How To Get Your First 100 Customers for Your SaaS Product

Summary

ビデオでは、SaaS製品の最初の100人の顧客を獲得する方法について実用的な戦略と戦術を提供しています。ロブ・ウォーリングは、複数のスタートアップの創設者であり、スタートアップを構築する本の著者でもあります。彼は、プロダクトを構築する前に市場を探すことの重要性を強調し、プロダクトのアイデア選択前にオーディエンスやネットワークを利用することが有利であると指摘しています。さらに、ランディングページを設定して顧客の興味を検証し、早期アクセスを提供しながらバグを修正し、顧客開発を行います。最後に、メールリストを通じてプロダクトをローンチし、製品狩りやハッカーニュース、Redditなど、様々なプロモーション方法を活用して顧客を獲得する方法について説明しています。

Takeaways

• 🚀 まずはコードを書く前に、最初の100人の顧客を見つける方法を学びましょう。
• 🛠️ 製品のアイデアを選ぶ前には、自分が持っている利点を探しましょう。
• 👥 既存のオーディエンスやネットワークを活用して、製品のプロモーションを始めましょう。
• 🌐 SaaS製品の場合、オーディエンスがなくても問題ありません。重要なのは、製品を宣伝する様々なチャネルです。
• 📈 製品を開発する前に、潜在的な顧客の興味を検証するためのランディングページを立ち上げましょう。
• 📧 メールアドレスを収集し、製品のアップデートや提供する価値について関心を持つ人々とコミュニケーションを取ることで、顧客開発を行いましょう。
• 💡 製品のアイデアを公開して、市場での需要を検証し、フィードバックを得ましょう。
• 🎯 メールリストを使って、製品の発売を告知し、初期顧客を獲得しましょう。
• 💰 価格設定は重要です。適切な価格帯で製品を提供することで、初期の収益を確保し、マーケティングの幅を広げることができます。
• 🔄 顧客を獲得した後、彼らを維持することが最も重要な課題です。顧客満足度を高め、定期的に価値を提供し続けましょう。
• 🔍 1つのマーケティング手法に焦点を当て、それを徹底的に実行することで、100人の顧客を獲得するためのマーケティングの飛車を作りましょう。

Q & A

ロブ・ウォーリングはどのような人物ですか？

ロブ・ウォーリングは複数のスタートアップを立ち上げ、成功させたスタートアップ創業者で、3冊の書籍を執筆し、100を超える企業に投資している投資家です。

SaaS製品の最初の100人の顧客を獲得するための戦略とは何ですか？

最初の100人の顧客を獲得するには、プロダクトの開発より前に潜在的な顧客とのコミュニケーションを開始し、彼らのニーズを理解することが重要です。

ロブ・ウォーリングはなぜプロダクトの開発前に顧客を見つけることが重要だと考えていますか？

プロダクトの開発前に顧客を見つけることで、製品のニーズや価値を検証し、市場への適応を早く始めることができます。

SaaS製品を立ち上げる際にオーディエンスを持っていない場合、どのようにアプローチすべきですか？

オーディエンスがなくても、SaaS製品は様々なトラフィックチャネルを活用して顧客を獲得できます。オーディエンスを構築するのではなく、直接マーケティングに注力することが推奨されます。

SaaS製品を販売する際にオーディエンスを持つ利点とは何ですか？

オーディエンスを持つことで、既に信頼を築いている顧客に製品を販売しやすくなります。これは情報製品やコースの販売に特に役立ちます。

ロブ・ウォーリングが推奨する顧客獲得の最初のステップは何ですか？

ロブは、プロダクトの最初のラインを書く前には、自分が持っている利点を探して、その利点を活用して製品を開発するべきだと推奨しています。

ランディングページを立ち上げることの利点は何ですか？

ランディングページを立ち上げることで、顧客の興味を検証し、メールアドレスを収集して早期アクセスやローンチの更新情報提供することができます。

ロブ・ウォーリングが提供する顧客開発とは何ですか？

顧客開発は、製品のアイデアやモックアップについて顧客とコミュニケーションを取り、彼らのフィードバックを活用して製品を改善するプロセスです。

SaaS製品の初期の顧客獲得に役立つマーケティング手法には何がありますか？

初期の顧客獲得に役立つマーケティング手法には、メールマーケティング、ソーシャルメディア、ポッドキャスト、質問と回答サイト、アプリサモの取引、ポッドキャストツアーなどがあります。

