Starter Guide

Establish PR/Content/Social Flywheel: As early stage company, it’s difficult to have enough content to build individual PR or social programs. Combine PR, owned content and social media to tell your own story consistently, using a range of channels.
Prioritize Simplicity & Focus: Seed-stage startups should avoid trying to be everywhere at once. Focus on messaging and channels that reinforce your credibility and relevance within your niche. Pick 1-2 channels and tactics that resonate most with your audience and execute them well.
Iterate Quickly: Treat this guide as a foundation to build on and refine as your startup grows. Early feedback from customers and followers can help shape and evolve your communications and marketing strategy.
Build a Foundation for Scaling: Every aspect of this program should be built with growth in mind, creating a solid foundation that supports future marketing and communications efforts as the company scales.

Core Narrative: Craft a clear and compelling story that answers "why" your company exists and the problem it solves. This narrative should be simple but powerful enough to resonate with customers, partners, and investors.
Founder Story: Build a founder-centric narrative that humanizes the company and provides a personal connection to the mission and vision.
Positioning Statement: Develop a concise statement that establishes your company’s unique place in the market and differentiates you from competitors.

Market Relevance: Identify where your audience is and how your company can authentically engage in those spaces. Focus on 1-2 platforms where your audience is most active.
Content Flywheel: Create a flywheel of consistent, engaging content that supports your brand narrative—educational posts, product insights, industry thought leadership, and behind-the-scenes stories to build trust and recognition over time.
Adjacent Content/Narrative: Develop content that’s relevant to your industry but also adjacent topics that interest your audience, helping establish a broader, relatable brand presence.

Core Content Pieces: Focus on creating 2-3 core content assets (e.g., blog posts, whitepapers, case studies) that communicate your value proposition, customer impact, or industry insights. These pieces can be repurposed for other channels.
Educational Content: Create content that positions your startup as an expert in the space, sharing insights and practical advice that help potential customers understand the value of your solution.
Repurposing Strategy: Learn to repurpose key pieces across platforms for maximum impact, creating a steady stream of content that supports SEO, social media, and email.

Strategic PR Focus: Prioritize media efforts that build credibility in your target industry rather than broad coverage. Target a few relevant outlets and journalists, focusing on quality over quantity.
Media Relationships: Start building relationships with a handful of industry journalists early. Share company updates and insights, positioning your team as thought leaders in your niche.
Press Readiness: Prepare basic press materials (e.g., a one-pager or press kit) that clearly articulate your mission, recent milestones, and founder story.

Message Delivery Training: Provide basic training to founders and key spokespeople on delivering your core messages confidently and consistently. This includes preparation for investor meetings, sales calls, and media interviews.
Consistency & Clarity: Teach founders and early team members how to communicate your core message clearly in any setting, ensuring a unified message across all touchpoints.

Self-Serve Resources: Provide access to templates, checklists, and guides for basic marketing tasks, such as a simple PR outreach guide, social media scheduling tips, and content planning templates.
Foundational Workshops: Host workshops on essential skills like message development, content creation, social media basics, and storytelling to empower your team and create a unified approach.
Analytics & Tracking: Set up simple tools to measure and track engagement (Google Analytics, social media insights) to help you understand what resonates and refine your approach over time.

Build a Developer Community for Early Adoption: For developer-led companies, an engaged community can be a powerful driver of early traction. Create forums, Slack channels, or GitHub repositories where developers can collaborate, share knowledge, and offer feedback on your product. This builds an authentic network of early adopters who become advocates and contributors to your product's evolution.
Developer Evangelism and Support: Invest in developer evangelists or advocates who can actively engage with the community, host webinars, and create educational content to support developers in using your product. Developer advocates not only help onboard new users but also nurture relationships that enhance brand loyalty.
User-Generated Content and Open Source Contributions: Encourage users to share tutorials, integrations, and customizations they’ve created with your product. Open source contributions or user-generated content increase brand visibility and credibility within the developer community, showing that your product has real-world applications and community support.

Sample Implementation Framework