At Galvanize, we’re putting a whole new spin on Study Hall with monthly, members-only sessions. At every Study Hall, industry all-stars present on one of three topics — growth, funding, or product — and collaborate with Galvanizers to spur innovation, solve problems, and harness the power of our dynamic startup community.
The Austin campus welcomed Travis Devitt, Director of Growth at Aceable, to lead the November Growth Study Hall. Travis focused on finding channels to reach your ideal target customer. He educated the group on The Bullseye Framework by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares for gaining traction. The framework suggests that there are 19 traction channels to reach your target customer. The ideal approach to gain market share is to find the channels that are going to most efficiently achieve your goals and reveal your core customers through continuous iteration. The framework is broken into three rings:
Outer Ring
Start on the outer ring, “what’s possible”, and brainstorm every traction channel possible. Identify one channel strategy that would help spread your message. For example, search engine marketing (SEM). Investing strategic dollars into Google AdWords is a traction channel. With these efforts, you will start finding your first customers and recognize trends in these customer profiles to continue optimizing your strategy.
Middle Ring
Moving into the middle ring you discover “what’s probable”. Successful channels start gaining traction and your target customer profile becomes clear. In the middle ring, your goal is to continue testing various channels as cost-effectively as possible.
Core Channel
When your experimentation starts yielding repeatable success, you’ve discovered your core channel, or “what’s working”. Use this channel to propel the growth of your inner circle of users. Continue tweaking your core channel to maximize your audience and growth potential.
Travis wrapped up the overview of the framework when Galvanize member YiShaun Yang from Mama English asked, “How do you know when you’ve hit saturation and need to go after the next layer of customers?” The group discussed that you can expand your target customer base when users aren’t increasing, revenue plateaus or your social channel activity becomes stagnant.
Many attendees saw immense value in the Bullseye Framework, as it offers concrete actions to define your ideal marketing strategy and find your core customers. From early-stage entrepreneurs to established founders, Galvanize Members at every stage of their careers will benefit from the insights shared at our Study Halls.