How to Create an Effective Marketing Strategy for Your Startup Company

Starting a business is no easy task. Trust me, I know this very well from my experiences founding multiple companies.

If you are currently building a startup company, kudos to you for the effort.

There is a long and difficult road ahead of you. But if you start with the right foundation, this road can be very rewarding.

If your startup company has already launched and you don’t have a concrete marketing strategy, you’re behind. To be as effective as possible, your strategy should be created in the early stages so you’re ready to go once the company officially launches.

That said, you can’t go back in time. So don’t be alarmed. It’s not too late for you to build a strong marketing plan.

Some of you may have created a marketing strategy before your company launched. That’s great. But now that you’re in business, you are quickly realizing your strategy isn’t working the way you thought it would.

It’s time to go back to the drawing board.

Regardless of your unique scenario, I’m confident this guide can help steer you in the right direction. It can also be used as a reference for prospective startup founders in the preliminary stages of writing a business plan for your new company.

Your marketing strategy can make or break your business. It’s important you spend the time to get it right as soon as possible.

Here’s what you need to know.

Identify your target market

Before you do anything else, you need to decide to whom you are going to sell your products or services.

All too often in my consulting work, I see many new business owners who skip over this step because they believe their brands are for everyone. While I admire their ambition, that’s simply not the case.

You need to find ways to segment your target audience to help you identify the best market for your brand:

This chart is a great reference to give you ideas when it comes to getting as much information as possible about your prospective market.

You can also use generational marketing to segment your target audience.

Start broad and slowly get more specific. Depending on your brand, you may be targeting a wide range of individuals.

For example, let’s say your company sells clothing. You may sell clothes to men, women, and children of all ages. How can you narrow that down?

Maybe you’re targeting people who will wear your clothing for physical activity and fitness. You could get even more specific and target a certain sport, such as running or cycling.

Develop a customer persona for each unique type of customer.

There is a science to this strategy. One the one hand, a narrow target marketing will make it easier for you to make your brand appealing to that specific group of people.

But on the other hand, going too specific with your campaigns will alienate a large portion of the total consumer market. Tread carefully here, and do your best to find a market within the middle ground.

Conduct market research

Now that you’ve identified your target market, it’s time to start coming up with promotional strategies, right? Not so fast.

Before you work on new advertising campaigns, you need to validate your hypothesis.

Just because your brand is planning to target a certain audience doesn’t mean this group of people will automatically accept you.

You need to get out there and find out whether your target market actually wants what you’re selling.

Here’s a look at the top reasons why startup companies don’t succeed:

The number one reason why startup companies fail is because there is no market need for what they offer.

That’s why earlier I said you should be creating a marketing strategy before your startup launches. Then, you’ll be able to find out early on during the market research phase whether your venture is worth pursuing.

If your brand created a new product or service, find out how it helps improve the lives of your target market:

• interview people
• conduct focus groups
• let them try out your product
• listen to their feedback

All of these are crucial to the market research process.

Not all of you are creating something unique. You may have just made improvements to an already existing product or service.

Well, what’s your differentiation strategy? What makes it better than the competition’s product?

Figure out how your brand compares to other similar products or services already on the market. This will make it easier for you to craft a marketing strategy.

Analyze your competition

Your startup company doesn’t exist in a vacuum. As I previously alluded to, you need to be aware of your competition within this space.

In most cases, your startup company isn’t 100% unique. It’s more than likely that whatever you’re selling is similar to other products and services on the market.

That’s OK because the right marketing strategy can help you survive even with lots of competition.

Analyzing your competition is one of the most crucial parts of your marketing strategy. Start by looking at their marketing campaigns.

A simple SWOT analysis chart can be a useful tool when it comes to your competitive analysis process:

That’s because this type of chart is designed to compare your competitors to your own brand.

What is their target market?

Figure out what’s working well for them. If a marketing strategy works well for your competitors, it might work for you as well.

If you notice flaws in their marketing strategy, you can make sure to avoid those mistakes when you are creating your own.

Come up with a realistic budget

You may have all kinds of ideas for your advertising campaigns.

But you can’t blindly launch these without factoring in the cost. Unfortunately, I see too many startup companies fail because they run out of money.

Refer back to the graph I showed you earlier about why startups fail. The number two reason on that list is because they run out of cash.

