Entrepreneurial Marketing Is Grimy

September 25, 2012 Editor 0

by Maureen Gitau

“Marketing for Start-ups is dirty work, it’s about rolling up your sleeves and diving in” those were the words of Andrik Kristinsson, founding CEO of Innovit Entrepreneurship Center, during a recent talk given at the iHub. The talk organized by iHub Consulting tackled the beast that is getting your product known.

“There really is no magical solution” says Andrik ‘It’s about identifying your target market, knowing what needs or problems your product solves and then building of that.” Being user-centered is key to success, because at the end of the day, it’s what the client wants and it’s the client who pays. To strike a balance between company philosophy and client needs, start-ups must have a position statement that succinctly states what they do and why. This will be their anchor amid evolving client needs.

Founders should be at the frontline of marketing. Start-ups shouldn’t hire until they’ve gotten the process right. This means they’re able to get direct feedback from clients and incorporate changes into the product swiftly. It gives ample room to test and play around with the product until the perfect marketing strategy is found.

If you are wondering where to start the answer is your contact list. Email and call everyone who can use your product. Post on all relevant blogs, walls and forums. “That’s what we did at our startup, and those initial 3 hours of calls and emails are still running our business to date” testifies Andrik.

Lastly, measures of success are important. Start-ups should have at least 5 key metrics on which to gauge their success. Measurable results give a clear picture where the company is at and where it should be. With this right, the rest is simple. Execute, measure, tweak, iterate.

Download the full presentation here.

 

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Categories: mLab

Tags: Andrik, iHub Consulting, Marketing For Startups