It’s all in ur head - 12 GTM tips for web2.5

With ai now, everyone can ship products … will the new moat be community and gtm strategies? I sipped through the 200+ newsletters from https://www.demandcurve.com/

re viral marketing and go-to-market (gtm) with gemini to give you a tldr on what works, from launch strategies, to referrals and client retention; let’s dive in?

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ur superfans = ur Referral 1,2,3

One of the most fundamental ways to attract more customers, almost on autopilot, is through referral programs. It's a surprising fact that while a staggering 83% of satisfied customers are willing to refer a business, but only 29% actually do. This "referral gap" represents a massive untapped potential – a hidden sales force waiting to be activated.

The key to bridging this divide is to make the referral process incredibly smooth and easy. Minimize any friction points that might deter someone from making that referral. It’s not just about asking; it’s about how you ask and how effortless you make it.

A strategic, phased approach to building your referral program can maximize your return on investment.

This involves three key stages:

• Phase 1: Test. The primary goal here is to rapidly and inexpensively experiment with different incentives and messaging. Focus on learning what resonates with your audience rather than immediate profitability. Start by identifying your most engaged customers – your "super fans" – and run a small pilot program with them. Manually fulfill rewards initially to keep it lean, and pay close attention to feedback. This phase is all about active monitoring, gathering feedback, and constant iteration.

• Phase 2: Prove. Once you've identified incentives that convert and messaging that resonates, the focus shifts to removing friction from the entire referral process. Optimize the experience to make it seamless for everyone involved. This is where you can start implementing low-cost automation tools for repetitive tasks, while still refining your messaging based on ongoing feedback.

• Phase 3: Scale. With a validated and efficient referral program, the final phase is about strategically expanding its reach to drive significant, sustainable growth.

Browse Abandonment Syndrome

Cart abandonment is a common challenge for online businesses. We’ve all done it: filled a virtual shopping cart, only to hesitate and leave before purchasing. The average leaving right before payment abandonment rate hovers around a hefty 70%. These are customers who showed clear intent, right at the finish line. Data indicates that nearly half of them drop off due to unexpected additional costs – the classic hidden fees. This underscores the critical need for pricing transparency.

Here are concrete steps to tackle this "cart-astrophe":

• Offer Free Shipping: This is almost a non-negotiable expectation for many online shoppers. Ideally, offer it on all orders, or at least set a minimum order value to qualify. Shopify users can configure this in their store's admin panel.

• Be Transparent with Fees: If extra fees are unavoidable, try to bake them into the base product price and display the total cost clearly on the product page, not just at checkout. Upfront clarity builds trust and leads to happier customers.

• Simplify Checkout: Offer a guest checkout option to avoid forcing account creation for a single purchase. Focus on simplifying the entire checkout process with fewer steps, one-click checkout options (services like Faster Design can help), and multiple payment methods like Apple Pay and PayPal. The easier it is, the more likely customers are to complete the transaction.

Browse abandonment emails

Beyond cart abandonment, there's the "browse cart gap" – people who view product pages but don't add anything to their cart. Data from SalesCycle highlights that while nearly 44% of website sessions include product page views, only around 14.5% result in an item being added to the cart. This is a significant leak in the sales funnel.

One underutilized but effective tactic is implementing browse abandonment emails. These target individuals who viewed specific products but didn't add them to their cart. Surprisingly, these emails often have higher click-through and open rates than traditional marketing emails. To make them effective:

• Feature clear images of the products they viewed.

• Include prominent, direct call-to-action buttons.

• Proactively address potential objections by highlighting free shipping, return guarantees, or special offers.

• Include positive customer reviews as social proof.

• Consider showcasing related or popular products. Keep in mind, you can only retarget individuals already on your email list this way, but those who have viewed specific products are likely showing stronger interest.

Sniper Links

Another clever tactic to improve email engagement is using "sniper links" for email confirmations. A significant drop-off (as much as 30%) can occur between someone signing up and actually confirming their subscription. A sniper link is a call-to-action button in your confirmation email that, instead of just telling users to check their inbox, directly links them to their Gmail (or other provider's) inbox with pre-applied filters that display only your confirmation email at the top. This removes the effort of manually finding the email and bypasses inbox clutter, potentially boosting confirmation rates by around 7%.

