Ask HN: Building first B2B product, how to reach them to validate? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Building first B2B product, how to reach them to validate?

6 pointscentdev3 comments

I'm looking to build my first B2B product and I want to validate the concept before writing any code. I've started to put together an informative landing page (still in progress) and I believe the copy is simple enough but doesn't get too technical.

I've sat down with some business owners and I believe they "get it." I haven't shown it to friends or family who aren't in the industry I'm trying to reach.

The core users (hopefully) will be local bars, restaurants and lounges that have high foot traffic centered around entertainment. What are the best ways to get the word out to them, get them to the site and gauge interest?

One idea I had was to design a postcard, purchase a mailing list and send it to all of the businesses in the area. Get people to the site and do the email signup flow, offering $10 off when it launches. This will cost about $600 for the printing and mailing.

Another idea is to buy ad space through Adwords. This seems more of a gamble as you have to predict what business owners might be searching for.

What have you done to reach B2B users before your product launches?

1. Go to google keyword suggestion tool and check how many people are searching for something you are building. Say, you are building Employee Evaluation Tool - close to 74K searchers are made every month in US and 135K globally. Competition is medium, so there is still some space for new player. So, yes there is some demand for problem I m trying to solve.

2. List down top 10 blog post links which talk about Problem your product will solve and post comment on all those blogs in 3-4 lines : first two lines about the post, next two about your project & link. So, you will start getting some traffic atleast say 20-30 users daily from all those 10 blogs combined.

3. Start creating good relations with people who have given you these emails. Tell them something like : "Hi, Thanks for giving me you email. I am building this product where you will be able to choose pre-made Employ Evaluation forms or will be able to edit them too. What more do you think you will need to solve your problem of Employee evaluation. Thanks."

So, with in 2-3 weeks, you will have really good idea if this thing gonna work or not.

@sharmag88

Here are a few tactics to try:

- Create a resource/freebie that would be of value to your target audience. A whitepaper, an eBook, a guide or template of some sort, etc. Offer it in exchange for email signups.

- Start an Adwords campaign to get people searching for related terms - you can usually find codes from Google for $100 free Adwords budget after you spend $25. Use the keyword tool to find related keywords, with good traffic, but affordable CPC. Send them to a landing page with a tailored pitch and a request for email signups (possibly in exchange for your freebie above, or a discount coupon).

- Once you have an email list, send useful things to it, along with marketing-related things. Try to engage with people on the list.

- Continue meeting people in person. Ferret out their pain points and see if your product would really solve problems, or just be something interesting. Try to really gauge whether they would spend money on your product.

Working with economic development groups in your area. They have large rolodexes and are generally well thought of by their clients. Offer reduced cost in exchange for feedback. Helps you get traction and feedback; makes economic dev groups look good.

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