Appropriate budgeting is important for all businesses. But it’s even more important for startups. That’s because when you first launch, you don’t have a steady income yet.

Consumers don’t necessarily know who you are, and you won’t have a regular clientele base.

If you are still in the early stages of writing a business plan and securing funding for your startup, make sure you accurately estimate your marketing costs.

Including your marketing budget in your business plan is an absolute must. If you put your plan in writing, it increases the chances you’ll follow through with it.

That’s why startups with a business plan grow at higher rates than those without one:

Stay within the confines of your budget at all costs. If you exceed those spending limits, it could be the downfall of your company.

Don’t worry. You don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to be successful.

There are plenty of cost-effective marketing strategies you can implement.

Create your distribution channels

We’ve got a lot accomplished so far. But we’re still not quite ready to start implementing new ad campaigns.

Before you can do that, you need to have a platform to promote on.

Start by creating a website. Everything you do should focus on driving traffic to that website and getting visitors to convert.

Create a profile on as many social media channels as possible:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Snpachat
• YouTube

You need to establish a presence on these. This is especially important if you want to market your brand within a tight budget. Sure, you can spend money on social media ads, but you don’t have to.

It’s easy to save money by doing it all yourself and trying to gain traction by producing organic content on these platforms.

You’ve also got to consider which social sites are the most important based on your target market. What platforms are they active on the most?

This data from the Pew Research Center shows the habits of different groups of people on social media:

Don’t blindly focus all your efforts on just one social platform without conducting the research first.

Yes, eventually you want to have a strong social presence on all channels. But I recommend prioritizing your early efforts on the platforms your target market uses the most.

Grow your email list

Your company needs to have an email subscriber list.

This may seem like an uphill climb at first. Your list will start from the number zero. That’s OK.

You won’t get 10,000 subscribers overnight.

But with time, patience, and effort, your list will slowly begin to grow.

Your email subscriber list will serve as one of the most important distribution channels for your startup. That’s because anyone who provides you with their email information is somewhat interested in your brand.

Even if they didn’t buy something, they were still interested enough to hear from you in the future.

Sometimes you need to offer people an incentive to sign up for your emails.

Your website should make it easy for people to sign up. Check out this example from the Knockaround website:

They offer a discount to entice website visitors to opt in to their email list.

Once someone joins your list, you need to take advantage of that communication channel. Send them promotions, new product information, and things of that nature.

Use your social media platforms to do the same.

Figure out what type of content you’ll publish

Again, this relates back to some of the earlier points in this post: identifying your target market, conducting market research, and analyzing your competitors.

What types of campaigns will speak to your audience?

These are all examples of what you can consider applying to your marketing strategy:

• blogs
• infographics
• video promotions
• ebooks
• informative guides
• newsletters
• webinars

Just don’t bite off more than you can chew. I’d recommend starting with a few of these before implementing all of them at the same time.

Focus your efforts on producing high quality content in a couple of categories before branching off.

Research shows 73% of marketers say their top priority is to create more engaging content:

Be creative.

You don’t want your content to blend in with everything else’s. Your content should highlight your differentiation strategy.

Set aside time each day or week for brainstorming sessions. This can be done alone, or in groups, depending on the size of your company.

Really let some wild ideas fly in these sessions. Make sure your team isn’t afraid to speak up.

The worst case scenario is you don’t use an idea. But it never hurts to bring it to the table.

Reach out to prospective influencers

You shouldn’t be marketing your startup alone.

Working with influencers is a great way to build brand awareness.

But you need to make sure you find relevant influencers. Anyone who endorses your brand should be able to speak to your target market.

If you sell tennis equipment, hiring a brand influencer who has never played tennis probably won’t be an effective strategy.

There are plenty of online tools for finding and managing social influencers.

Take advantage of these platforms. They make it easy for you to get connected with people related to your brand.

Test and measure all your campaigns

Once you’re ready to start promoting, you need to be able to determine how effective your campaigns are.

Otherwise, you won’t be able to calculate your ROI, and your budget could be thrown out of whack. Use online tools like Google Analytics to help you measure data such as where your website traffic is coming from.

Look at your conversion rates. Measure engagement on social media.

