Tools#other
Read time: 07'35''
11 May 2021
Man shadow walking
Unsplash © David Werbrouck

Four must-haves before you advertise your startup’s product

Is digital advertising dying? That’s a thorny argument that my peers and I have been having over the last year. I tend to take the death side of the argument. I’m not saying that Google and Facebook’s business models are now broken and both of them are going to crater. But if you’ve been paying attention, the world’s two largest ad networks have recently changed the game — quietly, but rather radically.

Privacy and the end of customer as product

Advertising still works — in theory

Value is the new viral

Requirement 1: Your margins have to be insane.

There’s a point at which I will definitely not advertise a new product via digital ads, and that’s when the margin on the product is 30% or less.

Requirement 2: Your CAC needs to be low, your LTV needs to be high

Requirement 3: You need to be able to measure the results

Requirement 4: You need to perpetually adjust channels and messaging

This article was originally published on Medium by Joe Procopio

Joe Procopio is a multi-exit, multi-failure entrepreneur. In 2015, he sold Automated Insights to Vista Equity Partners. In 2013, he sold ExitEvent to Capitol Broadcasting. Before that, he built Intrepid Media, the first social network for writers. You can read more and sign up for his newsletter at www.joeprocopio.com