Marketing for Startups: What Actually Works

Most startup marketing advice is useless because it’s written by people with enterprise budgets for companies with enterprise resources.

You don’t have a marketing team. You might not even have a marketing person. You’re a founder trying to figure out how to get customers without burning through your runway.

Here’s what you actually need to know.

The Real Numbers on Startup Marketing Spend

Let’s start with what companies actually spend, because the “5-10% of revenue” rule doesn’t apply to startups.

According to Gartner’s 2024 CMO survey, the average company now spends 7.7% of revenue on marketing — down from 9.1% in 2023. But that’s average, across all company sizes and stages.

For startups, the numbers are completely different:

Some early-stage startups operate at over 100% of revenue on marketing — that’s the “grow at all costs” model where you’re deliberately losing money to acquire market share.

The point: there’s no universal “right” number. It depends on your runway, growth goals, and business model.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Startup Marketing

Before we get tactical, let’s be honest about some things:

1. Marketing can’t fix a bad product

If you don’t have product-market fit, marketing is just accelerating your burn rate. Before investing heavily in marketing, make sure people actually want what you’re selling. The test: are existing customers referring others without being asked?

2. You probably can’t afford brand marketing

“Brand building” is for companies with money to spare. Early-stage startups need direct-response marketing that generates leads and revenue. Brand will come later, built through consistently good work and happy customers.

3. Consistency beats creativity

The startups that win at marketing aren’t the ones with the cleverest campaigns. They’re the ones that show up consistently, week after week, while competitors give up after a few months of slow results.

What Actually Works for Startups

Based on what we’ve seen and what the data supports, here are the highest-ROI strategies for early-stage companies:

1. Founder-led content on LinkedIn

This is probably the highest-ROI activity for B2B startups right now. It costs nothing but time, and LinkedIn delivers the best value according to 84% of B2B marketers.

How to do it:

This works because nobody can copy founder authenticity. Big companies with social media teams can’t replicate a real founder sharing real struggles and wins.

Timeline: Expect 2-4 months before meaningful engagement.

2. Answer the questions your customers ask

Instead of creating “content marketing strategy,” just answer questions.

What do people ask before buying from you? What do they Google when they have the problem you solve? Write detailed answers to those questions.

This is simpler and more effective than elaborate pillar-cluster content strategies. You’re not trying to rank for everything — you’re trying to be useful to people who might buy from you.

Timeline: 4-8 months for SEO traffic, but you can distribute these answers immediately on social and in sales conversations.

3. Build where your customers already are

“Build a community” is common advice, but starting a community from scratch is incredibly hard. Instead, go where communities already exist.

The goal isn’t promotion — it’s being known as someone helpful. That builds reputation, which builds trust, which builds sales.

4. Partnerships over ads (when starting out)

Find companies that serve your same customers but don’t compete with you. Then do something together.

A single good partnership can deliver more leads than months of advertising at a fraction of the cost (your time).

5. Targeted paid acquisition (when you’re ready)

Notice I didn’t put this first. Paid advertising works, but only after you have:

Without those, you’re just burning money testing expensive hypotheses.

When you’re ready, start small: £500-1,000/month maximum. Test one channel thoroughly before expanding.

Where to start:

According to 2024 data, average Google Ads CPC is around $4.66 globally (roughly £3.65 in the UK), but varies wildly by industry — legal and finance can hit £10+ per click.

The 90-Day Startup Marketing Sprint

If you’re starting from zero, here’s a practical plan:

Weeks 1-4: Foundation

Goal: Get clear on your message and set up basic infrastructure.

Don’t overthink this phase. The enemy is analysis paralysis.

Weeks 5-8: Testing

Goal: Find out what resonates.

Track what gets engagement and what falls flat. Double down on what works.

Weeks 9-12: Accelerating

Goal: Scale what’s working.

By the end of 90 days, you should have clear direction on where to focus next.

What Not to Do

Watching startups fail at marketing reveals common patterns:

Don’t copy big company playbooks

What works for Salesforce won’t work for you. They have brand awareness, authority, and budget that took decades to build. You need scrappy, direct approaches.

Don’t try to be everywhere

You can’t be on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, write a blog, run a podcast, AND send a newsletter. Pick one or two channels and do them well. Expand later.

Don’t ignore unit economics

If it costs you £500 to acquire a customer worth £200, marketing isn’t your problem — your business model is. Know your numbers before scaling spend.

Don’t outsource too early

Hiring an agency when you don’t understand your own marketing is a recipe for burning money. Do the basics yourself first, understand what works, then consider outsourcing execution.

Don’t wait for perfect

The best time to start marketing was six months ago. The second best time is today. Your first content will be rough. Your first ads will underperform. That’s fine. You’ll improve.

When to Hire Help

You don’t need a marketing agency or hire at day one. But there comes a point where outside help makes sense.

Signs you need help:

What to look for:

Expect to pay £1,000-3,000/month for starter engagement with a good agency, plus any ad spend.

The Only Metrics That Matter Early On

Forget complicated marketing dashboards. Track these:

Leading indicators:

Lagging indicators:

If your CAC is lower than customer lifetime value and you have capital, scale. If not, optimise before spending more.

The Most Important Thing

Marketing for startups isn’t complicated. The hard part is consistency.

The startups that win at marketing are the ones that show up every week, for months, before they see results. Research shows that creators who post consistently for 20+ weeks see engagement rates 4.5x higher than sporadic posters.

Most of your competitors will give up. They’ll post for a few weeks, see minimal results, and decide “marketing doesn’t work for us.”

That’s your advantage. Stay in the game longer than they do.

Need help figuring out where to focus? Our digital marketing services for SMBs are built specifically for startups and growing companies. We offer flexible engagement models that scale with you. Let’s talk about what you’re building.