You also need to look at analytics of your email campaigns. Look at data points such as open rates, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes.

Make changes based on your results. For example, take a look at how segmenting your subscribers can impact your results:

Now you can re-evaluate what marketing strategies are working and which ones need to be altered or even scrapped completely.

Set benchmarks based on your results. Come up with goals to ensure you’re always striving to improve.

Don’t get discouraged

You can’t expect your startup to be a huge hit overnight.

If your ads aren’t generating the type of engagement, response, leads, and sales you were anticipating, you can’t automatically blame your marketing strategy.

Sometimes these things take time.

Your strategy may not be the issue. It’s just taking consumers a little bit longer to get familiar with your brand. But the last thing you want to do is give up.

You’ve got a plan. Stick with it.

If your budget and marketing strategy are mapped out for the next six months, don’t abandon ship after a couple of weeks.

See your plan through to the end. If things didn’t go as planned, you can try a new strategy at that time.

Conclusion

Coming up with a marketing strategy for your startup company can be intimidating. But there are steps you can take to help guide you in the right direction.

The first thing you need to do is identify your target market. Then, you can conduct market research and analyze your competitors.

Set a marketing budget.

Create multiple distribution channels. Decide what type of content you want to publish, and determine how it will speak to your target audience.

Come up with a list of potential brand influencers to help with promotion.

Measure your results and set benchmarks. If things don’t go as planned, don’t hit the panic button. You’ve still got time to make adjustments.

Follow these tips if you want to have an effective marketing strategy for your startup.

What marketing strategy is your startup company using to reach your target audience?

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I’d Rather Read a Book Than Live in a Mansion

I’d rather play soccer at the park with my kids than drive a Lexus.

I’d rather eat homemade rice and beans for supper than go to the fanciest restaurant in town.

I’d rather take a nap in our backyard hammock than go to Disney World.

The key? I want to do all of those things without money stress and without job stress seeping away at the edges.

That’s my financial goal. I want to be able to do those ordinary things without worrying about work or about money or about any of those stressors. I want to be able to wake up in the morning and do whatever I wish to do without worrying about the professional or financial ramifications of it.

If I took the leap right now, I could do that for a while. I could simply stop writing and live for a number of years without any financial or professional concern whatsoever. However, I would eventually hit a wall and my retirement would consist of Social Security and a small amount of remaining retirement savings. I would have to live incredibly lean for the rest of my life, and it wouldn’t take much of a bump in the road for me to have to be right back in the workforce. That’s the result of twelve years of careful financial choices.

That’s not where I want to be, though, and the road ahead is still a long one.

I want to never set an alarm unless it’s to wake up early to do something awesome like watch an early morning meteor shower or spy on the transit of Venus.

I want to never have to worry about having writer’s block and how it might affect my family’s finances.

I want to be able to take on big projects because they excite me, not because of whether they’ll make financial sense. For example, I’d love to be much more involved in the management of a few local charities that I already have done a small amount of volunteering for, but time restrictions make that essentially impossible.

I want to do all of those things while knowing that my children’s future is secure and my wife’s future is secure.

The type of financial success I want doesn’t end with a huge house with a wonderfully landscaped yard and an expensive European car in the driveway. Those things might be beautiful, but I do not want them for myself. If someone gave me those things, I would sell them, bank the money, and buy something more modest.

The type of financial success I want is to do the things I enjoy doing now on a slightly bigger scale, without the worry of finances or professional needs interfering with that at all. I want minimal stress in my life.

This is the vision of my future that drives me.

This is the vision of my future that nudges me to buy the store brand dish soap.

This is the vision of my future that convinces me to wait for a book I really want to read by adding myself to the waiting list at the library rather than just hitting the bookstore.

This is the vision of my future that causes me to make a bunch of meals in advance so that we’re not tempted to eat out on a busy weeknight.

This is the vision of my future that has me sitting up at 11 o’clock taking notes out of a personal finance book so I can write a better article next week.

I know perfectly well that my vision of the future is a realistic one. I’ve run the numbers – I know very well that this vision is reachable if I make smart moves, and it might even get here a little early if I get a little lucky.

There are a few catches, though.

The world isn’t going to hand me this vision of the future on a silver platter. I’m going to have to work for it. I’m going to have to constantly choose to head for that vision. I’m going to have to say no to a lot of short term temptations to get there.

