to increase readability. The proof. You’ll want to note any guarantees, security certificates, and social proof. Highlight positive tweets or your 100% satisfaction guarantee. ALWAYS A/B Test Make the first call to action clear. The sign up area should be distinctly visible from the rest of the page. It shouldn’t blend because a user is NOT going to hunt around for it. Only collect the information you ABSOLUTELY need. The longer a form users see the LESS likely they are to complete it. Limit form fields by asking only for essential information. Preferably, an email address should be all you ask for. Include an incentive. People like to know that they are getting something out of giving up their email address. You can even use early access as an incentive for signing up. Use outgoing links sparingly. Anything that takes them away from the page before they have completed the goal is an unnecessary distraction. You probably have a great blog, an awesome Facebook Page, and a lot more information somewhere… but if I start clicking around I’m not going to come back to fill out the form. Don’t put social links on the launch page… why would people share without even knowing what they’re getting? Include these, but only after they decide to sign up. No 3rd party branding. Make sure that the page is about your business. Don’t allow 3rd party links to steal visitors away from your page. Reward sign ups with more information. Once people have signed up, you can feed them more information. The thank you message and email is where you can push them to your blog, a longer video, or to a survey you want them to fill out.
• #26: Referral thank you page Know what social networks your customers use Know what kind of incentive they want – ideally product related
• #27: Closed Virtual Loop: We looped over referral program via e-mails; which kept the sharer/referrer informed on his progress. This added credence for us and gently nudged the user to keep on sharing. Mailer stats: Average Open Rate: 64% | Click Rate: 31% Our referral program stats: Referral Traffic: 59.68% | Referral Signups: 81.8% 
• #29:  why engaged couples would want to mingle. They’re already engaged. Am I going to exchange wedding tips with others? Weird. The benefit is clarified in the subhead but it’s very small and should perhaps be the headline. “Show your sample” is unclear. I’d be more inclined to get straight to the point: “Get your sample in front of engaged couples looking for wedding services” or something along those lines. The CTA is suitable for someone coming to a wedding so I get why it says RSVP, but I’d rather see a vendor benefit-driven call-to-action.Something like, “I’m attending the Weddingful Party on the 27th!” would also serve as a reminder of the date which is very hidden on the page.
• #30: What I like It looks awesome! Yeah, I know ugly pages convert great too, but the design here makes me want to stare at it and find out what they’re all about. Visual chunking: The page is broken up very well vertically, aiding the consumption of information. Things I’d change or test What is it? I get a rough sense of what the purpose of the company is, but I wouldn’t mind a more detailed description. To prevent the extra copy cluttering the page, it could be opened in a lightbox. Better yet, add a video explaining what it is, how it works and why you should register. Who’s it for? Make it clearer what the demographic of intended customers is. If I don’t think/know it’s for me I won’t sign up. Post conversion social sharing: There’s value in being able to check out the company in it’s social channels – especially when it’s new. However, it would be worth trying moving them to the form confirmation page, so that you’re asking someone who’s already interested in your company, to share your story.
• #31: Great landing page. Very clean and clear with the five essential elements: USP, hero shot, benefits, a single call-to-action and social proof. Here are my thoughts: Excellent headline. It immediately identifies with my need (which would have been established in the ad that lead here). However, if you already ask this question in the ad, repeating it here is somewhat wasteful. You might want to test implementing some Conversation Momentum. This is the idea of starting a conversation in the ad or an email and continuing it immediately on your landing page. In this instance, you could make the headline what you currently have in the subhead: “I can help you set up and manage high performing landing pages in no time!” Your name and details are too small to easily read. I’d be inclined to start your form header from a different perspectivesuch as, “Would you like help with your landing pages?” This establishes the goal of the form and your CTA will make more sense. For even more clarity, you could tweak your CTA to say, “Yes, please help me with my landing pages.” Inline form fields are generally a bad usability practice. Yes, they allow your form to appear shorter, but when your form consists of more than a single field, you can lose track of which field you clicked on (because the label disappears). This often results in having to click outside again to remind yourself what you were filling out. It may sound silly, but it happens to me all the time and it annoys me.
• #32: What I like Freshness: The design (photography, cleanliness and color palette) really exemplify freshness here Massive CTA: What should you do on this page? Dead obvious right? As it should be. Big clear benefit: The 50-90% off makes it clear why you should care. Things I’d change or test Title: Use the word food! Make it super obvious. Unbounce: Send us some free fresh food! :)
• #33: What I like Clean: This is very easy to read. The white background with orange headers and black body text stands out easily and the action is easy to see. Emphasis: Startup Weekend clearly got the memo that bold is a good way to draw attention to important information. Proof: Existing companies that started at a Startup Weekend. Things I’d change or test Leverage Lists: Too much of a good thing is a bad thing; the first paragraph has too much bold. That first paragraph is probably better off as a list. If you step back from the content you can see that the bold is overpowering.
