Resource-constrained early-stage startups often default to content marketing since it is essentially free. However, there are instances when paying for customers makes a ton of sense. The principal challenge being that it’s very difficult to find a channel and tactic that is both effective and economical. In some cases, it might be next to impossible to measure the effectiveness of your marketing spend, forcing you to fly blind. In this article, we will discuss common paid advertising activities and channels as well as tactics for measuring and optimizing your campaigns.
Sergio Paluch
Marketing your startup? Here are the steps to take first
“Social media marketing” is not a sufficient marketing strategy for your startup. Yet this is the default answer that far too many founders of early-stage startups provide when asked about their distribution plan. I myself have stated a similar plan to mentors and investors in the past. It’s easy to fall into this path since there is certainly a plethora of articles, book, and gurus focusing on social media marketing, but finding efficient ways to promote your startup requires far more planning and creativity. In this article, we will cover some key questions to answer at the start, and we will flip the standard marketing approach on its head to break you out of the predictable (and less effective) path.
How to Find a Great Co-Founder for Your Startup: The Ultimate Guide
Not sure what kind of co-founders you need or where to find co-founders? No problem, this guide will help answer both those questions! Keep reading. Chapter 1: Do You Even Need a Co-Founder? Although it’s possible to build a successful tech company as a lone founder, there are many advantages to joining up with someone … more
The Secret Formula to Growing Your Startup: 1-10-100
All startup founders dream of the following scenario: You press the big red “launch” button. Your app (or whatever) goes live. The user counter is spinning like crazy, and your user graph shoots straight up like a rocket. You’re getting so many users that you have to rush to allocate more server power and load-balance like your life depends on it.
Unfortunately, this is what happens to most software startups: You open your app to the public. Realizing that you can’t count on luck to help users find it, you post on Hacker News, Reddit, and Product Hunt. But even that seems insufficient, so you post on Twitter and splash down $1K on Google ads. You track your user graph with anticipation, but all you see is a tiny blip. You panic, “Crap, I just spent the last few months working on my awesome idea, and my friends and family invested more money than they could afford in this venture. I was certain this was going to be a hit, and now I’m going to have to tell them their money is gone. There is no way I’m going to be the next Facebook/Snap/Uber now.”
Why the next tech boom will be led by a different type of founder
The tech boom of the 1990s was largely driven by “business guys” with MBAs or career experience as well as entrepreneurs that crossed over to tech from unrelated industries such as real estate and consumer packaged goods. As the tech boom euphoria rose, venture capital and angel investors showered these business types with capital based on their pedigrees and beautifully-designed business proposals rather than the merit of their innovations in meeting customers’ needs.