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The Top 5 EdTech Marketing Agencies in 2025: Who’s Leading the Way?

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Why EdTech marketing requires expertise

The EdTech sector is in rapid growth mode. By 2029, the global EdTech market is expected to grow to $738 billion, driven by the rapid adoption of digital learning solutions, advancements in AI, and increased investment in educational innovation (ResearchAndMarkets, 2024 ). This growth is transforming how students learn, teachers teach, and institutions operate—but with it comes intense competition.

Marketing in the EdTech space isn’t your standard playbook. Your audience isn’t one-size-fits-all—it spans decision-makers in schools, universities, and corporate learning environments. From budget-conscious administrators to tech-savvy teachers and demanding learners, the diversity of stakeholders presents a unique challenge.

And it doesn’t stop there. The sales cycles are often long, involving multiple gatekeepers, and the stakes are high—your product or service must demonstrate measurable impact on teaching outcomes, learning efficiency, or operational ROI.

That’s why you need a specialist. An EdTech marketing agency understands the sector inside and out, from its challenges to its opportunities. They know how to speak the language of educators, navigate compliance hurdles, and craft messaging that resonates.

This article will:

Explore what makes EdTech marketing unique
Unpack the benefits of hiring an EdTech-focused agency
Highlight key services offered by EdTech marketing Agencies
Uncover The Top 5 EdTech Marketing Agencies in 2025 and beyond, and why they stand out.
Provide tips for choosing the right agency partner

Let’s dive in and uncover the agencies and strategies that can help you turn your EdTech ambitions into measurable success.

What makes EdTech marketing unique?

EdTech marketing requires a nuanced approach. It operates at the intersection of technology, education, and business—three industries with distinct challenges and expectations. Here’s what sets EdTech marketing apart and why it demands a tailored strategy.

EdTech audiences are complex

One of the defining characteristics of EdTech marketing is its fragmented audience. Unlike many other tech markets, EdTech targets a diverse decision making group and stakeholders, each with unique priorities.

School administrators and district leaders: Focused on cost-effectiveness, compliance, and integration with existing systems.
Educators and teachers: Interested in tools that enhance student engagement and are easy to implement in the classroom.
Parents and students (B2C): Care about usability, affordability, and demonstrable benefits in learning outcomes.
Corporate buyers (B2B): Prioritise scalable learning management systems (LMS) for workforce training and up-skilling.

Tailoring messaging to resonate with these diverse audiences while addressing their specific pain points requires precision and expertise.

Extended sales cycles and multiple gatekeepers

EdTech purchases are rarely impulse purchases. They involve:

Lengthy sales cycles
Multiple layers of gatekeepers, from IT directors to school boards.
Alignment with academic calendars or budgetary cycles.

EdTech marketing agencies must develop content and campaigns that nurture leads through this extended decision-making process.

Data and proof-driven decision-making

Education buyers demand evidence-based outcomes. They want to see proof that your solution works before committing. Agencies need to:

Showcase research-backed case studies highlighting measurable results.
Incorporate thought leadership into content strategies to position EdTech companies as trusted innovators in the field.
Highlight ROI with clear, quantifiable metrics tailored to each audience segment.

The balance of B2B and B2C marketing in EdTech

EdTech companies often straddle the line between B2B and B2C strategies:

B2B: Marketing to schools, universities, and businesses requires a formal tone, ABM strategies, and clear value propositions tied to institutional goals.
B2C: Marketing to parents or individual learners demands emotional, engaging messaging that speaks directly to personal aspirations or challenges.

EdTech marketing agencies must seamlessly navigate this duality, often building separate campaigns to address both market segments.

The rapid evolution of EdTech

The EdTech sector evolves at lightning speed, particularly driven by:

Emerging technologies like AI, AR/VR, and gamification in learning.
Shifting buyer expectations following the global push for remote and hybrid learning models post-2020.
Shift from on premise to cloud and the adoption of SaaS
Reliance on MSPs – school/university IT staff aren’t specialists in some areas i.e. CyberSec

Keeping up with trends and adapting campaigns to match current opportunities is a crucial skill for any EdTech marketing agency.

Benefits of hiring an EdTech marketing agency

Partnering with an EdTech marketing agency isn’t just about outsourcing tasks—it’s about gaining a strategic edge in a complex, competitive market. There are a number of benefits to be had from working with a specialist agency, including:

Aligning with your audience: The education sector is one of the few industries where you must balance emotional messaging (for teachers, parents, and students) with rational, ROI-driven arguments (for administrators and corporate buyers). An EdTech agency knows how to strike this balance, ensuring your campaigns resonate with every decision-maker involved.
Mapping the buyer journey effectively: EdTech sales are rarely linear. Buyers often move between discovery, research, and decision stages multiple times. Agencies with EdTech expertise can map out these buyer journeys with precision, crafting campaigns that gently nudge prospects toward a decision.
Telling outcome-focused stories: Educators and institutions don’t just want to hear what your product does—they want to know the results it delivers. EdTech agencies excel at turning dry data (e.g., improved test scores or reduced admin workloads) into compelling stories that capture attention and build trust.
Optimising for academic calendars: Timing is critical in the education sector, where budgets are seasonal, and decisions are often tied to the school year. EdTech marketing agencies know how to plan campaigns that hit your audience at just the right time—whether it’s before back-to-school procurement periods or mid-year decision windows.
Maximising tight budgets: Many education buyers operate on constrained budgets, requiring you to prove exceptional value for money. An EdTech agency can help you position your product as an investment, not an expense, by highlighting cost-saving benefits and ROI.
Standing out in a crowded market: With hundreds of new EdTech solutions entering the market annually, it’s hard to stand out. Specialist agencies know how to differentiate your brand, using a combination of creative strategies and data-backed insights to make your messaging unforgettable.
Staying agile in a fast-changing sector: The EdTech landscape evolves fast. Whether it’s shifting buyer priorities, the rise of new technologies, or a sudden policy change, an EdTech marketing agency can help you adapt quickly—without losing momentum.
Extending your resources: Building an in-house team to handle EdTech-specific marketing can be expensive and time-consuming. Agencies bring ready-made expertise, tools, and resources, allowing you to scale your efforts without stretching internal bandwidth.

Working with an EdTech marketing agency isn’t just about campaigns—it’s about building long-term trust with your audience, aligning with sector-specific trends, and making your solution the obvious choice for schools, educators, and learners alike.

Types of services offered by EdTech marketing agencies

Not all EdTech marketing agencies are created equal. Some specialise in specific areas, such as brand strategy or lead generation, while others offer full-service solutions, managing everything from initial positioning to campaign execution. Choosing the right agency depends on the needs of your business—whether you’re refining your brand, generating leads, or enhancing your online presence.

Here are the most common services offered by EdTech marketing agencies and how they can help your business succeed:

Brand strategy and messaging

Defining your value proposition: Positioning your product as a must-have solution in a crowded EdTech market.
Crafting messaging frameworks: Ensuring your communications resonate with educators, decision-makers, and end-users.
Developing visual branding: Designing a professional, cohesive brand identity that reflects your mission and differentiates you from competitors.

Content marketing

Creating thought leadership: Articles, whitepapers, and reports that establish your expertise in your sector.
Developing case studies: Demonstrating measurable impact with real-world success stories.
Video marketing: Explainer videos, product demos, and customer testimonials to engage and inform your audience.

Demand generation

Account-based marketing (ABM): Targeting specific institutions or districts with personalised, high-value campaigns.
Digital lead generation: Paid media campaigns across platforms like LinkedIn and Google to attract qualified leads.
Webinars and events: Hosting thought leadership events to engage your audience and build pipeline opportunities.

