A newly founded company that has grown organically or through aggressive sales will eventually face the need to do marketing to accelerate or maintain the growth. Even a more experienced company may need to elevate marketing efforts to a new level or develop a strategy for a new business area. Following the steps below, you can ensure that the key foundations for starting marketing are covered, avoiding the pitfall of blindly spreading resources without direction.
1. Start with objectives
Define marketing goals that align with your business objectives. Be bold and set numerical targets, but remain realistic. In the early months after starting your marketing efforts, you are unlikely to see a surge in leads, so a better goal might be to achieve sufficient visibility, awareness, or audience reach. You should also set specific goals with each partner or marketer and review these targets at least biannually or quarterly.
Learn how to determine objectives and key metrics utilizing the OKR model >
2. Visualize the customer journey
This step is surprisingly important. By mapping out the anticipated customer journey from the first interaction to becoming a customer, you can avoid blind spots and ensure that marketing efforts are focused where they are needed most. Defining the entire commercial process, including both marketing and sales activities, helps eliminate the traditional divide between the two functions. For businesses with a growth strategy focused on upselling, mapping the customer lifecycle is also crucial, as marketing communications can support the development of existing client relationships.
3. Define available and required resources
While you may have an idea of your and your company’s skills and time resources, it’s important to write these down to clarify your needs. By accurately defining existing resources, it becomes easier to find the right partner without worrying about overlap or skill gaps. Again, be honest. The most common mistake at this stage is overestimating time resources, which can lead to the failure of all efforts.
Also read: How to make a marketing budget? >
4. Invest in the right people
If you’ve followed the previous steps, you should now have a clear idea of the kind of partner you need based on your goals and required resources. There are many different operating models, so don’t jump at the first partner you come across, and definitely avoid choosing based on the cost alone. Your partner should fit your objectives, business operations, team culture, budget, and ideology, and they must demonstrate proven expertise in the channels and industries critical to your business.
If you decide to hire, remember that one person can’t do everything. And hiring someone with the expertise of a marketing team will definitely not come at an intern’s salary. Define precisely what skills you need in-house and which areas can be outsourced. Avoid limiting yourself too much to specific channels or tools when hiring or selecting a partner—focus on goals and suitable operating models instead. Channels come and go, and learning to use them is the easiest part of marketing.
“Whether you choose an internal team, an external partner, or a combination of both, the tactical plan should be developed with all parties involved.“
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5. Tactical plan and choosing the right channels
Whether you choose an internal team, an external partner, or a combination of both, the tactical plan should be developed with all parties involved. Based on your objectives and customer life cycle, determine the tactical actions and channels for each step of the marketing funnel. If you are drafting the plan yourself, take the time to study the topic thoroughly, but it’s wise to lean on expert support. Start by identifying where your customers are and how to reach them, and only then focus on channel selection.
Read the complete guide: What Is a Tactical Marketing Plan, and Why Is It So Important >
6. Ensure a working marketing ecosystem and reliable data collection
Before launching your marketing activities, make sure that the marketing ecosystem and data collection are functioning correctly. This ensures that everything runs smoothly, data is collected reliably and in compliance with regulations, and that you can confidently draw insights and conclusions from your marketing results. It’s advisable to seek help from a knowledgeable partner here, as many of the critical functions under the hood of a digital marketing ecosystem require technical expertise.
Additional resources: B2B Marketing Measurement – Creating a Meaningful Measurement System >
7. Don’t rely on assumptions – test, learn, and optimize
Marketing, especially digital marketing, is full of assumptions and myths, often stemming from misunderstanding or misinformation. No one can know everything, but an open mind and a willingness to challenge assumptions will take you far. Avoid making hasty decisions and definitely don’t trust those who suggest such moves (e.g., “You shouldn’t market on XXX channel because it doesn’t work for your business”). Combine long-term development with short-term initiatives that target quick wins in a flexible way.
Related: A/B Testing in Marketing Using the Lean Loop >
How to start marketing?
By following these steps, you’ll be able to focus on essential aspects on your digital marketing without blindly throwing your resources around:
- Start with objectives
- Visualize the customer journey
- Define available and required resources
- Invest in the right people
- Tactical plan and choosing the right channels
- Ensure a working marketing ecosystem and reliable data collection
- Don’t rely on assumptions – test, learn, and optimize
We hope these guidelines will be helpful to you! If you run into questions, lack resources, or need expertise, let’s have a chat and see if our comprehensive MaaS service concepts may be the right solution for you!