All too often, startups I meet with don’t have a good grasp on their marketing strategy, more precisely, their customer acquisition strategy. The most common response to the marketing strategy question is search engine optimization (SEO), which almost never plays out as an exclusive strategy due to the competitiveness of the industry. On a simple level there are only a few areas startups should focus to build awareness and generate leads. Here are the top five marketing areas for startups:
- Word of mouth – where prospects and customers tell their friends and colleagues about the product (notice I didn’t say viral marketing, as so few products are truly viral)
- Pay-per-click – yes, Google AdWords are terribly expensive, but they are also effective especially with more targeted phrases (e.g. buying competitors’ names is a great tactic for low volume, high quality leads)
- Search engine optimization – SEO does work but needs to have a 6-12 month horizon and tons of content (e.g. publishing 1-2 blog posts a week indefinitely)
- Cold calls – now, people generally associate cold calls with sales reps, but cold calls are also a great way to build product awareness in a marketing fashion and should be done by most startups
- Social media – yes, people are making money off social media by monitoring industry terms and competitors’ names, then tactfully joining the conversation
My recommendation is to employ all of these areas as part of a marketing strategy and focus in on the ones performing the best.
What else? What are some other marketing areas for startups?
David Cummings on Startups 
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