The Startup Journey

Content marketing has been a great and effective way to acquire customers. One question that all entrepreneurs ask is how to create viral content. In this Ink Talk, Sattvik Mishra, Scoop Whoop shares his lessons and the thinking that drives stories at ScoopWhoop. Reality - Not all content goes viral - "while we had some wins, most of them were duds" he recounts. Why do some content go viral? While traditional media hasn't changed - newspapers, websites, apps are all just versions of what editors want readers to read, content consumption has changed . e.g. While newspapers decide what news to put up on what pages, social media feeds are deciding for consumers what to consume. News is very subjective - for a millennial a Game of Thrones episode would be a huge thing, while there are people who don't follow it. To be relevant to your targeted audience - you need to listen to know what they are talking about and what they'd like to talk about. Th...

“Who is your customer? Can you create a profile of your ideal customer? How do you find them or do they find you? Which set of customers are your most profitable? With which customers do you think a long term relationship can be established? How many of your customers do you meet regularly? How do you charge your customers? Who do you compete against? Why do you think you’re better? How do you think you will knock the socks of your competitors? What other products and services are you willing to give up to focus on the most profitable ones? How do you sell? What is the cost of acquiring a customer? How long does it take from the first customer contact to receiving an order and then to receive payment? What the specific value proposition to your customers – why should they buy from you and continue to do so? What exactly do you do? What made you choose this offering? What is your personal experience with the pain suffered by customers” The above is a sample set of the questions ...

With more and more communication taking place electronically, one would think that marketing folks would be looking into each leveraging every interaction as a means of building a brand relationship. However experience suggests that there are miles to go before e-communication gets integrated into the traditional marketing plans of even leading brands. After checking mail in my “Inbox”, I usually review the mail in the “Junk” folder to ensure that no important message has inadvertently been routed to this folder. Upon a recent review, I came across a mail from “Webmaster” and had “Despatch of documents through electronic mode” in the subject line. Even though it seemed like this mail was in the right folder, wanting to be doubly sure, I clicked on it and was surprised to learn that it was a message from the Investor Services Division of a company where I am a tiny shareholder. The message contained an attachment – a circular informing me that all communication (including notices and co...