Startups

How to Write Excellent Elevator Pitch For Startup Funding

Sabine Wolf · April 9, 2020 ·

A good and great elevator pitch for startup funding can spark or kill a deal.

Google got an investment thanks to a great Elevator Pitch. That means you can do it too. This article will help you to come up with a great elevator pitch, attract investments, and even if you will not repeat the success of Google, then at least you will be able to create some real value that will benefit people.

So, What Is the Elevator Pitch?

Imagine that you have a great business idea, the funds for financing which significantly exceed the level available to you. And one sunny day, you go up in the elevator, the door opens and …. the billionaire enters the elevator.

Alone, without a crowd of guards. He will reach the desired floor, come out and you will never see him again. Your only chance to implement the project is to attract his attention while he is standing next to you.

If you have something to tell you about, elevator pitch is what you should write, memorize and periodically rehearse so that you won’t get confused at the right time.

You, Will, Have Only One Chance and No More Than 30 Seconds

The most important elevator pitch rule is brevity and maximum meaning. You will have only one attempt to attract the attention of investors, and your time will be limited to only 30 seconds.

Compose a short story about the concept of your product, project or service for 100-150 words or 30 seconds of voiceover.

Describe the following:

What exactly do you want to present: yourself, your activity, or your specific product?
What tasks and problems of your clients do you solve in terms of their benefits?
Why does an investor need to work with you, and not with your competitors?
A call to action, for example: “Call us” or “Find out more on the site!”

Why do you need such a blank? We often get to know people, give a business card and are shy to say a few words about ourselves.

This is traditionally in our culture. But at the moment when you give the business card, you have these 30 seconds, these 150 words to interest, so that the business card is not thrown into the nearest trash, and it led to a contract with you.

And you can do this if you write now, and then rehearse your “speech in the elevator”, for example, in front of a video camera.

View the recording, rehearse again, review again until the speech becomes such that each of your words has a strong reinforcement. Next, we will figure out how to do it.

9 Principles for Preparing Elevator Pitch

Brevity. Effective speech for the elevator consists of the minimum possible number of words, but no less than required (and no more than 250 words).
Clarity. Instead of filling the elevator pitch with abbreviations and professional slang, make it clear to your grandparents, spouse, and children.
Motivation. Effective elevator speech shows what problem your idea solves.
Trust. Effective elevator speech explains why you are competent enough to understand the problem and develop a solution.
Conceptual. Effective speech for the elevator remains at a strategic level and does not contain unnecessary details.
The specifics. As much as possible, effective speech for the elevator is concrete and realistic.
Sequence. All elevator pitch versions contain the same basic message for the audience.
Customization. Effective speech for the elevator takes into account the specific interests and problems of particular listeners.
Dialogue. An effective elevator speech is designed to start a conversation with those you are talking to.

Find out the Interests of People Who Will Listen to Your Elevator Pitch

Before you start writing, you need to understand who you are writing for. For example, you can check out Online Writers Rating to make sure that your web copy will be written by professionals who understand your brand values and can properly communicate your brand identity.

This is partially similar to marketing because you need to think through your business idea, convince the investor that it is worthy of attention and will be profitable. Therefore, at this stage, your goal is not even your customers.

Your goal is your investor. Here and now he is your client. And therefore, the value of your business proposal should resonate with its intrinsic values that you need to find in advance, even before preparing your elevator pitch.

To do this, you need to analyze other projects that are funded by your potential investor and understand what attracts him the most.

Perhaps this will be an opportunity for rapid growth, a strong environmental mission or a specific problem that is close to this particular person.

Follow the Pattern

So, we already understood a lot about the application, principles, and potential of an elevator pitch. Now it’s time to put it all in verbal form.

Follow the algorithm below to find the most suitable words and make your speech as logical as possible.

Who? Your team (name of your company).
Why? To solve a specific problem of the user.
How? This is the main component of your speech. Here you need to say what your application does for users. For example, Airbnb brings together property owners and travelers.
How big? Here you need to talk about the potential of your idea.
Why now? If we return to Airbnb again, the answer will be because travel has become more accessible than ever, and this is a chance to compete with the huge hotel industry.

Final Check

You certainly know that a startup has a chance to get an investment only if many other factors agree with the true uniqueness of the idea.

After your pitch is over, you need to do a final check and make sure that it works.

Here are some ways to check how unique is what you think is unique.

Can your competitors say the same about themselves?

Do you know your competitors? Imagine that your competitors are saying your “speech in the elevator.” If there is no contradiction, then there is no “uniqueness” in your proposal – your competitors offer the same.

Is what you really think is the client’s problem?

If not, your speech will fail.

Do clients easily understand this uniqueness, do they see value in it?

Let’s say you have developed an application for electric car-sharing. If your potential investor is indifferent to the wise use of resources, then this argument will not convince him.

Will your audience be able to understand you?

Let’s imagine a situation that you will have to speak in front of a large audience, among which there will be representatives of different language groups.

Do you think all of the potential investors will be able to understand you? Most likely, if you speak English, they will be able to cope with this task. However, it is much more pleasant to hear and perceive native speech.

Therefore, if you know that you will have to speak with multilingual investors, take care of translating your speech, or at least make subtitles available.

Conclusion

Most likely, you will have to create a few versions of an elevator pitch to choose the best one in the final result.

Do not be afraid to reduce the number of words without losing meaning and polish your speech until each word fits its place.

Your task is to get the most complete picture, plus present it to the investor, so give yourself time to rehearse in front of the audience as well.

