How to spend it — part 4
Marketing Hacks for Early-Stage Startups
13 low-cost activities that work, and 5 that will only shrink your budget
16 min readJun 2, 2023
Start-ups in the early stages are in a dilemma. Many of them lack money, but they need a wide reach. I’m always inclined to spend a significant amount of money on marketing, but only if the most important questions are answered:
- Who is my target audience or ideal customer?
- What is the specific problem we can help solve?
- Is the problem big enough that people will pay enough for a solution?
- Is our solution the one that best fits the needs of our target customer?
- When and through what channels can we reach potential customers?
- What story and messages touch our customers?
- What steps are necessary to make a sale?
- Do they buy our solution?
- What is the average customer acquisition cost (CAC)?
- What is the average customer lifetime value (CLV)?
CAC and CLV are important key performance indicators for unit economics. Knowing them goes beyond simple solution-market fit. I would clearly distinguish between the phase where…