Marketing Strategy Development for Startups

When starting a new business, marketing strategy is everything. This is because you have a product and an organization that you are excited to present to the public, but you are an unknown entity. Even if you are a relatively public figure, people know your name and what you have done, but they likely will not equate that with your new startup venture. Therefore, what is important to realize is that no matter what your personal brand might be, any new venture must be regarded as unknown by the public.

What you need to do at this point is craft an effective strategy to promote your new business to the public. As you are nearing the completion of your product development (or you have just completed it) work through this set of four considerations:

Identify Your Customers: You have a clear product that is ready to go to market. Wonderful! Who all will buy it? This is where you need to focus on identifying all of your customers. Most likely, they will break down into different segments. This is because certain demographics will have certain reasons for using your product. Therefore, what you need to do is to quickly identify not only who your customers are but also how they break down into different segments.

Identify Your Communication Channels: What will be your means of communicating and advertising your product to your customers? Obviously, you will have preferred channels, but remember that customers might have different channels that they like to use. You could be losing significant business if you don’t adapt to how segments of your customer base like to communicate. If a mode of communication arises as a potential means of communication with your customers, figure out how to implement it. If you don't, someone else will, taking your potential customers with them.

Define Your Brand: If you do not already have a logo, now is the time to get one. Additionally, be prepared to start developing a lot of content for use in your marketing. You can enlist the aid of a graphic designer, or you might be able to get by with a program like Canva (it is inexpensive and is very user friendly.) Develop all of the content, focusing on creating as needed. You will likely find yourself needing to create new content regularly.

Set Your Budget: How much are you willing to spend promoting your business? Granted, some businesses can initially get away with not having this cost, and quite possibly, you will be able to develop your business by guerilla marketing techniques. However, there will undoubtedly be some point where you need to pay for marketing. You need to be ready to determine what your budget will allow you to do here.

Be Patient: One rule that I learned very early on was the Rule of 20. This is the rule that states a customer will make the decision to purchase a product the 20th time they see an advertisement. While this rule might be more anecdotal than anything, the truth that it is conveying is this: good marketing takes time. Just because you do not see results immediately doesn’t mean that it is a problem. Give it the time it needs.

At the end of the day, the key to success is to develop and then implement, implement, implement. If you see areas that need to be addressed, by all means do so and do it quickly. Marketing doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to be done. I have never ceased to be amazed at the amount of time that is wasted on projects that should have been done quickly.

In conclusion, your marketing strategy is your roadmap for giving your new business exposure. Marketing is a bit of an art as opposed to a science, and since habits of potential customers change, be prepared for the need to adapt, especially if a new communication platform seems to be emerging that is gaining popularity among your customer base. At the end of the day, the easiest way to sum up how to effectively craft and implement a marketing strategy is to know your audience. If you know the essentials about your customers to the point that you can easily put them into segments and identify all of the associated patterns of behavior (specifically with communication and needs), you will be able to hit upon a successful marketing strategy.