The 3 marketing foundations every founder needs
No matter your business, in the early days as a founder, one thing is certain: you’ll have to do some sales and marketing yourself.
But unless you’ve studied or worked in those areas before, getting started with your marketing can feel overwhelming. There’s a lot of information out there. AI has inserted itself into every platform in an effort to make your life ‘easier’, and social channels are constantly asking you to set up campaigns!
So in an effort to make marketing make sense, here’s my marketing 101 guide for you. A clear, fluff-free overview of the basics and the three things you should always define first…
Advertising, PR, what’s the difference?
A while ago I saw this simple, everyone-can-understand explainer on LinkedIn which actually inspired this whole article. Full credit to Tom Pestridge for this circus analogy, which I’ll attempt to continue…
If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying ‘Circus Coming to the Showground Saturday’...
→ That’s advertising.
If you put that sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town…
→ That’s promotion.
If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed and the local newspaper writes a story about it...
→ That’s publicity.
And if you get the mayor to laugh about it...
→ That’s public relations.
If people see what fun it looks to be and then end up buying tickets to the circus
→ That’s sales.
If you planned the whole thing...
→ That’s marketing.
Let’s dig in…
What is Marketing?
Marketing includes everything you do to attract, connect with and convert your ideal customer. It’s the strategy behind all the actions, tactics and activities (as listed above) that help you get people to the circus to see your elephants.
Marketing strategy guides the direction you want to go in. It’s the what, who and why behind your plans. A basic marketing strategy should include:
Clear objectives→ What do you want to achieve and why? Your circus needs to have a purpose!
A target audience→ Speak to the right people. Is your circus for families or business execs?
A compelling offer or value proposition→ Why you? What’s special about your circus?
Once you’ve nailed those basics, you can build a marketing plan. The plan is how you are going to target that audience, share your offer and meet your goals. A basic marketing plan should include…
A multi-channel approach→ Show up where your customers are: social media, local events, but don’t overwhelm yourself; pick 1 - 2 channels to focus on.
Conversion-optimised customer journeys → Make it easy for people to find you and buy your offer. If they can’t find you, they won’t be buying tickets to your circus show!
Data tracking and iteration → Review what’s working, and not, to make adjustments to your approach. After a while, if you notice that people aren’t showing up, you change the circus act.
Secret ingredients: the basics + consistency
Consistency is what ties all of this together. By showing up with a consistent message, targeting the same audience in the same place, you build trust, stay visible, and these efforts compound over time.
Yet so many founders struggle with this the most. And it’s not because they don’t want to keep showing up.
My diagnosis?
They are missing a basic marketing strategy: the goals, the audience and the value proposition. The reason behind the posts, the adverts and the posters.
Without this clear direction, it becomes hard to know what to say, where to show up and whether anything is working.
So if you’re just getting started or looking to give your marketing a makeover, then my advice is to start with these three basic things:
Your Goals
Target Audience
Value Proposition
Then you can create a plan, focus your efforts and stay consistent with your marketing efforts!