Social media marketing

Platform-specific strategies: Creating campaigns tailored to platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube, where education professionals and influencers are active.
Community engagement: Interacting with teachers, administrators, and students to build brand loyalty and awareness.
Paid social advertising: Using targeted ads to increase visibility and drive leads.

Website and UX development

Optimised landing pages: Creating pages that drive conversions with strong CTAs and clear value propositions.
User experience (UX) design: Simplifying navigation for potential buyers, from administrators to parents.
SEO strategies: Ensuring your website ranks for key terms like “EdTech solutions” or “learning management software.”

Analytics and performance tracking

Tracking ROI metrics: From lead generation to customer acquisition costs, agencies monitor what works and what doesn’t.
A/B testing: Optimising campaigns in real-time by testing different messaging, visuals, and formats.
Insights and reporting: Providing actionable data to refine strategies and improve results over time.

How to choose the right marketing agency partner

Choosing the right EdTech marketing agency can be a game-changer for your business. Here’s how to evaluate potential partners to ensure they align with your goals:

1. Sector expertise

Work with an agency that understands EdTech. Look for experience working with education-focused projects and a track record of engaging key multi-decision-maker audiences. Check their portfolio for evidence of success in the education space.

2. Services that fit your needs

Decide if you need a full-service partner or a specialist. Some agencies focus on brand strategy or thought leadership, while others excel at lead generation and ABM. Choose based on your immediate goals (e.g., awareness, demand generation) and long-term vision.

3. Proven impact

Look for agencies that demonstrate their ability to drive results, whether that’s through measurable metrics like improved lead quality, qualitative outcomes like stronger customer engagement, or client testimonials that highlight the value they delivered.

4. Understanding the EdTech sales cycle

The education sales cycle is complex and seasonal. The right agency knows how to nurture leads over time, align campaigns with academic procurement cycles, and adapt strategies for slower periods like summer months.

5. Strategic thinking and adaptability

Great agencies do more than execute—they act as a partner, offering proactive solutions to your challenges. Ensure they understand your market and can adapt strategies to trends like AI, gamification, or hybrid learning environments.

6. Communication and cultural fit

Your agency should feel like an extension of your team. Evaluate how well they communicate, their responsiveness, and whether their approach aligns with your organisation’s culture and values.

7. Pricing

Understand their pricing structure—whether it’s retainer-based, project-based, or performance-based—and ensure it aligns with your budget. Beware of agencies offering low prices without a clear strategy or evidence of success.

Questions to ask when choosing an agency:

How do you define and measure success for campaigns?
Can you share client testimonials or case studies from similar projects?
What methodologies and approach will you take to deliver our objectives?
What’s your process for adapting strategies and reporting on progress?

The top 5 EdTech marketing agencies in 2025

The Rubicon Agency
Aspectus
Eleven Miles
Voxturr
27zero

1. The Rubicon Agency

Overview:

With over 25 years of experience, we specialise in creating the power of attraction for technology market leaders and challengers. Our expertise lies in helping tech-centric brands, including those in EdTech, grow their mindshare and market share. We blend strategic, creative, and digital marketing approaches to tackle your biggest challenges—whether it’s brand positioning, lead generation, or scaling your business.

Year founded: 1998

Team size: 11–50 employees

Key services:

Brand strategy and positioning
Channel strategy
PPC and paid social campaigns
Organic social and advocacy
SEO and website development
CRO (conversion rate optimisation)
Content marketing and sales enablement

Industries served: EdTech, cyber security, SaaS, cloud & AI, engineering & services, infrastructure and platform.

2. Aspectus

Overview:

Aspectus is an independent global brand, marketing, and communications agency specialising in sectors such as technology, financial services, capital markets, energy, and industrials. They combine intelligent insights with global expertise to build brands, create engagement, promote purpose, and support business growth. Their approach involves understanding clients’ markets, researching key stakeholder issues, and delivering creative solutions that drive measurable results.

Year founded: 2008

Team size: 51–200 employees

Key services:

Brand strategy and positioning
Digital marketing
Public relations and communications
Website development and SEO
Campaigns and content creation
Environmental, Social, Governance communications

Industries served: Technology, financial services, energy, industrials, professional services.

3. Eleven Miles

Overview:

Eleven Miles is a branding and creative agency that helps brands redefine how they communicate and connect with their audiences. With a strong focus on storytelling and design, Eleven Miles supports clients in creating bold, memorable identities that stand out. Their expertise spans a variety of sectors, including education, where they have developed impactful campaigns that resonate with educators and learners alike.

Year founded: 2003

Team size: 51-100 employees

Key services:

Brand strategy and development
Creative design and storytelling
Campaign ideation and execution
Video production and animation
Social media campaigns
Website design and development

Industries served: Education, Technology, Healthcare, Fashion and Retail.

4. Voxturr

Overview:

Voxturr is a growth-focused marketing agency that combines innovation, data, and creativity to help brands achieve rapid and sustainable growth. With a strong focus on technology-driven companies, including EdTech, Voxturr specialises in delivering measurable results through tailored strategies that balance brand development with lead generation. Their expertise lies in growth marketing, digital transformation, and building scalable solutions for fast-paced industries.

Year founded: 2018

Team size: 11-50 employees

Key services:

Growth marketing strategies
Demand generation and lead nurturing
Search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)
Brand development and positioning
Digital product development

Industries served: EdTech, RetailTech, HealthTeck, TravelTech.

5. 27zero

Overview:

27zero is a marketing agency with expertise empowering EdTech companies to amplify their impact and achieve growth. With a deep understanding of the education technology sector, 27zero offers tailored marketing programs that resonate with target audiences, elevate brand identity, and drive tangible results.

Year founded: 2021

Team size: 11–50 employees

Key services:

Brand strategy and positioning
Event marketing
Web development and UX
Copywriting
Marketing ops
Thought leadership
Content marketing
Insights and research

Industries served: EdTech

Summary: Your next move in EdTech marketing

EdTech is evolving at breakneck speed, and standing out in such a competitive market requires more than generic marketing strategies. It demands deep industry knowledge, creative storytelling, and the ability to connect with an audience that values trust, outcomes, and measurable impact.

A great EdTech marketing agency isn’t just a vendor—it’s a growth partner. Whether you’re looking to sharpen your brand, create campaigns that resonate with decision-makers, or scale your reach globally, the agencies we’ve highlighted excel at helping businesses like yours succeed.

But here’s the challenge: it’s not about finding just any agency—it’s about finding the right one. That means asking tough questions:

Does this agency understand the complexities of EdTech, from seasonal sales cycles to multi-stakeholder audiences?
Can they go beyond delivering leads to help us build a trusted, recognisable brand?
Will they challenge us with fresh ideas, creative solutions, and strategies tailored to our unique challenges?

If your current marketing isn’t driving the traction you need, it’s time to rethink your approach. The agencies we’ve covered are leading the way in 2024 because they don’t just tick boxes—they deliver strategies that align with your goals and adapt to the fast-changing demands of the education sector.

The question isn’t whether you need an EdTech marketing partner—it’s which one will take you further. Now’s the time to invest in expertise that transforms your ambition into tangible results.

Want to boost your budget?

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Think of it as 15% extra – free of charge.

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The brand strategy continuum

We all know the proverb a rolling stone gathers no moss. Well, there’s a degree of transferability to brand strategy, especially within technology brands.

