---
title: "Digital marketing for startups: the first 90 days, in order"
description: "Digital marketing for startups, in order: positioning, a site that converts, one search and one social channel, email, measurement, and what to skip early."
url: "https://www.noordev.com/blog/digital-marketing-for-startups/"
lang: "en-CA"
---

[Blog](https://www.noordev.com/blog/)

# Digital marketing for startups: the first 90 days, in order

By Sara L, Blogger · Published October 27, 2026

![Three people talk at a wooden table in a brick-walled loft, with laptops, takeaway coffee cups and a whiteboard showing a hand-drawn funnel diagram](https://www.noordev.com/assets/blog/digital-marketing-for-startups/hero.webp)

Digital marketing for startups works best as a sequence, not a menu. In the first 90 days, settle your positioning, build a site that turns visits into enquiries, open one search channel and one social channel, start capturing email addresses, and measure from day one. Add anything else only once those run without effort.

This guide sets out that order, what each step involves, what to leave for later and how to think about a first budget. If you want the channels themselves explained first (search, social, email, paid and content), start with our guide to [what digital marketing is](https://www.noordev.com/blog/what-is-digital-marketing/) and come back.

## Why order matters in digital marketing for startups

A startup has little time, a small budget and no track record. Tip lists treat every channel as equally urgent, so founders end up with five half-finished accounts and no idea which one brought the first customer.

Each step below makes the next one cheaper. A clear position tells you what to write on the site. A site that converts makes search and social traffic worth having. Email keeps the people those channels bring. Measurement tells you which of them to keep. Done in the wrong order, the money spent on traffic leaks out of a page that does not say what you do.

| Step | When | What done looks like |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1\. Positioning | Weeks 1–2 | One sentence that names the customer, the problem and why you |
| 2\. A site that converts | Weeks 2–4 | A page per offer, a clear next step, working on a phone |
| 3\. One search channel | Weeks 4–8 | Search set up for the terms your customers use |
| 4\. One social channel | Weeks 6–10 | A steady posting rhythm on the one platform your customers use |
| 5\. Email capture | Weeks 8–10 | A sign-up form and a first useful message |
| 6\. Measurement | From day one; reviewed at day 90 | You can say where each enquiry came from |

The week ranges are our suggested pacing, not a rule. A founder working alone may need longer; what matters is the order.

## The first 90 days, step by step

### 1\. Positioning: who it is for and why you

Positioning is the decision every later step depends on: which customer you serve first, what problem you solve for them, and why they should pick you over the alternative, which is often doing nothing.

BDC’s guide to [writing a marketing plan](https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/marketing-sales-export/marketing/5-no-nonsense-strategies-attract-customers) quotes one of its senior business advisors, Mallika Kazim: “Many entrepreneurs think all their customers are the same, but that’s not true.” She adds that refining your customer segments helps you prioritize where your marketing dollars go.

For a startup, that usually means choosing one segment to win first. Write it down:

-   **Customer:** who, in plain words (for example, “independent physiotherapy clinics in Montréal”).
-   **Problem:** what costs them time or money today.
-   **Promise:** what changes when they work with you.
-   **Proof:** what you can show already, even if it is only a pilot, a demo or your own background.

If you cannot fill in the four lines, more marketing will not help yet. Talk to ten potential customers first.

### 2\. A site that converts

Every other channel sends people to your site, so it comes before any of them. It does not need to be large. It needs to do three things on a phone screen:

1.  **Say what you do, for whom, in the first screen,** using the words from your positioning.
2.  **Give one clear next step:** book a call, request a demo, start a trial. One primary action per page.
3.  **Show proof:** a short client list, a pilot result you can stand behind, or your team’s background.

A page per offer beats one long page covering everything, because each one can answer a specific search later. Add a contact route that works without a phone call, and test the form yourself.

### 3\. One search channel

Search catches people who are already looking for what you sell. Pick one of the three routes, depending on how your customers buy:

-   **Local search,** if your customers are nearby. A Google Business Profile is the starting point. Google’s own help says businesses with [complete and accurate info](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en) are more likely to show up in local results, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. Our guide to [local SEO keywords](https://www.noordev.com/blog/local-seo-keywords/) covers how to choose the terms and where to put them.
-   **Organic search (SEO),** if customers search for the problem you solve. It is slow: [Google’s SEO starter guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide) says some changes take effect in a few hours, while others can take several months. Start with one page per offer, written in your customers’ words.
-   **Paid search,** if you already know what a customer is worth to you and need enquiries quickly. It stops when the spending stops, so it is a test, not a foundation.

