The Startup Marketing Checklist

The Startup Marketing Checklist | Draft.
dev 16/10/2022, 12:40
The Startup Marketing Checklist
Published on Nov 07, 2021 in content-marketing by Karl Hughes

10 minute read
We work with dozens of early stage startups, so a lot of founders ask me

what’s working in marketing for our other clients. The answer is, “it
depends,” but I wanted to offer a complete index of the steps you can take
when you’re just getting ready to launch an early stage startup.
This marketing checklist is a comprehensive, chronologically ordered list

of marketing tactics and ideas that you can try with your startup. The list
is free and open-source, so feel free to email us if you have suggestions.
The Startup Checklist For Pre-Launch

Marketing starts long before you launch. Market research, planning, and
preparation are critical parts of any marketing strategy.
Competitor Research – Marketing Strategy Checklist

https://draft.dev/learn/marketing-checklist Page 1 of 14
The Startup Marketing Checklist | Draft.dev 16/10/2022, 12:40
I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know

how to get along without it. - Walt Disney
Make a list of competitors (see this list of tools to research

competitors).
Competitor data to collect:
Link to their website.

“One-liners” and taglines competitors use.
Pricing and business model.
Blog/RSS link.
Social media links.
Key employees on social media.
Subscribe to RSS feeds of your competitors’ blogs.
Follow your competitors and their key employees on social media.
Monitor competitors’ websites for changes.
Site monitoring tools to try:
Deep Dive Duck

Versionista
Subscribe to industry newsletters, magazines, trade journals etc.
Use Google Trends to do initial demand and search volume research.
Customer Research - Start Up Checklist
If we knew what we were doing it wouldn’t be called research. - Albert

Einstein
Find people in your contact list who might be future customers. Get
their feedback on your idea.
Attend meetups or conferences for your target market.
Meet another entrepreneur who has a similar or competitive product.
Make a list of your competitors’ customers:
Check competitors’ Twitter followers, mentions.

Look through their Facebook fans.
Find people who follow them on Linkedin.
Check their website. Some companies list customer stories on
their websites.
Reach out to your competitors’ customers, find out what they
like/don’t like.
Create an “early access” list for potential future customers.
PR (Public Relations) Preparations
Create list of tech, startup, and industry blogs.

Create list of local small business journals.
Create list of local bloggers and journalists in your industry.
Create a “Media Kit” page (check out this example).
Website Setup Checklist - Marketing Plan Checklist
Come up with a name and domain name.

Write a site tagline and elevator pitch.
Create a logo (see this list of logo creation tools).
Set up a landing page (see this list of landing page tools).
Create “About” and “Contact” pages.
Create Pricing page (see this list of pricing models):
Consider/test various pricing options:
Create a free or trial tier for your paid product.

Offer a 100% satisfaction/money-back guarantee.
Make product invite-only to start.
Offer free/discounted access for early adopters/beta testers.
Add social media follow links to landing page.
Set up analytics to learn about who signs up, bounces, etc.
Analytics platforms to try:
Google Analytics
Mixpanel
Kiss Metrics
Webmaster Tools
Plausible Analytics
Smartlook
Set up error logging, monitoring, capturing, etc.
Error monitoring tools to try:
Bugsnag
Rollbar
Sentry
Set up on-site messaging to capture leads and engage customers as
they land on your site (see our list of live customer chat tools).
Test your website for common SEO, speed, and security problems
like broken links, missing page titles and insecure pages (see
Checkbot).
Email Setup - Marketing Plan Checklist
See this list of email marketing tools for services that make managing
email easier.
Email is the Jason Bourne of online: somebody’s always trying to kill it.
It can’t be done. - Unknown
Set up email address to send and receive emails.

Set up email list and signup form.
Create a standard email template for your brand.
Create transactional emails for when users sign up/purchase.
Blog Setup - Startup Advertising Checklist
Content Marketing is all the marketing that’s left. - Seth Godin
Choose a blogging platform (see this list of blogging platforms for

your startup).
Research keywords that you’d like your site to rank for.
Keyword research tools to try:
Ahrefs
SpyFu
SEMrush
KeywordTool.io
Moz Keyword Explorer
KWFinder
Google Keyword Research
Ubersuggest
Create anchor posts or pages for keywords you’d like to rank for.
Have a blog post brainstorming session (see this big list of blog post
ideas).
Add email signup form or link to all blog posts.
Add social media follow links to all blog posts.
Social Media Setup - The Startup Checklist
Social media is the ultimate equalizer. It gives a voice and a platform to

anyone willing to engage. - Amy Jo Martin, CEO of Digital Royalty
Search for availability of names on social networks using KnowEm.
Choose the social media accounts you’ll use:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Instagram
Snapchat
YouTube
Standardize profile image, background photo, links and call to action
across social channels.
Consider putting premium content behind “pay with a tweet”.
Post-Launch Startup Checklist