The internet has changed the relationship between investors, startups, and entrepreneurs. For most of the 20th century, venture capital and angel investing was a black box, the internal dealings of which remained highly guarded secrets.

WOW have that changed. Funding is everywhere and VC’s have moved to verticals which make complete sense. F&F, go-fund-me, crowdfunding from Kickstarter and Indiegogo.

We’re listening.

Have something to say about your thoughts on elevator pitches?

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General FAQ’s

What is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what your organization does. You can also use them to create interest in a project, idea, or product – or yourself. A good elevator pitch should last no longer than a short elevator ride of 20 to 30 seconds, hence the name.

Why is an elevator pitch important?

An elevator pitch is important because it communicates the most important aspects of your business and services within that short amount of time. First, you have to decide what exactly you want to talk about yourself or your business.

What is a 30-second elevator pitch?

An elevator speech is a clear, brief message or “commercial” about you. It communicates who you are, what you’re looking for, and how you can benefit a company or organization. It’s typically about 30 seconds, the time it takes people to ride from the top to the bottom of a building in an elevator.

How do you write an elevator pitch for a startup?

Start the elevator pitch with a brief, easy-to-absorb sentence that includes your name, your company name, and the service you provide. For instance, “I’m Sara Smith; my company is “The Best Co,” and we offer the best service that solves XYZ.”

What is an elevator pitch?

Why is an elevator pitch important?

What is a 30-second elevator pitch?

How do you write an elevator pitch for a startup?

Are you not getting the results you had hoped for with your current marketing agency? Let the experts at this Denver marketing agency help you generate more web traffic, converts more leads, and close more sales. Our team knows just what it takes to build and maintain a proven marketing strategy that drives high-quality leads. For more information, check out our marketing services or contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs and our services.

Digital Health Startups: The Top 150

George · October 15, 2019 ·

The most promising 150 private digital health startups working to transform the healthcare industry with new models of primary care to emerging tech solutions for providers.

Digital health startups are hot today. Can you name 10?

The digital healthcare startup I worked for was rolling out the first pulse oximeter of its kind, although not a digital tech startup in today’s terms. It was a healthcare tech startup.

From developing and product managing groundbreaking products like the first pulse oximeter, the first check-reader, the first digital security surveillance system to consulting with some of the top startups in the Boulder and Denver, Colorado, I’ve seen a lot of great insights to share.

Matrix Marketing Group loves working with this type of digital healthcare startup and sees its potential.

Hospitals are using decades-old processes that are a luxury that many hospitals can’t afford. Hospitals, like insurance companies, are commodified service for the most part.

Hospitals need to use their assets better, and human capital is their biggest asset. It means improving operations. And that is done through knowledge and expertise only training can provide.

While it’s the IPOs of big-name tech firms that are making the headlines, a wave of smaller digital health startups are transforming the health care industry and are likely to go public sometime over the next 12 months.

They may not be all that well-known, but these startups have been in operation for close to a decade or more and are garnering investors’ attention (and cash), according to Business Insider.

Digital health startups include ZocDoc, 23andMe, HeartFlow, Modernizing Medicine, Livongo, Health Catalyst, Change Healthcare, Phreesia, and Peloton.

Our friends recently discussed the top Digital Health 150 startups.

As these private digital healthcare startups begin to prove their products attributes through Alpha and beta testing there appears to be a great promise.

CB Insights’ first-ever annual cohort of Digital Health 150 startups is a list of 150 of the most promising private companies creating innovative products and services in the $5T+ healthcare industry, according to CB Insights’ Industry Analyst Consensus.

Our research team selected the 150 startups from a pool of 5K+ companies based on several factors, including patent activity, investor profile, news sentiment analysis, proprietary Mosaic scores, market potential, partnerships, competitive landscape, team strength, and tech novelty.

For the purposes of this report, digital health is defined as companies in the healthcare space that use technology/software as a key differentiator from their competition.

This includes everything from disease diagnostics to tech-driven health insurance platforms to AI tools for drug discovery and more.

150 startups in different stages of R&D

The Digital Health 150 companies span a wide spectrum of categories that involve all three key stakeholder groups for the healthcare industry — providers, payers, and patients.

These companies range from emerging startups to established unicorns (companies with $1B+ valuations). The selected companies represent a mix of startups at different stages of funding and product commercialization.

For example, China-based We Doctor has a valuation of $5.5B and provides primary care services that leverage its tech platforms and provider network.

In contrast, RDMD is an early-stage company specializing in drug discovery efforts for rare diseases. The company plans to aggregate data to help develop treatments for a range of conditions.

A total of 17 companies on the list are unicorns (private companies valued at $1B+). Of these, 12 companies are US-based, 3 are based in China, 1 is based in France, and 1 is based in the UK.

Most well-funded companies

The most well-funded companies on the Digital Health 150 list span a broad range of categories. The top-funded company is genomics startup GRAIL, followed by insurance tech player Oscar Health and then China-based We Doctor.

Startups outside the United States

Of the 150 selected digital health startups, 116 are headquartered in the US. Those based outside the US include 17 from Asia, 16 from Europe, and 1 from Canada.

After the US, China is the second most-represented country on this list, with 7 of the selected companies, and Israel is third with 4 companies.

Most active investors

Over 850 unique investors have funded this year’s Digital Health 150 cohort, including corporations, CVCs, VC firms, and angel investors.

Below, we highlight the top 10 most active investors among the companies selected.

Themes & trends

Across our 150 selected companies, we identified key themes and trends that highlight their efforts to transform the healthcare industry.

