Running a startup is a race against time, so it’s important to keep focused on those things that will help your startup succeed. At the same time, distractions abound. So what should you focus on and what should you eschew?
In this episode of Startup Basics, Kimmy and Sergio discuss what are the things to prioritize and what to avoid.
As I wrote before, the best thing that the founders of an early-stage startup can do is talk to people. Speaking to potential customers in person has an enormous advantage over other forms of marketing in that you are able to immediately receive their verbal and emotional reaction to your pitch, product, and important details that can set your startup apart from the competition. Events can be a phenomenal forum to speak to your target audience, promote your startup, and engage with your customers.
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You don’t need a multi-million dollar marketing budget to get your startup covered in media, and doing so can be rocket fuel for your growth. Take Warby Parker, the billion-dollar direct-to-consumer eyeglass company, that got covered by both GQ and Vogue right before their launch. The exposure they got from being covered in two leading fashion magazines catapulted them to unicorn land. However, it’s exceedingly unlikely that you can get a world-class media outlet like Vogue or GQ to cover your startup simply by pitching your story. Instead, you’ll need to work your way up to world-class exposure.
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.
We are in a golden age of podcasting at the moment as evidenced by Spotify’s recent acquisition of podcast producers Parcast and Gimlet Media and plans to spend another $500M on podcast-related acquisitions. While this is not a call to start a podcasting company, the recent growth in popularity of this medium has brought it into the mainstream and continues to offer a phenomenal way to promote your startup. As discussed in previous articles in this series, the key is to create informative and entertaining content that will engage your listeners allowing your startup to build trust and prominence in the community. In this article, I will outline a playbook for getting your podcast going.