You have to be content with most of the ordinary aspects of your life. If you’re not happy with the people around you or the things you can do on relatively simple means in your free time, then this isn’t a path to happiness. In other words, if you’d rather live in a mansion than have regular lazy afternoons to read a book (or whatever your hobby might be), that’s perfectly fine, but you’re going to want to set different goals for yourself. I’m content with this nice and relatively small house we live in, for example; I personally wouldn’t find joy in living in a much larger house.

You have to be able to distinguish between what actually matters to you and what really doesn’t matter, and then be willing to cut those things that don’t matter down to the barest essentials. Name brand versus store brand products are a great example here. When it comes to things like hand soap in the bathroom, I care about one thing: does it get my hands clean? The least expensive soap option goes next to the bathroom sink, regardless of what’s on the label. When it comes to things like laundry soap, I care about one thing: does it get my clothes clean? I go for the cheapest option that gets my clothes clean (a powdered mix of equal amounts borax, washing soda, and soap flakes, with one teaspoon of that mix per load). If something really doesn’t matter to you in terms of your quality of life, then let it truly not matter. Cut it down to the barest minimum.

The entire world tries to trick you into wanting things, so you have to learn to ignore the noise. Many, many aspects of modern life try to nudge you toward wanting things that you don’t actually want. Advertisements are the obvious part, but they’re only one piece. That kind of nudging happens in the news articles you read, the things your friends talk about, the product placement in your favorite television shows. All of it works together to imply that your life will somehow quickly be better if you simply bought things that you don’t currently have. The reality is that there are very few things you can buy that will have a genuine and lasting positive impact on your life. Almost everything you buy just gives you a short burst of happiness and… that’s it. You can get a short burst of happiness just running barefoot through the grass or playing a game of fetch with a friendly dog. You don’t have to spend money to fulfill short term wants – all they’ll give you is a little burst of happiness, and you can find those happiness bursts for free.

You have to drop some of the expensive things you might want. In a perfect world, I’d have a wonderful house out in the country on a bunch of acres of wooded land. There’s part of me that quite wants that type of idyllic place to live. The question is, what do I want more? Do I want that piece of land with a house on it with all of the needed utilities there? Or do I want to have that kind of freedom I described above several years earlier? I’ve chosen the second option over the first, and I’m fully okay with that.

Those five things alone become a pretty powerful filter. Many, many people are unwilling or unable to do those things, and because of it, they find themselves stuck in a paycheck to paycheck loop, daydreaming about a future where they don’t have work stress and money stress bearing down on them, hoping that their ship will come in, and working solely for the weekend without aiming for anything more.

Don’t let yourself get caught in that loop. Figure out the small handful of things that really matter to you in life, cut the rest down to the bone, hold on tight to the most powerful plans that you have, and drop all of those other daydreams. If you do that, then you start heading directly toward that dream. You break out of that endless paycheck to paycheck cycle. Best of all, you don’t give up anything that you truly care about.

In the end, I’d rather read a book than live in a mansion, and I’m doing everything I can to head in that direction.

What’s your direction?

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How Failure Drove This 22-Year-Old to Launch a Successful Marketing Agency

Goodwill vs. Old Navy: Which Is the Better Option for ‘Cheap’ Clothes?

Shopping for clothes on the cheap is easy, but picking the right cheap option isn’t.

Throughout my adult life, I’ve taken an almost relentlessly frugal approach to buying clothes. My best suit was made in 1947 and purchased at a vintage store for $150. My most durable pants are Kirkland Jeans purchased at Costco for $13. My wardrobe is filled in with socks, t-shirts, button-downs, and other articles purchased at stores that, for several reasons, weren’t their first destination.

While dabbling in clothing from Marshall’s, T.J. Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, and Ross, I’ve since settled on two primary sources: vintage stores and Old Navy. The latter is the lowest tier of the Gap empire and has saved me everywhere I’ve lived. It was a regular stop for clothing when I was at school and going to my first jobs (a copy editor’s dress code is fairly lax). It was where I could pick up summer clothes cheaply in New York’s Herald Square when I was housesitting for my sister in Queens and ambushed by summer humidity. It was where I could refresh clothing quickly after downsizing from an apartment in New Jersey to a room in Boston.