ロブ・ウォーリングは製品の価格設定についてどのように考えていますか？

ロブは、製品を安すぎる価格で提供することは顧客獲得に役立ちますが、長期的な収益性には適していないと考えています。適切な価格設定は、顧客獲得と維持の両方に重要です。

顧客維持に必要な要素は何ですか？

顧客維持には、製品の品質、顧客サービス、定期的なコミュニケーション、そして顧客のニーズに応じた製品の改善が不可欠です。

ロブ・ウォーリングが提供するマーケティングのロータールールとは何ですか？

ロブは、マーケティングのロータールールとして、SEO、コンテンツマーケティング、コールドアプローチ、パートナーシップや統合、またはペイパークリック広告などのアプローチを試して、最も効果的な手法を見つけることを推奨しています。

Outlines

00:00

🚀 初代SaaS製品の100人の顧客獲得戦略

この段落では、Rob WallingがSaaS製品の初代100人の顧客獲得について解説しています。彼は、製品開発の前に市場調査や顧客のニーズを理解することが重要であると強調します。また、製品を開発する前に自社の優位性やネットワークを活用し、潜在的な顧客を特定することが勧められています。さらに、製品のアイデアを事前に公開し、顧客の関心を高めることで、製品の価値を検証し、早期アクセスやフィードバックを通じて製品の改善に繋げることができます。

05:02

📈 SaaS製品のマーケティングと価格戦略

第二段落では、SaaS製品のマーケティング戦略と価格設定について語られています。製品を完成させた後ではなく、開発の前から顧客とのコミュニケーションを始めることが推奨されています。メールリストを通じて早期顧客に製品の情報を提供し、製品ローンチ時にそれらの顧客を対象に特別なオファーを行ったり、製品のバグや要求に応じて機能を追加することで、顧客満足度を高めることができます。また、製品の価格設定がビジネスの成長に大きな影響を与えるため、適切な価格帯を見つけることが重要です。最後に、顧客獲得だけでなく顧客の維持も重要で、顧客からの離反を防ぐことが継続的な成功の鍵となります。

Keywords

💡初期顧客

初期顧客は、新しいSaaS製品の最初の100人の顧客を指します。ビデオでは、製品のコーディングを始める前にマーケティングを行い、潜在的な顧客の関心を引くことが重要であると説明しています。これにより、製品のニーズを検証し、初期顧客を獲得するプロセスを簡略化できます。

💡アドバンテージ

アドバンテージとは、製品開発前に持っている利点を指します。ビデオでは、自分の持つオーディエンスやネットワークを活用することが、製品の成功に繋がると述べています。これにより、より効率的に初期顧客を獲得できます。

💡ランディングページ

ランディングページは、製品の初期段階で作成されるウェブページで、顧客の関心を引き、メールアドレスを収集するために使用されます。ビデオでは、コーディングを始める前にランディングページを設置し、顧客の関心を検証することが重要であると述べています。

💡ネットワーク

ネットワークとは、起業家としての知識や尊敬を持つ人々の集まりを指します。ビデオでは、SaaS製品を成功させるためには、自分のネットワークを構築し、利用することが重要であると強調しています。

💡顧客開発

顧客開発は、製品の方向性を決定するために潜在的な顧客と対話し、フィードバックを収集するプロセスです。ビデオでは、アイデアを公に話し、顧客からの意見を集めることで、製品が提供する価値を検証することの重要性が述べられています。