To IG or not

Organic reach on platforms like Instagram has become increasingly challenging. The golden age of easy organic reach is largely behind us as platforms become more saturated and algorithms evolve. The prevailing strategy now is to focus on building a genuine community to amplify organic reach.

This boils down to consistent and authentic engagement. Dedicate focused time each day (e.g., 30 minutes) to community interaction. A practical tactic is to follow 10-20 key industry hashtags and regularly engage with top-performing posts, which often appear on the Explore Feed. Critically, respond to your DMs and comments.

A powerful strategy is sharing user-generated content (UGC). When your audience tags or mentions your brand (always ask permission first!), sharing their content can be incredibly beneficial. UGC is perceived as authentic and trustworthy; data suggests 59% of people feel it's the most authentic form of content, and it can be up to six times more influential in driving purchase decisions than branded content.

Glossier is a prime example, featuring a "Top 5" story highlight of community-tagged photos and videos. This gives creators visibility, reinforces their connection with the brand, and acts as social proof for new visitors. It also signals an engaged community to the Instagram algorithm. BarkBox successfully encourages users to share photos of their dogs with BarkBox products by offering a chance to be featured on their popular account. This taps into pet owners' passion and desire to share. Article, the furniture company, embeds customer photos directly onto their product pages, providing real-life visualization and styling inspiration.

How to start?

For new businesses or creators, the "cold start problem" on social media – gaining initial traction with few followers and no social proof – can be daunting. Certain follower milestones act as unwritten psychological thresholds: around 1,000 followers can make you seem more established, 5,000 suggests you're not brand new, and 10,000 can create the perception of valuable insights or a worthwhile community.

Here are some "scrappy" tactics to climb towards those initial milestones:

• Leverage Personal Networks: If you have fewer than 100 followers, get all your friends, family, and colleagues to follow you.

• Engage Actively: Follow people who engage with your content and send a quick thank-you DM to start a conversation.

• Meaningful Comments: Leave thoughtful comments on posts from other creators at a similar stage and in the comment sections of larger creators in your niche.

• Existing Relationships: Ask people you know with a bigger presence to engage with your content or tag you.

• LinkedIn Automation: Explore tools like WeConnect or Lempod for targeted connection requests if you're active on LinkedIn.

• Create Engaging Content: Ultimately, good content is fundamental. Resources like "The Hook Vault" can help you learn to create attention-grabbing content.

Arousal

Emotional responses are often the primary driver behind why people share content, donate, and make purchasing decisions. It's rarely a purely logical process. Patagonia is a brand that consistently excels at tapping into audience emotions.

To leverage emotions in your copywriting, aim for those with a high level of "arousal" – emotions that get people energized or activated. This includes feelings like fear, encouragement, anger, greed, safety, and curiosity, but avoid those leading to passivity like contentment or sadness. Patagonia's "Buy Less, Demand More" campaign is a powerful example, evoking concern and resolve.

Power words are persuasive, descriptive words chosen to trigger an emotional response. They help tap into the underlying emotions that drive action. Research by Jonah Berger, author of "Contagious," indicates that high-arousal emotions (awe, anger, anxiety, amusement) are more likely to lead to viral sharing than low-arousal emotions (happiness, sadness). While positive high-arousal emotions tend to be shared more, both can be powerful.

Cryptic

Interestingly, a somewhat counterintuitive idea is the strategic use of being intentionally a little unclear or cryptic in marketing. While clarity is usually paramount, thinkers like Charlie Munger suggest that in certain situations, slight unclarity can be more effective at grabbing attention and sparking curiosity. An example is a public service announcement with a puzzling image and ambiguous tagline that makes you stop and think. When you finally "get it" (e.g., a drunk driving PSA), the "aha!" moment makes the message more memorable because you invested cognitive effort. Clever ads from publications like The Economist often imply value without explicit statements. Presenting ideas that require a slight mental reach can lead to better understanding and longer retention. However, this requires careful execution to avoid being so cryptic that no one understands the message.

Cold Outreach

Cold outreach can be effective for companies with high-margin products or services where customers aren't actively searching online. It's also valuable for early-stage startups seeking low-capital ways to gain initial sales traction. Businesses like agencies charging $2,000+/month, B2B SaaS companies, sellers of expensive physical equipment, and high-margin digital ed-tech products often fit this profile.