Below, we discuss a selection of these trends across different categories.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DIGITAL HEALTH STARTUPS

Many companies on our list are leveraging AI and machine learning to help develop their respective software platforms.

From consumer health companies to imaging & diagnostics startups, AI is at the forefront of their products and services.

One example here is pathology — an area that AI has begun to transform. For instance, startups such as PathAI and PAIGE.AI are using AI to help speed up patient diagnosis.

Startups - Matrix Marketing Group — *Source: PAIGE.AI*

AI is also being leveraged through drug discovery & development — accelerating the identification of new targets and therapeutic candidates.

An example here is OWKIN, a startup that develops algorithms to help interpret disease-related data and predict treatment outcomes.

WOMEN’S HEALTH

As investments to women’s health startups have increased, we’ve seen startups targeting everything from egg freezing services to emerging tech for managing menopause.

In particular, fertility has gained traction as one of the main areas of interest for women.

Startups such as Ava Science (fertility tracking device) and Carrot Fertility (fertility supplemental insurance) are providing novel services that aim to boost accessibility and convenience.

Virtual care clinics such as Maven Clinic are also helping women gain better access to providers that cater specifically to women’s health needs and concerns.

Maven raised a $27M Series B round in September 2018 with participating investors including Sequoia Capital and Oak HC/FT Partners, among others.

SENIOR CARE AND DIGITAL HEALTH STARTUPS

The growing size of the aging population is creating an increased demand for tech that aims to improve their health management.

This includes services targeted at both home care solutions and care coordination between providers.

One example here is ClearCare — a home care platform that aims to facilitate everything from administrative tasks to tracking patient hospitalizations.

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

Population health has been generating a lot of buzz in healthcare. In particular, there’s a growing emphasis on leveraging social determinants of health (SDoH) to generate better health outcomes.

An example here is Unite Us, a New York-based startup working to build care networks that integrate SDoH into how healthcare is delivered.

Its approach is to provide care coordination software that can handle external referrals and track patient outcomes, helping to connect healthcare with social services.

VALUE-BASED CARE AND DIGITAL HEALTH STARTUPS

As more healthcare stakeholders look to collaboration to spur innovation in the industry, value-based care has come to the forefront.

In particular, payers and providers have established new care coordination networks to help reduce overall healthcare costs — with the goal of delivering care that provides better value to patients.

An example here is Vim, which provides patients with access to both payers and providers to make it easier to find appropriate care options.

Vim raised a $24M Series B round in September, with participating investors including Optum Ventures, Premera Blue Cross, and Sequoia Capital, among others.

CONCIERGE MEDICINE

Concierge medicine startups, such as One Medical or Parsley Health, use a membership model to help offer patients elevated healthcare services experience.

The approach aims to offer faster health visits with providers and more predictable associated costs.

Recently, Galileo Health — started by the founder of One Medical — launched an app-based concierge medicine platform geared towards providing a comprehensive level of care, including for chronic disease management.

It raised funding from Oak HC/FT Partners in May.

TELEHEALTH

Telehealth services have expanded in recent years to become more differentiated.

Primary care platforms such as Ada Health and 98point6 are helping patients access more tailored care from their smartphones.

The startup raised a $50M Series C in October 2018 from Goldman Sachs and Frazier Healthcare Partners.

Another example is Talkspace, which offers psychotherapy services delivered virtually. It has raised $109M in total disclosed funding from investors including Compound, Norwest Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and SoftBank, among others.

Other companies in this category use remote monitoring technology to supplement virtual care services.

Table of the Digital Health 150 companies

Read the original article here.

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Have something to say about your thoughts on digital health startups?

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General FAQ’s

What is a digital health startup?

Digital health startups are doing everything from enhancing patient-provider relationships to streamlining workflows within health systems, and they’re raising much money along the way.

How do digital health startups market themselves?

The digital health startups management team will go through stages, and for product launch, the target market, buyer’s journey, and personas all need to be created before launch.

How many digital health startups existed in 2019?

We found over 150 private digital healthcare startups with promise.

Neurotech Startups To Watch all 21 in 2020

George · October 6, 2019 ·

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Neurotech startups are exciting as they roll out innovations never thought of before.

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Neurotech startups are here.

Let’s play a neurotech game. Stop and close your eyes and go back about a minute or two. You know right before you clicked on this article’s URL. How did you arrive here? A keyword search that you typed in with a keyboard. Or did you use a voice search?

To interact with your computer, typically, you type on a keyboard, swipe your fingers across a screen or speak a voice command. What if, instead, the machine responded to their thoughts? Think about that for a moment.

While still in an experimental phase, the neurotech device shows promise for a new kind of human-machine interaction. Commercially, such an interface can allow users to control a computer without the need for a mouse, keyboard, or touch screen.

Think of the application.

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How many times do you see people looking at the phone, watches, smart devices only to see nothing? It’s become an addiction of sorts.

It also could enable people to interact more directly with games and other software. Beyond that, the applications are far-reaching.

Such advances in brain-computer interfaces might even help the disabled to maneuver a wheelchair or control a robotic arm.

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Neurotech is a big business. For devices alone, Neurotech Report projected a $7.6 billion market in 2016 that could reach $12 billion by 2020.

And today’s hardware market is just the beginning, as shown by an analysis of more than 10,000 IP filings worldwide by market research firm SharpBrains.

