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

Photo by Fab Lentz on Unsplash

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…