Digital Marketing Checklist for Startups | Market Veep

According to 2016 numbers, entrepreneurs launch 550,000 new businesses every month. That’s a lot of competition. Marketing a brand new company in such a sea of startups can feel like shouting over the sturm and drang of a 100-piece symphony orchestra. On top of that, you’re going toe to toe with established category leaders and their well-oiled marketing machines.

But don’t let the breadth of the field overwhelm you. There are plenty of ways to cut through the noise and reach your target audience without breaking the bank. You’ve just got to do things a little differently.

Digital marketing for startups is all about finding cost-effective ways to scale valuable messages from a small team. You won’t win on budget and resources alone, but luckily, you’re not trying to.

• Strategy is something you can laser focus on; too many companies lack a clearly defined content marketing strategy and schedule. It’s not enough to spin out material like a content-powered gerbil wheel. You need to back that content up with analytics, research, and SEO to prime it for success.
• Quality is something you can control; it doesn’t take a multinational brand to produce impactful material. Be thoughtful, deliberate, and put yourself in the audience’s shoes.
• Reach is possible without a pre-established brand. Affiliate programs, guest blogging, influencer marketing, and automation tools are just a few ways to boost the size of your audience quickly.

None of these are prohibitively expensive. Online marketing for startups is far cheaper than print or traditional marketing, and more effective too. Research has shown that digital content marketing costs 62% less than conventional channels for nearly 3x the leads. It’s no wonder why 9 in 10 businesses used content marketing in 2018 (86% of B2C and 91% of B2B companies, to be specific).

So where do you start?