Sergio Alvarez, CEO of Ai Media Group

Not all companies are meant to last forever, and that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve failed. Failure only occurs when the exit doesn’t result in a favorable return to stakeholders. As shown by this metric, between 75% and 90% of all startups fail, compared to about 70% for non-startup small businesses.

One of the most common reasons for startup failure is ineffective marketing. Your marketing strategy is just as crucial for startup success as securing initial funding. When developing it, avoid these mistakes.

1. Insufficient market research

Every entrepreneur has eureka moments when that great idea sparks into life. But no matter how great of an idea you have, you can’t build a startup based only on an idea.

You must resist the temptation to pour countless hours into product development before fleshing out other aspects of your startup. Instead, conduct in-depth market research first and then use insights derived from your research to shape the product development process. You’ll end up with a product that genuinely appeals to your target audience, and you’ll be well on your way toward launching more effective marketing campaigns.

2. Not knowing your customer

As you conduct market research, you’ll get to know your target demographic. You’ll define the usual age/gender/salary breakdowns, and this info will prove helpful. However, beyond the usual metrics, you’ll need to focus on knowing your customers’ pain points. What do they stress about? What keeps them up at night? What prevents them from clicking “add to cart?”

Knowing your customers’ pain points can allow you to create more compelling marketing materials that communicate value. You’ll need to convince customers that your product or service can make their lives better, easier or more enjoyable.

3. Not knowing yourself

“Know thyself” is more than a Socratic maxim repeated by self-help gurus. It’s also a foundational marketing concept. While you’re getting to know your customers, you’ll need to get to know your brand better.

You can only create effective marketing strategies and campaigns if you have a solid understanding of your brand identity and brand voice. All of your marketing materials will need to align with your brand identity in order to produce consistent messaging, build trust and communicate authenticity.

4. Trying to be everywhere all at once

Smart entrepreneurs understand the critical importance of marketing in startup success, and unfortunately, that knowledge can lead them to commit another marketing error. You might envision your brand presence on every social media channel and your website occupying the top ranking for every related search term.

When you’re just starting out, however, it’s best to avoid trying to be everywhere all at once. Instead, focus on quality over quantity. Identify just a couple of the most impactful platforms and target those first. Focus on just a few of the most relevant search terms, just one or two key influencers and so on. Similarly, resist the temptation to scale your campaigns too quickly.

5. Rushing to scale too quickly

You already know you’ll need to spend money to make money, and a significant chunk of your funding will need to be allocated to your marketing budget. Remember, however, that it won’t do to use up your entire annual marketing budget in just one quarter. In other words, don’t rush to scale your marketing campaigns too quickly.

A focus on quality over quantity will lead you to launch “bite-sized” marketing campaigns. Track the results carefully — and learn from them — and make adjustments as needed. When your results are meeting your goals and you feel your strategies are on solid ground, then you can launch a large-scale campaign without needlessly wasting ad spen