Achieving efficiency isn’t just a goal for startup marketers — it’s a necessity for survival and growth. As startup marketers navigate the challenging terrain of limited resources and high expectations, the quest for marketing efficiency can often feel elusive. Yet, it’s precisely this pursuit that can differentiate successful ventures from those that struggle.
Efficiency seems to be the “white whale” of most marketing leaders. When we asked 250+ startup marketers with the title of Director+ about their goals as part of our exclusive research report, The Startup Marketer Outlook: In Pursuit of Peak Efficiency, their top objective was to “improve marketing efficiency.” And yet, 45% report that they are not confident in their ability to do so.
By taking a strategic approach and leveraging the right tools, even the smallest teams can make a significant impact. Here are some essential steps and considerations for startups aiming to optimize their marketing efforts, ensuring they not only meet their goals but exceed them:
Clearly define your vision
“Optimization” and “efficiency” will mean different things to different teams. Some startups, particularly those in the early stages, might be looking to establish stable processes and prioritize their efforts better, while others may have those elements in place already and need to course correct. To some, it might mean cutting costs or working faster. The terms are broad and far reaching, so if you tell your team that you need to boost efficiency, you cannot assume that everyone will automatically be on the same page about what that means or looks like.
This lack of clarity is likely a contributing factor for why so many of the startup marketers we surveyed don’t feel confident in their ability to improve their efficiency; optimization is hard to accomplish if you don’t know what you’re aiming for. So, the best place to start is by getting a grip on what optimization and efficiency mean to you, to your wider team, and to your organization. What exactly needs to change? Is it a matter of speed, cost, effort, or otherwise? Play a game of professional make believe. In an ideal world, what does peak performance look like? Once you have your answer, you can begin to strategize how to get there.
Honestly assess your efforts
Even once you know what you’re working towards, it can be difficult to know exactly what needs optimizing. Some activities or functions may spring to mind immediately, but you may also be unknowingly overlooking some of your weaker spots.
Begin by working backwards. Take a critical look at what you’re already doing and how it contributes to your bigger picture. Assess your people, processes, tactics, and tools. Do you have the right skills on the right projects? Can processes be streamlined or reworked, and are your tactics delivering the necessary impacts? You may find that you have fallen into a trap of doing things just for the sake of it and spreading yourself and your team unnecessarily thin in the process.
If you’re unsure how to measure what is working or isn’t, let your data tell the story. Are you getting eyes on your content, and are they staying on your website long enough to read it? Are your SEO initiatives helping you rank for the terms you want to be known for? Are you building name recognition and credibility in your industry? Are your paid efforts reaching and converting the right targets?
It’s also important to remember how different pieces of the marketing strategy work together to create the whole. Just because one area looks good doesn’t mean a related area may not be holding you back. For example, content and SEO are highly interdependent functions, so if one is lagging behind it can impact the other. That’s why it’s important to audit your efforts from every possible angle.
Be as realistic and honest as you can, and don’t be afraid to kill some of your marketing darlings in the name of efficiency and optimization. However, you may find you’re too close to your efforts to be objective. If that’s the case, it may be worth bringing in experts to dive deep and offer an outside perspective.
Laser-focus on an audience
Many startups – especially in the early stages – unfortunately fall into a trap of trying to be everything to everyone, which is inherently inefficient. It’s not worth your time, budget, or effort to go after individuals who have no intention of becoming customers or who do not resonate with your products or services.
Even if you’re not ready for a full-blown ABM strategy yet, get clear on who you really want to reach and do business with. Map out your different customer personas and dive deep into who they are, what motivates them, what their needs or challenges are, and where best to reach them. Conduct A/B testing if possible. Segment your lists or experiment with your subject lines, calls to action, paid campaigns, landing pages, and any other areas that offer the flexibility of trying a few options.
Take a smart approach to new tools
With so many martech tools already on the market and new ones emerging all the time, there are plenty of options for boosting efficiency and optimizing performance with technology. In fact, nearly 65% of the startup marketers we surveyed are confident in their ability to utilize the latest technology, and approximately one in five (21%) are implementing new martech tools this year. This demonstrates not only a willingness to try a new approach, but also an understanding that those who resist technology risk getting left behind.
The biggest draw of tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, Copilot, and more are the efficiency benefits they offer. Automating some of the repetitive and mundane tasks in a marketer’s workflow can free up their time for more high-value endeavors, giving a much-needed productivity boost. But there are right and wrong ways to do this.
Generative AI can be an asset for short content tasks, PR, and SEO, but it is not a cure-all. Use it strategically rather than trusting it to replace your team. Ensure you are properly supervising all AI tools you use and carefully reviewing any outputs for inaccuracies, conflicts with your brand voice, or other errors. Otherwise, the time you gain in efficiency from using these tools will need to be reallocated towards correcting any damage done.
Also, be strategic in the tools you select. Never adopt martech solutions just for the sake of it. Ensure that whatever tools you adopt can help you reach the goals you set at the start of this process and resist the urge to simply keep up with the Joneses. Again, because optimization and efficiency look different for different teams, what’s working for your peers may not work for your specific needs. Choose your tools wisely and use them strategically.
These are just some of the many ways you can boost efficiency in your startup marketing team, and a great jumping off point. To benchmark your efforts against those of your peers, and exclusive insights into the state of startup marketing, you can download The Startup Marketer Outlook for free here.
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