Startups don’t need to go viral to win customers

Getting initial customers as a startup can be one of the most grueling challenges in business. Even when companies manage to snag some early interest, there’s no guarantee those customers will stick around. At TechCrunch Disrupt last week, Elia Wallen, founder and CEO of travel startup Engine, Gamma founder and CEO Grant Lee, and Crystal Huang, general partner at Google Ventures, shared tips on how to attract and retain customers.

对于初创公司而言，获取首批客户可能是商业中最艰巨的挑战之一。即使公司设法吸引了一些早期的关注，也无法保证这些客户会留下来。在上周的 TechCrunch Disrupt 大会上，旅游初创公司 Engine 的创始人兼首席执行官 Elia Wallen、Gamma 的创始人兼首席执行官 Grant Lee 以及 Google Ventures 的普通合伙人 Crystal Huang 分享了关于如何吸引和留住客户的建议。

In the current era — when young AI companies like Cluely and Instinct are building big audiences not just through their products but also through their founders’ colorful online presences — social media can seem like a magic bullet for reaching early customers. But founders who want heighten their business strategy with modern marketing, have to be strategic, according to Lee.

在当今时代，像 Cluely 和 Instinct 这样的年轻人工智能公司不仅通过产品，还通过创始人丰富多彩的在线形象来建立庞大的受众群体，社交媒体似乎成了触达早期客户的灵丹妙药。但据 Lee 所言，想要通过现代营销提升业务战略的创始人必须具备策略性。

Gamma, which sells AI-powered presentation software, managed to scale its business exponentially with a social media strategy that deployed influencers through its Ambassadors (or “Gambassador”) program. The company adopted the plan before influencer-based marketing was a tried-and-true strategy for smaller companies, eventually reaching a multi-billion dollar valuation. But simply giving influencers a platform and telling them to promote your brand online doesn’t automatically translate to sales, said Lee. There’s more to it than that.

销售人工智能演示软件的 Gamma 公司，通过其大使（或称“Gambassador”）计划部署网红的社交媒体策略，成功实现了业务的指数级增长。该公司在基于网红的营销成为小型公司行之有效的策略之前就采用了该计划，最终达到了数十亿美元的估值。但 Lee 表示，仅仅给网红一个平台并让他们在线推广品牌，并不能自动转化为销售额。这其中还有更多门道。

“If you have a product that can serve many different segments or use cases, then you want to basically have creators that can target each one of those,” Lee said. “If you have folks that are in consulting versus people that do all their marketing and create all the decks for their CMO, there’s all these different segments you might want to go after.”

“如果你的产品可以服务于许多不同的细分市场或用例，那么你基本上需要能够针对每一个细分市场进行定位的创作者，”Lee 说。“如果你有从事咨询工作的人，也有负责所有营销并为首席营销官制作演示文稿的人，那么你可能想要争取所有这些不同的细分群体。”

Lee said sometimes founders seem to treat creator marketing or influencer marketing as a sort of set it and forget it thing. “I think you’re better served by really spending a lot of time with these creators, because if they’re not able to understand how to articulate the value of your product, it doesn’t matter how much money you spend, it’s just going to fall flat,” Lee added.

Lee 表示，有时创始人似乎将创作者营销或网红营销视为一种“设置好就不用管”的事情。“我认为，真正花大量时间与这些创作者沟通会让你受益更多，因为如果他们无法理解如何阐述你产品的价值，那么无论你花多少钱，最终都将收效甚微，”Lee 补充道。

The effectiveness of social media depends largely on the type of business. Other ways of reaching customers can be just (if not more) effective. Wallen would know. His company Engine, which manages lodging and travel bookings for midsize businesses, bootstrapped its way to $150 million in bookings before taking on any outside funding. They also had no visible social media strategy at all.

社交媒体的有效性在很大程度上取决于业务类型。其他触达客户的方式可能同样（甚至更加）有效。Wallen 对此深有体会。他的公司 Engine 为中型企业管理住宿和差旅预订，在获得任何外部资金之前，通过自力更生实现了 1.5 亿美元的预订额。他们甚至完全没有明显的社交媒体策略。

For Wallen, traditional sales tactics can be far more useful than a positive TikTok video. “We did events and we smiled and dialed,” said Wallen. “We still have a lot of people picking up the phone. A lot of people who didn’t grow up with that or don’t understand it think that it’s outdated or it doesn’t work but it does. It’s a hard thing. There are a lot of companies that just refuse to do it or don’t know how to do it well. But they’re missing out on a very big offline client base.” He added: “The phone still works.”

对于 Wallen 来说，传统的销售策略可能比一段积极的 TikTok 视频有用得多。“我们举办活动，保持微笑并拨打电话，”Wallen 说。“我们仍然有很多人在接听电话。许多没有经历过那个时代或不了解它的人认为它已经过时了，或者认为它不起作用，但事实并非如此。这是一件困难的事情。有很多公司拒绝这样做，或者不知道如何做好它。但他们错失了一个非常庞大的线下客户群。”他补充道：“电话依然有效。”

Wallen also shared an in-person tactic that his company deployed during its scrappy early days: hiring a magician named David to perform tricks for prospective clients at events and encourage them to visit the Engine’s booth. In short, old-fashioned personal engagement can work just as well, if not better, than the latest social media tricks.

Wallen 还分享了公司在早期艰难时期采用的一种面对面策略：雇佣一位名叫 David 的魔术师在活动中为潜在客户表演魔术，并鼓励他们参观 Engine 的展位。简而言之，老式的个人互动方式可能和最新的社交媒体技巧一样有效，甚至更好。

Huang, who has managed droves of startups and shepherded them to success, said that once you have a customer, a lot of value can be derived from looking at how they use the product. “Can you look into usage data and figure out if it’s recurring, if it’s increasing, if they are referring their friends?” Huang said. “It can come across in early usage and retention information as well. And then also, do you see some super fans, right, who even want to work at the company, promote the company, be attached to the brand?” She added: “You need to have ways to create evangelists who are really passionate about the product.”

管理过大量初创公司并引导它们走向成功的 Huang 表示，一旦你拥有了客户，通过观察他们如何使用产品可以挖掘出巨大的价值。“你能否查看使用数据并弄清楚它是否是重复性的、是否在增加、他们是否在推荐朋友？”Huang 说。“这也可以通过早期使用和留存信息体现出来。此外，你是否看到了一些超级粉丝，他们甚至想在公司工作、推广公司、对品牌产生依恋？”她补充道：“你需要有方法去培养那些对产品充满热情的布道者。”