💡価格設定

価格設定は、製品の価格を決定するプロセスです。ビデオでは、初期の起業家が犯しがちな間違いとして、製品の価格を低く設定しすぎることを挙げています。高い価格設定は、より持続可能なビジネスを築くのに役立ちます。

💡マーケティングチャネル

マーケティングチャネルは、製品を宣伝し、顧客に到達するための手段を指します。ビデオでは、オーディエンスがいなくても効果的に機能する複数のマーケティングチャネルについて説明しています。

💡検証

検証は、製品のアイデアやコンセプトが市場で需要があるかどうかを確認するプロセスです。ビデオでは、ランディングページや顧客との対話を通じて、製品の価値を検証する方法が説明されています。

💡プロダクトハント

プロダクトハントは、新製品やスタートアップを紹介するプラットフォームです。ビデオでは、プロダクトハントでのローンチが、初期顧客を獲得するための効果的な手段の一つとして言及されています。

💡チャーン率

チャーン率は、一定期間内にサービスを解約する顧客の割合を示します。ビデオでは、顧客を獲得することだけでなく、彼らを維持することの重要性が強調されています。チャーン率が高いと、ビジネスの成長が妨げられるため、顧客維持が重要です。

Highlights

Rob Walling, a startup founder with multiple exits, author, and investor, shares actionable strategies for acquiring the first 100 customers for a SaaS product.

The traditional approach of building a product and then marketing it later is the opposite of what should be done; finding customers should start before writing the first line of code.

Identify personal advantages such as an existing audience or network before choosing a product idea to leverage these for product promotion.

Building an audience for a SaaS product is not necessary as there are traffic channels that work without one, and audience building is time-consuming.

For info products and courses, having an audience is beneficial as people buy from those they know, like, and trust.

If you lack an audience, focus on marketing strategies that work without one, rather than investing time in audience building before launching a SaaS product.

Building a network of entrepreneurs and founders is crucial, regardless of whether you have one or not, to establish respect and recognition in the entrepreneurial community.

Online entrepreneur communities such as Indie Hackers, MicroConf Connect, and the Dynamite Circle are great places to start building a network.

Having a landing page before coding begins is essential for validating interest and need for the product, and for capturing emails for an email launch list.

Customer development involves having conversations with potential customers to validate product ideas and value propositions early on.

Talking about your product idea publicly before it's done can help build interest and an email list, and it's unlikely that your idea will be stolen due to the importance of execution.

Launching to an email list with early access and exclusive offers can help work out product kinks and prepare for a full launch.

Use short-term, scalable tactics like launching on Product Hunt, Hacker News, or Reddit to get to the first 100 customers quickly.

Under-pricing a product can limit marketing options and revenue; consider a higher price point that justifies more extensive marketing efforts.

Experimentation with different marketing approaches is key to finding the one that works best for reaching the 100 customer mark.

Retaining customers is as challenging as finding them; focus on building a product that provides ongoing value to prevent churn.

There's no direct formula to get from zero to 100 customers; it requires hard work, experimentation, and founder intuition.

