Add3

Add3 (www.add3.com)           is an advertising firm focused on Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Media Buying.  Brian Rauschenbach, co-owner of Captain Blacks and 95 Slide, among other ventures, founded Add3 in 2010.  Originally, the company also built websites for clients but has narrowed focus to search advertising.  According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, Add3 is the 12^th largest advertising agency in the area.

Clients are both large and small companies, ranging from Costco and AT&T to Zumiez and Smilebox.  According to IBIS World, Digital Advertising in the United States is a $12.6 billion industry which will grow 6.5% annually through 2018.  Of that, 47% or $5.9 billion is SEM and SEO.  The largest segments are retail, at 27% and financial services, at 18%

From the website it is evident that Add3 is less concerned with the type of client but rather is seeking a client ready to take the next steps toward optimizing their online advertising.  They rely on data and metrics, testing, fast deployment and reporting to stay on top of a rapidly evolving landscape.  From this information, it appears they targeting clients experienced in digital advertising but seeking a next level experience.  Retailers appear to be the largest group of clients but they are not limited to serving those clients.

You Think Marketing for a Startup is No Different?? You’re wrong!!

3 months, several panels, lectures and team meetings and I am only just realizing how different marketing for a startup is than for a large company. You have scarce resources in a startup and every dollar you spend on marketing better not be wasted or its lights out, doors shut. So how is startup marketing different? First off you’re using different channels and you’re hoping to engage your customers more. Twitter and other social media are cheap forms of communication methods that have proven to be effective for startups. Marketing efforts for a startup need to be simple, decipherable and give rise to action. Followerwonk is something new that I was introduced too and is a great tool for startups looking to beef up their twitter presence.

We got introduced to Rand Fishkin and SEOmoz this quarter and I am a huge fan of him of his company. SEO is an important factor for startups and the honesty and transparency that SEOmoz operates with is refreshing. I’ve started to read their blogs and will continue to do so. All the topics on their blog are relevant and applicable to anybody with entrepreneurial aspirations. Keep up the good work SEOmoz!

How Mint.com got 20,000 Signups before Launch

Mint.com has long been a company I’ve admired for their displacement of traditional financial management software products like Microsoft Money and Intuit Quicken. Launched in 2007, mint.com had over 20,000 requests to use the product prior to launch and quickly became a recognized startup. In less than two years after launch, Microsoft discontinued its Microsoft Money product in June, 2009 and four months later, Intuit acquired mint.com for $170M.  Taking a closer look at how mint.com was able to quickly drive early awareness reveals the primary components of their initial marketing strategy, which serves as a playbook for nearly any internet startup.

Mint took a three pronged strategy as developed by Noah Kagan, then Mint’s Director of Marketing.

1. Targeting. Noah and chief designer Jason Putorti used the tried and true approach of testing to determine the most effective means to driving      traffic.  Using good old searching, they found and targeted personal finance blogs, financial gurus and other influencers or hubs on personal finances as well as communities of target users they determined would be attracted to the tool. Next they developed several different test landing pages for their site and measured the conversion results from the various targets to determine which sites and keywords were most effective. This approach refined their SEO strategy. You can view the various landing pages here: http://bit.ly/xAtksk
2. Word of Mouth. Mint was exceptionally successful at this, using a combination of their own blog site and third party bloggers. Because the product was amazing to start with, users were enthusiastic to share about it with friends and family. Mint provided an easy to use referral tool as well as post badges entitled “I Want Mint” for bloggers in exchange for early access to the tool.  Second, they identified lesser known bloggers who had strong followings and proactively sponsored their blogs, creating loyalty from the audience that matters most. Lastly, their own blog site was crafted with useful information and quickly became the number one personal finance blog.
3. Press. Mint.com set goals for the various publications and key influentials in the personal finance space they wanted to engage. Through a PR firm, they conducted positioning research to focused on these targets and drove tremendous awareness of their product by achieving targeted placements.

Combining these approaches, Mint.com was able to capitalize on nearly every popular finance search query and align content for it through their blog, various landing pages and third party blog sites. They used scorecards and metrics to closely track results and make refinements as they went along knowing that what gets measured is what gets done.  As a result, they gathered over 20,000 email addresses prior to launch. Once mint.com was ready to launch, they called ever person to let them know.  Ultimately, they had over 1.5M users within three years of launch.