The overall financial impact of such neurotechnologies is enormous. Overall, if you include the medical uses of neurotech, other devices, and all the businesses that can benefit from brain-related technologies, this is a field that’s generating well over $150 billion in revenues annually.

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These startups have seen investment from NEA, Andreessen Horowitz, and DARPA.

As the digital health sector matures from basic tracking apps into highly regulated medical devices, we are seeing bleeding-edge technologies being developed that blur the lines between computers and biology. And a growing share of these neurotechnology startups is beginning to target the brain.

The burgeoning field of neurotechnology involves brain-machine interfaces, neuroprosthetics, neurostimulation, neuromonitoring, and implantable devices intended to not only augment nervous system activity but expand its capabilities.

One such project is Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which is developing “high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect humans and computers.” And even Facebook has announced plans to create brain-machine interfaces that allow users to type using their thoughts.

Below, we used CB Insights data to identify 21 early- and mid-stage neurotech companies working across brain-machine interfaces, neuroprosthetics, neuromonitoring, and neurostimulator devices.

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1. Kernel our First Neurotech Startups

Kernel is an early-stage brain-machine interface company formed and funded by Bryan Johnson, founder of the online payments company Braintree and the OS Fund.

While initially intending to build memory prostheses, which would allow for the external storage and subsequent upload of human memories into the hippocampus, the company has since pivoted and is now working on the way to measure and stimulate the electrical impulses of many neurons at once.

The technology will be used clinically for diseases such as depression or Alzheimer’s. In November of 2018, Northwestern University professor Hooman Mohseni joined Kernel as its CTO.

Select Investors: Bryan Johnson

Total Disclosed Funding: $100M

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2. Dreem is One of the Cool Neurotech Startups

Dreem (formerly Rythm), founded in France and now based in San Francisco, is a neurotechnology startup that has developed a sleep-monitoring, head-mounted wearable. The device uses EEG electrodes to monitor and analyze brain activity during sleep.

It then uses “bone conduction technology” to modulate brain activity by emitting subtle sounds at precise moments that the company claims enhances the overall quality of deep sleep.

The device is linked to an app that displays sleep metrics and personalized recommendations based on the user’s sleep habits.

Everyone is worried about their sleep and one of the top neurotech startups working with the issue.

Select Investors: Innovation Commission 2030, Laurent Alexandre, MAIF Avenir, Xavier Niel

Total Disclosed Funding: $57.5M

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3. Thync

Thync has developed a small, wearable “pod” that attaches to the back of the neck and uses neurostimulation to combat stress and promote better sleep. Their lead product, the Thync Relax Pro, uses low levels of electrical stimulation to activate nerve pathways in the head and neck.

According to the company, these pathways communicate with areas of the brain to help control stress levels and sleep quality. The product is targeted towards consumers who frequently suffer from stress and consequently struggle to sleep.

Select Investors: Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Noosphere Ventures

Total Disclosed Funding: $13M

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4. Halo Neuroscience

Halo Neuroscience, based in San Francisco, is one of the interserting neurotech startups in sports performance. Halo has developed a brain-stimulating device called the Halo Sport. The device sends weak electrical pulses into the user’s brain with the intent of enhancing the efficiency of physical training.

The product is based on the concept of neuro-priming, i.e., using electrical stimulation to increase plasticity in the brain before an activity. According to the company, when paired with physical training, this results in increased strength, endurance, and muscle memory.

In May 2018, USA Cycling announced it was partnering with Halo to help train its cyclists. Halo also hired Yasi Baiani, formerly Head of Product Management at FitBit, as the company’s VP of Product in August 2018, a possible indication of the company’s intentions to pursue the consumer market more aggressively.

Select Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, Jazz Venture Partners, Xfund

Total Disclosed Funding: $24.7M

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5. Synchron

Synchron is developing an implantable device, called the Stentrode, which aims to provide a safe way for paralyzed patients to achieve direct brain control of mobility-assistive devices. This is an interesting neurotech startup.

The system involves a small and flexible device that can pass through cerebral blood vessels, allowing it to implant in the brain and interpret electrical data emitted by neurons.

The company is currently preparing for early-stage clinical trials to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the device to enable patient-directed brain control. Synchron’s founder and CEO, Dr. Thomas Oxley, was named the 2018 Advance Life Sciences Award Winner for his work on the Stentrode.

Select Investors: DARPA, U.S. Department of Defense, Neuro Technology Investors

Total Disclosed Funding: $10M

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6. BrainCo, Inc.

BrainCo, a product of the Harvard Innovation Lab, specializes in brain-machine interface wearables. The company’s main product line is the Focus series, which offers wearable headbands for education, fitness, and mind-controlled games.

BrainCo, a neurotech startup, has also expanded into prosthetics, working under the name BrainRobotics. The company is developing a robotic prosthetic hand that can be controlled by the user’s mind.

This neurotech startup is developed right out of school.

Using machine learning and electromyography, which measures brain signals to various muscle groups, BrainRobotics’ prosthesis product is currently capable of reproducing six distinct tactile hand gestures.

Select Investors: Boston Angel Club, Hantan Capital, Wandai Capital

Total Disclosed Funding: $5.6M

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7. Neurable

Neurable is developing brain-computer interfaces that allow people to control software and devices using only their brain activity. The software makes use of machine learning methods to reduce the lag time between analysis of neural activity and output, potentially reducing it down to real-time.

Neurable’s current headset uses six dry electrodes and takes two minutes to calibrate, a notable improvement on its previous design, which relied upon 32 wet electrodes to monitor brain activity and a calibration process of 30 minutes.

