While working with a few Buenos Aires startups over the years, I picked up a few tips that, compiled together now, feel like they could have come right out of the Lean Startup handbook. Some of the most valuable to me have been:
- Just because your startup is online, it doesn’t mean that you will find your customers online. It surprised me how many small businesses and services in Argentina have little to no web presence. The preferred marketing method seems to be word-of-mouth occasionally supplemented by a Facebook page. So if those business owners don’t have their own products online yet, an online pitch might not reach them. In that case, it’s up to you to find a way to make direct contact. Some alternative routes could be trade shows or fairs relevant to your niche market, well-read publications in the industry, and telemarketing. You’d be surprised how many people are happy to take a call from someone who can solve a problem for them.
- Your clients might not be looking for YOU online. And so Google Ad Words might not work for you the way it could for another startup. Test keywords and keep track of click-throughs, but if the traffic that they’re generating isn’t valuable, scrap it and try something else.
- Sign-ups are still a long way from conversions. Someone clicks on an ad or finds you on Facebook, and signs up: great. But until they start paying you, you have to keep marketing to them, communicating with them, and showing them the value of your product or service.
- Build less. Measure everything. The classic lean startup mentality. Don’t offer prospective clients your first born or every minute detail that might make them more likely to pay for your product. Try out small, controlled experiments, and see what works.
