Let’s look over some of Fractal’s best tips for building your startup’s marketing plan.
1. Set solid goals.
By knowing what success will look like for your startup, you can solidify the steps you’ll need to take to get there. Most startups are looking to either Raise brand awareness or Acquire new customers in their early stages. If you can precisely set goals that work towards those ends, you’ve got the base for your marketing plan.
2. Define your audience.
Taking the time to determine who your startup is targeting and who can benefit from your product the most is the next crucial step in any startup’s marketing plan. Ask yourself:
- What are we offering?
- Is there demand for us, and who is demanding it?
- Why would someone choose us over our competitors?
- Is what we offer specific to a location, demographic, or interest group?
Once you’ve answered those questions, you are on your way to a defined audience. From there, keep interacting with that audience to learn more about them and refine ever further.
3. Determine your budgets.
No matter how much (or how little) money you have, it’s important to spend wisely. Use those goals you set as lenses through which to focus your marketing dollars: think “would spending here benefit us? Can we make it work without?” Be thorough in your cost/benefit analysis.
4. Go through the right channels.
This is where your research into your audience and your budget will come in. Do you need just a website? What about email blasts? Social media? SEO content? Video? Offline and physical promotions? Look for where your people are, and reach them naturally.
5. Build your metrics.
There’s no point in doing steps 1 through 4 if you’re not tracking, testing, and reiterating your campaigns. Analyzing yourself and your experiments will only lead to cleaner, more efficient campaigns.