It’s great when a fledgling startup gets that first cheque from a venture capital firm, but then what?
Many young firms need a marking manager after they’ve initially proved their product to VCs but are too small to hire an experienced full-time staffer, says media consultant Heather Anne Ritchie.
So she and colleague Renee Warren have created a marketing startup for North American startups.
Renee Warren (left) and Heather Ann Ritchie are the founders of Onboardly.
Called Onboardly Media Inc., it launches today with the goal of providing VC-backed startups a three-month initial marketing push to get their products in the eyes of consumers.
“We’re trying to fill a void in the amount of effort and energy that startup founders have,” Ritchie said in an interview.
The four-person team will evaluate the company’s product and create a “full-blown” media launch, including press releases, media kits and photos. For social media, Onboardly will find keywords will draw the attention of Web search engines, and help staff (or freelancers) create two or three blog postings a week either for the customer’s site or for third parties.
The goal after three months “is to get them to the point where their content marketing funnel is churning” and are attracting customers. At that point, she says, they should be ready to hire a full-time marketing manager.
Moncton, N.B.-based Ritchie has worked for startups doing media relations, while San Francisco- based Warren (who was born in North Bay, Ont.) has worked on marketing campaigns for startups.
Onboardly will concentrate on consumer-oriented startups. The company’s efforts won’t be inexpensive – around $10,000 a month for three months.
But Ritchie says she hopes to kick-start a customer’s marketing efforts after a week of being hired.