Survey reveals that 41,3% of startups don’t have a digital marketing strategy

Over 120 B2C startups were interviewed and surveyed at Seed and Series A funding rounds. They included Simple, Vochi, Zenia, Froot, Saga Sleep, and more.

This survey, called “Startup Marketing Research: Challenges and opportunities in digital promotion”, was conducted by Zorka.Agency marketing team together with SOLYANKA. 

The research focused on the digital marketing strategies that startups use in their promotion.  

The findings have been put together in the form of analytical data. Useful recommendations from the industry experts have also been included. 

All these findings may be useful if you have a managing position at a startup or work for a digital marketing agency. You can download the full report. 

Top 3 research findings:

1.     41,3% of startups do not have a digital marketing strategy

A marketing strategy defines the way a company is going, and it also shows when its goals should be achieved. The marketing strategy is implemented by following the steps that should be taken to help increase profits. 

Marketing efforts can be focused on various things, including digital marketing tools. Digital marketing is very important for startups with digital products. Surprisingly, the survey findings revealed that 41% of startups do not have a digital marketing strategy at all.

“The formula for a successful marketing strategy is very simple. You need to understand two things: what consumers need and how to change their behaviour so that they favour one product over another,” said Strategy Director at Zorka.Agency, Kirill Oreshkin.

2.     In 20,7% of cases content marketing is the key tool of a digital marketing strategy

The ‘new black’ of modern marketing is content creation and social media. In this endless flow of information, it is the responsibility of companies and brands to draw attention to their products themselves. 

This point is proven in the survey findings, as content marketing (20.7%) and social media (20.1%) have been ranked as the most popular digital marketing tools. Email marketing is slightly less popular with 19%, influencer marketing is at 16.7%, followed by SEO with 13.8% and affiliate marketing at 8%. 

3.     The most popular marketing metric for startups is Revenue Growth Rate (18%)

The survey findings show that the key metrics for most startups are Revenue Growth Rate (18%), MRR (15,3%), LTV (11,3%), Retention rate (10%). 

Metrics are prioritised as follows, based on the product type: Retention Rate for mobile apps, Revenue Growth Rate for Marketplaces and E-commerce platforms, and more.

The full report can be downloaded here.