The rate of change within the industry is accelerating exponentially. New vendors continue to enter the market, innovations are quicker and easier to deploy, and new categories are constantly being created, mapped and ranked.

This begs the question, how are organisations able to create an effective brand strategy in a world of constantly evolving variables?

Change is the only constant

Let’s delve into the murky world of failed brands, one of the highest profile examples in recent times must be Blockbuster. If you are of a certain age, the Friday night trip to the nearest store was an event in its own right. At the time the brand was synonymous with the home video rental market, that was until market challenger Netflix came onto the scene. Before the days of streaming, Netflix offered a mail order service which removed the need for expensive stores, staffing overheads or the need to leave your house. The irony is that in 2000 Netflix co-founders offered to sell the brand to Blockbuster, which they ultimately declined. The rest is history.

Blockbuster clearly failed to evolve with the times, but sometimes a brand can be so entrenched in a particular space that trying to reinvent and reposition itself is incredibly difficult.

Evolve or fail

Moving back into the realms of tech, IBM faced a similar challenge. Their brand was synonymous with mainframe computers. As the market evolved and personal computing, and eventually cloud computing developed, IBM embraced change. Moving away from hardware, IBM focussed on software and services to keep pace with the industry. They are now a major player in AI and cloud. These changes weren’t an overnight decision, and industry perception needed to evolve significantly to be seen as a credible player in the software space.

Below are some of the considerations and strategic steps that need to be embraced when evolving a brand.

Benchmark industry perceptions: gather insights on how customers currently perceive your brand. Identify commonalities and areas that need improvement/change.
Redefine your brand identity: rearticulate your brand’s mission, vision and values. Ensure that these elements align with the new perception you want to create.
Change the narrative: develop a consistent (but progressive) brand message across all channels. Establish the evolved brand, your proposition and USPs to all parties.
Provide social proof: leverage testimonials and reviews to demonstrate the change in position. User-generated content can prove much more influential than corporate marketing.
Continuously innovate: stay relevant by adapting to market trends. Position your brand as an innovator and responsive to customer needs.
With over 25 years of B2B agency experience working within the tech sector we know what it takes to change market perception, refresh a brand and redefine your proposition.

If your brand strategy could use an update, then speak to The Rubicon Agency for a fresh perspective.

Want to boost your budget?

The Rubicon Agency Budget Booster is designed to optimise funds – making your available $/£/€ go 15% further than it would have done previously.

Think of it as 15% extra – free of charge.

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The impact of digital transformation on crafting propositions

Creating marketing propositions used to be a heady blend of science and art. The science was researching and collating the data points that set your brand apart from the competition. The art was to take that information and shape a compelling story (visual and verbal) that resonates with your audience.

These were simpler times, the data collection phases were, at best, limited. Focus groups, industry commentator and analyst opinions, customer feedback and sales inputs were really the mainstay of information gathering.

Fast forward to the present. Digital transformation is playing a major role in changing how data is gathered, analysed and applied to shaping market propositions. These include:

Big data, AI and ML

Digital analytics tools can provide brands with deep insights into customer behaviours, purchase patterns and preferences. Being able to automate and scale this analysis provides a much larger data set on which to tailor propositions and increase the personalisation of offers.

Speed of innovation

Proposition development isn’t exclusively based upon data of existing customers, it’s about being able to evolve your current offering to attract new ones. Digital transformation acts as a catalyst. Technologies such as cloud, 3D printing, robotics, virtualisation, bots and blockchain enable brands to innovate at speed and react to market changes in a fraction of the time than before.

Expanded communication channels

The proliferation of comms channels coupled with customer-led feedback platforms (i.e. G2 /Capterra or Feefo/TrustPilot) provide a bigger mouthpiece for customer feedback. Continuous engagement with a wider customer base helps brands to understand things they are doing well, and not so well, which provides a basis to constantly evolve and refine their value propositions accordingly.

Incorporation of sustainability and ethical policies

The adoption of digital tools allows companies to effectively track, report and incorporate CSR policies into their value propositions. Before these claims were largely qualitative, but now advanced tracking solutions can quantitively report KPIs such as carbon footprint, mentoring hours and charitable donations that may appeal to more ethical consumers.

Global scale and reach

Akin to the speed of innovation, advances in technology also provide brands with the ability to scale operations globally. Before propositions were created to appeal to local markets, but now the global nature of business allows for a more expansive value proposition that needs to resonate with multiple markets.

It can be said these advances in technology open the doors of opportunity, but with it they provide increased complexity when trying to create a proposition that resonates with the masses now, and into the future.

Creating a messaging cascade and proposition story that distills the very essence of your business is no easy feat. Being too close to your products can bring on a bout of snow blindness that clouds your judgement. Conversely, involving too many stakeholders can dilute what’s really important to your end user. This is where The Rubicon Agency can help.

With over 25 years of B2B agency experience working within the tech sector we know what it takes to inspire action, create cut-through and drive preference. We also take inputs from stakeholders and surface what’s killer to establish propositions with purpose.

If your go-to-market narrative could use an update, then speak to The Rubicon Agency for a fresh perspective.

Want to boost your budget?

The Rubicon Agency Budget Booster is designed to optimise funds – making your available $/£/€ go 15% further than it would have done previously.

Think of it as 15% extra – free of charge.

Explore Budget Booster

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Are corporate communications an oxymoron?

Think of corporate communications and what’s the first thing that springs to mind? No doubt many of you will naturally gravitate to sales or marketing propaganda – encouraging you, the consumer, to take action around a certain offer or proposition.

Ok, so the Cambridge dictionary definition of the word communication is ‘the various methods of sending information between people and places.’ This is technically what organisations are doing, however in the society don’t we associate communication with being a two-way thing?

When asking copilot what the measures of success for corporate comms these were its best answers.

1. Social Media Engagement

This includes likes, shares, comments, and overall interaction on social media platforms. High engagement indicates that the content resonates with the audience.

2. Website Traffic

Monitoring the number of visitors to the company’s website can show how well communication efforts are driving interest and engagement.

3. Media Mentions

The frequency and sentiment of mentions in the media can reflect the visibility and public perception of the company.

4. Share of Voice (SOV)

This measures how much of the market conversation is about your brand compared to competitors. A higher SOV indicates stronger market presence.

5. Brand Uplift

This involves measuring changes in brand awareness and perception over time, often through surveys and market research.

6. Employee Engagement

For internal communications, metrics like employee feedback, participation in company events, and internal survey results can indicate how well the communications are being received².

7. Conversion Rates

Tracking how many people take a desired action (e.g., signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase) after being exposed to corporate communications can show the effectiveness of the messaging³.

8. Customer Feedback

Collecting and analysing feedback from customers can provide insights into how well the communications are meeting their needs and expectations.

Interesting, only two of these answers were directly attributing success to actual feedback from the recipient!

Does this raise the question that are we as marketers still focused on one way correspondence rather than initiating two-way conversation?
Inherently the answer seems to be yes, what with shrinking marketing budgets, increased pressure to hit quarterly sales targets and an increase in short-termism – marketers often default to creating communications that drive action and not conversation. But is this wrong?

Really that question can only be answered by the brand. What is it we want to achieve? How do we want our audience to react? How do we measure success? Is this going to impact our marketing goals? In some instances, striking up dialogue is the correct course of action, other times its to drive direct response.

Different objectives require expertly crafted communications to drive the desired course of action. This deep understanding of buyer behavior, market maturity and industry perceptions can be a daunting task for many marketing leaders to apply to their comms, but The Rubicon Agency can help.

