You’re going to see competitors logos and content all over networks that you don’t have access to. A sensible founder could deduce that they’ve all paid list price for this and engage in the same activity. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case. If every start-up paid ‘full whack’ for every marketing campaign, no one would have a viable business.

‘Paid ads’ is not a marketing strategy.

For a price you can acquire any customer, anywhere. But that price needs to work for your business. If your customer acquisition costs exceed the long term value you get from that customer, you simply don’t have a solvent business. It’s actually pretty simple to blast through thousands of pounds and get leads from Google. The real question is if these leads are right for you and how much they’re worth to you.

Paid ads are a powerful tool, but don’t solely rely on them to build your entire marketing strategy.

Marketing people market themselves better than anything else. Be wary of anyone who promises you the moon and stars for nothing, they’re normally lying. If anyone calls themselves a guru, ninja or a wizard, run a mile.

Likewise, you may be hiring from a big name to try and sprinkle some magic on your start-up. This can be transformative for your business, but it can come with some common traps. Big brand hires are expensive, but more importantly they may have become institutionalised and therefore not suit start-up life. In their old lives, they had legacy, structure, teams of ‘do-ers’, and other luxuries of a household name.

Start-up marketing is a completely different game. Your shiny new hire may be ready to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in, but just make sure you’re both on the same page before they start. In the early days, you should always hire ‘hunger first’. People rarely carry the weight of the brand they left with them.

There is a cost benefit to every single marketing channel. Founders often just look at their competition and copy their exact channel strategy. They do twitter, we’ll do twitter. They do newsletters, we’ll do newsletters.

This ‘tick box’ trap causes two major issues.

Firstly, it can cost you. More channels means more resource, more work and less focus. This strategy only works if your channels complement and work in tandem with each other. But beware the channels that don’t actually give you what you need. Where do they fit in the sales funnel or the marketing mix? Do they have some stakeholder strategic advantage? Know why you’re using these channels and what you hope to achieve. This will help you avoid ploughing resources into a channel with diminishing returns.

Secondly, you look like everyone else. Marketing is a game of differentiation. Taking the untrodden path or being ‘first’ to something remains a key growth hack for many start-ups when facing better resourced, established incumbents. Consider your audience’s entire world, look what gets their attention and focus on channels where you can create cut through. Remaining customer obsessed is essential in the early days, it’ll stop you simply ‘copying’ your competitors.

On average, start-ups give up on guerrilla marketing way too quickly.

Once you get to a certain size, the idea of doing something ‘off the wall’ to grab attention is seen as beneath your ‘very serious’ brand. Often in reality, most of your audience still don’t know you and haven’t come across you enough to purchase anything from you. Making a great impression, proving a point and showing some flair gets you noticed. Great guerrilla marketing remains an essential tactic for many large-scale businesses looking to stand out and stay top of mind. It’s used by global consumer brands on a regular basis but can also work wonders for B2B.

Founders often decide against guerrilla marketing way too early, particularly post fundraise. If you know your audience and you can see ‘viral’ potential, it can deliver mass awareness better than any other campaign for the cost. To get guerrilla ‘right’ you need to have creative trust in your team, spend time helping them sculpt the message and remain dynamic to new trends. Start-ups can move faster than their big incumbents. With the right message at the right time, your quick-fire campaigns can get outsized results and will help you ‘make a name’ for the brand.

Don’t turn your back on DIY marketing too early.

You’re going to see competitors logos and content all over networks that you don’t have access to. A sensible founder could deduce that they’ve all paid list price for this and engage in the same activity. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case. If every start-up paid ‘full whack’ for every marketing campaign, no one would have a viable business.

In start-up marketing, the collaborator is queen.

Cross promotion and sharing similar audiences with complimentary services/brands is a great way to deliver cheaper, better performing campaigns. Consider what you can ‘trade’ with someone to cross pollinate your following with each other’s message. Collaboration is a great way to piggy back on to others’ campaigns, just make sure you offer something meaningful in return to make it sustainable. These partnerships can be incredibly effective and often give you more credibility so you can answer a ‘larger problem’ for your audience, therefore justifying more of their attention.

Also, don’t just collaborate in sales, consider other organisations who are strategically aligned with yours. These could be start-up networks, event promotors and other organisations who could benefit from your support.

In the early days, marketing can be quite a daunting task for founders.

You’re stood in front of a sea of campaign options with little data to make an informed decision. Everything looks expensive and results look far from guaranteed. You also often lack the budget to employ very sophisticated tools and tracking.

You will be able to convince yourself out of any campaign by assessing it purely with your head or your heart. Is this for brand at the top of funnel or for lead conversion towards the bottom? Measure what you can and what matters. Be results driven but be aware when certain campaigns need a leap of faith for a long-term benefit. If you see potential, you need to test it to see what works and be honest about what ‘success’ looks like off the back of it.

The latest trends are important, but sometimes they can be over emphasised by everyone wanting to be ‘at the cutting’ edge.

This focus on what’s new can lead to a lot of brands saying the same thing, about the same topics. As outlined in much of Seth Godin’s purple cow marketing literature, campaigns get noticed if they’re different. Being unlike the rest of your competitors can be enough to attract attention to your message. As a challenger brand, something simple but unusual can attract attention from your audience. Diving straight into ‘features and benefits’ is sometimes the wrong strategy if no one’s listening to you yet.

Start-ups have to take risks. If not, they’d never be able to win mandates against more established competitors. Your marketing should be no different.

As a challenger brand, playing it safe creates inertia that your cash runway normally can’t afford. You need to find customers willing to pay for your services, fast.

Stay frugal but commit to running hundreds of small tests to get closer to your audience and understanding what ‘chimes’ with them. You’re in the experimentation phase and you should be desperately searching for both ‘positive and negative’ results to get to the true answer as quickly as you can.