To understand startup marketing, lets answer a few questions first.
Do startups need marketing?
Yes.
Do startups know how to market?
In most cases, no.
Do startups have the budget to hire resources that know marketing?
Usually, no.
Do startups have the budget for advertising?
No.
So what is a startup supposed to do?
How can it generate awareness of its existence and open conversations? How can it convince that they are worth buying from and keep engaging those who do buy from them? For a startup, every person wears multiple hats. But marketing is too complex a hat to be worn with anything else comfortably.
Marketing is not difficult. But it sure ain’t easy.
Most startup founders who understand the importance of marketing have figured out ways to get it done. This ‘jugaad’ or ‘hustle’ reminds me of Ron Weasley’s dad in Harry Potter. He would tinker around to make mundane objects do multiple duties or adds rooms to their home The Burrow as and when needed!
Besides jugaad, there are multiple ways in which a startup can fashion its marketing function/ department. So let’s delve into 8 different models of startup marketing. Each is doable and has both, pros and cons.
8 Different Startup Marketing Models For Any Entrepreneur:
1. DIY Marketer a.k.a. Jack (‘Of All Trades’ Variety)–
One of the team members becomes Jack, handling marketing over and above her other duties by learning from online tutorials, courses, plain simple Google search, etc. It is not their area of expertise but they do it because there is no other option.
Pros-
- Saves money
- Creates an in-house marketer as a by-product of DIY
Cons-
- Too slow a process, long learning curve
- Most startups don’t have enough resources to pay for mistakes made during a long learning curve
- Chances of missing crucial steps
- Amateurish level of output
- No experience to define and evaluate success metrics other than sales.
- Chance of marketing taking a backseat or getting a step-motherly treatment.
2. Phone-a-friend-
Team members ask someone in their network who has a marketing background to give advice or be an informal mentor. The friend shows the path, the team tries to execute to the best of their abilities.
Pros-
- At least the path is being shown by someone in the know
- Saves money
- Saves time at the start since you are not stumbling in the dark trying to find your way
Cons-
- There are only so many times a friend can be imposed upon. Sooner or later, you would need to do it yourself or hire the said friend.
- Risk of misinterpreting the friend’s feedback during execution, thus not getting desired outcome.
3. Marketing consultant on a project basis a.k.a. Hermione Granger (from Harry Potter)-
The startup hires a marketing consultant for a limited duration project. He or she is a specialist, knowledgeable and hence, a very able guide for the company like Hermione is for Harry. Example– The project could be to create the marketing plan and strategy for the launch phase including brand identity, setting up pilots with potential vendors, etc. The project may or may not involve execution of the plan and strategies. The consultant works on a freelance basis- meeting weekly or working remotely via phone/ email.
Pros-
- A specialist with experience, knowledge of marketing fundamentals
- Saves time
- Better quality of execution if supervised by the specialist
- Better creative briefs to get desired outcomes
- Cheaper than hiring a full-time employee
- Project outcomes can be clearly defined before starting, thus making it time-bound and result-oriented.
Cons-
- The quality of the consultant will have a strong impact on the outcome since the job is more or less outsourced
- Difficulty chalking out measurable, actionable, concrete expectations to judge the consultant’s results
- Difficulty finding the right consultant for the job in your price range
4. Marketing consultant on a retainer basis a.k.a. Gandalf (LOTR)-
The startup hires a consultant to work for them on a retainer basis i.e. retain their services for the entire month and use them as and when need arises. Like Frodo consults with Gandalf at every turn, seeks his counsel, this consultant Gandalf is available anytime the startup needs marketing help. This is different from hiring a full-time employee since the consultant would not work from the office and does not need employee perks, benefits, etc.
Pros-
- They are almost the same as those mentioned above with the added benefit of the person being more hands on and more available, even for tweaking strategy after seeing results from implementation or handling unplanned opportunities, next steps etc.
Cons-
- Sometimes more expensive than a project-base consultant.
