Have you noticed that whenever there’s a downturn, the first casualty in a startup is marketing. With the current state of economy and investor money become scarce, the marketing teams and spends are the first to go.
Why I wonder, do we spend like crazy in the first place? Who are we pleasing but our egos, because the audience doesn’t give a sh*t about your shiny ads or celebs.. it’s the storytelling they crave.
I saw a post by this ‘unicorn’ about their super expensive celebrity video shoot, and in two weeks they announced massive layoffs. The money they wasted in that hollywood style production could have saved jobs.
Marketing is not a function of money, but creativity. You cannot spend and buy engagement. But, everywhere you see, it’s fancy expensive campaigns, celeb endorsements and templated ads, until the investors come calling.
Spend like it’s your money, and you’re always frugal, creative in scarcity, and focus to increase per person efficiency.. ask any bootstrapped startup.
But when it’s big bucks from investors, then it’s like Bachmanity Insanity (Silicon Valley – S3E6)
