Runway makes speed the constraint
The question is not what produces the best result in eighteen months. It is what tells you the most, soonest, for the least money. That changes the order of the work substantially.
Early stage
Startup marketing that finds the channel that works
The early-stage companies that arrive here have usually spent on brand and content before knowing whether anyone searches for the category, with no tracking to tell a channel that works from one that is busy. The startup problem is not more marketing. It is finding out, quickly and cheaply, which channel produces customers, before the runway makes the question academic.
Free, written by a person, yours to keep either way.
- 6.45x return on ad spend Google Ads
- 2,631 leads at £2.68 each Meta
Certified across the platforms we buy on. 150+ businesses, 7 years.
Buying marketing as this kind of business.
The category may not have search demand yet
If nobody searches for the problem you solve, search is the wrong first channel however well it would be executed. That has to be tested honestly rather than assumed.
Tracking built now is worth more than tracking built later
Every decision after month three depends on data collected before it. Startups that skip measurement early spend the next year arguing about attribution instead of scaling.
Priorities, in this order.
The order matters more than the list. Doing the right things in the wrong sequence is how budgets get spent with nothing to show.
- Establish whether search demand for the category exists at all, before investing in it.
- Build tracking and attribution properly in the first month, not the first year.
- Test paid search for a demand signal, because it answers in weeks rather than months.
- Only build a content programme once there is evidence somebody is searching.
Common mistakes
What goes wrong, repeatedly.
Buying brand awareness with the money that should find customers
Awareness spend is measurable only at scale and most early companies cannot reach that scale. It absorbs budget that would have answered a useful question.
Content before demand validation
Publishing forty articles for a category nobody searches is an expensive way to discover that nobody searches. A fortnight of paid search would have told you for far less.
No tracking until it matters
By the time attribution matters, the data you needed had to already exist. It cannot be collected retrospectively.
What the report leads with.
If the first number in a marketing report is impressions, the report does not want to lead with leads.
- Cost per qualified lead by channel
- Signup or demo to customer rate
- Search demand for the category, measured not assumed
- Payback period on marketing spend
Numbers from comparable accounts.
Google Ads
6.45x
return on ad spend
787.59 conversions at $4.77 each.
Meta
2,631
leads at £2.68 each
The best-performing ad set reached £0.77 per lead.
Real accounts, anonymised by client agreement. Currency as recorded in the account. Movement varies by market, budget and starting position.
Questions
Questions from businesses like yours.
01 We are pre-revenue. Is it too early for marketing?
For search, usually yes. Search work compounds over quarters, and a pre-revenue company generally needs an answer sooner than that. Paid search is a faster way to find out whether people are looking for what you built, and it is the honest first spend for most companies at that stage.
02 Should a startup do content marketing?
Once there is evidence of search demand for the problem you solve, yes. Before that, it is a bet placed on an assumption. The cheapest way to check the assumption is a small paid search test.
03 Can you work alongside our in-house team?
Yes, and it usually works well. Where you have someone who can implement, the scope here is strategy, specialist execution and measurement, which is cheaper than a full engagement.
04 How do startups pay for paid ads here?
Per qualified lead, with no retainer. The criteria for a qualified lead are agreed in writing before launch, a lead that misses them is not billed, and ad spend goes to the platform on your own account. For a company watching its runway that is the arrangement that puts the risk on the agency.
What we would most likely run
Google Ads Agency Paid Per Qualified Lead | Mavix
Starting or rebuilding Google Ads? A straight answer on whether the searches exist, what a click costs you, and an account aimed at enquiries you would take.
SEO Services Built Around Enquiries, Not Traffic | Mavix
SEO for businesses that want calls, not a traffic chart. We find the searches with money behind them, fix the pages that should win them, and report enquiries.
Next step
Send the site. We will tell you what is wrong.
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