5 Marketing Tactics to Drive Customer Engagement in the Early Stages of Your Startup
In a world where marketing can mean everything from an Instagram post to a billboard in Times Square, how can you determine what marketing tactic works for you? How can a startup get the most out of their marketing spend? How do you determine where to reach your audience? How can you ensure that you’re engaging, building trust, and growing your formative audience?
Here are the marketing tactics that work to build audiences and keep them engaged.
What Are Marketing Tactics?
Marketing tactics are specific actions or strategies that businesses use to promote their products or services, engage customers, and ultimately drive sales. They are often part of a broader marketing strategy and can vary widely based on the target audience, industry, and resources available.
One of the biggest marketing mistakes a founder can make is forging ahead with a marketing plan that, ultimately, doesn’t suit their needs.
Due to the lean nature of many early-stage startups, there are a few common marketing tactics that can be implemented with a limited budget. And while we always recommend aligning tactics with strategy— the below list is flexible enough that it can be strategically implemented no matter your goals.
Marketing Tactic Examples
Content Marketing: blogging, ebooks, podcasts, videos
Social Media Marketing: Regular posting on relevant platforms, influencer partnerships, contests, paid advertising
Email Marketing: Newsletter, drip campaigns, customer segmentation, surveys
Search Engine Optimization: Optimizing website and content for target keywords
Paid Advertising: PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, social media advertising, retargeting campaigns
Referral Programs: incentives for referrals, affiliate marketing
Community Engagement: online and in-person events, collaboration with local or like-minded businesses
Freemium Models or Trials: offering free versions of product, offering a limited-time use of product free of charge
Market Research + Feedback Loop: surveys, feedback collection, implementing change due to feedback
Foundations of Marketing Tactics for Early-Stage Startups
When strategizing a marketing approach, it’s easy to get excited and carried away.
At an early stage, it’s especially crucial to consider the “why” behind each dollar spent on marketing. Startups operating with “no” budgets are more likely to develop creative, repeatable, and scalable marketing strategies to help them attract and retain loyal customers.
Before diving into some of the best marketing tactics for early-stage startups, there are a few elements to keep in mind before deciding on a strategy.
Be Mindful of Your Money
For any startup, money is the elephant in every room, so let’s start by addressing it.
Lesson number one: more marketing spending doesn’t necessarily lead to more dollars earned.
While most startups aren’t in the position to shell out $7 million for a Superbowl commercial, that might not be the right spot to spend your marketing dollars anyway!
From the smallest startup to the largest unicorns, mindful marketing is essential. Once you have determined what you have to work with regarding budget, you’ll combine that with impact and authenticity.
Make it Impactful
We all know that we only get one chance to make a first impression. The same is true for startup brands. When targeting your customers for the first time, try your best to get it right!
Before producing any content or buying an inch of ad space, you must understand who you’re trying to reach and what you want to achieve. Define your target audience in detail: their demographics, pain points, needs, and where they consume content.
Next, establish your goals so that you’re prepared to measure the success of campaigns.
Here’s a scenario: Suppose your marketing team aims to find qualified leads by collecting emails to nurture. To do so, your marketing lead writes an engaging and detailed “how-to” blog with a content upgrade to collect emails. All readers need to do is enter their email to download the guide! A week later, while measuring impact, your marketing team reports that the article went viral! Unfortunately, only a tiny percentage of users opted to share their emails. While the virality is great, this campaign failed to hit its goal.
Keep an eye on your specific goals to measure the success or failure of a marketing campaign or tactic. Some goals include:
Drive traffic to your website.
Build brand awareness within your niche.
Generate leads through content downloads or email subscriptions.
Establish authority in your industry.
Having clear goals will also help guide your content creation and ensure you’re focusing on what matters most to your startup's growth.
Authentic Storytelling + Trust-Building
Especially in the early stages of a startup, building trust and authority as a brand is paramount. Your early marketing tactics should reflect your brand’s mission and identity.
By staying true to the company’s mission, values, and vision, early-stage startups can craft a marketing narrative that resonates deeply with their target audience.
Instead of trying to appear established or polished, startups can embrace transparency and leverage their scrappiness as an asset. Sharing the story behind the startup’s founding—why it exists, what problem it’s solving, and how it plans to make an impact—creates a living, breathing message that resonates with your target audience.
Trust is another essential component of successful marketing. Formative marketing efforts should prioritize building trust with consistency, personal touch, and customer interaction.
Marketing Tactic #1: Create a Content Marketing Plan
Many of us have heard the phrase “Content is King,” but what does that mean? Content marketing is a bit of an umbrella term that could include everything from a blog post to a podcast series.
Assuming your band has zero assets, focus on the following areas to create a consistent and impactful content marketing strategy:
Create a Content Calendar: Develop a content calendar to stay organized and consistent. Focus on high-impact content like blog posts, social media updates, and email newsletters. Plan for regular but manageable publishing frequencies, ensuring consistency across platforms.
Focus on Story-Centered Content: Prioritize creating content that combines story with actionable education. This could include "how-to" guides, tutorials, and case studies from real customers. Whenever relevant, infuse and share stories about your brand, customers, or your impact.
Optimize for SEO (and AI): Optimize your content for search engines to drive organic traffic. Focus on long-tail keywords that are relevant but less competitive. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your content’s titles, headers, and meta descriptions.
