Why investing in communications is vital for startup success
Over the past seven years, I've spoken to numerous startups who've told me things like, "we've made it this far without any communications," "revenue must take priority," or "we lack the budget for communications,” and I confess it hurts to hear. While I understand budget and time constraints of startups, having led the communications function inside a few myself I know how crucial strong communications are to establishing and sustaining credibility in your market. I also know that even if you don’t think you’ve done any communications, you have. You just haven’t planned them.
Even if you don’t think you’ve done comms, you have
Consider this scenario: your team interacts with potential clients, but their narratives lack consistency, clarity, or refinement. Your website fails to use relevant keywords or resonate with your target audience (Real example: I recently was on a website for a particular health condition and it didn’t use the name of the condition, and was full of language that spoke to an audience that was their lowest priority…). Social media posts deviate from the brand ethos. Presentation decks lack alignment in messaging. Your absence at key events and media/blogs compound the issue. Basically, you haven't considered the ~*messages*~ your presence on and offline is sharing, which risks putting off potential customers without even knowing it, or slowing down the buying process further.
Communication is about trust
Building trust at every touchpoint is key. You simply can’t do that without thinking through your communications. Pushing it down your priorities list lengthens the journey to profitability and acquiring customers.
If you want to build the confidence of anyone checking out your product and team, you want them to understand what you do, why, and why it's so good. That way, they might consider working with you.
It’s not too late
If any of the above sounds familiar, I want to offer some reassurance - it’s not too late to start establishing your communications properly (or start again if you feel you haven’t got it quite right). It also doesn’t need to be a huge heavy lift from your team - there are talented and experienced professionals here to help (ahem) and who would be delighted to be part of building the story of a company that’s set out to change the world for the better.
If you want to have a chat about your communications and how we could improve them, book a free 30 minute call with me to talk through your challenges and dreams. Then we can get to work on making your business shine.