While the company eventually intends to allow patients unable to communicate to have greater control over their environment, it is initially targeting the AR/VR gaming industry.

Select Investors: Mithril Capital Management, Loup Ventures, NXT Ventures, BOSS Syndicate

Total Disclosed Funding: $7.2M

[Read more]

We’re listening and learning about new neurotech startups every day.

Have something to say about your thoughts on neurotech startups?

As a top digital marketing agency in Denver, CO and Burlington, VT we are watching this industry very closely as it evolves.

Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Are you not getting the results you had hoped for with your current marketing agency? Let the experts at this digital marketing agency based in Denver, Colorado, and Burlington, Vermont help you generate more web traffic, convert more leads, and close more sales. Our team knows just what it takes to build and maintain a proven marketing strategy that drives high-quality leads. For more information, check out our marketing services or contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your needs and our services.

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General FAQ’s about Neurotech Startups

What is neurotech?

Neurotech called Neurotechnology is any technology that allows us to understand the brain, consciousness, and thought processes.

What the capabilities of neurotechnology products?

– Full device development.
– Brain-computer interface design and development.
– Human-centric design.
– Clinical research.
– Machine learning/deep learning.
– Automated signal processing.
– Predictive analytics.

Is there a neurotech industry organization?

The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO) is a San Francisco, California based non-profit trade association that represents a broad spectrum of companies involved in neuroscience, brain research centers, and advocacy groups from around the globe.

What is neuroscience?

Neuroscience definition is any or all of the sciences, such as neurochemistry and experimental psychology, which deal with the structure or function of the nervous system and brain.

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7 Tips for Branding a Product-Based for the Startup CMO

Sabine Wolf · May 30, 2019 ·

Branding a product based startup is often a challenge for chief marketing officers (CMOs)

Branding a product for a startup or small business takes time and planning.

Why do we choose big brands over their cheaper alternatives? The answer is simple – because we trust them. And, believe it or not, most customers think this way. Almost 60% of customers would rather buy from a company they’re familiar with, according to Nielson.

However, building a recognizable brand through company branding is difficult for small, product-based businesses. You’re competing with the major industry players that have unlimited budgets and hire the most renowned marketing professionals.

You must understand your target audience, their personas to align and fit your products and services. Once that’s completed you can build a strong brand and get top of mind awareness through market research content marketing, SEO, email marketing, and social media.

The startup CMO must recruit the best marketing team possible with all the marketing functions needed.

To stand out in such a competitive landscape, you need to have a solid branding strategy to back you up.

1. Understand your Target Customers

You cannot expect your product to make everyone happy. Before you even think about starting a business, you need to know what customer groups you will focus on.

Do a thorough analysis of your customers, collect their demographics data, buying behaviors, lifestyle, and problems they face. Know their age, gender, average income, education level, and location.

Get to know them better – try to understand what motivates them, who influences them, what brands they choose, and what their main problems and fears are.

Your goal is to create solid buyer personas that will guide your branding strategy and help you segment your target customers. This is the only way to put yourself in front of the right people and get them to visit your store and, ultimately, become your leads.

2. Know Your Competitors When Branding a Product

By conducting a thorough market analysis, you will identify your major competitors and analyze their branding and marketing efforts. This is an amazing opportunity for you to see what kind of content works for your target customers, and see what mistakes brands in your niche make.

Still, just because something works for your competitors doesn’t mean it will work for you, too. That is why you should never copy-paste another brand’s marketing strategy. Instead, focus on building a unique and recognizable brand people will remember and come back to.

3. Establish an Authentic Mission Statement

A brand mission statement is a reason your business exists – something that inspires you. It tells your customers what makes your products unique and what value your brand delivers.

Let’s look at Nike. Their mission is to “bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” Through a wide range of initiatives, Nike brings the sport to the ordinary people and encourages them to be their best selves.

They’re committed to fighting against global problems such as climate change or inequality. Most importantly, they’re focused on providing customers with premium-quality products, while respecting their workers.

Another great example is TOMS that “Stands for Tomorrow.” They build their brand on the foundations of humanity and social responsibility. For example, they give free shoes to people in need, invest in building systems for delivering safe water, support marginalized groups of people, and fight against gun violence.

4. Craft your Visual Brand Identity

What is the first thing that crosses your mind when I say Starbucks? It’s their logo.

When I say McDonald’s, you will first remember their yellow arches, right?

We’re visual beings and we memorize images faster than text.

Therefore you need to focus on the visual aspects of your brand. Here some of the essential elements listed below.

Logos

Your logo appears everywhere, from the infographics you publish on your website to your product packaging. It will soon become your brand’s ID and the visual representation of everything it stands for.

Colors

Colors are the major reason 85% of your customers make a purchase. Every color evokes a certain emotion in a customer. For example, yellow stands for happiness, orange is associated with playfulness, while blue is synonymous with stability. Choose colors that reflect your brand’s traits and values.

Typography and fonts

Fonts also reveal your brand’s identity and therefore they need to be in harmony with other visual elements. Just like with the choice of logos and colors, you should choose professional fonts easy to read and remember. Complex fonts may seem attractive, but, if a user cannot read the text, what’s the point?

5. Implementing your visual image online and offline

Product-based businesses need to focus on creating a consistent brand presence both online and offline.

For starters, consider hiring a professional graphic designer to help you build a cohesive and authentic visual identity for your brand. In collaboration with them, you should create strict brand style guidelines that would determine the use of your logo, color palettes, fonts, photography, iconography, and so on.

