The document outlines the 5 steps for building a startup's marketing strategy: 1) Identifying the most valuable target group, 2) Analyzing competitors and positioning, 3) Choosing messages and value propositions, 4) Picking marketing channels, and 5) Setting goals and metrics. Each step provides tips on how to identify the target group, research competitors, develop effective messages, select appropriate channels, and define key performance indicators to measure success. The overall strategy advises testing approaches with data and adjusting based on customer feedback.

1. THE 5 STEPS OF BUILDING
YOUR STARTUP’S
MARKETING STRATEGY
Taavi Raidma
Partner & Strategist, Convertal

2. Creating an effective marketing strategy

3. Target group

4. 1. Identifying the most valuable target group
Icons by monkik (flaticon.com/authors/monkik)

5. 1. Identifying the most valuable target group
Icons by monkik (flaticon.com/authors/monkik)

6. 1. Identifying the most valuable target group
Icons by monkik (flaticon.com/authors/monkik)

7. 1. Identifying the most valuable target group
Icons by monkik (flaticon.com/authors/monkik)

8. 1. Identifying the most valuable target group
Icons by monkik (flaticon.com/authors/monkik)

9. 1. Identifying the most valuable target group
A few extra tips:
⭕ Use a CRM to keep track on all leads and communications
⭕ Add all contacts to your mailing list (with their permission)
⭕ Reevaluate your target groups at least quarterly
⭕ Actively ask, what they currently use (and who you need to beat)
⭕ Stay nice and useful, even if they say no!

10. 1. Identifying the most valuable target group
1 minute exercise
⭕ Think of one customer lead that has all three characteristics
⭕ Think of one that has only one

11. Competitors and
positioning

12. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
What to look for:
⭕ MESSAGES
⭕ PRICING
⭕ CHANNELS
⭕ CONTENT OF ADS
⭕ KEYWORDS AND RANKING
⭕ REFERRALS

13. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
Sources/tools to use:
⭕ MESSAGES - website, social media channels
⭕ PRICING - website, Facebook Ad Library, SpyFu
⭕ CHANNELS - SimilarWeb
⭕ CONTENT OF ADS - SEMRush, SpyFu, Facebook Ad Library
⭕ KEYWORDS AND RANKING - SpyFu, Mangools Rank Tracking
⭕ REFERRALS - Ahrefs

14. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
Facebook Ad Library
facebook.com/ads/library/

15. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
Facebook Ad Library
facebook.com/ads/library/

16. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
SimilarWeb
similarweb.com

17. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
SimilarWeb
similarweb.com

18. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
SpyFu
spyfu.com

19. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
SpyFu
spyfu.com

20. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself

21. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
Additional advantages
⭕ Brand
⭕ Service quality
⭕ Partnerships
⭕ Owned channels
⭕ Intellectual property
⭕ Input cost
⭕ PEOPLE

22. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
A few extra tips:
⭕ Competition changes - always keep an eye open for old and new
⭕ Keep a spreadsheet of competitors and their positioning, their clients
⭕ Set up Google Alerts (google.com/alerts) with your competitor brands
⭕ Re-evaluate your positioning quarterly

23. 2. Analyzing competitors & positioning yourself
1 minute exercise
⭕ Think of one key competitor.
⭕ What are they and yourself focusing on as the main advantage?

24. Messages and value
proposition

25. 3. Choosing messages and value propositions

26. 3. Choosing messages and value propositions

27. 3. Choosing messages and value propositions
⭕ Pick one key gain and one key pain -> headline UVP message
⭕ Pick two supporting gains and pains -> 2 supporting messages
⭕ Write them into a 3 sentence pitch.

28. 3. Choosing messages and value propositions
Options for testing your messages and value propositions

29. 3. Choosing messages and value propositions
A few extra tips:
⭕ Have multiple UVPs and messages when targeting different markets
⭕ A/B test your messages against your competitors’
⭕ Listen to customers - and adjust when needed.

30. 3. Choosing messages and value propositions
1 minute exercise
⭕ What’s the key pain you’re addressing?
⭕ How would you test your UVP?

