An Actual Method on How to Develop a Marketing Strategy for a Startup

Think about Snuggies. 

It’s a blanket with arm sleeves…

You can argue that the product is genius or lame, but the fact remains. 

It’s a successful product, and it has excellent marketing.

Unlike Snuggles, countless startups fail. 

Common pitfalls trap them, and millions of VC dollars are erased from history.

Startups tend to fail due to these four big reasons: 

• no market need
• ignoring customers
• poor marketing
• running out of cash.

You can google it; the results will be littered with articles discussing those topics.

The common denominator for failure: a weak marketing strategy.

A viable marketing strategy is a differentiator between you vs. the competition.

Don’t confuse strategy with channels like “social media marketing,” “PPC,” or “SEO.” Those are tactical implementations of a marketing strategy. The channels can perform great, but a bad strategy is still a bad strategy.

What is a marketing strategy?

It is an offer to a market using an advantage to pierce the competition and gain market share. 

Here’s an example.

Walmart:

• Low prices and margins punch competitors’ pricing in the throat.
• Efficient and streamlined supply chains decimate the competitors’ stocking speed.

When a Walmart opens next to slow and expensive competitors, it’s game over. Customers flock to Walmart.

This has been the case for grocery+ chains for the past few decades.

How do you beat Walmart in the grocery+ game?

Walmart’s target market is broad. 

Slice down their market into segments and find an advantage within one of those segments. 

Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Publix… They all have an advantage in a FEW segments, especially regarding quality.

An advantage is how you will win in the marketplace.

Advantages: Speed, Cost, Quality 

Three advantages will guide your marketing strategy.

• Speed: can your product deliver faster than alternatives?
• Cost: is your product cheaper than alternatives?
• Quality: is your product objectively better than alternatives?

If you’re an actual category creator, your competition is the traditional process. Yes, the process itself.

Your goal is to change minds. Your advantage is straightforward: speed, cost, and quality. 

The solution your startup created is likely:

• faster than the traditional process
• costs less than the traditional tech stack
• provides quality of equal or greater value.

For category creators, your advantage is built-in. You don’t really need a traditional marketing strategy until copycats start showing up. All you need to do is execute.

Example: Uber does not need to compete with taxis. Taxis were the original process. Uber came in to provide a faster, cheaper, and higher quality service. Uber and Lyft are competitors. They copycat each other, and it’s a race to see who can win through the three advantages.

Most startups are not category creators. They are competing against a category creator.

If your startup is competing against a category creator. You need two of three advantages to REALLY make an imprint on the market. If you only have one, you’ll barely get by.

You need at least two because the category creator has another advantage (first-mover). 

Apple iPhones were first-mover smartphones. Everything else needed to be faster, cheaper, or better quality. Android phones came through with customization and an OS that appealed to open-source enthusiasts. Samsung needed better cameras, chips, and hardware. Even then, the first-mover advantage is still king.

With two advantages, you’ll be able to sway your target market to choose you over the category maker. 

The Startup Marketing Strategy Formula

You have an offer.

You have a target market.

You know your advantages.

And you’re competing for market share. 

Your startup marketing strategy is the combination of those factors.

Strategy: I will [offer] to [target market] using [advantage] to get [desired outcome] 

Examples:

• Apple will offer smartphones to cell phone users using minimalist design and proprietary technology to gain users and put Blackberry out of business.
• Netflix will offer movie streaming to video renters using web technology to gain viewers and put Blockbuster out of business.

Masters of strategy will stack multiple advantages to bring the pain.

• Walmart will offer produce to shoppers using low prices and minimal margins to gain shoppers and put Mom’s grocery store out of business.
• Walmart will offer produce to shoppers using a superior supply chain to stock items fast and put Mom’s grocery store out of business.

Every marketing campaign stems from strategy. Messaging, channels, distribution… All of it stems from market strategy.

Wanting social media? Lead the campaign with your strategy. The messaging will reflect your users’ needs, and your offer gets laser focused on who you’re trying to convince. 

You see startups everywhere without a fundamental understanding of their advantages, throwing dollars into channels they shouldn’t be using. They need a standard strategy to guide their marketing campaigns.

You have a headstart. 

You can have a strategy where there is none.

Then you can choose your channels to grow wisely.

Then you will know how to market your startup online.

Challenge Yourself

If you need help figuring out your advantages, the easiest one to check off is cost. You can lower your prices. That might put you into the red, but building advantages is what will set your strategy up for success.

Your challenge is to reflect on what makes your startup a real game-changer. 

• Can you do what competitors do but cheaper?
• Can you deliver superior quality?
• Can you deliver faster?
• Or are you changing the game through all three?
• Why would customers choose you over the rest?
• How are you going to use your strategy to inform your campaigns?

Strategy is the first piece of winning in today’s market. You’ll need marketing campaigns, execution, and frameworks to crush your competitors.

I have a decade of experience generating millions of clicks and hundreds of thousands of leads for F100s and startups. Throughout that time, I’ve systemized the growth tactics and frameworks I used to streamline startup marketing success. If you’d like tactics and systems for success, please subscribe to my newsletter!

 

-Mitch