Let’s look at Juicy Beauty. As an organic cosmetics company, they’ve chosen clean backgrounds with green buttons and photos of nature that symbolize health, nature, and purity.

That’s the message they’re sending through all marketing channels they use. If you look at their online and offline materials, you notice that their visual elements remain the same.

So, no matter if it’s shop labels, disposable coffee cups, boxes, or your business cards, visual elements need to be used. And, with the rise of personalized label printing services, creating on-brand print materials is now made easier.

For example, Avery lets small businesses create personalized Avery Labels. You can upload your logo and images, choose from a wide range of design options, and select materials, colors and shapes of your labels.

6. Define your Brand Voice

Your brand voice is how you communicate with your audiences.

Your brand voice depends on a multitude of factors, including your industry, target customers, and corporate mission. You need to choose brand messaging that makes sense for your brand and that resonates with your audiences.

Do you want your brand to sound conversational, natural, and friendly? Maybe you want to position yourself as a trustworthy source through professional, technical, and authoritative messaging.

Choosing the right brand voice gives you an opportunity to build emotional relationships with your customers. That is why you need to use your tone of voice consistently across multiple channels, be they your website, social networks, blog, direct mail, or billboards.

Apple is a perfect example of how choosing the right language can contribute to your overall brand image. Just like their products, their brand messages are simple and, yet, powerful and confident.

For example, they say that their iPad is “Like a computer. Unlike any computer.” In just two simple sentences, they marketed their product as an industry leader. No matter if you’re on their website, watching their ad on TV, or reading their print ad, that’s the first impression you’ll gain.

7. Have a Thorough Marketing Strategy

Now you’ve determined your main brand values and chosen how you will market them to your audiences, you could start building your website. Will you use your website to promote your offline store?

Maybe you want to provide omnichannel customer experiences by setting up an online store and using multi-channel sales tools to sell your products on social networks.

When building a website, there are a few things to keep in mind. Consider hiring professionals that will design your website based on your brand identity.

You also need to pay attention to the UX aspects of your website, such as page load speed, SSL certificates, intuitive and spam-free interfaces, and mobile-responsiveness. Choose your domain name strategically. If it’s possible, use your brand name as your domain name to make your website easily findable on Google.

Once your site is up, what other channels will you use to get yourself noticed? One of the most effective ways to position yourself as an authoritative resource is to start blogging.

By sharing valuable and helpful posts, you will encourage users to share them online and, in this way, grow your online exposure. Sure, you will need to set up a detailed editorial calendar of what you want to publish and when and even write a few blog posts in advance to maintain consistency.

Have a social media strategy that determines what kind of content you will promote on each account. For example, you could use Instagram to create influencer campaigns, share gorgeous photos of your products and UGC, while Facebook is perfect for promoting your website content and building online communities.

You should also have a lead generation strategy. Will you combine SEO with PPC for greater visibility online? What kinds of lead magnets will you create? Will you use customer referral programs?

Don’t forget about offline marketing, as it may help your new brand. For example, you could use direct mail or temporary pop-up shops to promote your products and reach wider audiences.

Sure, when launching a company, do so with a splash. Have a solid PR plan and share the news about your product-based business on your website, social networks, and email newsletters. You should also host massive social media contests, provide great discounts, and share promotional items to increase brand awareness.

Test Everything You Do When Branding a Product

Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all branding strategy that works for everyone. Based on your goals, audiences, and industry experiment with different marketing tactics and test how they impact your brand awareness and conversions. Don’t forget to listen to your customers, as their unbiased feedback is the best indicator of your performance.

Wrap up On Branding a Product-Based Business

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail, B2C or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a significant edge in competitive markets. However, what does “branding” mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?

Your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors’. Your brand is derived from who you are, whom you want to be, and whom people perceive you to be.

We’re listening.

Have something to say about branding a product-based for the startup CMO? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn.

Lauren Adley is a writer and editor at Australianwritings and Bestessay. She is dedicated to her family, work and friends. She is keen on reading, playing the guitar and traveling. She is interested in educational, marketing and blogging issues. Feel free to connect with her on Twitter if you need help with cheap custom essay writing services.

Startup Marketing Budget: How to Create Yours Quickly

Sabine Wolf · April 26, 2019 ·

Your startup marketing budget is critical for its success.

Your startup marketing budget can make or break any startup company. And it doesn’t matter what stage you are in so get it right. Creating a marketing budget is essential for a startup.

Your startup marketing budget is your marketing budget for your startup must be large enough to meet the marketing goals. Plan on about 10-12% of forecast revenue.

Marketing your business is the most important part of starting a business. Unfortunately, many startups don’t have much money to invest in their marketing efforts and end up failing.

The good news is that you can start small and still make a big impact on your startup’s success by using these tactics for cheap or free marketing.

Your startup marketing budget is a critical part of your overall startup marketing plan.

The startup team is wearing a lot of hats and funding is from the watchful eye of venture capital firms.

The chief marketing officer (CMO) must deal with the marketing plan, brand awareness, email marketing, building a marketing team (outsourced marketing agencies), marketing automation, social media marketing, sales funnels, and setting a marketing budget.

Your CMO is one of the most critical hires in a startup. Learn how CMO ‘s succeed.

You as a startup you can follow any form of marketing tactic depending on your sales and marketing goals and objectives. However, it is a fact that online marketing has taken the business world by storm.

This is because you can choose one or many of the many websites that offer you a chance to showcase your brand in front of millions of users.

