How I'd grow Letterbase

Letterbase is a website messenger tool. It displays a widget that lets visitors send you a message.

But despite its appearance, it’s not a live chat. It acts as a contact form. When someone leaves a message, you’ll get an email and you can start a conversation.

Small teams don’t have time to chat all day, so Letterbase’s asynchronous communication is a big plus.

However, it needs to be highlighted on the website. Right now, a superficial visitor won’t even realize that Letterbase is not a live chat.

Letterbase should target small startups that would like to use a live chat solution, but don’t have the resources.

By resources I mean time, but also money. I’d position Letterbase both as a more suitable and a more affordable marketing solution than other tools.

When your market has a clear leader, position yourself as an alternative to them. Referencing names helps people understand what your product is.

For example, “A cheaper Intercom alternative for small teams with no time,” with a subheading that explains the how and why.

The landing page’s above the fold part is where conversions skyrocket. The CTA has to explain what will happen.

I’d make Letterbase CTAs more specific to decrease friction: “Start a 14-day free trial (no credit card required),” “Watch a live demo (no signup required).”

When landing on a new site, visitors (me included) look for the About page. Letterbase doesn’t have one.

It’s a mistake: your About page provides an advantage when you’re a solo founder. Use it to show who you are, explain your values, and establish sympathy and trust.

Letterbase is new and they need their first customers. For a low-touch SaaS, the best way to acquire is definitely community promotion.

They can’t just randomly spam their links everywhere. They need to be strategic. A basic strategy could consist of just 2 parts.

Part 1: Intercept people who are aware. Once a day, browse all the relevant online communities, and find relevant questions.

Then, instead of linking to your product, write thoughtful answers that add value and entice the OP and other members to click through to the site.

Part 2: Engage unaware people. Create a schedule with content made specifically to appeal to the target community.

Take the time to study the community and understand what resonates with them. Then, craft content that uses the right angle without being too self-promotional.

If you’re targeting an audience that’s connected, like Letterbase targets founders and site owners, trying to grow horizontally is a good option.

I’d set up a referral program to incentivize all the new customers to refer other people. Both can get 3 months for free.

A successful referral program needs 2 factors: CAC<LTV, and a strong incentive.

CAC for Letterbase is zero. A promotion like this one is free. The incentive (avoid paying 3 months and help a friend do the same) is great.

Letterbase should set up pages to target KWs like: “[competitor name] alternative.”

First, they should optimize their homepage for “Intercom alternative,” and then create a series of landing pages. Each one should address a competitor, and explain why Letterbase is better.

Pro tip: don’t target the same KW with different pages. This is called keyword cannibalization (competing with yourself).

Put everything you have to say about a topic on a single page. Your content will be comprehensive, you’ll attract backlinks, and improve your rankings.

Letterbase is not using social media. They only have an unused Twitter account. Huge missed opportunity!

They can keep it simple: First, create a simple and sustainable strategy. E.g. Only Twitter and 1x tweet/work day. Prepare 5 tweets in advance, and schedule them.

What to post? Start from the target audience; what would they find interesting enough to interact with?

A really basic template Letterbase could follow: Monday: short tip, Tuesday: ask a question, Wednesday: product update, Thursday: funny joke, Friday: case study.

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