When it comes to marketing, startups are a completely different animal

By Jana Kotze, Head of Venture Marketing

We all know that marketing is essential for business, but even more so for startups. Startups are a completely different animal when it comes to marketing. We often don’t have the luxury of massive marketing budgets, resources or tools, so our approach needs to be lean and agile.

Product commercialisation is the business of launching new products or services to the market, driving demand and user adoption which will ultimately result in happy customers. In other words, we develop go-to-market strategies based on our knowledge, research, initial user feedback and assumptions. Ultimately, we want our products to have a certain stickiness which will increase the propensity of customers to return to the product, use it more frequently and, thus, deepening the relationship with the customer over time.

I believe in using an agile, iterative approach that helps us to test our assumptions quickly and change direction if we need to. The earlier we launch and learn, the better, and better insight translate into a better experience with less time, effort and money being spent fixing things later on in the process.

Commercialisation conceptualisation

During the initial stages of the project, our team will spend time understanding the customer, their wants, needs and what motivates them — whether intrinsic or extrinsic by nature. We define the product messaging and come up with a value proposition that clearly defines how the product features will benefit the customer. Getting the value proposition to stand out requires a combination of relevance, context, and education. It’s important to acknowledge that even if your value proposition is spot on, it might only resonate with a subset of your audience.

After the product launches, we keep a close eye on data, especially around user behaviour, so that we can make changes according to the feedback we receive. We’re constantly asking what worked, what didn’t and why. As a team, the onus is on us to keep up with the latest tech trends and tools we can use to perform at our best.

Lessons learned

I’ve learnt that even when you plan everything to the last detail, it doesn’t always go to plan. That’s when the agile approach really kicks in, as we can pivot quickly without too much impact on the project. Fast, lightweight iterations are the key.

I love what I do — the variety, the faced paced environment and the challenges. No day is the same. I love helping people grow and thrive. At the Delta, team culture is important to us, as is the constant drive to improve and learn, while having fun in the process!

I have also learnt that failure happens, but it is not a bad thing, as long as you take the lessons being offered. This gives us the opportunity to grow so that we can continue to build, and market, products and ventures in a way that resonates with clients and customers alike.

Want to market your new product or venture? The Delta is a venture-development company that co-creates businesses and products with leading corporations and entrepreneurs. Get in touch with us here.

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the opinions of any entity whatsoever which The Delta have been, are now, or will be affiliated with.