However, both online or offline marketing will have their own signature requirements and characteristics you should consider while making a choice between the two.

And watch your spending on marketing and associated marketing expenses. Once you do so focus on the marketing budgeting aspect to make your startup business visible to a large number of audiences.

Online and offline facts and your marketing goals

To make the right choice and to allocate just the right amount of funding for the marketing plan implementation. You will need to be very careful and knowledgeable about the entire process.

Your startup marketing budgets need to cover things like SEO, content marketing, and marketing technology.

For this, you will need to first know about the facts of both the various marketing tools.

First, you need to know the difference between these types of marketing. Just as the name implies, online marketing is done over the internet and the most popular online marketing strategies include:

Blogging
Content marketing
Email
Social media
Paid search or Pay Per Click
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Offline marketing doesn’t use the internet to reach your target customers. This form of marketing focuses on personal interactions and the different tactics include:

Direct mail
Tradeshows
Radio ads
TV commercials

There are a few other things you must understand about startup marketing budgets.

About 28% of the businesses that relied on offline marketing mode have in fact reduced their budget for advertising to accommodate the cost of digital marketing activities. This is a basic requirement of modern-day business. Therefore, as a startup, you may feel that online marketing is the best approach for you, and so.
Most modern marketers, startups or established firms, allocate the major chunk of their total marketing and advertising budget on digital or online marketing. This proves its popularity which will not slow down soon.

The average return on investment (ROI) for each of these marketing tactics will depend on the strategies you use. As a rule of thumb, but depends on your target market and personas that content marketing paired with SEO has a great return.

You may ask, what is wrong with the traditional form of offline marketing? You may wonder things such as:

Whether it is still worth investing in specific marketing strategies
How valuable it is in this modern business landscape where everything is done online
Whether or not you should put in every penny of your marketing budget on digital marketing

Well, the answers to all these questions are not that easy or clear-cut as you may expect. There are several good reasons for it.

In most cases, online marketing, no matter how proven just doesn’t generate the desired business outcome or ROI. Startup marketing budgets will show progress on leading metrics like site traffic, social shares, engagement, and more.

About 86% of people aged about 45 years prefer radio and TV ads. While the younger generation may like Snapchat or Pinterest. But there is a shift happening here.

Splitting marketing budgets

28% of all marketers find that one of the biggest challenges is budgeting their marketing efforts. Surprised?

The success of marketing a startup will depend on the budget you allocate. To create the most effective marketing strategy, you may need to split your budget between online and offline marketing tactics. Don’t spend a ton of money without collecting and analyzing the data. Grab these free 8 Free Marketing Budget Templates.

First, you will need to know what are you working with and this is not an easy task, mind you. Also, keep in mind that both these forms of marketing campaigns need a considerable cash injection to provide results.

This way you will soon be able to build a customized marketing strategy for your startup marketing budget. Create your marketing strategy with the correct budget and watch your sales rise.

These few tips to follow for creating your startup marketing budget:

Start with calculating the overall marketing budget to promote your startup business. This can be monthly, quarterly, or even an annual figure. You can use a simple formula to calculate the marketing budget considering the size of your business. For startups allocating 12 to 20% of the gross expected revenue for marketing is good. This is because you will be still testing different techniques and with a large chunk allocated for marketing.
Start with your business goals. Do you want more store traffic, in-store sales or more web traffic to generate more online sales? Your marketing budget allocation results might reveal that online marketing can be more affordable when compared to radio or TV ads.
Split your budget in the right proportion after you get the basics right. The simplest way is to look at your revenue goals.
Last, test and improve the split because there is no exact formula to determine the proportion of the split. The trial and error method is the best to find which works best for your business. Make sure you give enough time to each strategy and tactic because the result will not come overnight. Remember you need to know math, so measure and analyze everything, yes everything down to the time and resources you put into it.

Here are 4 ways that you can market your startup with little or no budget at all.

Even if you have a small budget to work with, there are still many ways to market yourself and gain customers. Here are four ways that you can market your Startup with little or no budget at all.

1. Startup Marketing for Startup News Sites

Many Startup news sites cover the Startup scene but don’t offer dedicated Startup marketing to their readers. If you want to win free Startup marketing, then this is an easy way to do it! Content, content, content.

2. Startup Marketing with Startup Social Sites

Many Startup social sites exist, such as Founder’s Forum and Foundersuite, where Startups can connect for Startup advice and Startup feedback on their startups and startups networking.

Many members in some of these groups have hundreds or thousands of followers who love viewing new content from this group, so if you provide a solution to a problem within a post, then word will spread quickly about it!

By becoming a member of some of these groups, you can market your Startup by helping other startups out there with some solutions to the Startup problems that your Startup provides!

Startup Marketing on Reddit

Reddit is a Startup marketing goldmine if you can get it right. Reddit operates on Startup karma, which is the Startup version of likes or favorites, but instead, it’s karma (which acts like Startup brand positioning).

Posting content that is Startup related (e.g., tools your Startup uses) on subreddits with high Startup karma will spread the word of your Startup to more people, upping the Startup marketing!

4. Startup Social Networking for Startup Marketing

Startup social networking sites exist everywhere, including Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, etc. Most startups have some form of presence within these networks, so you can utilize their connections with one another to spread the word about your Startup in multiple places at once!

Chances are there are many friends of Startup employees on these Startup social networks, so it is best to make Startup connections with Startup employees to get the Startup word out (and possibly Startup leads)!

Just like that, you’ve gained Startup marketing knowledge for no Startup budget! Now you can go out there and start marketing your Startup with no Startup budget! Good luck with your Startup marketing! 🙂

We’re listening.

