Growth Newsletter #039
This newsletter curates growth insights from Demand Curve's community. It keeps you up-to-date on growth tactics.
This week we're covering engaging YouTube videos, referral timing, and finding spreadsheets.
Want to get in front of 90,000 founders and marketers? Here's everything you need to know.
Big News
We launched our Audience Building course.
We'll show you how to build an engaged following on Twitter, and how to grow a newsletter. You'll walk away with a strategy and actionable tactics to grow your own audience—one that you can leverage to grow your startup, make a living as a creator, or advance your career.
My friend Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) and I (@julian) will host live zoom sessions.
Applications are now live. Head over here and grab your spot before they fill up (price is $500 if you apply before May 1st).
Spots are limited. We'll review applications quickly.
This week's tactics
Find spreadsheets with relevant data on anything you want
Insight from Amplemarket.
Finding anything you want through Google search is a superpower that not many marketers take full advantage of.
Here’s a quick tip: Use Google search operators.
The syntax of your Google search can help run market analysis, prospect people on LinkedIn, find investors, retrieve fundraising news, etc.
Examples:
Search: “site:docs.google.com/spreadsheets intitle:startups 2020”
Use case: Find open Google spreadsheets that include “startups” and “2020” in the title. For example, if you offer services for startups that are hiring remotely, you can find a list with thousands of potential leads and email addresses.
Search: “site:airtable.com inurl:VC”
Use case: Find Airtable bases that contain “VC” in the URL. You can find lists of investors that may be relevant to your fundraising needs. These lists often provide you with the names (and occasionally emails) of investors, and also share relevant information about each one of them.
How to create YouTube videos for engagement
Insight from MrBeast.
Most video content is poor. Here's MrBeast's technique for creating videos that get engagement and shares:
- Describe the video's value in the first five seconds. Don't make users guess what they'll get by watching.
- Ask a question you don't resolve until the last five seconds. This is the hook that gets users to watch until the end of the video—and satisfies them when the question is answered.
- Create fewer quality videos over many lesser-quality videos. The YouTube algorithm favors high-quality content. One amazing video will grow your channel more than ten good videos.
- Integrate quick cuts. Don't give people time to ask if they're bored.
Watch the first 30 seconds of Ali Abdaal's video here to see a job well done.
Ask for a referral at the right time
Insight from Stewart Hillhouse.
Common startup mistake: Asking customers to refer their product at the end of the sales process, before they've even tried the product.
That’s like asking someone if they’d recommend a movie as they’re waiting in line to go watch it.
It's ineffective and will lead to a low adoption rate and annoyed customers.
Instead, look for moments when rapport is high between you and your customer:
- Right after your customer gives you a high Net Promoter Score on a follow-up survey.
- When your customer renews for another billing cycle.
- When your customer actively engages with your marketing efforts (replies to an email newsletter, sends a social media DM, or comments on a post).
It’s in these trigger moments when your business is top of mind for your customer. Use that to your advantage by engaging them in your referral program.
Community Spotlight
News and Links
Influencer marketing tool: Influent build a tool that'll help you improve the performance of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube content. We highly recommend it—they know their stuff when it comes to influencer marketing. See your own insights here.
Something fun
Something fun
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Who's Demand Curve?
We’re on a mission to make starting, building, and growing startups easier.
We share high-quality, vetted, and actionable growth content as we learn it from the top 1% of marketers. We democratize senior growth knowledge.
How we can help you grow:
- Read our free playbooks, blog articles, and teardowns—we break down the strategies and tactics that fast-growing startups use to grow.
- Enroll in the Growth Program, our marketing course that has helped 1,000+ founders get traction and scale revenue.
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— Neal & Justin, and the DC team.