Transcripts

in this video i'm talking about how to

get your first 100 customers for your

sas product i'm going to be offering up

actionable strategies and tactics on how

you can get this done i'm rob walling

i'm a startup founder with multiple

exits author of three books about

building startups and an investor in

more than 100 companies when most people

think about building a product they

think about how can i build the product

and then market it later how can i build

something and then go find people who

have this need and that's the opposite

way to go about it if i were launching a

product today i would say finding your

first hundred customers starts way

before you write that first line of code

the first thing you should do is look

for advantages that you have and you do

this when you're choosing the idea

before you write a line of code before

you choose the idea before you validate

the idea you think about do i have an

audience in any space that i could build

a product for or do i have a network in

any space a bunch of people who know me

who i could call in to help do webinars

to co-promote to work that network to

sell your product now if you don't have

an audience in a particular space i'm a

believer that if you're building a sas

product you don't need an audience

because there are a bunch of traffic

channels we're going to talk about later

that work without an audience and the

process of building an audience is

actually quite time consuming if you're

going to sell info products if you're

going to sell courses sure having an

audience is the way to go because people

buy info products and courses from

people they know like and trust

however building and selling a sas

product

most people that i know who do it they

don't have an audience when they start

and in fact they don't really build an

audience as they're selling it if you

have an audience great if you don't i

would not invest the time to build an

audience before launching a sas product

now second on the network whether you

have one or not building a network that

knows who you are and respects you as an

entrepreneur it's a big one and that's

something that i would start building so

whether you go to indiehackers.com

whether you go to microconf connect

which is our slack community whether you

go to the dynamite circle there's so

many online entrepreneur communities

that i would be involved in if i didn't

have any connections today and i wanted

to start building a network of other

like-minded founders so if you find you

have one of those two advantages i would

consider building a product in a way

that can serve those spaces and if you

don't then this is where being a

first-time entrepreneur is challenging

because you don't have a network and you

don't have an audience and you just have

to plunge in and start marketing before

you start coding that's the thing i want

you to take away from this video is if

you think that you're going to go into a

basement or you're going to hire some

developers spend six to 12 months

building out a product and then go try

to market it you're thinking about it

backwards because marketing and driving

interest or having conversations with

folks when you're looking at mock-ups of

a sas app it helps you validate whether

or not there is need for this product so

i'm a firm believer in having a landing

page way before you start writing a line

of code i've done this with multiple sas

apps i've done this with a book done

this with a conference i've done this

with a startup accelerator all were

landing pages before we had anything to

speak of and what i was trying to do was

to validate whether there was interest

or whether there was a need and the way

that you do this is you set up this

landing page where you're going to

capture emails and you're going to offer

someone either updates on the launch or

you offer them you know something to opt

in but you basically say this is what

we're building if you're interested in

this and you're interested in the value

that it provides in your email and we'll

be in touch and what this does is allows

you to build that email launch list

which not only provides some validation

that people are interested in the value

that you're talking about but it allows

you to do what's called customer

development which is to have

conversations as you have an idea about

where this product should go you get 100

people 500 people on that list you can

email 50 of them and you can say this is

what i'm thinking of building these are

the mock-ups does this solve what the

problem that i think it solves does this

provide value for you would you pay

thirty dollars fifty dollars a hundred

dollars a month for this product and it

allows you to start getting that

validation that maybe people are

interested to do this you have to talk

about your idea a lot and you have to

talk about your idea before it's done so

with the last sas app that i built i got

11 people to tell me yes i would pay for

this before we broke ground and wrote a

line of code your mileage may vary on

this but i was talking about my idea in

public before we had code written my

take on this is very few people if any

are going to steal your idea because

ideas just they don't tend to be worth

that much it's so much more about

execution i would recommend going on

social media podcasts if you can asking

people for advice and you're trying to

get product direction but you're also

trying to build up that interest list so

the day you launch is an amazing day of

revenue that it's not that you launch

and then you look for your first

customer it's that you launch to 10 20

or 30 customers from day one because

that provides that motivation and a

little bit of revenue for you to keep

going so let's say you followed this

advice and you do have early interested

customers you build the product you get