Most startups should start with local search or SEO, and add paid search once they know which offer converts.

### 4\. One social channel

Choose the one platform where your customers already spend time: LinkedIn for business buyers, Instagram or Facebook for many consumer and local businesses. One well-kept account does more than four neglected ones.

Set a rhythm you can keep for the full 90 days, even if it is one post a week. Use it to test messages: the posts people respond to tell you which words to use on the site and, later, in ads. Our [social media content ideas](https://www.noordev.com/blog/social-media-content-ideas/) give you a starting list.

### 5\. Email capture

Search and social platforms can change their rules; an email list is yours. Add a sign-up form to the site with a plain reason to join: a monthly note, a checklist, early access. Then send a first useful message within a week of launch, so the people who sign up remember why they did.

Write only to people who asked to hear from you, and keep the sign-up record. A small list of interested people is worth more than a large list of strangers.

### 6\. Measurement, from day one

Measurement is last in the list but starts on the first day, because you cannot go back and record where your first customers came from.

-   **Pick one number** that matters this quarter, usually enquiries or trials, not followers or visits.
-   **Install analytics on the site** before you launch any channel. BDC’s guide notes that your website also offers important metrics, such as visitor numbers and conversion rates over time.
-   **Ask every new customer** how they heard of you, and write the answer down.
-   **Review at day 90:** keep the channel that produced enquiries, fix or drop the one that did not.

## What to skip early

Saying no is most of a startup’s marketing plan. These can wait until the six steps above run on their own:

-   **Every platform at once.** One social channel, done steadily, beats five accounts with three posts each.
-   **Paid ads before the site converts.** Paying for traffic to a page that does not say what you do is the fastest way to spend a budget.
-   **A brand campaign.** A logo, a clear name and consistent words are enough. Awareness campaigns are hard to measure at this stage.
-   **Marketing automation suites.** A sign-up form and a simple email tool cover the first months. Complex workflows need a list to work on.
-   **Vanity metrics.** Followers, impressions and page views are inputs. Judge each channel on enquiries and customers.
-   **Content volume for its own sake.** Five pages that answer real customer questions beat thirty thin posts.
-   **Rebuilding the site every month.** Change one thing, wait for results, then change the next.

## Budgeting digital marketing for a startup

There is no standard startup marketing budget, and anyone who gives you one figure without knowing your market is guessing.

The one benchmark we can point to is BDC’s: in the same guide, Mallika Kazim says a minimum marketing spend of 1% of topline revenue is typical across most industries. In our view, that is a floor for an established company with revenue. A startup before or just after its first sales has little revenue to take a percentage of, so a different approach works better:

1.  **Separate time from money.** Positioning, the site copy, social posts and email cost mostly founder time. Hosting, tools and ads cost money.
2.  **Fund the foundations first.** The site and measurement come before any paid channel.
3.  **Set a fixed test budget for paid channels,** an amount you can afford to lose, with an end date and a success measure written down in advance.
4.  **Work out what a customer is worth** before you scale any spend: if you know roughly what a first sale brings in, you know what you can pay to win one.
5.  **Review the budget at day 90** against the one number you chose, and move money towards what worked.

Keep it simple. In the BDC guide, Kazim’s advice for the budget part of a marketing plan is the same: set your targets, then work out what it costs to reach them. Our [marketing strategy guide for small businesses](https://www.noordev.com/blog/marketing-strategy-for-small-business/) walks through that plan in more detail.

## When to bring in help

Many founders handle the first 90 days themselves, and should: you learn what your customers respond to. Help makes sense when the steps run but you no longer have the time to keep them going, or when you want several channels measured together. Our [digital marketing service](https://www.noordev.com/digital-marketing/) takes on that work for growing companies.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I start digital marketing with no experience?

In order: write down who your customer is and why they should pick you, build a simple site that says so with one clear next step, then add one search channel and one social channel. Measure enquiries from the first day.

### How much should a startup spend on digital marketing?

There is no standard figure. BDC’s senior advisor says a minimum of 1% of topline revenue is typical across most industries. In our view, that benchmark fits companies that already have revenue. Before you have revenue, set a fixed test budget for paid channels and spend founder time on the foundations.

### Which channel should a startup start with?

The one your customers already use to look for what you sell: local search if they are nearby, organic search if they search for the problem, LinkedIn or another social platform if that is where they spend time.

### When should a startup start paid ads?

Once the site converts visitors into enquiries and you know roughly what a customer is worth. Before that, ads mostly buy traffic that leaves.

Want this done for your business?

[See the service](https://www.noordev.com/digital-marketing/)

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