How Startups Create Effective Digital Marketing and Sales Funnels

Part 1: Developing the Strategic Infrastructure

This is part 1 of a two-part series on how a startup can create effective funnels for digital marketing and sales (and not just throw advertising dollars at the wall to see what sticks).

When discussing marketing and sales strategy in the digital age, it helps to first ask this question: Why does most startup marketing fail?

Despite what conventional wisdom might lead you to believe, marketing is not a direct path to increased sales. This is especially true for startups and can be incredibly frustrating and costly in the early stages of the company.

Founders should be thinking about their marketing and sales plans from the very first conception of the product or service they’re developing. But marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.

It’s also a process. Most people think that marketing is like adding a megaphone to their messaging. But if a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one there to hear it, a megaphone isn’t going to help.

Furthermore, since most startups in the digital era are focused on recurring revenue, marketing is no longer simply about bringing the customer into the store. It’s about keeping them there…