We create corporate communications that really hit home, whether your audience is internal, a partner or ultimately your end customer. With over 25 years of B2B agency experience working within the tech sector we know what it takes to inspire action, create cut through and drive preference

Want to boost your budget?

The Rubicon Agency Budget Booster is designed to optimise funds – making your available $/£/€ go 15% further than it would have done previously.

Think of it as 15% extra – free of charge.

Explore Budget Booster

The Rubicon Agency In Insights, Miscellaneous, Our industry, The Message Elevator, Thought leadership

Thought leadership in the digital age: who’s leading who?

Opinion forming, visioning and crystal ball gazing is nothing new in the world of technology. Almost half a decade on, marketers are still waxing lyrical about tech mystic Steve Jobs and how he saw the role of computers in modern society.

It could be said that he has set the benchmark for many of today’s luminaries without the availability of social media, mobile technology or mainstream video. This begs the question, in today’s digital world are the visionaries of the 21st century actually that pioneering, or do they just have access to a bigger mouthpiece?

The dissemination of ideas

With the number of digital channels increasing exponentially, industry ambassadors have an embarrassment of riches when syndicating their opinions. If the quest is to elevate their personal brand, then measures of success are likely to include follower growth, engagement metrics, social shares and speaker opportunities. However, if their objectives are more aligned to business generation, how do you effectively attribute thought leadership notions with revenue? Do these ideas really resonate with potential buyers? Do they align with the company vision? Are these views likely to drive action?

Looking through this lens some of the vanity metrics mentioned earlier may seem a bit flaky. Can an idea that’s ‘gone viral’ really influence the sale of a six-figure purchase?

This really is the crux of the question, are the opportunities to see the content/notion diluting the actual value of the content itself?

It’s an interesting thought, are we subliminally being spoon fed these concepts that, if challenged, are reconstituted from someone else or are flimsy at best?

Beware of false idols

Today, the number of people with role adjectives such as luminary, visionary, pioneer or champion in their social profiles are commonplace. With so much digital noise out there, how do we sift through the real thought leaders from the pretenders to the throne?

Below are some telltale signs of what to look for.

Expertise and knowledge: Search for individuals who have deep expertise in their field that have been recognised by their peers and are frequent sharers of valuable and unique content.
Authenticity: Genuine thought leaders are transparent and unique, many replicate but true thought leaders share personal content, including failures, that make it feel real and relatable. Comfort with the good, bad and ugly shows humanity and real depth.
Strong points of view: The usual background check of credentials, past work and endorsements from peers can help validate industry luminaries – but how they project insightful, visionary and sometimes unconventional thinking is they key ask
Engagement: I’m not just talking about likes and shares, real thought leaders engage with their networks about their views and visions.
Consistency: Thought leadership isn’t just a hit and run exercise, being able to consistently produce high-quality content that provides value and is one step ahead.

The last point on this list is very important – consistent, sustained content is vital to establishing your business or personal brand and to make sure your content is taken seriously. But it’s also worth noting that using the plethora digital channels available to you also creates its own challenges. Lazy copy and paste posturing can create white noise, with followers becoming turned off by a cookie cutter approach. Different channels are frequented by different audiences so treat them as such. This continued requirement of content can be an overwhelming task for many business leaders, but The Rubicon Agency can help.

We craft thought leadership content that commands an audience, drives engagement and opens doors. With over 25 years of B2B agency experience working within the tech sector we know what it takes to articulate a vision, a view or a notion that people will want to follow.

Want to boost your budget?

The Rubicon Agency Budget Booster is designed to optimise funds – making your available $/£/€ go 15% further than it would have done previously.

Think of it as 15% extra – free of charge.

Explore Budget Booster

The Rubicon Agency In Insights, M4 in action, Miscellaneous, Our industry, Strategic content, The Message Elevator

Writers block: The great AI content conundrum

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 61% of technology marketers say creating the right content for their audience is challenging.

This is hardly surprising given the sprawl of decision makers, budget holders and influencer groups over the years. In yesteryear things were much simpler, the balance of power sat in the IT tower. Decisions on technology purchases were sat firmly with the CTO or CIO so producing content that pushed their buttons was fairly straight forward.

Fast-forward to the present, the technology space is awash with products, services, solutions and architectures that are designed specifically for certain lines of business. In May of this year CMSwire reported that the MarTech space alone had swelled to over 14,100 solutions [hyperlink], so it’s no surprise that tech marketers are finding it difficult to create differentiated, relevant and valuable content that their prospects want to engage with, given the competition for eyeballs.

Is AI the answer to our content prayers?

With the explosion of AI into every tech application known to man, it’s no wonder that marketing has embraced generative AI like a returning relative from an overseas trip. Let’s face it, AI has been pitched to remove manual, repetitive and human centric tasks- content creation is no exception to this. The Content Marketing Institute continue in their benchmarking report that 79% of technology marketers use generative AI for content tasks and 48% use AI to write full first drafts. But this begs the question, is AI the golden goose we have all been searching for?

Well, if used correctly it can certainly remove a lot of the grunt work out of the process which is a huge plus given that 66% of tech marketers are faced with a lack of resources. However, in order to remain in control, marketing departments must adopt some form of guiderails around the use of AI in content production. These include but are not limited to:

Ethical use of AI: Organisations should be transparent about AI-generated content in order to avoid bias and not to mislead audiences.
Quality control: Human involvement should be applied to all AI generated content to ensure that brand tone of voice and quality standards are adhered to.
Content authenticity: Ensure content feels like it’s been created by a human, making sure it’s authentic and adds value to the audience.
Content validation: Check to make sure that references, statistics and sources are relevant, up to date and correct.
Data privacy, security and compliance: Make sure that all content complies with copyright law, data protection and compliance regulations.

Content should be human-centric.

No doubt about it, AI has aided content creation and has certainly streamlined the process, although to be truly authentic, marketers still need to apply the human touch. Consumers often challenge and question the information they are presented with, so structuring arguments that support these and applying empathy, elevation and context to these points can promote authenticity.

People buy people, so if your content comes across as synthetic your audience may not only switch off but, on a deeper level, possibly question your products or even worse, your brand.

At The Rubicon Agency we craft human-centric strategic content that informs, educates and inspires. With over 25 years of B2B marketing agency experience working within the tech sector, we know what it takes to cut through the competition.

Want to boost your budget?

The Rubicon Agency Budget Booster is designed to optimise funds – making your available $/£/€ go 15% further than it would have done previously.

Think of it as 15% extra – free of charge.

Explore Budget Booster

The Rubicon Agency In Insights, Miscellaneous, Our industry, Sales enablement

Sales enablement: 10 pitfalls that can derail your sales efforts

We all know that securing a new account is very much a team effort. Extended sales cycles, big-ticket purchases and complex buying groups require a consolidated effort from both marketing and sales functions.

Get it right, and the payoff can be huge; get it wrong, and those marketing dollars spent on generating leads could be wasted.

Below we look at the top 10 sales enablement pitfalls that can derail even the best customer acquisition efforts.

1. Misalignment issues

It may seem obvious but it’s amazing how many times sales and marketing functions aren’t aligned. To be on the same page, sales teams need to be continuing the narrative that the prospect has originally enticed and engaged with. Going off-piste can dilute your proposition or leave the prospect scratching their heads about what they are actually buying. Whether you have functional (i.e RevOps or Growth marketing) or operational alignment (i.e. interlocked sales and marketing ABX) is irrelevant – the shared language, vision, metrics are key.

