The secret to getting in front of customers: Category Entry Points

Struggling to get noticed by your customers? You’re not alone. Many founders know their product is great but aren’t sure how to get it in front of the right people at the right time. 

Enter: Category Entry Points (CEPs). This simple yet powerful concept (backed by marketing science) could be the answer to unlocking customer attention and driving brand recognition for you in ways that feel natural, timely and effective. In this article, we’ll break down how CEPs work, show you real examples and give you a quick exercise to identify your own CEPs – and start reaching customers when they’re primed to buy.

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What are CEPs?

Category Entry Points (CEPs) are the various cues or triggers that prompt consumers to think of a particular category or brand in specific situations. These cues can be based on contexts, needs, emotions or tasks that bring a category into a consumer’s mind. CEPs help brands establish associations that make them more likely to be remembered and chosen when those triggers are present.

As a B2C/D2C example, in the reusable swim nappies market, CEPs could include:

• Occasions such as: “Going to the beach with kids” or “Packing for a family vacation.”
• Needs such as: “Wanting an eco-friendly swim option for babies” or “Looking for high-quality swimwear that won’t leak.”
• Concerns such as: “Ensuring the product is comfortable for long wear” or “Wanting a reusable option to save money in the long run.”

As a B2B example, for Stella Startups, our CEPs can include:

• Funding milestones: When a startup secures pre-seed, seed or Series A funding and needs to ramp up marketing.
• Team changes: When a startup lacks a dedicated marketing team or has new team members in need of strategic marketing guidance.
• Growth plateaus or pivot points (e.g. product launches): When startups feel they’ve hit a growth ceiling and are seeking ways to expand their reach and increase visibility.

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How do CEPs support & guide marketing strategy?

By identifying and targeting specific CEPs, brands can increase their salience, becoming the first choice in the minds of consumers when those triggers arise. Brand should aspire to have a strong affiliation in the minds of their target audience for at least one common category entry point and in essence, "own" that space. By doing so, even in a crowded category, a company can find a form of differentiation from other businesses that otherwise might offer very similar utility.

We can also then use CEPs to help identify opportunities for getting in front of customers, at the times they are most likely to buy.

Smart marketers consider the situations in which they want to be thought of (e.g. holiday planning/EOFY) and prioritise building associations with those situations that are:

1. Aligned with the brand’s unique selling proposition/differentiation/unique advantages,
2. Low competition i.e. most competitors aren’t also trying to associate themselves with these CEPs, and
3. High value – are most likely to result in someone converting to a customer (and ideally, one who will pay top dollar).

For example, a CEP for a high-SPF everyday sunscreen might be the occasion of going to watch outdoor summer sport. A sunscreen brand that wants to reach customers and build its association with being “perfect for the summer sport season”, might partner with a large sporting organisation like Cricket Australia, or a stadium like the MCG to give out free samples to spectators during games.

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Naked Sundays - a case study in CEP genius

Over the last 5-10 years, sunscreen brands have been capitalising on the health (and beauty) message that SPF should be worn daily, seeing it as a fantastic opportunity to expand the potential CEPs for selling sunscreen for all occasions. For example, brands like Naked Sundays have carved out a niche aligned to the CEP of the occasions when someone wants to wear sunscreen for special occasions, under and on top of make up. 

Not only has this made way for an innovative new product line (with formulas and products designed specifically to be compatible with makeup), but also allowed these brands to promote themselves through a new range of marketing channels and tactics previously less natural to the category, including associations with luxury brands in the beauty industry like MECCA, which otherwise would not have been caught dead with some of the less ‘sexy’ sunscreen brands on their shelves (sorry Banana Boat, this just isn’t your CEP…).

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How do Category Entry Points translate to selecting marketing channels and tactics?

Let's take a look back at Stella Startups' CEPs for examples of how each one can help identify potential marketing opportunities.

CEP #1: Funding milestones

LinkedIn, startup and VC newsletters, and industry podcasts

Startups often announce funding news on LinkedIn and via press releases. Participating in startup-focused newsletters and podcasts can position Stella Startups as a go-to marketing partner when founders are most likely seeking to capitalise on new funding.

VC/Investor Partnerships

Investors in a startup are highly incentivised to help their portfolio companies succeed. Developing partnerships with VCs is an opportunity for Stella to be available to offer support at this critical juncture.

CEP #2: Team changes

Job boards, LinkedIn, and industry Slack communities

When startups seek marketing guidance due to team changes, or are looking for extra support with marketing, they may turn to  startup job boards or post in Slack communities. Stella Startups could use these as opportunities to intercept founders’ decision making process and offer an alternative to a full-time hire.

CEP #3: Growth plateaus

Content marketing (blog, case studies), LinkedIn organic content, and educational webinars

When startups are plateauing, they’re often researching growth solutions. Case studies on Stella’s blog, LinkedIn thought leadership posts, and webinars on strategies to overcome growth hurdles can establish Stella Startups as a solution for companies seeking fresh insights.

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How to identify your CEPs 

Hopefully by now you're itching to figure out your own CEPs so you can start using them as a platform for your marketing strategy. But where should you start?

The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute which has popularised the concept of CEPs through it's research and work with globally-recognised companies suggests using "The W's" to start the process. This involves considering the Why, When, Where, With what, With/for whom, as well as how feels (or wants to feel) when buying from the category.

The reality is, your product or brand might only be able to or want to align itself with one or two CEPs. In fact, it may be wise to only focus on a small number at first, to ensure your resources are focused, to improve the liklihood to achieve enough reach and frequency with your target audience to build the long-lasting memory structures that lead to a sustainable marketing advantage over the competition.

If you want to speed up the process of identifying your CEPs, ChatGPT/ other LLMs can make this process even easier. Giving ChatGPT the right prompts is key.

Here are the key steps:

1. Ask ChatGPT to define ‘category entry points’ - check you’re happy with its definition based on the above. If not, provide it with more information, such as "The W's" framework to ensure it has the right theoretical context to provide you with useful answers in the following stages.
2. Describe your category, product offering & customer (ICP/buyer persona). The more specific this can be the better, as you’re more likely to identify entry-points that are genuinely aligned with your target audience.
3. Ask ChatGPT to generate up to 10 CEPs for your business.
4. Select the CEPs you agree with, edit them and add any others you’ve thought of. Again, taking some time to refine and add specifics here will give you a better output.
5. Ask ChatGPT to outline 3-5 channels and corresponding tactics/content that would leverage/be informed by your refined list of CEPs.

This is one of the fastest routes to a first draft of a marketing plan.

From here you should:

1. Sense-check based on your knowledge of your product & target customer.
2. Remove anything you know you don’t have the resources to execute (e.g. paid ads or time-consuming in-depth content).
3. Prioritise the top 2-3 channels and tactics you think will be most effective.
4. Consider how you might execute small, creative experiments to validate your assumptions before doubling-down on any one approach.

Note: The concept of CEPs has been supported and popularised by the marketing science research and real-world work of the Ehrenberg Bass Institute. If you really want to ‘nerd out’ on it, you can read more about it here & many other places on the internet.

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Interested in learning more about how to craft 0 to 1 startup marketing strategies? Get in touch with our team to chat all-things category entry points and to find out how we can support you.