Getting initial customers as a startup can be one of the most grueling challenges in business. Even when companies manage to snag some early interest, there’s no guarantee those customers will stick around. At TechCrunch Disrupt last week, Elia Wallen, founder and CEO of travel startup Engine, Gamma founder and CEO Grant Lee, and Crystal Huang, general partner at Google Ventures, shared tips on how to attract and retain customers.
In the current era — when young AI companies like Cluely and Instinct are building big audiences not just through their products but also through their founders’ colorful online presences — social media can seem like a magic bullet for reaching early customers. But founders who want heighten their business strategy with modern marketing, have to be strategic, according to Lee. Gamma, which sells AI-powered presentation software, managed to scale its business exponentially with a social media strategy that deployed influencers through its Ambassadors (or “Gambassador”) program.
The company adopted the plan before influencer-based marketing was a tried-and-true strategy for smaller companies, eventually reaching a multi-billion dollar valuation. But simply giving influencers a platform and telling them to promote your brand online doesn’t automatically translate to sales, said Lee. There’s more to it than that.
The effectiveness of social media depends largely on the type of business. Other ways of reaching customers can be just (if not more) effective. His company Engine, which manages lodging and travel bookings for midsize businesses, bootstrapped its way to $150 million in bookings before taking on any outside funding.
They also had no visible social media strategy at all. For Wallen, traditional sales tactics can be far more useful than a positive TikTok video. A lot of people who didn’t grow up with that or don’t understand it think that it’s outdated or it doesn’t work but it does.
There are a lot of companies that just refuse to do it or don’t know how to do it well. But they’re missing out on a very big offline client base.” He added: “The phone still works.” Wallen also shared an in-person tactic that his company deployed during its scrappy early days: hiring a magician named David to perform tricks for prospective clients at events and encourage them to visit the Engine’s booth. In short, old-fashioned personal engagement can work just as well, if not better, than the latest social media tricks.
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