2. Unarmed and underprepared

The saying goes ‘it takes a village to raise a child’; well, in a similar vein you can’t close a sale without sufficient assets across multi-touchpoints. When an MQL lands with the sales team, they need to continue to nurture the prospect until they are ready to engage in intent-led activities such as demo content. If the sales enablement content is missing or significantly lacking, your place on their short-list could be in jeopardy.

3. The customer is always right

Listen to your customers and feed that back into the sales process. Customers are often a source of enlightenment that can highlight specific silver bullets that encouraged them to buy from you. These may differ from the USPs identified by the product marketing team and could, if used correctly, make your proposition a whole lot stickier.

4. Mind the gap

Sales teams are at the coalface when it comes to feedback from prospects. If a recurring issue or challenge crops up, then it would be foolhardy to ignore. This could be not having enough social proof that your product does what it says it can do, or collateral that demonstrates the business value to the C-suite. Whatever the gap, this content chasm needs to be filled or your prospect could disappear into the abyss.

5. Computer says ‘no’

Tech is great when it’s used correctly. However in the case of ‘having all the gear and no idea’, there is no point having it at all. If the tech stack is operating in silos or not being used at all then prospects can be under served, neglected or just left to go cold. Integration of systems and a single source of truth is critical to making sure prospects are given what they want, when they want it. Without this you are back to good old-fashioned guesswork and blind luck.

6. Slow, slow, quick quick slow.

Moving interested parties through the funnel is nothing new, but customers hold all the cards and call all the shots when it comes to sales acceleration. With the constant pressure of quarterly sales targets to hit, it can be tempting to move prospects through to the end game as quickly as possible. Moving a ‘lead’ straight to a demo after they have only consumed a single piece of content could come across as desperate. But by the same token, not moving prospects onto to more sales qualification content when they want can also demonstrate lack of empathy. Pacing a lead is a balancing act and one that should be informed by clear metrics and digital body language.

7. Too many tools

Counter to point 5, the digitally enlightened sales team may embrace the benefits of sales applications, but give them too many and the law of diminishing returns will start to kick in.

8. Poor training and onboarding

Knowing your customers and aligning their needs with your products is a basic necessity for sales. Inadequate training and campaign alignment can leave sales teams underprepared and less effective at communicating your point of difference or objection handling. Gaps in product knowledge or inconsistencies in sales messages can leave your credibility exposed.

9. Low ball content

As mentioned in point 4, content is key. You may have a plethora of assets to send to your prospective customer to help encourage them to buy, but what if the content is the wrong pitch? Sure ‘speeds and feeds’ material have its place, but is it likely to pique the interest of business leaders – probably not. Sales teams need a raft of assets that appeal, inspire and convince decision makers from both technical and business camps.

10. Don’t stand still

Heraclitus said, “the only constant in life is change”. How true he was, this philosophy rings true within the sales engine as well. Just because something is resonating today doesn’t mean that it will continue to do so in 12, 18 or 24 month’s time. Change is inevitable and your sales enablement needs to adopt this mindset as well. Trends change, buying habits flex and priorities pivot, failing to recognise this will make your pitch seem outdated and irrelevant.

For a holistic view of your sales enablement assets and approach, speak to The Rubicon Agency. With over 25 years of B2B marketing experience working within the tech sector, we know what it takes to inspire sales teams and cut through the competition.

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The Rubicon Agency In Insights, Miscellaneous, Our industry, Product marketing, The Content Spectrum

The importance of the product marketing enigma machine

Cracked by the boffins at Bletchley Park and synonymous with films like The Imitation Game and U-571, the Enigma machine was at the bleeding edge of cipher technology in the mid 20th century. Unlocking the true meaning of its coded messages had a monumental impact on the outcome of WW2.

With a slightly tangential pivot, the same premise could be applied to deciphering the sometimes-cryptic messages unveiled by product marketing teams. Tasked with communicating a product, solution or service to the market, product marketing can sometimes default to showcasing the technical features and functionality.

Now, there is a time and a place for this information – comparing competitors’ offerings can require a forensic peek under the covers. However, being able to convey the benefits to a non-technical audience or apply relevance to certain lines of business is a skill that requires a degree in translations.

Demonstrating the art of possible

As we are all well aware, buying centres and tech budget holders have become more diverse than they were 20 years ago. Lines of business including HR, finance, marketing and sales now have dedicated budgets to purchase x-tech products and services.

Assuming these buyers aren’t tech savvy, or particularly excited by the number of functions your product offers. So, how do you effectively communicate the value and the difference of your brand over a competitors?

The answer is empathy. Put the product in context. How is it going to make their lives better? How is it going to benefit the business? What possible use cases can your product be applied to? These are some of the messages that will cut through the noise of traditional speeds and feeds information.

The growing influence of Product Marketing Managers

In a recent article, McKinsey reported that PMMs could be the secret weapon in turning products from ‘meh’ to ‘must-have’. They stated the following:

Market understanding: PMMs bring essential insights to the table which in turn help tailor products to meet customer needs and preferences.
Orchestration: They coordinate efforts across teams to ensure a seamless transition from development to market launch.
Risk mitigation: By understanding market dynamics they’re able to reduce the risk and guesswork associated with new product launches.
Revenue growth: Companies with robust PMM functions see significantly higher revenue growth, with top performers having a 25-30% higher ratio of PMMs to product managers.

Used effectively, product marketing managers can bridge the gap between development and customer speak, they can pivot the stories above to resonate with their audience and act as ‘chief code breaker’, to take the technical intricacies of the product and decipher it into real business benefits.

At The Rubicon Agency we have a track-record of working with product luminaries and ‘simplifiers of propositions. Together, we craft product marketing content that bridges the gap between tech speak and storytelling. With over 25 years of experience working within the B2B tech sector we know what it takes to articulate a new product, service, platform or architecture.

Want to boost your budget?

The Rubicon Agency Budget Booster is designed to optimise funds – making your available $/£/€ go 15% further than it would have done previously.

Think of it as 15% extra – free of charge.

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The Rubicon Agency In Insights, Miscellaneous, Our industry

Are FinTech’s losing touch? Fintech marketing trends

Traditional banks have long been seen as the lumbering dinosaurs of the finance world, unable to react dynamically. Many Millennials and Gen Z were searching for market disruptors that offered secure financial services but delivered on their terms and in a digital first manner.

This groundswell saw the birth of the neobank, a digitally native offering with no bricks and mortar branches, specialising in a concentrated set of products and services. Great you may think. Problem solved. These disruptors have filled a gap in the market and are now serving their customers in a more efficient and digital way than the traditional banks ever could. Wrong! If you are going to disrupt the market then you need to stay in lockstep with the demands of your customers (new and old) through effective Fintech marketing strategies. It could be argued that whilst FinTech’s provided a refreshing pivot away from high street banks, they are now facing the same challenges.

Know your market

Being different was, at first, enough of a USP to attract previously disgruntled customers. However, as more and more FinTech’s entered the market, supercharged with supportive conditions like digitalisation and abundant funding, each needed to carve out their own niche. However, many had misaligned their offering with the needs and wants of their potential customers. Overlay direct and indirect competitors and the piece of the pie that seemed sizeable at first can quickly turn to a pile of crumbs.

Poor user experience

The very premise of a neobank or FinTech is built on the customers digital experience. Deliver a poor UX and the selling point that many customers bought into has eroded and with it their loyalty.

If the digital experience is slow, unreliable, cumbersome or irrelevant then customer will churn.

