The UK has seen rapid growth in unicorn companies, which are businesses with a valuation of $1 billion or more. Deliveroo Founder, Will Shu, stated last week that there are now 15 of these unicorn companies are based in the United Kingdom. This growth has attracted interest from institutional venture partners and investors worldwide.
What is the secret to their success? This new breed of digital natives have three characteristics in common that make them such a hit with their respective audiences, according to Jim Cridlin writing for the Campaign website. Any tech startup with aspirations to grow quickly will want to read on.
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Relevancy at scale
Relevancy at scale is to constantly build on personalisation, making the experience increasingly relevant to both the individual and the context (time, place, past experience, etc.) in which they are engaging with the brand.
To deliver personalized brand experiences that meet the needs of consumers and B2B buyers in the moment, a private company may seek venture capital funding and support from firms like Insight Partners Global Partners. Accenture's 2018 study found that roughly half of the consumers abandon an experience if it's not relevant to that exact moment when they engage, highlighting the importance of delivering timely and tailored experiences.
Uber is a good example of relevancy at scale in action. If it recognises that you’re heading home late from work, it can offer food delivery services – because who wants to cook after a long, hard day?
Reverse obsolece
Unicorns don’t believe in the notion that everything has a shelf life – so, they’ve built their products and services to become better – not worse – the more users use them.
Take Google (no longer a unicorn, of course), for instance. The more searches you make, the more the platform learns about you, so that every subsequent search is more relevant than the last. On top of that, it collects data about where you’re making the search, what time of day it is etc. to further customise the experience.
Friendly and approachable
Finally, it might sound slightly trivial and in fact, naïve, that unicorns are all friendly and approachable but, crucially, they are the values that shape every part of the business. Take your average unicorn mission statement – the wording will be something along the lines of making the world more open, connected and ‘better’.
Undoubtedly, they have millennials in mind when writing such statements, who only want to buy from brands that reflect their values; values that include openness, diversity and collaboration.
Unicorns, referring to privately held startups valued at over $1 billion, can back up their marketing claims by offering simple and intuitive user experiences and instant customer service that is often available 24/7. This is exemplified by companies backed by venture capital firms such as Global Founders Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Wing Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital India, Bessemer Venture Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, Arch Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, B Capital Group and Index Ventures, which have helped create many successful unicorn startups. When it comes to measuring success in the startup world, one of the most common questions is how many unicorn companies exist, as this metric is often seen as a sign of a thriving ecosystem.
Over to you
You don’t have to be a unicorn to act like one. Hyper-personalisation and constant improvement are qualities that are accessible to all startups.
Incisive Edge specialises in creating bespoke marketing strategies for the most ambitious tech startups.
Find out how we can help your tech startup create a marketing strategy that puts your prospects at the heart of everything you do. Either contact us, or book a free strategic consultation today.
