The document provides over 60 launch tactics for startups to acquire customers with little to no marketing budget. The tactics range from posting on sites like Reddit, Product Hunt and Hacker News to more direct outreach methods like emailing influencers, journalists, alumni and competitors' followers. It also suggests optimizing content for search and social sharing as well as offering incentives for signups, referrals and providing feedback. The overall approach emphasizes guerilla and unconventional online marketing techniques to generate early traction on a tight budget.

1. 60+ Launch Tactics to Acquire Customers*
P.J. Leimgruber
*With ZERO Marketing Budget

2. European Innovation Academy
STOP!

3. European Innovation Academy
B2B COMPANIES
SHOULD DO
CUSTOMER
DEVELOPMENT

4. European Innovation Academy

5. European Innovation Academy

6. European Innovation Academy
Thank you for your time, my name is <> I work at <> we
are working on a new solution that helps companies like
yours do <>. I do not want to sell you anything but it
would be great to get your feedback now so that
when our product is ready to ship it will best meet
the needs of your company. before jumping into talking
about us, it is ok if I ask you some questions about you
so that I can get a better understanding of how our
solution can help you?

7. European Innovation Academy
• Can you tell me a little about what you are responsible for?
• How do you measure success?
• What are your top priorities right now?
• For each priority/ job ask.....
• What is the goal
• What are the biggest challenges you have had
• Can you tell me a little bit about the last time you had this problem?
• How often does this occur
• What is the current solution
• If you could wave a magic wand
• Repeat for top three priorities

8. European Innovation Academy
Articulate the problem statement
be silent, wait for customer first reaction.
then ask for feedback
how/if this resonates
where does it fit with their overall problems / needs

9. European Innovation Academy
Articulate the solution statement
be silent, wait for customer first reaction
then ask for feedback, is this clear to them what this means?
do they like it? why/ why not.
how would they find out about a solution like this?
who would be involved in the decision?
Who owns the budget, how big is it?
any one else doing this, why, why not?

10. European Innovation Academy
60+ FREE LAUNCH
TACTICS

11. Launch Tactic #1: Reddit r/Startups
Reaches 85,000 Readers
Not all startups get featured
100+ Signups if you get featured
Better if you’re engaged on Reddit

12. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #2: Private Slack Group
Engage with an active community of 100-500 like
minded people. They love hearing new startups.

13. Launch Tactic #3: StartupList
20-100 Expected Signups
Free if you wait, pay to skip the line
Smaller audience than BetaList
Good audience engagement

14. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #4: Social Share Buttons
Add social sharing buttons to your
site. Consider offering something
(like early access) for people that
share.

15. Launch Tactic #5: Throw a Launch Party
20-50 Users Expected
Direct user feedback
Good local or network startups
Requires planning and effort

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Launch Tactic #6: StumbleUpon
Very easy input effort, results can be hit or miss

17. Launch Tactic #7: ProductHunt
400-1000 expected signups
Free. Submission appears instantly
Best to submit at 12:01 PST
Requires whitelisted submitter

18. Launch Tactic #8: HackerNews
100-250+ expected signups
Free. Submission appears instantly
Better if you’re an active member
Submit under ShowHN section

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Launch Tactic #9: Crunchbase
You should really do this anyway. Great for
investors and credibility.
CrunchBase is
the leading
platform to
discover
innovative
companies and
the people
behind them.
Used by millions
of entrepreneurs,
investors, and
analysts.

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Launch Tactic #10: GrowthHackers
Create a post sharing your product.

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Launch Tactic #11: The “Industry Survey”
Message your key customers for quotes in an
industry survey, blog post, or study. Then, build a
relationship with them.

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Launch Tactic #12: Cross Promote on Newsletter
Cross promote each others brand on your E-mail
newsletters, twitter pages, etc.

23. Launch Tactic #13: Meetup
Free. Can get great niche exposure
20+ Signups per event
Great for personal branding
Message meetup coordinators and
ask for speaking gigs at local events.

24. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #14: Speaking Gig
Film your speaking gigs and share videos of your
talks on your blog

25. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #15: Webinar
Hold ongoing webinars that answer common problems in your
industry, invite members from the community to join

26. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #16: Skill Share
Teach a class on Skill Share about your industry or
niche

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Launch Tactic #17: General Assembly
Teach a class on GeneralAssemb.ly about your
industry or niche

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Launch Tactic #18: Podcast
Start a podcast or ask existing podcasts to give a
shout out to your podcast.

29. Launch Tactic #19: Influencer Tweet
100-1000+ expected signups
Free. Much easier if you pay
Find relevant, targeted influencers
Negotiate pricing and # of tweets

30. Launch Tactic #20: Guest Posts
Can be MAJOR exposure
Build a network of free traffic
Highly targeted traffic
Search: Keyword + “Write for us” + blog

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Launch Tactic #21: Outreach
Reach out directly to target customers on LinkedIn

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Launch Tactic #22: Free Social Giveaway
Run a free promotion or giveaway if users follow you
on social media

33. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #23: School Alumni
Contact school alumni on LinkedIn, leverage their
advice and assistance

34. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #24: Customer Development
Ask potential customers about their problems, propose your product
as a solution. Ask for their feedback and get them involved.