Evolve or fail

In a continuously changing landscape, FinTech’s need to stay ahead of consumer trends and customer wants in order to stay relevant. For example, Revolut started life focusing on the travel market. Their offer was aimed at customers who wanted to make digital transactions abroad without being stung with commissions or unfavourable exchange rates. Over the years, they have evolved their proposition, adding new services such as crypto trading to keep pace with their users’ news.

Navigating regulations

New rules and compliance obligations like Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) can become a burden for agile neobanks. These regulations require large amounts of resource and can impact business models depending on technology and risk profiling. Those that don’t cope with these checks and balances can be impacted by delivering a sub-standard service to their customers.

Safety in numbers

Filling the gaps in products or services through partnerships is one of the ways FinTechs can expand their offer to its customer base without diluting their core business. Partnerships enable users to customise their accounts with a la cart services that are most relevant.

It’s safe to say that the FinTech buyer is more disconcerting than a few years ago. Where slick propositions and digital-first experiences provided a breath of fresh air to a largely siloed and outdated industry, these same gems have lost their luster over time. Expectations have exponentially increased. Service requirements have become more complex and personalised.

Standing out from the crowd in a highly commoditised market is difficult, so to cut through the noise you need a marketing agency that can elevate you above the competition.

The Rubicon Agency has significant experience in the FinTech space – whether the original disruptors or the re-incarnators.

Check out our experience in FinTech.

Want to boost your budget?

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Lewis Miller In Miscellaneous, Our industry

25 years of innovation and success with AT&T

Supporting AT&T for 25 years

We’ve come a long way since launching the AT&T MPLS capability in EMEA 25 years ago. At that time – due to the millennium bug – the IT function was mid-planning for tech meltdown and business was thinking about social Armageddon.

Way back in 1999 (yes, the previous century), AT&T was looking for a B2B tech marketing agency to run a pan-European programme to improve market education on improved traffic management in the enterprise WAN. And after a comprehensive pitch process, we answered the call.

Little did we know back then that our relationship would endure for another couple of decades.

Transformational technologies and opportunities

“Winning AT&T added a marquee brand to our client list. Any tech agency would be proud to support the world’s largest telco brand”, said Andrew Miller, co-founder, The Rubicon Agency. “After a successful MPLS programme that created a good pipeline of opportunity, we were introduced to a number of functions and teams that allowed us to deepen our partnership. These operations were receptive to an agency dedicated to B2B tech.”

Since then, the agency has had the pleasure of supporting many portfolios across the organisation – geographically and technologically. These include IoT, unified communication & collaboration, mobility, networking, consulting and contact centre. And go-to-market teams such as Education, Retail, APAC, EMEA and Global.

The Rubicon Agency: a great B2B marketing combination

Maintaining a relationship with a powerhouse like AT&T over such a significant time is no mean feat. “With an absolute focus on tech marketing, we’ve got a great track record of delivering results for AT&T – with moments of magic and mojo across many campaigns”, said Andrew Miller. “Whether simplifying propositions or creating new notions and leadership conversations, we look to make our marketing impact deliver a multiple of what AT&T invests with us at the outset”.

With over 400 projects under our belt, you’d maybe think that things are winding down. But far from it. Our B2B marketing journey continues – with new assignments for AT&T Labs, AT&T Connected Wearables and AT&T Cloud Voice. Things remain busy.

Here’s to the next 25 years!

Explore our latest projects for AT&T

Demonstrating the business case for wearables

AT&T
Anticipating customer needs to provide outstanding CX

AT&T & Five9
Bringing omnichannel to life

AT&T
Embedding collaboration across the enterprise

AT&T
Creating relevance in key vertical markets

AT&T
Driving market development in IoT

AT&T

The Rubicon Agency In Miscellaneous, Our industry

The Rubicon Agency’s 25-year relationship with Cisco

The Rubicon Agency: helping Cisco build the Internet for a quarter of a century

There seems to be a poetic symmetry to Cisco’s claims of accelerating internet uptake 25 years ago – and their current campaign claiming that 80% of traffic runs through their infrastructure. Not only were we supporting them back then, but we continue to do so even now.

In 1999 Cisco, the worldwide leader in internet networking solutions, were on the hunt for a B2B tech marketing agency to support their telco service provider business. Specifically, the co-marketing programme – Rainmaker – was a key investment in driving managed network services business into Cisco Powered Network providers. They just needed a dedicated tech agency to help lead the charge.

After a competitive pitch process, we ultimately secured the prestigious gig.

“I remember the agency selection and campaign development process very well – like it was yesterday. We pitched against 8 other B2B tech or telco marketing agencies to secure the programme. I also remember the lightening bolt of energy generated by adding their logo to our client list.”, said Andrew Miller, co-founder, The Rubicon Agency.

Providing support across Europe and beyond

The following 24 months were taken-up with supporting key European services providers on market development programmes in their respective countries – including Telecom Italia, KPN, DT, Telekom Austria, Swisscom, Belgacom and FT, to name a few.

Since then, we’ve managed B2B marketing programmes across Cisco including Cisco Enterprise Networking, Cisco Capital, Cisco IoT, Cisco Webex, Cisco Partner Development organisation, Cisco Office of Innovation, Cisco Service Provider, Cisco Office of I&D, and many more. And over the last 18 months we’ve produced projects co-funded by Radware and Cisco for Cisco SECURE.

“We knew the initial project had a wide campaign window – but I’m not sure we expected to still have the relationship over 25 years later.” Andrew Miller further commented. “But we’re as proud to be creating mind share and wallet share for the tech giant now, as we were back in the 20th century.”

Cisco + The Rubicon Agency: an enduring relationship

Undoubtedly, Cisco has a bold commitment to marketing – and this philosophy provides a good fit with our agency’s expertise in B2B tech marketing, creating high levels of attraction through in break-through strategy and creative.

Our relationship continues to this day with new projects across several channel, technology and sub-brand functions.

Explore our latest projects for Cisco

Increasing awareness in DDoS protection

Cisco & Radware
Accelerating adoption of a game-changing channel programme

Cisco
Encouraging new behaviours to ‘Be the Change’

Cisco
Communicating a new model in social impact

Cisco
Helping develop sales mastery for teams and partners

Cisco
Sharing sales best practices with partners

Cisco

The Rubicon Agency In Miscellaneous, Our industry

Series-C CMOs who hit their growth goals all know this

If your tech start-up is prepping for its series-C funding round, your Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has a challenge ahead.

They need to rapidly professionalise the company’s marketing, branding and communications, bringing them up to corporate standards.

They need to show that they have achieved the goals set at the last funding round. And that they have the expertise, the series-C marketing strategy, the technology and skills to achieve the results any series-C investors will demand.

From scrappy tech start-up to corporate professionalism

At this stage in the start-up journey, the challenge isn’t simply about what the potential customer can see — though that is still important. It’s also about the technology, frameworks and strategies behind the scenes.

What does the CMO have to do to get the company ready for series C funding?

Demonstrate a communications strategy that addresses each user segment at every point in the customer lifecycle in a way that maximises returns.
Adopt marketing automation as part of the fully technology-enabled strategy for demand-generation and the maximization of customer lifetime value (CLV).
Have a credible demand-generation strategy for taking the business into new segments, new geographies and other new audiences.
Develop mature account-based marketing strategies and practices, to ensure and demonstrate maximum revenue growth from your install base.
Own a powerful thought leadership platform that creates sustainable conversations and clear market differentiation and leadership.

To get your start-up through its series-C funding round, brand identity, corporate messaging guidelines, communications strategy must all be comprehensive, flexible and contain all the elements required to enable these and other innovations.

