Steve Blank - Come to the Web

Earlier, we dealt with the physical channel and the associated distribution and now we will deal with the virtual channel. Is it surprising that the same basic rules apply here as well? SEO, marketing...Everything has the same beginning. The two most important aspects for the Web are acquiring and activating!

How many times have I heard from software companies that they have it so much easier because they only make a virtual product. Here and there some Google AdWords, a little Google advertising and off you go. Sit back, wait and collect. This is subject to a great misconception, because just as with physical goods, I must first awaken or even create a desire here. We were the first to offer multilingual videos as a complete video platform solution, which made it even harder. Not only did we have to awaken the desire, we had to show that it is necessary. Steve Jobs once said: "It's not about being the first, it's about being the best".

In our case, we have to make users aware of our services on a daily basis, we have to acquire them. Once we have overcome this hurdle, we must ensure that we activate them as well. Depending on which product you are aiming for, there is a different approach to it. We have the "video watchers". They watch, share and comment on the videos hosted on alugha. This makes our site more attractive which leads to more potential (paying) customers getting to know us and search engines becoming aware of us.

 

 

Once we have acquired users, the first big step has been taken. Yet, we cannot rest at all. As already mentioned, there are users who simply watch the videos. Why should they comment on them, why should they create a channel? And we´re making it even harder, why should they pay for it? If normal consumers are so hard to get on board, how can I explain to a company that it should not use YouTube but alugha and put money on the table for it? The point is to "activate" them.

When we create a business plan it all reads so great and simple: Program the platform, put videos on it, acquire users, here and there AdWords, FB ads and banners on websites, some advertising videos on YouTube and articles on LinkedIn and off you go. It's super easy. The budget for it also stands...At the latest, when we have done all this and then (and this is the rule and not the exception) realize that somehow not too many people come to our site, use our services and even less to nobody pays for it.

In order to not get lost here and burn euro for euro, we use a method that calculates customer acquisition costs. We document exactly how much money we spend on which measures, monitor and measure the values and performance, and use this knowledge to compare and optimize further measures. If we don't, there will be a lot of month left at the end of the money. I would like to give you a homework assignment today. Sit down, write down the last advertising campaign and what costs it actually caused, also take into account real personnel costs, because YOU also cost the company money. Then see how long you have been doing this and how you have approached or even achieved your goals. In Google Analytics, there are some tools to set goals and perform experiments and compare them. GA will then tell you which campaign has cost you what and what it yielded.

This article is written by our CEO, Bernd Korz. With his experience as an entrepreneur, he shares his vision about the lessons provided by Steve Blank. Join us every week for a new article on Steve Blank’s lectures.

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