Marketing Objectives: Why Your Startup Needs a Strategy (Hint: It’s not Just a Plan)

Congratulations for your new startup!

At this point, you can attest that the whole encounter isn’t something that many people can persevere, right?

You’ve been busting hump writing code, staying focused on the product launch but there’s still one monster on your back: MARKETING.

You can have a great idea, but fail to create and implement effective marketing objectives to attract explosive growth. A successful and thriving startup requires a great product and robust marketing strategy.

A marketing strategy isn’t just an action plan. First, you need to understand where you’re headed.

Why Do I Need to Care About Marketing?

Why? Because far too often, these non-coding areas of business are critical for a startup’s success, yet are overlooked.  In fact, not too long ago, Courtland Allen made a profound Twitter statement summing up my inspiration.

As they say, no one buys what they don’t know exists.

In this post, I’m going to share some reasons why you need a strategy in developing and implementing marketing objectives that will work for your startup.

1. Strategy Helps to Define Your Plans

A strategy is not just a plan; think of it as that component that fuels and shapes your idea.

Developing a flourishing startup is like constructing a building. You have a vision for it, but you don’t have detailed plans. Here is where your strategy comes in handy. It allows you to bring together all interconnected parts to create a streamlined and effective structure.

With the right plan, you can test yourself and your ideas to find out if they complement your objectives. A plan gives you an opportunity to assess all the functions of your startup and determines ways by which they can be improved.

2. To Determine a Winning Approach

You already have the target market, and you have assessed the competition to determine how it weighs. Here is where your strategy comes in to help you angle your marketing campaigns.

You’re a startup, and there’s the risk of perishing within a few months or years. Most customers don’t like buying services or products from businesses that are likely to fail.

To capture a significant market share, you need to make a quantum leap in value creation. This typically means you’re providing customers with a solution to their problem at a price that makes your products irresistible.

The key thing is to focus on disrupting the existing market and paying attention to new opportunities in your distribution channels.

3. To Address the Needs of Customers

A strategy allows you take a step back and review the big picture. It gives you a clear view of the needs of your target audience, and this allows you to determine the ideal way to addressing those needs.

The first step is usually to deepen your understanding of those needs and to use that knowledge to redefine your marketing objectives in a way that the customer is given priority.

As a result, you’ll identify the tactics that are working for you and those that don’t. Then, you can focus on the things that are fulfilling your customers’ needs to help maximize your results.

Most startups usually have a limited budget, but with a robust strategy, you can maximize your efforts and prioritize tasks to get the most out of what you have.

4. Strategy Helps to Make the Right Hires

Let’s face it. Attaining your marketing objectives alone is hard.

At some point, you’ll need an army to turn your idea into a successful venture. You need enthusiastic employees who share your vision to ensure a close-knit working team.

Finding the right team can be painstaking for a startup. But, with a solid strategy, you can expect to do just fine. Your strategy can help you find team players with the right attitude, ability, and culture.

As an entrepreneur, it’s your responsibility to find the right people to build a high-performing team. Taking a startup off the ground can be a tedious and slow process that requires the input of a passionate and dedicated team.

All the members should share the responsibility of attaining your objectives. As the leader, you need to set the bar high and give every member an opportunity to perform.

5. Efficient Management of Available Resources

A startup is like a newly-planted tree, which requires regular watering and care to grow. At this point, you want to revisit the reason for developing your new startup in the first place. This allows you to stay squarely within the firm foundation of your idea.

Analyze your marketing objectives and determine the number of resources you will need to achieve them. Then, you’ll need to figure out your current status: number of team members, finances, and other physical resources.

This way, you can use your strategy to determine the fastest approach to realizing your results using the minimal resources. A strategy allows you to discover opportunities for maximizing your current resources.

To use your resources effectively, sometimes it helps to narrow down your focus to those areas of your business that are experiencing growth.

6. Integrate Marketing Techniques

Another reason you need a strategy for your marketing objectives is the ability to integrate the different techniques you’re using to attract new customers and increase sales.

You can take advantage of several communication tools and media to spread the right message to your target audiences. A strategy provides you with the “how-to” approach for ensuring an effective and seamless integration that works for your startup.

Something like social media presents an opportunity for leveraging integrated marketing strategy to boost awareness for your startup. Effective utilization of tools, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, combined with websites and blogs can give your startup the edge it needs for explosive growth.  Keep your customers and potential customers informed, educated, and inspired.

Also, internet marketing is comprehensive and offers you varied tools that can make a huge difference in how your startup grows.

Marketing Objectives – The Bottom Line

As a startup, there are plenty of things that you have into consideration when it comes to attaining your marketing objectives. Having the right strategy for growth will allow you to use both offline and online marketing techniques to gain a wider coverage for your brand.

Focus on marketing techniques that establish you as an expert in your industry and allow you to gain the trust of your potential clients. Keep in mind that you will need a targeted marketing strategy from the start.

As you grow, invest in learning more about the latest trends in your industry and other changes that might impact your startup.

Do you have any question on growing your startup? Feel free to contact me.