RECAP: How to build a marketing department from scratch?

There are two important steps you need to take before building your brand from a starting point. The first is to gather as much information and input from key stakeholders as possible. Start with the ‘Why’ – ask questions like: ‘Why your products or offerings great?’ ‘What problem do they solve?’ ‘How are they different from your competitors’ ones?’

 

The second key element is to determine the most relatable problem it solves and which your target audience will relate to most. It is challenging to promote various offerings at once as this may complicate and confuse your audiences. Identifying your brand’s core messaging first is the best way to avoid mistakes in these early stages of your marketing strategy.

 

Next would be to leverage your in-house experts. This will help you create valuable and insightful content, as well as decrease your costs.

 

Finally, developing a successful marketing machine is certainly one of the biggest roles of a start-up marketer. It’s their responsibility to consider the most reliable activities for their audiences at every stage of the marketing journey. This isn’t possible without true collaboration, bringing in knowledge and ideas from across the team, understanding everyone’s strengths and knowing when and how to involve them in the process.

 

Watch the full Serious Social Live where Katie Patterson, Account Director at IF is joined by Lois Engstrand – Global Senior Marketing Manager at ClauseMatch to discuss her journey of building a marketing department from scratch.

 

Contact us to find out what takes to build a marketing function at a start-up.

 

Latest Posts

TikTok has released its annual trend prediction report for marketers, designed to help brands understand where the platform – and its users – are heading next. If you’re trying to grow your presence or plan smarter content for the year ahead, it’s well worth…
Read More
2016 is when social stopped being “posts in a feed” and became a ranked system that decides what gets seen, shared, trusted. In 2026 that same logic sits everywhere, in-platform search, Google snippets, and AI overviews that summarise your brand before anyone clicks. Ofcom says around 30% of UK keyword searches now show AI overviews, and 53% of adults often see AI summaries. The uncomfortable truth is that buyers get a machine-written version of you, then sanity-check it with humans in DMs and group chats. Brands win when their claims are clear, proof is easy to find, and real people show up consistently.
Read More
AI is helping B2B organic content rebound on LinkedIn and Reddit, so SEO optimisation for posts has never been more important. We’ve got a playbook to help you get started on boosting that organic visibility on Google and LLMs. First things first – we do often preach here at Immediate…
Read More