Two key criteria can help determine if cold outreach is suitable:

1. Profit margins per deal are greater than $500, AND the customer payback period is less than two months.

2. You're an early-stage startup with products priced above $100 and can afford low initial margins to gain early customers.

A basic cold outreach process involves:

1. Meticulously building a targeted prospect list.

2. Reaching out (usually via email) with a compelling invitation (e.g., demo, consultation, webinar).

3. Effectively handling objections and guiding prospects toward becoming paying customers.

Alignment

When it comes to your offering, consider the alignment of "product friction" (how complex it is to onboard and use your product) and "model friction" (pricing structure, cost commitment). Misalignment can be problematic. For example, a very easy-to-use social media app (low product friction) with a high monthly subscription fee (high model friction) would likely see low adoption. Conversely, complex enterprise software (high product friction) with a completely free, unsupported trial (low model friction) might lead to users struggling and not converting, making customer acquisition costs unsustainable. Successful businesses tend to correlate these: low average revenue per user (ARPU) products often have low product friction for mass adoption, while high ARPU products can have higher product friction justified by the significant value they provide.

For scaling service-based businesses, Alex Hormozi's "sales to fulfillment continuum" offers valuable insights. Founders often mistakenly assume they can easily scale from high-touch personalized services directly to a low-priced, self-study online course. This direct jump frequently fails because the "done-for-you" option, though expensive (e.g., $10k/month service), often sells better initially due to a higher perceived likelihood of success for the buyer. It offers a tangible outcome with minimal buyer effort. The DIY course requires significant effort, and the perceived chance of success is lower.

A more effective progression is:

1. Start with high-touch, done-for-you services to prove expertise and get results.

2. Move to done-with-you 1:1 coaching.

3. Transition to done-with-you small group coaching.

4. Offer a cohort-based course with more structure and some live interaction.

5. Finally, offer the purely self-serve version (pre-recorded videos, tools). Crucially, only move to the next stage after demonstrating strong demand and consistent customer results at the current stage.

Reminder

It's vital to consistently remind customers of the value your product or service provides, especially for retention. Customers don't think about your product as often as you do. Reminding them of benefits helps them appreciate its value, justify the cost, and stick with you. Instacart, for instance, frequently reminds premium users of the time and money they've saved. Opal, an app to reduce screen time, shows tangible proof of reclaimed time. Imperfect Foods highlights pounds of food waste prevented. Even the mintiness of toothpaste acts as a sensory reminder of cleanliness. Wealthsimple shows users interest earned. Remind users both in the moment of use and through channels like email or notifications, focusing on the benefits they care about most (time saved, money saved, positive impact). Frame value effectively by highlighting recent, historical, and potential future value, and make invisible background work visible.

Unignorable

Finally, make your product visually "unignorable" to cut through marketplace noise. Think of cookies with unexpected, bright packaging or Liquid Death water's distinctive cans that resemble beer or energy drinks. SmartSweets candy also stands out with unique, colorful packaging. The principle is to actively try not to look like competitors, be different, colorful, distinct, and ideally, immediately communicate a core benefit through your product's presentation.

Final Thoughts

This exploration has covered a multitude of growth strategies: closing the referral gap, reducing cart abandonment, building Instagram communities, mastering cold outreach, tackling the browse cart gap, aligning product and model friction, leveraging emotional copywriting, strategically growing referral programs, making products unignorable, boosting email confirmations with sniper links, encouraging UGC, overcoming the social media cold start, scaling services thoughtfully, using power words, the surprising tactic of cryptic marketing, consistently reminding customers of value, and anchor shock pricing.

These are actionable tactics drawn from current thinking in growth marketing. As you reflect on these strategies, consider which one or two feel most relevant to your current challenges or growth goals. What's one thing you could implement this week? Consider what small adjustment could unlock significant growth, and always reflect on how the underlying psychology of your target audience plays into each tactic. Are you truly leveraging that understanding to its full potential? Finally, it’s all in your head; psychology = marketing = gtm; do give all the newsletters a deep dive if u are interested: https://www.demandcurve.com/