For early-stage startups, there are some must-have marketing needs. Here's a list of seven "tools" within a marketing portfolio.

1. What’s in Your Startup’s
Marketing and Sales Portfolio?

2. Toronto’s Startup Marketing Landscape
Lots of excited, enthusiastic entrepreneurs
Startups that have built product
Startups with traction and/or
cash
Startups that want
to do marketing
Startups that
do marketing

3. What I Do
Marketing Strategies
Aka: Where to tell your story
Core Messaging
(Aka: what’s your story?
Content Creation
Aka: Developing stories

4. Clients
(startups and fast-growing companies)

5. Low Hanging Startup Marketing Fruit

6. An Effective Website
Clear messaging
– What do you do?
Value propositions
– What it’s in for me?
Easy navigation
– How do get more info?
Strong calls to action
– What do I do next?

10. One-Pagers (aka Sales Sheets)
• Provides a
“slice” of what
your company
does and its
products

11. One-Pagers (aka Sales Sheets)
• Answers key questions:
oHow will your product benefit me?
oWho are your customers?
oHow can I contact you?
• Multiple roles as advance marketing, leave
behind or an education/nurturing tool

13. Easy to understand
content, nice design

14. Nice, bright and
colourful design
to make info user-friendly

15. Apricot puts its
benefits, features
and pricing front in
the spotlight.

16. Competitor Comparisons
• Effectively positions you against rivals
• Highlight key differences and advantages:
o Features
o Benefits
o Price point
o Great UI/UX
o Better customer support
o Target vertical
o Integrations

19. Battle Cards
• Internal cards to educate sales
people on the best approaches.
o Key elements:
o Product overview
o Key benefits and features
o Differentiation
o Points of pain
o Case studies
o Pricing
o FAQ

21. Case Studies
• Tell stories; not the traditional boring rinse &
repeat approach
• Tell different kinds of stories to connect with
potential customers with different needs
• Embrace the power of design to engage

26. Newsletters
• Deliver value-added
information, not sales and
marketing pitches
• Build a regular (monthly?)
relationship; stay top of
mind
• Build and nurture an
email database

27. Celebrate
the
customer
The “Soft
Sell”
Section
Value-added
content

29. Blogs
- Thought leadership
- Value-added insight
- Answer customer
questions
- Nurtures corporate
culture
- SEO

34. Thanks!
www.markevans.ca
@markevans
mark@markevans.ca
http://bit.ly/startupscanada