Micro Product Marketing Insights: February 2022

Release Date: February 28, 2022

Good Morning,  

Hope everyone had a great February!  

Recent blog post: Revenue Engine: A model you can build today to win and grow customers 

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Newsletter word count: 683 words (~3 min read)

📈 8 MICRO [PRODUCT MARKETING] CASE STUDIES 

[1] Win more users on the first day they use your product by helping them visualize the outcome.

Zenefits shows how it can help you onboard any new employee through its HR operations platform. Their in-product interactive demo shows the potential final state offering the gentle push for new users to complete the initial set-up.

Read more here 

[2] Use discounts smartly to reach your product goals like activation, new habits, long-term use.

Examples of discounts for product goals – Activation: offer a discount on an annual subscription vs. a monthly one. Product Use: choose ‘get 25% off if you buy 10 or more’ over ‘get 25% off 1st order’.

Read more here 

[3] Link your pricing directly to revenue growth (vs. user count) to improve net revenue retention.

In the B2B SaaS world, charging your enterprise customer per user may grow your revenue initially but will gradually saturate. Stripe and Shopify use this insight to “charge a percentage of payments volume” – something directly linked to a customers’ revenue growth.

Read more here 

[4] Tweak an existing category vs. creating a new one, if possible, to corner a market segment quickly.

People were familiar with thermostats even before Nest entered the picture. The company simply added ‘learning’ before thermostats to own an entire sub-segment of an established category.

Read more here 

[5] Boost revenue by customizing your interactions with new customers to reflect their purchases. 

RevZilla, an online motorcycle gear retailer, uses 12 different welcome series iterations based on customers' riding styles. This directly led to a 39% Y/Y increase in their revenue.

Read more here 

[6] Track organic behaviors that form when customers use your product to dictate your next feature.   

Facebook Marketplace was a direct result of employees observing people buying, selling, and trading stuff within their niche communities made possible by Facebook Groups.  

Read more here  

[7] Add a public referral leaderboard to showcase users and drive new referrals within your product.

The largest ag-focused tech platform in China – PinDuoDuo – highlights the users making the most money through referrals. This created a fear of missing out among existing users and increased referrals.

Read more here 

[8] Run ads to test different messages and demand potential before building any product.

You’re likely to explore various spaces to find your initial product/market fit as a startup. Start with a small budget for ads to discover which messages lead to sign-ups before writing any code.

Read more here

📚 2 BOOKS & THEIR TOP 3 INSIGHTS   

[1] “Founder Brand: Turn Your Story into Your Competitive Advantage” by Dave Gerhardt

  • Tell your backstory as a founder and the problem you’re solving to compete smartly in crowded markets.

  • Go after a villain after determining a niche based on your target customer.

  • Become a publisher across different outlets (social media, industry events, podcasts) to let your story sink into your audience’s psyche. 

[2] “Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love” by Marty Cagan

  • On REFERENCES – Use references to determine if you have product/market fit. For a B2B company, you need to aim for at least 6 reference customers. On the order of 10-50 for B2C. 

  • 5 CLEVER USES OF ANALYTICS – (1) Understand user and customer behavior. (2) Track product progress. (3) Test product ideas. (4) Dictate decisions. (5) Inspire work.

  • On DATA COLLECTION – Anonymize by default. Questions to focus the data – (1) What do we need to know about product use? (2) How can we collect it? (3) How do we report it?

🧠 10 CURATED BUSINESS THINK PIECES 

[1] Irrational Growth Expectations: The horror, the horror of the Peloton not-even-plateau

[2] Because Your Algorithm Says So: Examining our (sometimes toxic) relationship with our AI overlords

[3] Generation Mute: When silence becomes a trend

[4] Labor Supply & the Attention Tax: On declining labor force participation for men between ages 20-34

[5] Digital Advertising in 2022

[6] How Tumblr became popular for being obsolete

[7] Why is Silicon Valley still waiting for the next big thing?

[8] The Art of the Deal: How money shapes art

[9] How one company took over the NFT trade

[10] The psychology of your scrolling addiction

Feel free to reply to this email to share your feedback on the newsletter.   

Keep Learning and Carry On!   

Regards,

Bryan Elanko

“Apply new product marketing insights from fast-growing companies”


Sign up for my free MONTHLY NEWSLETTER to apply new product marketing lessons from the fastest-growing companies:📈 8 micro case studies 📚 2 books & their top 3 insights 🧠 10 curated business think pieces.

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Micro Product Marketing Insights: March 2022

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Micro Product Marketing Insights: January 2022