For instance, if you’re building a personalised digital journey, driven by CRM-based marketing automation, your start-up’s brand identity and marketing architecture must contain all the elements required to support that effort. The system must be able to pull these automatically from your libraries to create the asset it needs, at an industrial scale.

This requires a combination of marketing, revenue, technical and operational knowledge and practical expertise. For many start-ups, it’s huge leap in combining greater marketing structure, with far more detail in strategy, larger amounts of data and a much greater and broad ranging use of technology.

We call this stage-by-stage approach the start-up marketing investment maturity path. It runs from pre-seed to series-D. At each stage, the challenges associated with convincing investors, securing funding and hitting growth targets are unique.

To find out more about the marketing investment maturity path, check out our infographic.

View infographic

When technology is a false friend

In one sense, there is a lot of reassurance at this stage in the start-up journey. CRM platforms, marketing automation, digital-experience — these are all known quantities. You can buy into off-the-shelf technologies and follow ready-made plans.

That’s all good. But it’s not a substitute for having the necessary architecture underpinning your branding, marketing, corporate messaging and communications.

The best martech in the world will not help you if:

Your messaging is inconsistent across touchpoints in the lifecycle.
Your communications aren’t tailored to your audience segments.
Your visual branding is a bad fit for your value proposition and brand personality.

Without the right approach to start-up branding, marketing and communications, you can find yourself with a technologically flawless technical implementation of automated, data-driven marketing at scale and still fail to hit your growth or investment targets.

Investors want to see conversion metrics, not tech metrics

In this scenario, the technology-related metrics will look great. But your conversion metrics won’t, because while your comms might arrive in the right inboxes, your messages won’t land with your audience.

This won’t help you grow your user base or your revenue. It will not help you meet either your series-B goals or convince investors that you can credibly achieve any goals they set as a condition of series-C funding.

The answer is to make sure your CMO has access to a marketing, branding and comms team that has experience taking start-ups through their series-C funding round. You could choose to build this team internally. But this involves time and cost overheads that many start-ups will find prohibitive.

The answer is to find an external partner with start-up marketing expertise, right away. A good tech marketing agency will work with you to identify exactly the tools/tactics you do and — and don’t — need for your series-C funding round. It will help you develop exactly the mix of branding, marketing and communications your company needs to achieve its current goals and to give it a platform fit for future growth and evolution.

The Rubicon Agency has three decades of business and consumer tech marketing experience working with both start-ups and some of the world’s leading established technology brands.

This blog is part of The CMO Investment Challenge series, including The pre-seed to C journey, Seed-A, Series A-B and Series B-C.

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The Rubicon Agency In Miscellaneous, Our industry, Web + UX development

This secret gives the best series-B CMOs the edge

When a start-up makes the leap from series A to B funding, it places a lot of pressure on the company’s marketing capabilities.

At this stage in the start-up journey, investors expect more structure and more obvious professionalism in marketing. You can no longer build your marketing effort solely or mainly around your founders and their vision.

The time for scrappy, ad-hoc communications is over. Now, you need structure, not just in brand identity, but in your messaging guidelines, your product marketing, your demand generation, your relationship with your channel and other partners — and more.

We call this the series-B marketing great leap forward. Here’s what it looks like:

Brand marketing: you need a structured brand identity and tone of voice. It doesn’t have to be a 50-page guide to every element of branding, but it needs to cover the basics – and it needs a control system to prevent deviation but allow evolution.
Revenue marketing: your product should now be defined as something separate from your company; your target segments and your marketing plan should be clearly defined and your demand engine somewhat proven and reliable.
Marketing communications: you should have comms planned for multiple personas across each key point on the customer journey – and across multiple channels.

Often, by this stage in their lifecycle, the start-up’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has at least a small, dedicated team to work with.

In one sense, this is a blessing. The CMO has help to hand. But it can also be a curse. Having previously done the marketing themselves, the founders hand over to the CMO, dust off their hands and think ‘job done’.

This completely underestimates the marketing challenge facing the CMO as they take the start-up from its series A to its series B funding round.

The series-B marketing great leap forward

The series-B funding round is a key stage on the start-up marketing investment maturity path, running from pre-seed to series-D. At each stage, the challenges associated with convincing investors, securing funding and hitting growth targets are unique.

The series-B CMO has a huge job to do. They must create a branding, marketing and communications vehicle that’s almost as comprehensive, data-driven, accountable and effective as anything a corporate would produce.

Among other things, that means:

Taking the disparate, ad-hoc branding elements the start-up has created, making them consistent and filling in any gaps to build a comprehensive brand identity.
Building data-based audience segmentation and then creating marketing campaigns, with measurable success metrics, for each segment.
Marketing the marketing model to potential investors, clearly demonstrating how it will enable the start-up to achieve growth and revenue goals.

You can’t just hand over some blog posts, email templates, the keys to your website and then tell the CMO, “best of luck”. That’s how you set your CMO up to fail.

What do we mean by fail? Not showing enough revenue growth. Not having the time or headspace to develop a proper market understanding. And not having the tools they need to scale fast enough. And these are all among the top-five reasons why CMOs get fired¹.

To find out more about the marketing investment maturity path, check out our infographic.

View infographic

Give your CMO what they need to master the series-B transition

To avoid this outcome and the damage it can do to your company as it heads into its series-B funding round, you need to give the CMO the tools, technologies, and team they need.

For most start-ups, it’s unlikely that it will be economical, or speedy enough, to do this in-house. Building the right team, with the right mix of skills, and putting together the best mix of marketing tools, will take too long and cost too much.

The answer is to partner with an outside specialist. A b2b or b2c tech marketing agency that specialises in branding, marketing and communications for start-ups can give your CMO instant access to everything they need to win new customers, grow revenue, and convince investors.

The right agency will work with you to identify exactly the marketing tools you do and — and don’t — need for your series-B funding round. It will help you develop exactly the mix of branding, marketing and communications your company needs to achieve its current goals and to give it a platform fit for future growth and evolution.

The Rubicon Agency has three decades of business and consumer tech marketing experience working with both start-ups and some of the world’s leading established technology brands.

This blog is part of The CMO Investment Challenge series, including The pre-seed to C journey, Seed-A, Series A-B and Series B-C.

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1. https://www.carilu.com/p/the-top-5-reasons-cmos-get-fired

The Rubicon Agency In Miscellaneous, Our industry, Web + UX development

This is the path to series-A marketing and growth success

Are you the chief marketing officer (CMO) — formal or de facto — of a tech start-up going from seed to series A? If you are, then you need to switch your marketing up a gear and get more structured.

You have a serious marketing challenge on your hands. Typically, at this seed-to-series-A stage, start-ups face two common marketing pitfalls:

The first is simple: they don’t know how to market, so they just don’t do marketing and hope things will simply work out. They won’t.
The second usually happens when you meet the wrong marketing agency. Rather than light touch, flexible marketing, the start-up is oversold an approach that’s too structured, too cumbersome and too expensive for its seed-to-series-A needs.

Ok, if you’re not doing marketing at all, that’s fairly obvious. In which case, contact some specialist who can help today (hint: scroll down to the bottom of this article).

But what about the second? Isn’t it good to go all in, for a belt-and-braces approach? In short: no. At best, investing right now in fully structured corporate branding and marketing is an expensive waste. At worst, marketing that isn’t optimised for start-ups can weigh your company down, hold it back, and make it harder for you to hit your targets.

How can you recognise if you’re about to fall into this trap — and step back from the brink?

Is your start-up doing too much marketing, too young?

