Why your startup or company needs a marketing plan, not just a website
Recently I’ve been talking about marketing strategy and tactics with several young scientific startups. Many of them still see marketing as a slightly bitter pill: something close to advertising or publicity, rather than a strategic way to grow their business. And often, something that does not really require a plan.
When I look at these companies, I usually see a familiar pattern.
- a website
- a small LinkedIn presence
- a business plan (otherwise the company would not exist)
- a long-term vision and product roadmap
- mostly a solid understanding of the market and the competition
But very rarely do I see a real marketing plan.
And this does not only apply to brand-new startups. Many established small labs and life science companies also run marketing “on the side” without a real plan and, over time, feel the pain and the consequences.
So what exactly is this famous marketing plan, why does it matter, and why should you care?
Business plan vs marketing plan
Think about something you already had to write to get your company started: your business plan.
It is the base skeleton of your company. It describes what you want to build, how you plan to make money, which markets you want to serve, and how the whole machine should run financially and operationally.
Your marketing plan is the roadmap for how you will reach the people who should buy from you and how you will turn that vision into measurable actions. Where the business plan explains “what” and “why”, the marketing plan focuses on “who, where, how, and when”.
Another way to picture it: the business plan is the anatomy of your company, the marketing plan is the training plan. It tells you when to accelerate, where to focus your energy and what you simply stop doing.
Typical signs or symptoms of “no marketing plan”
If you recognize yourself in some of these situations, you are not alone.
- You post on LinkedIn “when you find time” but you are not sure if it changes anything.
- You invest in a conference booth because “everyone is there”, but afterwards you cannot really say whether it was worth it, even if you gathered a few names and had interesting discussions.
- You have a website, but you do not know what role it plays in your sales: brochure, lead generator, or simply an online business card.
- You feel like you are doing “some marketing”, but if someone asked what the goal is for this year, you would mostly answer with revenue, not with specific marketing objectives. You may not even be sure what such objectives could look like.
All of this is normal when there is no plan. Activities are driven by habit, by competitors, or simply by what pops up in your inbox, and not by clear decisions or priorities.
What a marketing plan actually does
A solid marketing plan builds on your business plan, but with a different intention.
It forces you to step back and answer a few uncomfortable but essential questions.
- Where exactly do you want to play in this market, and where not?
- Who are your ideal customers, and what do they really need from you?
- What is your position in their mind compared to alternatives?
- What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months, in measurable terms?
- Which activities, channels and messages give you the best chance to reach these goals with the resources you have?
On paper, a marketing plan usually includes:
- a short summary of where you are and where you want to go
- a situation analysis (market, competitors, your strengths and weaknesses)
- clearly described target customers (ideal customers or personas)
- your positioning and key messages
- goals and KPIs (key performance indicators, how you measure progress) for the next 12 months
- the strategies and tactics you plan to use
- the budget and timelines
- and a routine for reviewing and adjusting the plan
It does not have to be a 60-page document. For many small scientific companies, 5 to 10 pages (or even a well-structured slide deck) are enough to create clarity and focus.
A realistic example: a new PCR test
Let us take a realistic example: you have developed a new PCR test to detect a virus.
From your business plan and product strategy you already know:
- what problem your test solves
- how it performs compared to existing assays
- your intended pricing and margin
- which markets or segments you want to address first
So far, so good. These are the basics forming your business skeleton.
Your marketing plan now starts where your business plan stops. It answers questions such as:
- Who should you target first?
Small private labs, academic researchers, hospital virology labs? - How should the PCR test be positioned, what is its competitive advantage?
Faster turnaround time, higher sensitivity, multiplexing capabilities, simpler workflow, stronger technical support? - Which channels make sense for these specific customers?
Conferences and congresses, KOL collaborations, direct sales reps, distributors, webinars, scientific publications, online campaigns? - What do you need to create to support these channels?
Application notes, workflow diagrams, explainer videos, customer case stories, landing pages, training slides? - What are your goals for the next 12 months?
Number of evaluations started, free trial placements, demo kits shipped, distributor onboardings, qualified leads? - Which KPIs will you track each quarter?
Website visits from labs, demo requests, downloads of application notes, webinar attendees, quote requests?
Once this is clarified, your activities line up. Congress presence, distributor training, scientific content, LinkedIn posts, email nurturing all serve a clear, shared plan rather than being “nice to have” items done only when there is time.
Your real benefit: less stress, more impact
The biggest benefit of a marketing plan is not the document itself. It is the calm and control it creates in your daily work.
When your marketing plan is on paper for the next 12 months, you can:
- protect your time and attention, because you know what matters and what can wait
- allocate your budget where it really supports your goals, instead of saying yes to every “nice opportunity” or saying no to everything by default
- see more quickly which tactics work and which do not
- explain your decisions in a fact-based way to your team, your management or your investors
- and plan the following year based on real learnings, not on wishful thinking
You are no longer running blind, doing “a little bit here and there”. You are executing a clear structure and then adapting from a position of control, not assumption.
It is never too late to start
Maybe you recognize your own company in this description. You already have a website, LinkedIn, some brochures, conference booths, but no real marketing plan behind them.
The good news: it is never too late to start.
Even a simple, pragmatic version will help you:
- use your budget more wisely
- make your brand clearer and more consistent
- align your daily marketing tasks with the business you want to build
No need to be perfect. You need a first version that is good enough to guide you for the next 12 months and that you refine as you go.