some people into early access and

they're using it and you think it's time

to launch this thing so the first thing

that i would do is launch to my email

list and that is where you give them a

heads up two weeks in advance you're

kind of teasing the product you're

saying hey these are the mock-ups this

is what it looks like these are some

screenshots here's a little cool video

of what this product does and usually

you give some type of launch motivation

whether that's free onboarding free

migration from a prior tool maybe you

give a discount although that's not

necessarily my favorite way of doing it

but you let your email list know that

they are getting something exclusive for

having been on the email list and

followed your journey and the idea is

that that email launch list gets you

your first 10 20 50 customers and you

work out the kinks you fix the bugs that

they encounter maybe you build a few

features that people are requesting but

you're basically getting prepared to

launch to the world and this is what i

call scratching and clawing i think paul

graham said it better when he said do

things that don't scale because

launching to the world is often a

one-time event and there's a lot of

things that you can do in the short term

that will get you customers it gets you

to that first 100 customer mark that

won't take you to 500 or a thousand

customers so these are things like

launching on product hunt launching on

hacker news doing a reddit launch going

to q a sites like quora and stack

exchange i've seen an entrepreneur build

a sas app to 35 000 a month so that's

35k of mrr almost solely using quora and

stack exchange maybe you do an appsumo

deal maybe go on a podcast tour these

are all things that if you are good at

them and you focus the time and you go

out and learn how to do them so product

hunt launch for example if you go to

youtube.com microconf search for product

hunt you'll find that we have an entire

30 minute video on how to do a product

launch and it is an interview and a talk

from derek reimer who did this with

savvycal and he had great success

launching on product on and again you're

doing things that don't scale to get to

that point of well at least i'm default

to live at least i have 5k or 10k a

month in mrr because often that is a

really difficult point to get to it's

the point that you get to where you can

quit your day job at this point i want

to raise i think a common mistake that a

lot of first-time entrepreneurs make and

it's

under-pricing their product and it's

thinking that if i only charge five

dollars per customer i'm gonna get a lot

more customers the problem is you get a

hundred customers five dollars a month

you're only making 500 a month and

that's not enough to do much with what

if i charged a hundred dollars a month

what could i build that's worth a

hundred dollars a month then by the time

you get to that 100 customer mark you

have 10k in mrr

and that allows you to in most places in

the world quit that day job your price

point dictates a lot more than you

realize early on in your product and so

if you have five dollars a month versus

500 a month you can barely do anything

you can do some quora and reddit and

some content and seo but you can't

afford to do pay-per-click ads versus if

you have a price point of 100 or 500 a

month you can afford to do a whole swath

of marketing approaches if you've

followed the advice i've given you so

far you may already be at 100 customers

but if you're not then you have to start

thinking about how do i build a

marketing flywheel how do i find usually

one marketing approach that can get me

to that 100 customer mark and usually

this is done through experimentation you

look at the most common b2b sas

marketing approaches and you pick which

one you think is most likely to work and

then you dive into it for a few months

and you you give you give it your all

and whether that marketing approaches or

what i call the pillar b2b sas marketing

approaches you pick one of these usually

it's seo or content or cold outreach

partnerships integrations or

pay-per-click ads and those are the most

common ones that i see people building

into flywheels through all this keep in

mind there's a lot of experimentation

and a lot of maybe going with your

founder gut to get to the point where

you have a hundred customers it's harder

than a lot of people make it out to be

online and in fact aside from building

something people want and driving

traffic to it and putting in all the

hard work there's one more thing that

you're gonna need to retain customers

i'll get to that in a minute but if

you've enjoyed this video if you got

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channel we have tons of videos like this

coming out whether it's pointed tactical

advice like this video live streams

conference talks we are putting out

several videos per month all about the

topic of building and growing successful

sas products in terms of the one more

thing you'll need to retain customers i

want to say that finding a hundred

customers is hard retaining them is the

real challenge because if you drive 10

new customers a month but you churn 10

customers a month you'll be flat it

doesn't matter if you find 100 customers

if you cannot retain them because

building a product that people want and

are willing to pay for month after month

it's much harder than you think and

while marketing is a challenge just

getting to that point where you have a

product that people don't churn out of

can take six months 12 months 18 months

so there's no formula there's no direct

map to getting from zero to 100

customers and retaining them but

hopefully the ideas strategies and

tactics that i've presented in this

video will help get you there

[Music]

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