Product-market fit happens in two places

Ideas are free, the hustle is sold separately. Now, how do you find a product-market fit for your SaaS start-up idea?

The short answer - you test, listen and iterate.

The long answer;

You create a market by first answering these three questions

1. What are the substitutes for your start-up idea?
2. What job are the users trying to do with the substitutes?
3. Where are your customers pulling your MRP ( minimum remarkable product) to?

Examples:

• Instagram initially known as Burbn was a location-based check-in app but the photo-sharing feature was unique.
• Slack was initially meant for game developers as a collaboration tool.

Product-market fit happens in two phases;

• Launch
• Tracton

Launch when your product is better than what is already out there.

How do you go beyond product-market fit?

1. Create a product that is meaningfully better than the alternatives
2. Find ways to acquire customers that are highly differentiated and scalable
3. Be on the lookout for ways to innovate your start-up without killing your traction.

Brand Strategy

In yesterday's newsletter, we covered Brand Essence for this model.

Today, on Core Identity -you want to build core values that bring out a different texture, provide a unique substance that differentiates you from the competition.

You will need to do a Brand Audit ( to be covered in the future ) for where you are, and where you want to be.

For start-ups that have not launched yet, doing a brand audit of your key competitor will give some insights into where the current market stands.

Finally, you need to run the insights ( the positive ones ) through The Hurdles Framework to help nail down your core identity.

Content Strategy

Key Performance Indicators for SEO can be many things;

• Page Speed
• Bounce Rate
• Average time on page
• Backlinks
• And more...

But the most important one to track is ROI ( Return On Investment) for your SEO efforts.

However, most businesses expect ROI in like a month from SEO. You might as well spend the money on paid ads.

To see any significant ROI from SEO, give it six to 12 months, and bug your SEO writers every month on the results.

Write SaaS Copy

Is long-form SaaS copy better? - Copyhackers

Look at the difference between Intercom's webinar page and pricing page copy.

What do you notice?

• The Webinar page copy is short
• The pricing page copy is long.

The myth that people don't read a long-form copy, especially in SaaS is not true.

It always comes down to the message your page is trying to communicate and not the length of the copy.

New visitors to Intercom's website don't need a lengthy copy to convince them to learn if Intercom has their solution to their problem, but a simple message to let them in and become product aware.

On other hand, the pricing page is for users who are ready to do business but need clear, yet detailed reasons to give Intercom a try considering their high pricing.

Key factors to consider on your messaging strategy as to whether it should have a lengthy copy or a short one.

• Visitors' awareness and structure your customers' journey
• The market sophistication
• Intent, motivations, and your visitors' context
• Risk, price, and complexity
• Targeting multiple segments and personas.

Podcast Insights

1. Use the channels of the time to generate awareness for iteration till you get product-market fit.
2. The power of word of mouth is still strong.
3. Engage with customers to create a positive feedback loop.
4. Identify what really is your atomic unit - what, when strategically done will create a domino effect for your product and build traction.

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Happy Thursday

Learn & Grow

Okerosi Davis