35. Launch Tactic #25: Press Article
250+ expected signups
Free, but time consuming
Difficult for very early stage
Usually requires introductions
Great for branding & long term visits

36. Launch Tactic #25: Press Article
Pinpoint a new journalist at a big publication, offer them an
exclusive on your content. Provide them with data that only
you have access to. Help the new journalist look good.
Compile a target list of 50. Write custom outreach emails.

37. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #26: Google Keyword Tool
Use the Google Keyword tool to identify high volume, low competition
keywords in your niche. Create content around those keywords

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Launch Tactic #27: Facebook Pages
Build relationships with owners of popular Facebook pages, ask
them to promote a free contest or giveaway that you create.

39. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #28: Competitors Followers
Manually reach out to Twitter and Facebook
followers of your competitors

40. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #29: Social Giveaway
Giveaway your product for free to Youtube /
Instagram reviewers and review bloggers

41. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #30: Quora
Respond to unanswered questions in your niche on
Quora

42. Launch Tactic #31: Reddit
Can yield 10k+ Clicks
Requires good user knowledge
Beware of being too spammy
Pick hyper-targeted subreddits
Engage in targeted forums on Reddit, share posts
and respond to others

43. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #32: Press Release
Submit a free press release using a service like
PRlog

44. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #33: Infographics & visual.ly
Create an infographic, share on free distribution sites
like visual.ly

45. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #34: Leverage F6S.com
Apply to accelerators, grants, and gain free
exposure.

46. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #35: Slideshare
Submit a presentation to Slideshare

47. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #36: e-book
Giveaway a free e-book, ask users to sign up to your
newsletter to download it.

48. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #37: How-to Guide
Create a “how-to” guide for something that is
typically difficult in your industry.

49. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #38: E-mail Signature
Promote your company in your E-mail signature.

50. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #39: Mailchimp
Launch an E-mail newsletter using a free service like
MailChimp.

51. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #40: Existing Newsletters
Get your startup featured on existing newsletters
such as Startupdigest.

52. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #41: Customer Feedback
Invite your existing customers to provide feedback on the next version of your
product. You can send them a survey or a WuFoo form to do this easily.

53. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #42: Landing Page
If you’re early stage, use Unbounce or any landing page tool and
design a simple single page that collects E-mail addresses.

54. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #43: Company Partnership
Partner with other companies in your space and
upsell each other’s products

55. Launch Tactic #44: BetaList
100-300 expected sign ups
Free if you wait, $99 to skip the line
Limited to pre-launch startups
Goes out to 25k+ early adopters

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Launch Tactic #45: Groupon
Run a promotion on Groupon

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Launch Tactic #46: Stack Social
Run promotions on StackSocial

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Launch Tactic #47: Social Listening
Sign up for a service like Mention.com, respond to anyone that mentions
one your brand, one of your competitors, or asks a question about your
space.

59. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #48: Referral Program
Set Up a Referral Program, offer an incentive for
existing users to invite their friends
Services to try:
Twilighter
Kickoff Labs

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Launch Tactic #49: CopyBlogger Headlines
Consult copy bloggers attention grabbing headline
guides and write posts that fill those templates.
• The Secret of [blank]
• Little Known Ways to [blank]
• Get Rid of [problem] Once and For All
• What Everybody Ought to Know about [blank]
• The Lazy [blank’s] Way to [blank]
• 4 Ways to [Blank] That You Never Knew Existed

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Launch Tactic #50: Hellobar or PUSHCrew
Use Hellobar as a call to action for a promotion

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Launch Tactic #51: Personalized E-mails
Send personalized E-mails to your existing users,
ask for their help promoting your company.

64. Launch Tactic #52: Crowdfunding
$10k-$100k in expected sales
Free, requires video production
Optimal for hardware startups
Helps get early press coverage

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Launch Tactic #53: Niche Q/A
Determine what questions people in your niche are
asking, create blog posts answering those questions

66. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #54: Inbound Links from Blogs
Focus on getting high quality inbound links from
blogs, forums and press mentions

67. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #55: Submit XML Sitemap To Google
Submit an XML sitemap to Google webmaster tools

68. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #56: Direct Message Thought
Leaders
Direct message thought leaders, interact with them,
congratulate them on their recent press, etc.

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Launch Tactic #57: Trade shout outs
Trade shout outs with other companies and thought leaders. Accounts
with a similar social following to you will be more willing to cross promote.

70. Launch Tactic #58: Friends & Friends of Friends
10-50 Expected Signups
Free, requires being pushy
Very high engagement rates
Guaranteed to get initial traction

71. Launch Tactic #59: Never Launch
“We’re pre launch”
“We’re closed beta”
“We’re open beta”
“About to do our public launch”

72. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #60: SEO Traffic Hijacking
Write a post called “Our competitor vs Our
Company”

73. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #61: Advanced Search Queries
Keyword + “Guest Blog”
Keyword + “Write for Us”
Keyword + “Guest Author”
Keyword + “Guest post by”

74. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #62: Rapportive Email Hack
Get ANYONE’s Email.
https://www.distilled.net/blog/miscellaneous/find-almost-anybodys-email-address/

75. European Innovation Academy
Launch Tactic #63: Urgent: <Email Body> **Time
Sensitive**
Triple your response rate

76. European Innovation Academy
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For The Full Itemized List and a Bonus…

77. European Innovation Academy
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78. European Innovation Academy
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79. European Innovation Academy
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