A Checklist for Startups Coming Out of Stealth Mode

 By David Ronald

One of our clients, a tech startup, recently asked for a list of marketing assets to develop as it prepares to come out of stealth mode.

In this blog post I’m going to share the list that we provided in the hope that you may find it useful.

Foundations

 Here are some of the foundational activities that you will need to complete upfront:

• ICPs & personas & industries—identifies target audiences, by company type and role, in each of the company’s target industries.
• Value proposition—quantifies the company’s value, ideally by industry.
• Positioning & messaging—positioning statement, and messaging framework (by buyer persona).
• Pricing strategy—articulates how the company’s product is priced, including add-ons as applicable. This is for internal audiences only.
• Promotional strategy—describes campaigns and events that we will use to generate leads in target industries, with expected results (including key performance indicators) and budget breakdown.
• Developer marketing strategy—if developers are a target audience, a unique plan will be required for this audience.

Completion of these activities will accelerate the creation of the marketing assets described below and significantly enhance their impact.

Marketing Activities

Here are some of the most important marketing assets that you can consider developing prior to coming out of stealth mode.

Brand Identity

• Branding guidelines—ensures a consistent visual identity across all platforms.
• Tagline—a memorable phrase that encapsulates the brand's value proposition.
• Brand narrative—craft a compelling narrative that communicates the company’s mission, vision, and values.
• At-A-Glance summary—one-pager that summarizes the company (includes corporate description, customer testimonials, and links to more information).
• Corporate video—a video that evangelizes what you do, and why you do it better than alternatives.

You can also consider developing a corporate brochure that communicates your vision, and your strategic narrative, and provides valuable corporate information, including the pedigree of your executives.

Website

• Website—pages describing customer benefits, your differentiation, the product architecture, along with contact information, and so.
• Resource center—content to educate potential customers and build authority (seen next section).
• Blog—used to generate awareness of both your company and your product. Aim to have 2-3 blog posts already in place prior to your launch.
• Technical documentation—provide in-depth descriptions of how to install and use your product.
• Search engine optimization—ensure architecture and web copy are optimized for search engines with relevant keywords,

Remember to optimize your website both desktop and mobile, with clear messaging and user-friendly navigation.

Product Information

• White Paper—explains the company’s vision for your industry and how your product is going to transform it. This may prove to be your #1 lead magnet.
• Buyer’s guide—explains the criteria that buyers should use when selecting a product. This should be vendor neutral.
• Benchmark report—shares test results (ideally by a reputable third-party) that demonstrate why your company’s product is superior to alternatives.
• Architecture paper—provides a technical explanation of why your product is a better choice than alternatives.
• Product datasheet—brief document that provides a technical overview of your company’s product.
• Solution brief(s)—one or more documents that explain the use cases of your company’s product.  
• Case Studies—success stories from early customers or beta customers.

You can also consider creating one or more videos that explain how customers can use your product to achieve the business outcomes they need.

Sales Enablement

• Pitch deck—compelling presentation that communicates why the company is the better choice. This should be built around your strategic narrative.
• FAQs—a comprehensive list of common objections and questions and answers to assist your sales team. 
• Email templates—emails that your sales team can use in their outreach.
• Call scripts—dialogue for sales representatives to engage with leads in their phone calls.

You may also want to develop a sales playbook with guidance on objection handling and use cases.

Public Relations

• Press release—an official announcement highlighting key aspects of the company’s launch, the pedigree of your founding team, and how your product addresses the limitations of current products. You can also consider including funding information.
• Analysts/media outreach list—a curated list of journalists, influencers, and bloggers for outreach.
• Embargoed briefings—offer exclusive information to select media before the public launch.
• Media kit—includes the press release, backgrounders, executive bios, and high-quality images/videos. 
  

You can also consider surveying industry executives about limitations of current products and producing a report subsequently that provides the results. This can could be the basis of second press release (or be used to supplement your fist press release).

Digital Marketing

• PPC campaign—targeted ads on Google and Bing.
• Social media campaigns—engaging content scheduled to drive targeted engagement.
• Email marketing campaigns—drip campaigns to nurture leads before and after your launch.

Additionally, you may want to kick start your content marketing that leverages blog posts, whitepapers, and other content to establish thought leadership.

Event Marketing

• Launch event—a kick-off event, such as a webinar. This can be the focus of sales outreach leading up to your launch and can also be a good marketing asset subsequently.  

You can consider building a 12-month calendar of events that you intend to participate in, spanning conferences, executive events, tradeshows, and so on.

Metrics

Last, bit not least, begin tracking and reporting your key performance indicators. 

Establishing a cadence for tracking the performance of your launch across various channels (such as website, social, email, etc.), will assist you in identifying those marketing activities that provide the best return on your investment.

Thanks for reading.

I’m sure we left items off the list—drop us a comment and let us know what you would have included.