When you're building a startup, every dollar counts and every marketing tactic needs to be truly additive to your growth. One of the most accessible and impactful growth marketing strategies for startups is affiliate marketing. But what exactly is it, and why should it be on your list of potential channels from day one?

If you're a startup founder, you may have heard the term CRO thrown around, but what exactly is it, and why should it matter to you? Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action—like making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or requesting a demo. For startups, these conversions could range from product sales (for e-commerce) to lead generation (for B2B services).

Successfully scaling a startup is no easy feat, especially when resources are tight, and growth feels like an uphill battle. That’s where building an initial growth marketing strategy comes into play, ensuring your first efforts are as smart and efficient as possible. Here, we’ll take it a step further by breaking down the key components of constructing a strategy tailored to the unique challenges of startups—limited budgets, scaling issues, and capacity gaps.

If you’re a startup founder, you’ve probably heard the term “growth marketing” thrown around in conversations about scaling your business. Most people associate this strategy primarily with paid performance advertising. As a founder, you want to scale –  and you may not be sure what levers for growth (product-led, referrals, organic, paid marketing, etc) are the best area of focus for your business stage. That said, what exactly is growth marketing, and how is it different from well, regular marketing?

Your first marketing hire is often a later priority for startup founders and business owners. This can be the key to understanding your audience better, and help you create a steady flow for gaining new customers and keeping them.

But other levers can start before bringing on this role. Many new startups overlook marketing partnerships in their initial marketing efforts and go-to-market strategies. However, these partnerships can help gain initial traction and build brand awareness. Here, we'll explore marketing partnerships, their key benefits, and how you can start building them for your small business.

As an agency owner and consultant, I often hear from founders about their hopes for hiring their first full-time marketer. The first thing I usually say is “Congratulations!”

It’s a milestone. Your business needs are evolving and that’s exciting. With that out of the way, here are a few critical things I wish every founder would consider first before posting that job.