• #34: What I like Straight to The Point: The title is informative and leads directly to the action. What’s the Value: It is important to state what your give away is worth. If you are giving something for free people don’t necessarily think about how much it would cost them to buy the thing you are giving. Function: About the eBook has a concise description of what the book contains, now the visitor knows what they are going to get. Things I’d change or test Order: I would definitely test having Written by appear directly below the action. That makes the eBook more important than the authors, but still offers up the authors as a trust factor at the action point. Benefits: How does this benefit the visitor. Try making Create Video the Right Way more about how to connect to the people watching, or what feelings the non-profit needs to produce. Non-profits in particular rely on emotional and human connections, if you are trying to speak to them you should have some human benefits attached. 1-2 Punch: I would test making this page even shorter. Instead of three rows make the second row two columns: one with function, one with benefits. 
• #35: What I like Iconic: Great icon to start. If that matches your social media avatar you get bonus points. Minimalist: Simple open designs give your content room to breathe. One and Done: One simple action; I think I love you Menucopia. Things I’d change or test Call to Action: That button needs a more compelling action: Join, Get on the List, Be First. Your call to action should be from the perspective of the user and you should be able to add “I want to” before the button’s text. Social Proof: Test social logos in the benefits section. Don’t just tell people you integrate social, show them the logos. More Contrast: The blue text should be darker for better readability, and the button text should be bolder.
• #36: What I like Simple: Clear headline telling the reader where they are. Good Button: The action is tied to the desire to be notified when the launch happens. Support: This is a good second call to action. Usually I avoid second calls, but this is an appropriate use of social out links to let the person decide how they want the notification to come. Oli: I just love the visual design of this page – as a coming soon page, the stage curtains opening remind me of my dad’s theatre. I have a lot of respect for companies that begin their journey with a conscious desire to provide excellence through multiple channels (design, UX, usability) – all of which ultimately lead to conversion. Things I’d change or test Text: The sub-headings all beg the question: “How?” Try using some description of the function that accompanies the benefit described in the sub-headings. Icons: The magic icon is spot on. The other two are a good chance to test different ways to express your future plans. Try showing characters using the appropriate devices, or acting out things related to using the product. Sharing: Test a secondary call to send this page to a friend, or share on Twitter or Facebook, instead of just following (more action oriented than passive).
• #39: Moon shows super constrast in colors Use single color hue for the page with different tones but use an off the charts color for you CTA. Extreme colors shine brighter than others
• #40: They also say forget the rest, follow the arrow! Great for expressing your CTA Arrow points at man.. Man looks at arrows, and man behind looks at man. All arrow cues.
• #41: They also say forget the rest, follow the arrow! Great for expressing your CTA Arrow points at man.. Man looks at arrows, and man behind looks at man. All arrow cues.
• #42: They also say forget the rest, follow the arrow! Great for expressing your CTA Arrow points at man.. Man looks at arrows, and man behind looks at man. All arrow cues.
• #43: They also say forget the rest, follow the arrow! Great for expressing your CTA Arrow points at man.. Man looks at arrows, and man behind looks at man. All arrow cues.
• #44: They also say forget the rest, follow the arrow! Great for expressing your CTA Arrow points at man.. Man looks at arrows, and man behind looks at man. All arrow cues.
• #58: Targeted competitor keywords: Quickens Gets ads for mint.com
• #65: Groupon started in Chicago but it would often expand to new cities based on how well the invite lists were performing. Groupon would allow users to sign up in cities where it hadn’t launched. For Groupon to be successful in a new city form Day 1, it needed enough number of consumers in the new cities to make deals tip. Hence, Groupon would closely track cities where the maximum number of consumers had signed up and would launch its marketplace in those cities, allowing it to hit substantial traction from the start. Groupon successfully expanded into a third market: New York. By this time, says an employee, "we kind of had the playbook we needed to open in another city, another city, another city." Groupon knew, for example, exactly how much to invest in advertising in order to build a sizable subscriber list in a new market.
• #75: Trainwreck Tuesday: Featuring disasters in personal finance, readers were encouraged to submit their own What’s in your Wallet: interviews with people, e.g. what card do you use Q&As: Q&A sessions with personal finance bloggers Guest posts: personal finance bloggers wrote free posts to be published on the Mint blog for a backlink Infographics
• #89: Founders should have a list of all the big relevant events to their potential customers and be there. Don’t confuse this with being at tech events. If your product is a tool to help authors self-publish online, go to the events that THOSE people will be at. Publishing conferences. Etc. 
• #93: This tools here are only a few of the awesome tools available in order to do competitor research. You will be able to find out the sort of things happening in regards to the traffic which each competitor is getting. Use these tools in order to find out where they are from and look to gain some sort of traffic from the same sites. Also you will be able to see the potential traffic that they are receiving in order to plan out what sort of feedback you could possibly gain in return.