Once you launch, the real fun begins! Whether you go out with a bang or
you gradually grow your userbase over months, getting customer
feedback is essential for building a successful startup.
Free Promotional Channels – Advertising Checklist
I don’t care how much money you have, free stuff is always a good
thing. - Queen Latifah
Post your product on directories and review sites (Matt McCaffrey

has compiled a great list on Github or you can use a service like
Instaaa).
Write and distribute a Press Release (here’s a comprehensive
guide from Wajeez, or you can use one of these distribution
tools).
Write and distribute an eBook, exchange it for email signup.
Write and distribute a white paper, exchange it for email signup.
Give free access to influential bloggers in the industry.
Build a “best of” page with your best blog posts that you wrote or
contributed to other sites (ProBlogger calls this a “Sneeze Page”).
Make sure all blog posts have high quality images (see this list of
free stock image sites).
Create an online course or guide around your product/industry
(be sure to check out this list of course management tools).
Run an influencer marketing campaign.
Run a link-building campaign.
Share the story of how you started your business on Starter Story
- it’s free and you get a do-follow backlink.
Try other link building strategies:
Skyscraper campaign
Ego baiting
Interview/expert Q&A post
Guest posting
Broken link building
Get interviewed on podcasts
Become a source on Help a Reporter Out
More strategies on Backlinko.com
Paid Promotional Channels - Advertising Checklist
You must spend money to make money. - Plautus, Ancient Roman

playwright
Try a few social, search, and commission-based advertising

platforms.
Sponsor a local meetup or conference for your target customers.
Sponsor podcasts your customers might be listening to.
Sponsor/advertise an industry newsletter.
Set up a user referral marketing system/platform:
Harry’s Prelaunchr (free, open source)

CleverTap (offers a free tier)
Expect Referrals
Frederick
Genius Referrals
InviteBox
InviteReferrals
Referral Candy
Viral Loops
Girafi
Run an engagement contest with prizes or free products for winners.
Run retargeting ads to target users who have been to your site
before.
Recurring Startup Launch Checklist

Much of marketing is staying consistent over time. While you need to
know that a tactic is viable, you might have to stick with it for weeks to see
real results. This marketing to do list gives you a chance to check off all
the boxes – literally!
Blogging - Startup Checklist
Blogging is like work, but without coworkers thwarting you at every

turn. - Scott Adams, Creator of Dilbert
Build/update publishing calendar for your blog.

Regularly post blog posts on your blog(s).
Solicit guest posts from early customers and fans of your product.
Repurpose existing blog posts:
Record/post video of you reading the post on YouTube.

Turn posts into a podcast.
Create an infographic based on the post.
Create a presentation of your post.
Promote your blog content (see this big checklist for more
promotional ideas:
Send post to your email list.

Promote on your social media.
Email friends and relatives, ask them to share if relevant.
Send to other bloggers for feedback, ask to share if they like it.
Add your latest blog post or landing page to your email
signature.
Submit your post to relevant aggregators and niche
communities.
Refresh old blog posts every 6-12 months
Email - Tech Startup Checklist
Any email that contains the words ‘important’ or ‘urgent’ never are,
and annoy me to the point of not replying out of principle. - Markus
Persson, aka “Notch”, creator of Minecraft
Send a regular email newsletter with blog posts, use cases, customer
stories, etc.
Promote email list on social media.
Send 20 cold emails per week to connect with early customers and
get direct feedback.
Send new users a personal email introducing yourself.
Social Media - Startup Marketing Checklist
We have technology, finally, that for the first time in human history
allows people to really maintain rich connections with much larger
numbers of people. – Pierre Omidyar, Founder of eBay
Schedule regular social media content (try these social media tools to
help automate the social media process).
Social media content ideas to try:
Show what’s happening “behind the scenes” (eg: pictures of

your workspace, in-development features, etc.).
Blog posts from your blog (or partners’ blogs).
Special offers or discounts.
Relevant news, advice, or blogs.
Funny or inspiring quotes.
Polls or questions for your followers.
Suggested books.
Useful tools or websites.
Join Facebook and LinkedIn groups where your product ideas for
marketing projects might be beneficial.
Send exclusive offers to LinkedIn/Facebook Group owners.
Join Twitter chats related to your industry/product.
Search Twitter for people talking about issues you’re solving with
your project and interact with them.
Give early users discounts for taking pics with your product.
Public Relations - The Startup Checklist
The art of publicity is a black art; but it has come to stay, and every
year adds to its potency. – Thomas Paine
Ask bloggers with list articles to add your site to their content.
Reach out to small business journals, reporters, bloggers. Inform and
ask for coverage.
Reach out to podcasters, try to get featured on their show.
Find professors and students with .edu sites to link to your content
(good for SEO).
Find reviews or lists of similar products. Ask to be added or leave a
comment about your product.
Guest post on other blogs:
Build a list of blogs that are a good fit for your product and
accept guest posts. Save their contact form/information.
Write a few posts on your own blog first (to use as a
demonstration).
Create a list of “pitches,” blog post ideas with a title and one
paragraph summary that might grab bloggers.
Pitch the blogs one idea each. See what they respond to.
Help promote your posts via social media, email lists, etc.
Reach back out in a month and try another pitch. Try to become
a “regular”
Join and participate in forums related to your product or industry.
External Sites - Project Startup Checklist
Answer relevant questions on Q&A community sites (check back

regularly):
Stack Overflow
Quora
Industry or geographically specific forums
Product Hunt For more information on how to launch here, read
this.
Leave comments on Slideshare presentations.
Review industry-related books on Amazon, Goodreads.
Register to be notified of topics on Reddit and Hacker News with
F5Bot.
Create/publish presentations relevant to your industry:
Google Slides
Prezi
Slides.com
Slideshare
Start Up Marketing Optimizations