31. Marketing channels

32. 4. Picking marketing channels
Is your product for businesses or consumers?
First questions
Who researches and how?
Who decides?
What are their alternatives?
First questions
Which social media do they use?
What’s their research journey?
How long from research to purchase?

33. 4. Picking marketing channels

34. 4. Picking marketing channels
Visuals: searchsignals.nl

35. 4. Picking marketing channels
Potential
customer
Thinking of
purchase
Ready to
purchase
Existing
customers
Visuals: searchsignals.nl

36. 4. Picking marketing channels
Banner, video Facebook, SEO Search, Reta Email
Visuals: searchsignals.nl

37. 4. Picking marketing channels
Media budgeting:
⭕ Start small and build investments based on data
⭕ Don’t start too small!
⭕ Price per click and CPM are secondary, CPA matters
⭕ Test channels and ad types, build on what works
⭕ Some channels create awareness, others bring conversions

38. 4. Picking marketing channels

39. 4. Picking marketing channels
A few extra tips:
⭕ If search is big part of consumer journey, start with Search Ads & SEO
⭕ If you’re in B2B, don’t forget LinkedIn, both organic and paid
⭕ Email list can is a gold mine when used properly
⭕ Only start social channels you can actively manage
⭕ Shorter but more frequent content beats long pieces with long gaps
⭕ Nothing beats recommendations, make it part of your strategy!

40. 4. Picking marketing channels
1 minute exercise
⭕ What’s your #1 channel for generating awareness?
⭕ What’s your #1 channel for acquiring conversions?

41. Goals and metrics

42. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
What’s your key objectives and what’s the customers’ journey there?

43. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
Micro conversions
Newsletter signup
Page like
Watching video
Whitepaper download
Reviewing pricing page
Macro conversions
Lead form submission
Purchase
Upsell

44. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
Micro conversions
Newsletter signup
Page like
Watching video
Whitepaper download
Reviewing pricing page
Macro conversions
Lead form submission
Purchase
Upsell
ENGAGEMENTS
INTERACTIONS
REVENUE
LEADS

45. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
Measuring total return from marketing
ROI =
ROI =
ROI =
ROI = 297%
(Conversion 1 + Conversion 2 + Conversion 3) - Investment
Investment
x 100
(Nwsl signups + Page likes + Product profit) - Investment
Investment
x 100
(503x€1 + 2230x€0.5 + €55990) - €14500
€14500
x 100

46. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics

47. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
Impressions
Reach
Engagement rate
Click rate (CTR)
Business metrics
Customer lifetime value
Lead to customer conversion rate
Bounce rate
Visit length
Avg. visited pages
Return rate
Conversion rate
Cost per acquisition
Value per conversion
# of conversions

48. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
Impressions - 150 000
Reach - 30 000
Engagement rate - 3%
Click rate (CTR) - 1.2%
Business metrics
Customer lifetime value
Lead to customer conversion rate
Bounce rate - 52%
Visit length - 1min 40sec
Avg. visited pages - 3.2
Return rate - 43%
Conversion rate - 2.2%
Cost per acquisition - €13
Value per conversion - €120
# of conversions - 40

49. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
What tools to use?
⭕ Web Analytics - Google Analytics
⭕ Dashboards - Google Data Studio
⭕ Conversion setup - Google Tag Manager
⭕ User experience - HotJar
⭕ Website performance - Pingdom
⭕ A/B testing - Google Optimize
⭕ Facebook Insights

50. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
A few extra tips:
⭕ Compare ratios not absolute numbers
⭕ Understand when you don’t have enough data to decide
⭕ Always check what period of data you’re looking at
⭕ Use Annotations in Google Analytics
⭕ Always use UTM tags (https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/campaign-url-builder/)

51. 5. Setting goals and performance metrics
1 minute exercise
⭕ What’s your macro conversion, how much it’s worth?
⭕ What are your micro conversions?

52. Taavi Raidma
taavi@convertal.ee