Going to market?
Marketing services procurement is often a death-knell for a startup
In my experience, one of the most fundamental reasons why early stage companies fail is because they can’t get their marketing and business development right. Seed stage companies, in particular, often raise funding on the back of ‘getting to market’ (GTM). But then they acquire marketing services by approaching the first company that comes to mind (typically a friend of the CEO’s). Marketing briefs are ill-advised. No fully developed KPIs are agreed. And the specific marketing need isn’t properly articulated. And often the earliest C-suite hires can lose all credibility with the Board - often because they have never had to run marketing programmes before, or commissioned marketing services companies.
Marketing spend is often the biggest line-item outside of salary costs for seed or A-round companies. And yet, companies will procure marketing services willy-nilly and without any useful discussion before doing so.
Over the past 20 years or so, I have worked closely with many early stage companies to help them establish strategic marketing services that help achieve GTM strategies. Often my engagement was to research the most appropriate GTM strategy - particularly in business to business sectors - by engaging with customers or prospects. But, often, even this is made near impossible because no consideration has been given to 1) who the customer is or 2) how the customer can be reached via the channel.
In summary, here are some common marketing mistakes early-stage companies make:
They often acquire marketing services without a solid plan, sometimes just going with someone they know.
Their marketing plans and goals (KPIs) aren't well-defined.
They don't always know who their customers are or how to reach them.
They sometimes hire C-suite executives or agencies who aren't fit for purpose.
They spend a lot on marketing without having proper strategies in place.
So, if you need help defining what marketing processes you need and how you should procure them, give me a call. By investing a little bit of time deciding what will make your GTM strategy work, you could save wasted time and money.