The Two Hedgehog Model: Perfect for Marketing Early Stage Startups
by Andrus Purde — Head of Marketing @ Pipedrive
One thing that doesn’t hold you back in startup marketing is the lack of options for models, frameworks and opinions on what to spend time on. There’s Dave McClure’s AARRR model. The Bullseye framework. The “throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks” approach. The list goes on.
So why this post? If you have little data and time, as many early stage startups do, these models don’t help you focus on the things that can make a difference. And so many startup marketers spread themselves too thin.
I think there’s a simpler model for early stage startups. (It’s so simple that you might already be using it, and I was the last person on Earth to stumble upon it.)
About a year ago, I did a customer-persona exercise for Pipedrive. I spoke to about 35 customers for an hour during an intense two-week period (something I’d recommend to any startup marketer). One of the slightly off-piste questions I asked was: “How did you first hear about Pipedrive?” Most people replied: “From a friend or colleague.” Others said they took a deep dive into the Internet and searched until they found us. I dutifully marked down the answers and continued my persona work.
Only some months later, it hit me. What I gained from those good people was not just an idea of who Pipedrive’s customers are, but also a highly practical, two-track marketing model.
Recommendations from friends and findability in search
In its most basic form, this simple model took Pipedrive from zero to more than 10,000 paying customers. Itl has worked in almost all of the early stage startups I have marketed. It’s helped to build many of my friends’ startup companies, too.
I call it the Two-Hedgehog Model, tipping my hat to Jim Collins and the “Hedgehog Concept” he popularized. The premise is to do only one thing, and do it really well.
Here you’d need to do two things really well, hence the Two-Hedgehog Model. (Very creative, I know.)
If you focus on only two things and do them very well — if you make sure your customers tell their friends, and that people find you when they search keywords relevant to you — you’ll have your early stage startup marketing priorities sorted.
Hedgehog strategy #1: How do you get people to recommend you?
This is “easy” — have a great product.
Having a great product is a science and an art in itself. In a marketing context, this means two things.
First, don’t focus on the communications side of marketing before you have some level of product/market fit. A product with a brilliant content marketing strategy or generous paid marketing budget that has a big churn problem will not fly very far. You’re better off wearing your unglamorous customer development hat rather than the flashy marcom hat.
Second, beyond the product/market fit that makes people willing to recommend you, spend time ensuring your customers have the motivation and triggers to recommend you. Building a simple referral program is a good idea sometime after the first couple of thousand customers or users. That’s when we added it at Pipedrive, and our Tell-a-Friend program continues to be one of the most efficient channels for us.
Hedgehog strategy #2: how do you become findable?
The answer to this is more nuanced than just buying some Google ads and doing some SEO.
Buying clicks is definitely the easiest option but cost-per-click marketing has become both expensive and complex. This stems from the fact that virtually every marketing team is using the channel — small teams at other startups, larger teams at established companies and clueless teams who are spending large sums on AdWords for questionable reasons.
Getting your site to rank on the first page of Google and other search engines, as well as in app store rankings, for free would be nice, but it’s easier said than done. It’s possible to start ranking for some longer tail keywords in the first six months, but with a fresh brand and domain; you’re not likely to get your desired top spots for “best whatever-you-do” searches.
Look at search holistically, not from an SEO or CPC perspective only
My advice would be to avoid committing to any one channel at the start. Instead, begin with keyword research, an exercise that identifies what people are searching for and where the biggest potential lies. Doing keyword research also then helps to decide which channel(s) to double-down on.
Let’s assume you’re selling a web-based “website builder” service. I haven’t done a full keyword research, but to rank for that keyword, you’d need to compete with the likes of Wix, Squarespace and WordPress.com. I don’t know this area well, but I’m sure this wouldn’t be a walk in the park. A walk in Jurassic Park, maybe.
But hey, what’s this thing there in third place (circled in red above)? It’s an affiliate-hosted review site that has already done the necessary work to rank highly. While you can’t immediately start ranking on the first page of Google with your own site, you could be featured in articles, posts and comparison sites that are already ranking. Most startups would rather be one click away, as a link in a top-page search result, than a direct click buried on Page 10 of Google.
To be indirectly present on Page 1 of Google, you may need to:
- Do some PR and blog outreach
- List your app on review/comparison/directory sites (possibly free but increasingly paid)
- Get yourself featured on the relevant non-mainstream social media sites such as Quora or AngelList
Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend that you add a comment or ask a customer to add a comment about you on sites that rank highly for terms relevant to you. This tactic probably stopped working long ago.
At Pipedrive, we don’t just want to be present and in control of our own landing pages and ads; we want to be present and in control of all listings for searches relevant to us. Achievable or not, this should be a goal for any business, even individuals.
Pro tip: there’s opportunity in the long tail
You’ll find better opportunities, if better is defined as “customers will start to find you quicker,” when you look at the long tail section of keyword research. In the “website builder” example, this might mean doubling-down on “multilanguage website builder” or “website builder for artists” instead.
While search volume is orders of magnitude lower for longer tail keywords, you can get visibility for lots of terms quicker and cheaper, and this adds up to a decent volume of traffic. In fact, long tail keywords often enjoy better conversion rates once clicked, because of how specific they are.
How to apply the Two-Hedgehog Model
The Two-Hedgehog Model is best applied, like all models, using common sense and healthy skepticism.
Where a category has already been defined and people are actively searching for solutions, the Two-Hedgehog Model helps marketers find their focus. It might not work that well if you’re building a new category. No one was searching for “a better way to order a cab” before Uber and Taxify came along. (But as it happens, the recommendations part of the model is key for these apps.)
After the first couple of years, this model might become too simplistic. But once you’ve created two major ways for customers to discover you, you’ll probably have sufficient results and success to help you look for the best third and fourth method that will work for you.
At that point, you’ll want to find a home for both hedgehogs — findability and recommendations — in a more comprehensive marketing strategy.
Originally published here
About the author:
Andrus Purde is head of marketing at Pipedrive, a simple tool that helps small teams control the complex sales processes. He is currently managing a team of 15 marketers across two offices. Prior to that Andrus has held various product and conversion marketing roles at Skype’s London office as well as senior marketing roles in FMCG and media companies operating in the Baltics.
Foto (c) Andrus Purde
