In today's fast-moving world, find out why you need a startup marketing strategy, rather than tactics – no matter what anyone tells you. A start up marketing strategy is not limited to social media marketing or content marketing per se. Every strategy must be geared to deliver the best content and information about your business to your target audience in the right marketing channels.
Why a Startup Marketing Strategy is Essential.
After experiencing an industry problem first-hand, rather than sitting around and complaining about it, you created a solution – your startup. Congratulations! You have joined the extensive list of tech entrepreneurs who have dared to take the untrodden path. Now, it's time to ensure the success of your venture by developing an effective marketing campaign, conducting thorough market research, and implementing a successful marketing strategy. These key elements will help you reach your target audience, understand their needs, and position your product or service in the market for maximum impact.
However, embarking on your own tech startup journey is not as easy or as glamorous as it sounds. The scale of the mountain you must climb can quickly become overwhelming, especially when you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders too. 
You'll feel under attack as you’re constantly told that half of all new companies fail within four years and that most startups have no real sense of direction. When approaching the thorny subject of marketing, many founders are also understandably anxious.
The problem is that although startups are focused on bringing unique solutions and value into the world, many still prioritize the latest marketing tech or tactics over developing a solid marketing strategy. This approach often fails to yield the best results while minimizing investment. One crucial element that is often overlooked is leveraging search engines effectively. Incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) into marketing efforts can significantly elevate startups. Additionally, a well-executed email marketing strategy is essential for long-term growth.
On the other hand, optimising your website and getting visitors signed up to your email marketing list in exchange for a free e-book is a great start. But it's hardly revolutionary, is it?
Having a shiny new website and sending a generic monthly email – one that’s not tailored to the specific needs of your prospects and their stage in the buying journey – is never going to make your company truly stand out from the crowd.
Check out the following blogs to learn more about Startup marketing
- How to Grow Your Startup With Marketing Leverage Today
- 6 Steps to Accelerate Business Growth for Startup Marketers
- 5 Steps To Successful Marketing Automation For Startups
- 5 Great Fintech Startups With an Impeccable Digital Strategy
"You need a well-thought-out digital marketing strategy to drive your business forward"
If you delve a little deeper, it quickly becomes apparent that you need a well-thought-out strategy to drive your business forward, rather than the immediacy of ill-conceived tactics.
It's easy to let procrastination settle in and buckle under the pressure of it all. But it's crucial to remember that despite what you may read, behind every overnight success sensation there is often a ten-year story, and in your case, it must start with a marketing plan.
Much of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt that you are feeling is natural, but easy to overcome by focusing clearly on how you will plan, build, and grow your business.
Driving Revenue Growth
Without incoming revenue, you only have costs. And those costs can easily spiral out of control. We've all read stories from Silicon Valley where a unicorn startup such as Snapchat can lose $515 million a year and still be worth $25 billion.
But does it really work like this?
Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to success in marketing. Fixating on the latest gimmick or tactic, such as referral marketing or social media channels, will only slow you down. Most startups do not have the marketing budget Snapchat did and can't afford to make certain mistakes. Aimlessly writing blogs, sending emails, and updating your social media channels without any meaningful strategy in place for your marketing channels will also limit your progress and sap your energy, your resources, and your will to live. It will grind your growth to a halt.
We believe that by following a simple 6-step process to creating powerful digital marketing strategies, you can join the fastest-growing tech startups by generating high-quality leads and driving sustainable revenue growth.
Securing Funding
Thankfully, the days where the loudest voice in the meeting room determined the next steps are gone, or at least they should be. With a wealth of analytics and information at your fingertips, strategic decisions are the new currency.
The challenges that need to be overcome to secure funding at each stage of the startup journey are all unique. However, the one constant is the need to attract customers, drive sales, and grow revenue at every step of the funding process. If your startup business fails in attracting potential customers, your process must be immediately checked as your success heavily depends on that.
Whatever the stage of the funding process, the rules of the game will be the same. Unforgiving investors will expect you to meet a variety of performance metrics and delivery milestones to illustrate growth and scale.
"It is imperative that reliable data be available and reported"
Metric-driven performance data will help you unlock the reporting and optimisation techniques to level-up the next round of funding. For these reasons alone, it is imperative that reliable data be available and reported in the correct format to show both past progress and future potential.
Building Scalability
The inability to scale a business is one of the most common traps that entrepreneurs fall into.
If there is no plan to upscale your business in the next 1-3 years, you will struggle to progress to the next funding round. As the founder of a startup, you need to upgrade your mindset to think big or go home and accept no substitute. However, to get there, you will need to plan – build – grow.
Engagement and sales are crucial to accelerating the growth and scale of your startup. Both elements will enable you to optimise your marketing campaigns and website performance.
"A systematic approach to revenue generation is the key"
A systematic approach to revenue generation that consists of planning, prioritising, and having a continuous-improvement mindset will also encourage greater collaboration and increase deliverables. The result will be tangible results that not only build scalability but enable you to prove it to investors.
Delivering on a Budget
The fear of failure will undoubtedly be what keeps you awake at night. Rather than accept that a lack of focus on the critical things caused the inevitable, many prefer to go with bad luck or even blame each other. There is also an alternative belief that startups don’t die; they commit suicide.
“Don't fail. Learn."
The reality is that failure is a significant factor in startup life. But it doesn’t have to be. As a wise person once said, “I don't fail, I learn.” By paying close attention to all the details above, you can get into the habit of under-promising and over-delivering rather than the other way around.
Once again, a startup marketing specialist who has traveled this road many times before will tell you that planning is the quickest route to success.
When you’re budget-limited, you need to be so much smarter about your strategy and your choice of tactics - whether they be inbound marketing, account-based marketing, or content marketing, to ensure you stay on track and are not distracted.
Over to You
At the beginning of this post, we likened your tech startup journey to climbing a mountain. In many ways it is slightly reminiscent of George Clooney's backpack speech in “Up in the Air” when he said the words, “How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you’re carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life.”
It's easy to see why you were feeling the pressure, and that it felt like you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. However, can you imagine the relief of putting the backpack down and working with a startup marketing expert who has been here before and will carry that bag for you? Feels good, right?
We'd love to help you on your tech startup journey so feel free to get in touch.