Have something to say about startup marketing budgets? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

General FAQ’s

What is a startup marketing budget?

The startup marketing budget varies depending on the stage of the business, resources, and funding.

Who is responsible for the startup marketing plan?

How do I create a startup marketing budget?

Start with calculating the overall marketing budget to promote your startup business. This can be monthly, quarterly, or even an annual figure. You can use a simple formula to calculate the marketing budget considering the size of your business.

How much should I budget for marketing in a startup?

For startups allocating 12 to 20% of the gross expected revenue for marketing is good. This is because you will be still testing different techniques and with a large chunk allocated for marketing.

Uncontrollable Marketing Factors Reveal by Your Market Test

George · April 18, 2019 ·

Despite good execution and deliverables with an effective sales message, there are other factors influencing poor marketing results that may be beyond your control as a CMO.

Marketing factors not in your startup’s control can cripple you and your startup. This can be frustrating, but don’t get discouraged. You can do this.

The founders of successful organizations reach their eventual success in markets, and with products and sales approach far different from those they started out with.

startup marketing problems — Source: Canva

Uncontrollable marketing problems and factors

Venture Funding

Sometimes you will discover that prospects will buy your company’s product, but only in a sales cycle that is much longer than you and your management team anticipated.

When I was selling and marketing ERP systems to enterprise organizations, the sales cycle would be as long as 18 to 24 months. This was due to a lot of factors, factors like the complexity of the sale, board approvals, convincing other members on the selection committee, and convincing them that change was a good thing. And the same thing applies today.

The more complex the sales, the longer the sales cycle. That’s human nature.

If you’ve ever made a large dollar purchase, like a home, then you know about a long sales cycle. Did you go and buy the first home you saw, did you do any research about the neighborhood and schools? I think you get what I mean.

Email and PPC ad campaigns or SEO strategy can help pull responses, but prospects take far longer to make their purchase decision than originally hoped. Because of this, your company will need a higher level of funding, both for its marketing budget, and its ongoing operations, to sustain this more prolonged sales effort.

Know your burn rate and runway.

Market timing

The problem of products that are ahead of their time has been covered previously, there are other bad timing factors that influence your lead generating programs.

Industry dynamics, such as a major slump affecting the industry served by your company’s product, a deep recession, a natural disaster, or any other factor beyond your company’s control may be more than any marketing program can overcome.

Competition

In mature industries, the competition in your field may be dominated by a very few, very large, powerful, and well-entrenched competitors. And some markets, a single company may exercise total dominance.

And these situations, not even the most effective conventional marketing program executed by a startup or new market on entrant can compete against large, wealthy competitors in these mature markets.

Market size

Although the total size of the market, and the total sales generated from it, should always be assessed before a product or service is created for it, the management team of a startup or a new product launch may sometimes realize, after some time has elapsed, that their company has entered the market that is too small.

Therefore, a very effective marketing program will often harvest all the sales that can be made from these markets within a year. After that, the response generated by every additional marketing dollar spent takes a steep drop.

When the market has been tapped out, there are no more new email campaigns, email list, no more new industry publications in which to advertise and other ways to reach more prospects in this market, because everyone who can be reached in your market has already been reached.

There are but for a few examples of situations that are often beyond your ability to control from a marketing standpoint.

A better email campaign, a better digital paid advertising campaign a more targeted ad won’t generate any more sales when the prospects in the market are highly resistant to buying from a new industry player. Or when your biggest entrenched competitor has a virtual lock on the market.

These are the times when all the positive mental attitude you can muster will be ineffective because you are operating inside a negative environment. It’s kind of like pushing rope up a hill.

Action is a cure for adverse target market conditions

Your initial market research help to develop a successful marketing strategy. Over a period, you spend time in product development, getting ready for your product launch and you’ve hit a wall. Yes, running a startup is hard.

The antidote to any adverse major marketing factor you can’t control is action. Don’t ever give up.

When you are operating inside a negative environment, that’s resistant to your marketing campaigns, and, after a thoughtful assessment, you are convinced that there’s nothing wrong with either your product or its sales program. Change the environment.

Thinking about how and where your product could be sold. Do this by trying new options—keep testing new markets, and keep making changes to your product or service that you and your team think we’ll make it more attractive to buyers, and keep working all the options available to you.

Taking action always creates more options

These new options will often lead you to more effective ways of selling your product or service.

A new test email campaign in a totally new and different market or industry that generate sizable interest and response.
A cheaper spin-off of your product that makes its price point more affordable and triples your sales volume in a few months.
An overnight change in your pricing or distribution methods that removes key sales barriers to buying your product.
Or maybe a pay-per-click advertising campaign that dries response in a totally new test market.

Shaking up the perception of your product in the minds of your prospects, or putting your product in front of a whole new set of prospects in a new market are but two examples of action that creates new options.

Keep blasting away and these breaks will come

Every day, the mere fact that your company is active, and “in the arena” with its marketing campaigns keeps your products profile high, and brings good fortune a little closer. It was my father that used to tell me, “the harder I work the luckier I get. running a business requires sweating hard work, not luck.” Well, that stuck.

Entrepreneurs and founders of many successful companies reach their eventual success in markets, and with products and sales approach is far different from those they started out with.

As CMO’s, the responsibility for finding these markets, and in executing plans to make a success of your company’s sales efforts there, often falls to you.

You only fail if you quit—so don’t quit!

There’s always something you can do.

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