Repurpose + Recycle: The three Rs of recycling is also a golden rule in content marketing. For example, a blog post can be turned into an infographic or video for social media. This allows you to reach a wider audience with minimal extra effort.
Track, Optimize, and Refine: Monitor performance metrics such as traffic, engagement, and lead generation. Use the insights to refine your strategy, focusing on what content and platforms perform best.
Creating a content marketing plan can seem like a behemoth task—but it’s manageable when approached thoughtfully. By focusing on repurposing, SEO, and strategic content distribution, early-stage startups can create an effective content marketing plan—all while being mindful of budget and time spent.
Marketing Tactic #2: Market Research + Co-Marketing Partnerships
Analyzing competitors is another cost-effective way to gather insights that are specific to your industry. By studying competitor websites, social media presence, customer reviews, and content strategies, startups can understand what’s working in the market, what gaps exist, and where there might be opportunities.
Tools like SimilarWeb can give insights into competitor traffic, and social listening tools like Hootsuite or Mention can track brand mentions and competitor trends.
Conducting thorough market research can also lead to discovering complementary brands. Partnering with these brands on co-marketing efforts (e.g. webinars, product bundles, giveaways, guest blogs) can expand reach and share audiences at no cost.
Marketing Tactic #3: Connect Personally with Early Customers
One of the most effective ways to understand and familiarize yourself with your customers is through personal connection.
Early adopters are the foundation of the community, so these relationships should go far beyond the transactional. Find ways to connect to your early customers to transform them into evangelists. Word of mouth is one of the most infectious and advantageous ways for an early startup to grow.
Marketers can reach out to potential customers for one-on-one interviews or casual conversations. These interviews can be informal but should aim to uncover the day-to-day struggles, unmet needs, and desired outcomes that customers face.
By actively listening to the customer's experiences, marketers can begin to identify patterns and recurring issues that represent broader pain points across the market.
If unable to connect for one-on-one interviews, customer surveys and feedback opportunities are a great way to drive customer engagement, input, and loyalty.
Marketing Tactic #4: Have a Ready Digital Presence
For an early startup, having a ready and active social media presence from day one is a way to show your prospective customer that the lights are on and you are open for business.
Creating a social media presence is essential for early-stage startups. Social platforms offer a cost-effective way to reach, engage, and build a community around the brand. While there are challenges and algorithms to contend with, the entry point is free.
The key is to focus on strategic channels, leverage organic content, and engage directly with the audience. To do so, you must have an understanding of “where” your target community spends their digital time.
Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook each offer unique advantages depending on the industry and audience. For example:
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is essential for B2B startups or companies with a professional target audience. LinkedIn is an optimal channel for discussing industry insight, sharing product updates, and networking with other professionals.
Founders, too, can use LinkedIn to demonstrate their own brand of thought leadership—by sharing articles, company updates, or thought-provoking content.
Twitter (aka X): Twitter is excellent for startups that want to engage in real-time conversations and stay active in industry discussions. It’s ideal for brands in tech, news, or industries where staying on top of trends is crucial.
TikTok: TikTok is here to stay, especially among Gen Z and young millennials. It’s great for startups that can create short, creative, or entertaining videos. TikTok’s algorithm rewards content that is engaging, making it possible for small startups to go viral without any ad spend.
Facebook: Although Facebook has seen a shift toward paid ads, it still remains a strong platform for community-building, especially through Facebook Groups.
By prioritizing organic content, engaging with followers, and leveraging user-generated content, startups can establish a strong social media presence without significant financial investment. This drives us to our next tactic, content marketing.
Marketing Tactic #5: Create a Referral Program
Word-of-mouth is an extremely powerful tool for startups. Early adopters love sharing their favorite products and services with their friends, family, and other folks who might benefit from them. Creating a referral program incentivizes early customers to refer others by offering rewards like discounts or freebies.
Discount or Credit-Based Referrals: "Refer a friend and both of you get 10% off your next purchase."
Free or Extended Service: "Refer a friend, and get an extra month free on your subscription when they sign up."
Exclusive Access or Early Features: "Refer two friends and get early access to our newest feature before anyone else."
Tiered Referral Rewards: "Refer 1 friend, get a $5 credit. Refer 5 friends, get a $50 credit. Refer 10 friends, get a free product."
Social Sharing Referral: "Share your referral link on social media. For every friend who signs up, get $10 credit."
Gamified Referrals: "Be one of our top 5 referrers this month and win a $100 gift card."
Product Upgrades or Customization: "Refer a friend, and get a free product upgrade or customization option."
Try some of these referral tactics to spread the word!
Ready to Put Your Strategy in Motion?
In conclusion, driving customer engagement is crucial for early-stage startups aiming to carve out a strong niche in the market. At Carter House Copy, we specialize in helping startups develop tailored strategies that hone in on their target audience.
Startups can forge meaningful relationships with their customers through targeted marketing tactics. Engaged clients not only become loyal advocates but also provide invaluable feedback that shapes product offerings and business strategies.
The key is to stay flexible and responsive to your customer’s needs as you refine your approach.
With Carter House Copy at your side, you can embrace creativity, explore innovative ideas, and pivot as necessary. By implementing the right tactics, your startup can cultivate a vibrant, engaged community that drives growth and sets the stage for long-term success!