But once I moved out to Portland, Ore., near-ubiquitous vintage and second-hand clothing stores — coupled with the city’s emphasis on local shopping and reuse — altered my approach. Vintage stores curated their selections and minimized pricing — with one shop in particular finding me a large, pristine Brooks Brothers French-cuffed shirt for $35 — while Goodwill shops had a larger presence in the area than most clothing chains.

About a week ago, and for the first time in about six years, I found myself in an Old Navy again. It occurred to me that, as a value proposition, the vintage stores and Goodwill shops I’d frequented in Portland weren’t always superior to what a low-rung, fast-fashion chain like Old Navy offered. There are trade-offs with each, but here are just some of the advantages and disadvantages of cheap first-hand vs. abundant second-hand clothes.

Price

You’d think this one would go to Goodwill in a walk, and you’d be right on most days. Depending on their condition, used Old Navy clothes sell at ShopGoodwill, Goodwill’s online store, for $4.99 to $9.49. That’s a great deal when Old Navy jeans sell for $20 to $35 and dresses sell for $19 on sale, but not so much when that same sale includes shorts, shirts, and swimwear (which Goodwill has a limited selection of) for $5 to $10. This is what keeps customers coming back to what’s been long dubbed “disposable fashion.”

Selection

This easily goes to Goodwill for an obvious reason: Goodwill can carry anybody’s products. Meanwhile, if you find a Goodwill Outlet and don’t mind rummaging through bins, you’ll not only find a broader selection, but you may come away with a better price as well.

As noted by Elizabeth Cline, author of “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion,” much of the clothing from stores like Old Navy, Forever 21, H+M, Diesel, and other discount retailers will end up at Goodwill anyway, sometimes with the tags still on them.

Fit

This is a big issue for Goodwill and other second-hand and vintage stores: The size on the label does not always match the size of the item, which someone may have donated solely because it shrunk and not longer fits properly. However, the spectrum of sizes at these stores also tends to be larger for that reason, which offsets some of the issues with proper fit.

Besides, it isn’t as if something brand-new at Old Navy is a sure fit either: As Lifehacker points out, Old Navy clothes tend to run large to accommodate their customers — which doesn’t always work out. At best, this is a draw.

Durability

This depends largely on the garment being purchased. I still have at least three T-shirts from Old Navy that I purchased back in 2004, but that wouldn’t lead me to call Old Navy a durable brand. Old Navy jeans wear out quickly even compared to $13 Costco jeans, and I use the latter solely for yard work. Their button-down shirts, meanwhile, don’t take well to washing and regularly end up misshapen or misaligned even when closet-kept.

Meanwhile, the fact that most clothes are in a Goodwill in the first place means they’ve survived a whole lot just to get there. You can develop an eye for quality clothing and brands and learn to spot especially durable brands and clothing that will last for years. I stand by Old Navy t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, shorts, and even swimwear, but if it’s something you’re going to wear year-round, a savvy shopper will get more for their money at Goodwill.

• Related: The ‘Buy It for Life’ Compendium, Vol. 2

Returns

Unsurprisingly, second-hand goods don’t have all that great of a return policy. Goodwill will not issue a refund and only offers store credit to folks returning items. Oh, and be quick about those returns: You have only seven days to make up your mind. While Old Navy items have to be returned unwashed and unworn, you have 45 days to do so. That said, some of Old Navy’s cheapest “final sale” items can’t be returned or exchanged at all.

Final Tally

There are going to be instances where Old Navy and other stores like it come in about as cheap as what you’d buy second-hand at Goodwill. There are also going to be times when you’ll want a moment to think over a purchase and reserve the right to return it more than a week later.

However, if you are frugal and value the price you’re paying up front over all else, Goodwill remains the overall better option. You can mix and match, but if you’re looking for a broader selection of more durable clothing that fits well, Goodwill is more likely to fit your specific needs and style.

Related Reading:

• The Deceptively Tiny Wardrobe: A Clever Trick to Save Time and Money on Clothing
• Here’s My Secret to Saving Money on Quality Clothes
• Beyond Capsule Closeting: How and Why to Try a Style Challenge
• Five Reasons to Love a Clothing Swap (and How to Host Your Own)

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