Ninety percent of startups fail. There are a lot of reasons why a company can fail. CEOs can be too confident in themselves, or the team may not work well together.

Tech startups are especially vulnerable to failure from making simple mistakes. There are so many competitors in the modern tech startup scene that one bad move can crumble the whole operation.

Not the least of which is neglecting tech marketing. The best tech startups invest in their marketing departments and work to distinguish themselves. They are more than just their products.

Successful tech startups have a story to tell and can establish a brand early to attract customers. They also stand apart from the crowd and can attract investors.

Keep reading to see four tech marketing mistakes to avoid!

1. You Can Build It, But That Doesn’t Mean They’ll Come

Just because you developed an impressive piece of software that’ll change the world doesn’t mean people will use. You have to work to sell your products because they won’t sell themselves.

That means investing in a sales team and a marketing team. Sales and marketing go hand-in-hand, even if marketing is creative and sales teams handle numbers. You shouldn’t invest in one and not the other.

Marketing teams bring people in. Sales team lock them in. Make sure they can do their jobs.

2. Tech Marketing is a Careful Balance

It’s good to invest in your marketing team. But at the same time, you shouldn’t overspend on them. You need to make sure you have enough resources to build something to sell.

Just because the tech industry spends around 15 percent of its budget on marketing doesn’t mean you need to. As a startup company, you need to be agile and lean with your money.

Overspending on marketing can sink you just as badly as underspending can.

3. You Are Not Your Marketers

You should already know how to be an entrepreneur. It’s a lot of leadership, accountability, and most of all responsibility. That leaves no time for you to be a marketer.

It doesn’t matter how much you want to be like Steve Jobs. It doesn’t matter how many marketing books you’ve read heralding him. You’re not him.

Trust in your marketing team to do their jobs. You do yours – lead them.

4. You Still Have a Lot of Growing to Do

The worst thing you can do is to try and sell yourself as an established company. The boring, beige logos of established companies were made only through exciting, stressful work. They have stories behind them.

This is the time when you make those stories. As a startup, your brand should be new and exciting because that’s what you are.

Tech Marketing Makes the Winners

A successful company knows the value of having good marketing. Tech marketing is no different.

Just because the products you build are high-profile, fancy, and potentially ground-breaking doesn’t mean anyone will want them. You have to put the work in to sell those things just like you put the work in to make them.

And if you need tips about how to successfully market your tech startup, just contact me.