After you’ve kicked off your marketing engine and start to see results, it’s
time to optimize. The following ideas will help you get started, but
optimizing your marketing efforts is a never-ending challenge.
Run a customer poll (can also generate content for your blog or social
media channels).
Create a side project to promote your startup (read more).
A/B test your landing/payment pages.
A/B test email newsletters and promotions.
Implement Twitter cards on your blog posts.
Implement rich snippets in Google search results.
Analyze user signup flow (check out the teardowns here).
Test your website on multiple platforms, make sure speed is good.
Use Website Grader to pinpoint website improvements.
Create and track weekly traffic and growth goals.
Time social media posts and email newsletters to when your
audience is most likely to respond.
Make sure each page on your site has a clear call-to-action.
Audit and improve your conversion rate (see this checklist for detailed
steps you can take)
Set up automatic analytics reports to be emailed to you each week.
Experiment with various signup form locations, colors, and sizes.
Add “Exit Intent” popup to your blog/site.
Create an FAQs page.
Verify your website’s tags are correct with Google Tag Assistant.
Watch a first time user use your product.
Collect and display testimonials from happy users.
Survey or poll your users for feedback (see our list of survey tools for
lots of great options at any budget or this list of Google Forms
alternatives).
Use Monkey Test It to find bugs and broken links of your site. Set up
an alert to notify you on breakage.
Use Checkbot on your website to test for and fix SEO, speed and
security problems.
Follow the steps here to ensure GDPR compliance.
As I mentioned above, this tech startup checklist is subject to change, so

email us if you’d like to add your suggestions.
By Karl Hughes
Karl is a former startup CTO and the founder of Draft.dev. He writes about
technical blogging and content management.
Looking for content designed to reach software

developers?
We create blog posts and tutorials designed to reach software developers,

data engineers, engineering managers, and technologists. Book a call to
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The Startup Marketing Checklist | Draft.

dev 16/10/2022, 12:40

Published on Nov 07, 2021 in content-marketing by Karl Hughes

We work with dozens of early stage startups, so a lot of founders ask me

This marketing checklist is a comprehensive, chronologically ordered list

The Startup Checklist For Pre-Launch

Competitor Research – Marketing Strategy Checklist

I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know

Make a list of competitors (see this list of tools to research

Competitor data to collect:

Link to their website.

Site monitoring tools to try:

Deep Dive Duck

Customer Research - Start Up Checklist

If we knew what we were doing it wouldn’t be called research. - Albert

Make a list of your competitors’ customers:

Check competitors’ Twitter followers, mentions.

PR (Public Relations) Preparations

Create list of tech, startup, and industry blogs.

Website Setup Checklist - Marketing Plan Checklist

Come up with a name and domain name.

Consider/test various pricing options:

Create a free or trial tier for your paid product.

Set up analytics to learn about who signs up, bounces, etc.

Analytics platforms to try:

Error monitoring tools to try:

Email Setup - Marketing Plan Checklist

Set up email address to send and receive emails.

Create transactional emails for when users sign up/purchase.

Blog Setup - Startup Advertising Checklist

Content Marketing is all the marketing that’s left. - Seth Godin

Choose a blogging platform (see this list of blogging platforms for

Keyword research tools to try:

Social Media Setup - The Startup Checklist

Social media is the ultimate equalizer. It gives a voice and a platform to

Search for availability of names on social networks using KnowEm.

Choose the social media accounts you’ll use:

Post-Launch Startup Checklist

Free Promotional Channels – Advertising Checklist

Post your product on directories and review sites (Matt McCaffrey

Paid Promotional Channels - Advertising Checklist

You must spend money to make money. - Plautus, Ancient Roman

Try a few social, search, and commission-based advertising

Set up a user referral marketing system/platform:

Harry’s Prelaunchr (free, open source)

Recurring Startup Launch Checklist

Blogging - Startup Checklist

Blogging is like work, but without coworkers thwarting you at every

Build/update publishing calendar for your blog.

Repurpose existing blog posts:

Record/post video of you reading the post on YouTube.

Send post to your email list.

Email - Tech Startup Checklist

Social Media - Startup Marketing Checklist

Social media content ideas to try:

Show what’s happening “behind the scenes” (eg: pictures of

Public Relations - The Startup Checklist

Guest post on other blogs:

External Sites - Project Startup Checklist

Answer relevant questions on Q&A community sites (check back

Create/publish presentations relevant to your industry: