Many times we create things without thinking about marketing until we’re done.
We launch, then we shift our focus to SEO, content marketing, social media, and ads.
Sometimes that works, but only if we’ve painstakingly created a product that everyone loves. What usually happens is we create an MVP, then when it doesn’t immediately succeed, we push harder on marketing. This is backwards.
Marketing starts when we are building the product.
We must set out, from the beginning, with complete and total commitment to the idea that our best chance of success starts during the creative process. – The Perennial Seller
When we launched AppPresser, there was so much buzz about it that we didn’t need to buy ads or worry about traffic. We had thousands of people on our email list before we even launched. I’ve also created products that struggle to get anyone to pay attention.
Marketing a mediocre product is an uphill battle. You can buy ads and attract traffic, and you may get some mediocre results. It will never hit a tipping point until you fix what’s wrong with your product.
Even after launching an MVP we must make improving the product job #1. That doesn’t mean we don’t do any marketing, just that building a great product is marketing.
You still need to tell people about it, but the aim is to make the product so good that they then tell their friends. If people aren’t telling their friends about your product, you aren’t there yet. Your time would be better spend tweaking or pivoting the product instead of learning about Facebook retargeting or creating blog content.
Once you get to the point where people are telling their friends, marketing will be much easier. It will be a snowball rolling downhill instead of a boulder you’re pushing uphill.