The marketing challenge for seed-to-series-A startups is doing the right things, and enough, to convince clients and investors, while also leaving your company room to evolve.

For instance, let’s consider brand identity. For an established company, brand identity should consist of a highly structured visual brand identity; product positioning (based on price, benefit, customer persona etc.); audience segmentation — and more.

But does an early-stage tech start-up need all this? No. At this stage, in almost every case, the company is still turning its idea and its technology into products and services. It’s still finding its audience and its market. And because of this, its identity is still evolving.

If you spend a lot of money defining a brand identity too formally at this stage, you can absolutely end up with something that looks great, but…

Most of the people you work with won’t know how to use it.
Your company will outgrow the new brand identity quickly.
You’ll waste a lot of money on something you can’t use for long.

The same principle applies not just to brand identity, but to other elements of marketing: tone of voice, messaging guidelines, product marketing, sales enablement, thought leadership —and so on.

For all these things, the needs of an early-stage tech start-up are very different to those of a more mature company.

To find out more about the marketing investment maturity path, and the challenges associated with convincing investors, securing funding and hitting growth targets at each stage, check out our infographic.

View infographic

How to avoid series-A marketing hell

So how do you avoid spending too much money on branding, marketing and communications that tie your company down, rather than helping it soar?

The key is to ask yourself, is this — whether it’s brand identity, product positioning, partner marketing or something else — whatever you’re creating, right for your start-up at its current stage of maturity? And will it still be right in six months’ time?

If the answer to the first question is ‘yes’ but the answer to the second is “no” or “not sure”, then you need to take real care crafting that element of your start-up marketing and communications.

Identify those elements of branding, marketing and communications your start-up needs right now, to achieve its growth marketing, revenue and investment goals.

Taking this lightweight, targeted approach to series-A marketing will:

Give you the marketing tools and credibility you need to win over your series A investors.
Equip you with the positioning, sales enablement, demand/marketing ops and other growth-marketing tools you need to win early adopters and hit revenue goals.
Still leave you the room to grow and evolve, without forcing you to go back to the marketing drawing board.

An agency with the right technology market expertise will work with you to identify exactly the marketing tools you do — and don’t — need for your stage in the start-up journey. It will help you develop exactly the mix of branding, marketing and communications your company needs to achieve its current goals and to give it a platform fit for future growth and evolution.

The Rubicon Agency has three decades of b2b tech marketing experience working with both start-ups and some of the world’s leading established technology brands.

This blog is part of The CMO Investment Challenge series, including The pre-seed to C journey, Seed-A, Series A-B and Series B-C.

Get proposal

The Rubicon Agency In Miscellaneous, Our industry

How to wow VCs with the right start-up marketing strategy

Today, just four people work at the average start-up1. Two of them are the founders2. And on average, they all work 60 hours or more a week3.

Little wonder that these small, incredibly dedicated teams who are already overworked with the task of turning an idea into a business, don’t have time for marketing.

But understandable as it might be, neglecting marketing is a problem for start-ups. It’s a barrier to growth and it makes them look unserious in the eyes of potential investors.

Why is marketing such a challenge for so many start-ups?

Start-ups are typically working with a new concept or technology. They need to find ways to turn it into a product or service and secure sufficient funding.

Most of the people involved are experts in the thing they’re creating, not in marketing or branding. They’re working with a limited budget. They don’t know how to create the right marketing framework for a start-up at their stage. And so on.

Very early on, right from the pre-seed stage, this creates significant challenges for the average start-up:

Of all the different groups who might be interested in your product or service, how do you choose the right ones to target first?
How do you take the technology or product you’ve created, and package it — or its outputs — up as a product your audience will want?
Where does your product fit into the market in relation to competitors, either direct or indirect?
What’s the best way to communicate the benefits of your offering to your audience — and prompt them into acting on your message?
How do you identify, build relationships and work with channel and commercial partners to find the most effective route to market?

These are marketing problems: finding your audience, creating and positioning your product in the market, defining your brand identity, voice and message, then developing an effective start-up demand and/or partner-marketing strategy.

If you can’t answer these marketing questions, and use your answer as the springboard to action, then your start-up will struggle to either grow or to attract investors.

There is no alternative to marketing that doesn’t end in failure

When you’re in the thick of making a start-up work, it’s easy to view things such as marketing as a secondary concern or, even worse, a distraction.

But that’s a mistake. In fact, it’s one of the classic start-up pitfalls. No matter how great your idea is, you won’t attract investors unless you can prove there’s a market for what you want to sell. And you won’t create a market without doing marketing.

As a start-up, there are three ways you can approach marketing:

Develop the in-house abilities and resources you need to get marketing right for your company’s place on the start-up journey.
Work with an external partner who has the skills, technology and experience of start-up marketing you need to hit your revenue and investment goals.
Ignore marketing because it’s one more hassle — then watch your company fail.

For many start-ups, option 1 is simply too time consuming and expensive. Option 3 clearly isn’t an option at all. That leaves option 2 – or a blend of 1 & 2.

Working with a marketing agency is the quickest, most cost-efficient way to access the skills you need to achieve your growth marketing and investment goals. But there’s a catch.

Marketing for start-ups is not like marketing for other types of companies. If your agency doesn’t have the right experience, there’s a big risk it might make expensive mistakes.

Understanding the marketing investment maturity path

Every stage of the start-up journey requires a different kind of marketing. And at each stage, the challenges associated with convincing investors, securing funding and hitting growth targets are unique. We call this the marketing investment maturity path.

In the pre-seed stage, start-ups need a foundational approach that sets basic parameters for things such as branding, marketing and communications.

But it needs to be flexible and still fairly loose. It should help you convince investors, without placing too many constraints on you.

Invest too much too early in a highly developed branding, marketing and communications strategy and you risk straitjacketing yourself, making it harder for your brand, messaging and tools to evolve with you. This wastes a lot of money and works against your success.

So, what are the stages of the marketing investment maturity path and what does good marketing look like for each stage:

Pre-seed: the brand identity remains unstructured, marketing is needs-driven and messaging is built around the founders’ vision.
Seed: messaging and comms are still owned by the founders but evolving to be more formalised and demand tactics are minimum viable product.
Series A: starts to include more mature features, such as structured product marketing, sales enablement and a strategy for revenue generation.
Series B: by this point, the company starts to require more formal structures and guidelines to direct its efforts and ensure consistency.
Series C: marketing, branding and comms become much more professional, driven by personas, personalisation, partner marketing and other value-adding techniques.
Series D: by this point, your marketing should be nearly indistinguishable from that of a corporate: systematised, automated and technology enabled.

To find out more about the marketing investment maturity path, check out our infographic.

View infographic

The right agency with b2b and b2c tech marketing expertise will work with you to solve the start-up marketing challenge and understand where you are on the marketing investment maturity path. It will help you develop exactly the mix of branding, marketing and communications your company needs to achieve its current goals and to give it a platform fit for future growth and evolution.

The Rubicon Agency has three decades of business and consumer tech marketing experience working with both start-ups and some of the world’s leading established technology brands.

This blog is part of The CMO Investment Challenge series, including The pre-seed to C journey, Seed-A, Series A-B and Series B-C.

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1. https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/second-quarter-2020/many-people-does-it-take-start-company
2. https://medium.com/the-launch-path/as-a-predictor-of-startup-success-whats-better-solo-founders-or-founding-teams-20f4518dbfc3
3. https://forbes.ge/en/from-a-startup-founder-why-you-probably-shouldn-t-start-a-startup