Mario Peshev is the CEO of DevriX and Growth Shuttle, an angel investor, and a business advisor with 10,000+ hours of consulting.
The past three years have been a boon for new businesses. In total, more than 16 million new business applications were filed, with 440,000 entrepreneurs completing applications every month.
This is great news for the economy broadly since, as President Joe Biden said in a statement, “Every time someone starts a new small business, it’s an act of hope and confidence in our economy.”
It may be an act of hope, but it’s also an enormous risk for the entrepreneurs.
The failure rate for new companies is high enough to convince aspiring entrepreneurs to reconsider their options. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, half within five years and only 30% survive a decade.
Startups close for many reasons; however, they fundamentally fail for the same reason: not enough people spent enough money on their products and services to make them economically viable and sustainable.
In other words, they failed because their marketing strategy failed. They didn’t reach the right people with the right message at the right time to convert leads into customers and customers into repeat buyers.
For startups with limited resources, untested potential and intense competition, the right marketing strategy can differentiate between a growing brand and a faltering business.
Here are three steps to establishing a marketing strategy to propel long-term startup success.
1. Create a marketing funnel.
Most people don’t become customers the first time they visit your website, stop by your store or hear about your brand. They require multiple interactions and touchpoints to build trust and understand the value of the product or service offering.
Rather than waiting for people to decide on their own, a marketing funnel guides them through the buying journey, addressing their needs at each stage.
At the top of the funnel, leverage website visitors or traffic from Google, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and email to provide valuable content like whitepapers, ebooks or checklists in exchange for visitors’ contact information.
In the middle of the funnel, help visitors understand why they should choose your product or service. This might include providing case studies, testimonials, webinars, live demos or free trials.
Finally, at the bottom of the funnel, take a direct approach aimed at qualified leads by offering free consultations, assessments, special discounts, promotions or live demonstrations.
Notably, a marketing funnel requires more than a slick storefront or website and compelling copy. It demands a deep understanding of customer needs and pain points so brands can craft content that addresses these concerns and guides them toward making a purchase.
2. Develop data-driven marketing collateral.
Today’s customers expect tailored and personalized interactions wherever they go.
According to research by McKinsey & Company, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% are frustrated when brands don’t deliver.
To achieve this, McKinsey & Company explains, “invest in customer data and analytics foundations.” This information allows marketers to more precisely understand customer pain points and how these problems evolve over time.
At the same time, consider conducting market research to understand industry trends, competitor activities and customer preferences.
Of course, converting customer data into compelling marketing collateral is easier said than done. Instead, many organizations are drowning in customer data. As a recent Harvard Business Review analysis notes, “Many senior managers find themselves wondering: If data is such a game changer, why is it so hard to extract any value from it?”
Marketers can address this challenge by using robust data infrastructure and advanced analytics to personalize content based on customer needs, enabling agile marketing that continually refines strategies for effective engagement and conversion.
3. Assign KPIs and measure success.
To know if your marketing campaign is successful, you have to know what success looks like. You have to define success. That’s what key performance indicators (KPIs) achieve.
This definition necessarily looks different for every brand, but it’s impossible for a startup to market effectively if it doesn’t determine its success metrics, measure its progress and adapt its tactics and strategies accordingly.
The Content Marketing Institute identifies three components for optimizing marketing performance: deciding what to track, measuring data and converting information into actionable insights.
For startups, marketing KPIs might include:
• Engagement Rate: Tracks how actively your audience interacts with your content.
• Conversion Rate: Measures the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action.
• Customer Acquisition Cost: Calculates the total cost of acquiring a new customer.
In addition to quantitative data, capture and integrate qualitative insights from direct feedback from relevant stakeholders.
Marketing matters more than ever.
Successful companies are built by incredible people and compelling products and services that find an audience and generate sales. They are promulgated and expanded by effective marketing strategies that attract attention, generate leads and expand brand resonance.
Creating a comprehensive marketing funnel, developing data-driven marketing collateral and assigning clear KPIs to measure success is a great place to start.
Meanwhile, don’t allow your marketing strategy to stay stagnant. Use these steps as a starting point for creating an adaptive marketing strategy that grows and scales alongside your business. In this way, marketing and startup success go hand-in-hand, propelling innovation, growth and lasting market impact.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?