This article will explore seven key marketing activities that can help your startup launch, grow, and scale, based on my 10+ years of experience in business and startup development, project management, and leadership efforts. marketing.

For me, the most essential thing in marketing and building your startup is about using the scientific method – creating a hypothesis, testing it through various experiments, and adjusting or discarding the hypothesis based on market results.

Being founder of a startup it can be challenging. You have to wear multiple hats as you build something from the ground up, deal with a limited budget, and push for rapid growth while battling stiff competition. The following list simplifies the marketing steps.

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1. Target audience

The outside perception of marketing is that it only involves displaying ads and posting on social media. However, the reality is that it is about understanding the motivations, pain points and behavior of your target audience. This is the basis of my experience in running my marketing agency, Aezir.

I quickly realized that you can't solve all marketing problems for all businesses. You need to find and target the audience where you provide the most important help and clearly state your benefits. Come down and explore through market research, customer feedback and data analysis.

2. Clear, actionable goals

Start by defining clear, actionable goals that align with your most pressing business priorities. Often, startups start their own marketing journey chasing quick wins or better metrics without a plan for sustainable growth.

Setting SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound – is the best way to clearly define goals. Whether you increase email click-through rates by 50% in the next quarter or post daily on LinkedIn with a focus on building our core audience for a month to test a hypothesis, having clear goals keeps everyone on your team engaged. aligned and focused.

3. Identity

The next step is to build your brand identity. You need to define what the brand identity means to you and your team. It goes beyond your name and logo—how you communicate your mission, values, and the unique benefits you bring to the market.

In my work with startups like Scailyte, my focus was on creating a compelling and authentic brand storyshowing the true interactions in the team, the company attracts and, of course, the expertise and hard work in the company. My idea was to humanize the company, showing the characters of the people inside, while the team focused on the science of a cell. This turned out to be a success from the feedback from our team going to the event and everyone knowing who we are and what we do.

4. Content Marketing

I know firsthand that writing content isn't the most glamorous thing you can do, especially when you're focused on attracting investors or increasing sales. However, this marketing strategy will increase your exposure for a fraction of the cost of an event or advertising campaign, while building your expertise and communication with your followers.

With many of my ventures, content marketing became the primary way to build authority and drive organic traffic by providing value – through blog posts, newsletters, videos and podcasts. Choose the medium that resonates with your personality and give it a try. Focus on evergreen content that will stay relevant and drive traffic long after publication. Remember that content can be repurposed from blog posts to videos, podcast episodes, or email marketing campaigns.

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5. Social media

In today's world, marketing is impossible without social media. Pick your poison and focus on where your audience is. Always weigh the opportunity cost – where your time will be best served. While managing social media for various companies, I've found that success lies in fostering honest communication and not just relaying messages. Respond to comments, engage in conversations and show the human side of your brand. LinkedIn it's great for B2B networking and thought leadership, while Instagram and TikTok are better for B2C visual brands.

6. Performance tracking

Keep in mind that marketing is an ongoing process. You need to track, measure and analyze your performance to optimize your marketing strategy and, ultimately, your business. Tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Mixpanel are part of my marketing arsenal when running a startup marketing department. They help you see what's working and where a change in direction is needed. Set up dashboards for metrics like customer acquisition cost, conversion rates and engagement levels and use these insights to focus your marketing approach. Set up a hypothesis and A/B test it with a variation to see what resonates best with your audience.

7. Get ready to roll

One of the most valuable lessons I've learned in my marketing and entrepreneurship journey is the importance of being adaptable. The world of marketing never sleeps and is constantly evolving with the rise of new technologies, platforms and consumer behaviors. I advise staying flexible and open to learning, listening to the signals the data gives. From leveraging emerging trends like AI or Web3 to the latest growth hacking techniques, staying ahead means constantly experimenting, testing and optimizing.

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The journey to marketing mastery is not straightforward. This article is my contribution to guide you through the obstacles in your startup journey, but it is not a follow and execute process.

It's about being agile, data-driven, and very focused on your audience and their signals to you. The strategies mentioned can form the basis of your marketing mix and help you set your startup's engine for long-term growth and success.