5 Challenges Series B Startups Face, And How To Solve For Them
Series B tech startups have some real chicken-and-egg challenges when it comes to marketing…
Here are the 5 things I see all the time and ways I like to tackle each problem.
1. Market Differentiation
It’s hard to stand out in a crowded market with multiple competitors that offer similar solutions and have much bigger budgets.
How to Tackle
Take a minute to create a unique value proposition specific to your intended audience.
This is THE most important piece of marketing advice I can give. When you know your audience and communicate a solution to their pain points effectively through prospect education and brand building campaigns, you cut through the noise.
2. Target Audience Identification
Honing in on and targeting the most valuable customer segments is tough, even for big companies.
How to Tackle
Leverage your CRM data to see if you can discover any cohorts or types of customers that are your best ones.
Then, talk to them! Understand their needs, why they purchased your software, what social sites they hang out on, where they go to troubleshoot technical issues, how they like to buy new technology, etc.
3. Brand Awareness
Building brand recognition and trust in a competitive landscape is hard.
How to Tackle
Promote ONE key message that aligns your brand with the customer problem on the marketing channels where your future customers actually are giving attention.
For example: social media platforms (don’t discount influencers just because you’re in B2B!), analyst firm sites, review sites, and even connected TV.
4. Lead Generation
Generating high-quality leads that are likely to convert to paying customers costs $$ and it’s very tempting to put all your marketing dollars into these types of campaigns. I get it, they are high yield. But consumer behavior has changed. People aren’t filling out forms anymore until they have on choice but to talk to sales.
How to Tackle
Beef up your inbound marketing channels. Invest in content in all formats not just blogs, esp short on-demand video content, and optimize for Search.
5. Customer Feedback Loop
In this stage of growth, it’s so important for the marketing leader to collect and use customer feedback to improve marketing efforts.
How to Tackle
Put your marketing messaging and/or campaigns in front of friendly customers and champions. They want to help you, and they will tell you if your marketing does or does not resonate. I have never come away from a customer call without learning something.
These challenges are faced by companies at the growth stage, but they are not insurmountable! It’s very possible to establish a strong market position and compete in your space, even on a Series B budget.