What can marketing look like for companies with zero budget?:

What's the ideal amount to spend on marketing at an early-stage startup? Mike Saraswat, founder and CEO of Ekstasy Creative Advertising in London, has seen patterns emerge throughout his 16 years working with small, innovative tech startups and large household names like Amazon, Samsung, and Klarna. In this Inside Marketing Talk, he shares tips for founders and marketers trying to figure out marketing strategies and budget allocation in the early stages: What can marketing look like for companies with zero budget?: If you haven't yet built a product, a landing page and email sign-up can help to gauge interest and start an email list. A freemium model gets people using your product so you can collect testimonials. Ten videos of people who are excited to have a problem solved is a simple but powerful thing to show potential investors. Early-stage founders can create a community around themselves, using their personal stories as part of their brand. They can contact journalists to cover their stories. Marketing strategies for companies at the seed stage: Companies who come to Mike after raising an early round usually need help with "digital plumbing" or data analytics first. Mike says tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs for keywords, and CRM software are crucial for monitoring the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Mike suggests B2B companies spend between 15% to 25% of the round they raise on marketing. Between the two big categories of building the brand and making sales, Mike says B2B companies should focus more on sales. This could include hiring salespeople, a valuable way to better understand client problems. B2C companies might consider a more aggressive marketing budget allocation — between 30% to 40% of the round they raise, with more of a brand-building focus. Lifestyle and influencer-led strategies are effective. Early-stage B2C companies should center their messaging around the problem that their product solves. Consumers usually need many touchpoints with a brand before making a purchase. Google did a behavior report that detailed one consumer interacting with 900 digital touchpoints, mostly on mobile, before buying a car online. Touchpoints might include demo videos, retargeting ads, blog posts, emails, WhatsApp messages, a community on LinkedIn, or a Facebook group. Mike's closing marketing tip: "Put yourself out there. Vulnerability always helps, especially in the early days, so people feel more connected to you as a founder."