5. On-site consultant a.k.a. James Bond–
The startup hires a consultant on a project basis to achieve specific results, for a pre-defined duration, working on-site, like an employee. Every time James Bond goes on missions, for the duration of the mission, he changes roles from a ‘spy’ to ‘one of the peeps’.
Pros-
- The consultant becomes another team member for the duration of the project
- Being in the office gives the consultant a better understanding of company culture which helps get the brand voice and personality right
- More chances of brainstorming, impromptu meetings, instant feedback on the work being done and hence, quicker revisions, corrective steps if the strategy is not working as expected, etc
Cons-
- More expensive than a freelance remote consultant
- Need for space and other perks like meals/ snacks, laptop, etc
6. Hire multiple agencies a.k.a. X-Men Academy-
Like Professor X brings different specialists on board at the X-Men Academy, if the startup has enough budget, it can hire specialist agencies for different work. For example, a digital marketing agency to handle social media, an ad agency for making creatives, a media agency to buy media, etc.
Pros-
- Hyper specialization allowing experts to handle each part of marketing
- Barely any learning curve since they are established experts
- Professional quality of output.
Cons-
- Very expensive
- Time consuming co-ordination, supervision, management of agency relations
- Lack of in-house expertise in writing creative briefs for the hired agencies impacting outcome
7. Outsource marketing to business consultancy-
The startup outsources marketing to a business consultancy who evaluates what is needed, what are the startup’s in-house capabilities, what will have to be outsourced, who to outsource it to; supervise and ensure the outsourced agencies deliver results. The business consultancy draws up the deliverables for agencies, defines success metrics to evaluate agency work, etc.
Pros-
- Hiring a business consultant is like hiring an interior designer i.e. one point contact responsible for getting you results
- Complete outsourcing of marketing activity- from brief to business results
- Could be hired for limited period too like only for the growth phase or the launch phase etc
- Getting a dedicated team at the business consultancy
Cons-
- Very expensive
- It is one more layer between the company and the final consumers, hence some chance of message getting twisted by the time it reaches the consumers
8. Hire a full time Marketing Manager a.k.a. Agent J (of the Men In Black fame) –
Alien management is a full time role that cannot be handled from the outside or on a part time basis. Hence, Agent J is brought onboard full time. Similarly, as the startup grows, it may feel the need to hire a full time employee for the role of a Marketing Manager. The Marketing Manager will do everything the business consultancy will do, only difference being that it will be one person doing it instead of a team at the business consultants’ office.
Pros-
- In-house talent, dedicated resource to handle marketing
- Experienced expert on the company payroll, completely in sync with brand expectations, company culture and company goals
- More chances of comprehensive output due to cross-function interpersonal friendships and collaborations.
Cons-
- A permanent position, long term engagement
- Expensive
- Entitled to full employee benefits, perks, devices, etc
As with any scenario giving multiple choices, it becomes difficult to decide which one to go ahead with- whether James Bond is better than Hermione Granger or hire Gandalf at the start followed by Agent J, so on and so forth.
Which is the best model for your startup? How to evaluate and decide?
It depends on
- Your budget: If you have funds for both setting up a team and for advertising, then go ahead with full time Marketing Manager or business consultancy or hiring multiple agencies. If not, start out with DIY or freelance consultant and take it from there.
- Skill set of the founding team- If one of the founding team members has marketing background, then no need to worry. They would know what to do.
- Network of the founders- If the founding partners have an extensive network which includes agency folks or marketing consultants or marketers who are good friends, then again, they can get appropriate resources at affordable rates (due to ‘friend discount’, perhaps)
- Stage of growth- A very important decision factor- if you are just starting out, better to go the DIY, phone a friend or project consultant route. If you are in the growth stage, better to go with multiple agencies or business consultancy. When you are in a more stable position, hire full time Marketing Managers.
So which model works for you? Have you created some model that is not listed here but others could learn from? Let me know in the comments below.