{"id":54,"date":"2024-08-01T18:56:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T18:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/01\/marketing-from-the-ground-up-with-start-up-expert-annie-katrina-lee\/"},"modified":"2024-08-01T18:56:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T18:56:11","slug":"marketing-from-the-ground-up-with-start-up-expert-annie-katrina-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/01\/marketing-from-the-ground-up-with-start-up-expert-annie-katrina-lee\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing From the Ground Up with Start-Up Expert Annie Katrina Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2018re a business owner looking to build your start-up from the ground up, you\u2019ve likely read plenty of blogs looking for advice on marketing your business\u2014but I\u2018m guessing there\u2019s sometimes been a frustrating lack of resources for your particular challenges.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Most marketing guidance centers on the perspectives of brands that are already established or have a sizable following. But what about the business owners who are starting from zero?<\/p>\n

We chatted with start-up expert Annie Katrina Lee, whose previous experience includes marketing for Twitch, Pinterest, Amazon, and various start-ups.<\/p>\n

If you want advice on marketing from the ground up, you’ve come to the right spot.<\/p>\n

1. Start with the customer.<\/h2>\n

When learning how to build your start-up, you probably want a step-by-step guide that provides instant, tangible results.<\/p>\n

That’d be nice, wouldn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Except Lee says that’s not the correct approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cA very common fallacy is when startups feel like they have to take a very specific piece of advice, whether it’s a best practice or something that they read in a blog,\u201d she says. \u201cI think when things are so definitive like that, it’s a bit misleading.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee notes that start-ups that take straightforward, one-size-fits-all advice will often be disappointed when their journey doesn’t unfold as planned.<\/p>\n

(And, trust me, I see the irony: Here I am, in a blog post, telling you not <\/em>to take definitive advice from a blog post. But please bear with me.)<\/p>\n

Rather than looking for step-by-step guidance, try approaching your marketing strategy as a framework that starts with your customer.<\/p>\n\n

Lee says speaking to your core audience and customers is one of the best ways to develop that framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don’t know who your customer is, then you don’t know what their needs and motivations are,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd if you don’t know what their needs and motivations are, how could you communicate with them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Which brings us to our second point:<\/p>\n

2. Get feedback.<\/h2>\n

Wistia\u2018s CEO, Chris Savage, told us that if a brand\u2019s marketing resonates with 10 of its customers, it will resonate with 10,000 \u2014 and Lee says there’s some truth to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about marketing that’s hard is it is a blend of art and science,\u201d Lee says. \u201cThe qualitative feedback of 10 people in a focus group is the art. What are you hearing? And how are you translating that feedback?.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also doesn’t hurt to pull feedback from a larger pool of respondents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you survey 1,000 people, both potential customers and existing customers, you can compare, evaluate, and synthesize that feedback together. Which, to me, gives you a bigger picture than just one focus group.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Start organically.<\/h2>\n

Lee says you want to build an organic audience\u2026 Meaning, you don’t want to rely on paid advertising to get your earliest customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat should come in a much later stage,\u201d she explains. \u201cI’m 100% in the camp where you want to jumpstart things pretty grassroots and organically.\u201d<\/p>\n

That early organic stage could involve crafting a basic framework for your brand’s voice, tone, or visuals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will allow you to simultaneously create organic content, test it, and get it out there while also collecting feedback,\u201d Lee says. \u201cI don’t think it needs to be such a linear process in the beginning, but I do believe that paid advertising would be a little too soon for that early of a stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all goes back to learning about your audience. By organically appealing to your target consumers, you can accurately assess the best channels to reach them so you’re not spending money and time in the wrong places.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know who your audience is, you’ll know which channels to prioritize,\u201d Lee says. \u201cI think a lot of early-stage companies make the mistake of trying to do too much at once, which can muddle your message.\u201d.<\/p>\n

4. Focus on your product.<\/h2>\n

Of course, marketing is crucial in the early stages of any business, but you have to have a product that your audience can believe in and connect with. You can’t just sell people a bag of air.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m always of the belief that it starts with the products,\u201d Lee explains, adding that she believes product-market fit must come before any attempts at marketing<\/p>\n

According to Lee, this part of the process involves early interviews and gathering information from consumers, which can be applied to your product’s positioning and messaging.<\/p>\n

She says, \u201cPartnering with product teams to set that foundation will make the marketing process much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Get personal.<\/h2>\n

With the rise of AI<\/a>, consumers want more authenticity from brands before investing in them. That said, you may want to find a way for your brand to get personal with consumers and display its unique personality\u2014a challenge that many established brands struggle with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have yet to see a brand do it extremely well,\u201d Lee says. \u201cMaybe Duolingo because its face is the owl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duolingo’s iconic owl, Duo, has taken on a life of its own, especially on TikTok. The language learning company is among the most followed on the platform and connects with its audience by having the owl participate in online trends (or by acting comedically unhinged).<\/p>\n

\n
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@duolingo<\/a> IF YA FEEL IT \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f CHASE IT \ud83c\udf2a\ufe0f\ud83c\udf2a\ufe0f\ud83c\udf2a\ufe0f
\n #twisters<\/a>
\n #glenpowell<\/a>
\n #duolingo<\/a>
\n \u266c original sound – kathryn:)<\/a> <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Don\u2018t worry; you don\u2019t have to be unhinged on TikTok to get your brand off the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people generally resonate with personal stories,\u201d Lee says. \u201cAnd I think there’s always a way to get your story out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Lee said earlier, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to building a brand from the ground up.<\/p>\n

However, if you develop your products and brand voice and build a solid, organic relationship with your target audience, you’ll create a solid framework to help set your business up for success.<\/p>\n

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