Entrepreneurial Marketing

The definitive characteristics of

CEO. Kimberly Arnold.

@EscalateAdvisor

o CEO/Founder/Chief Strategy Officer, Escalate Solutions

o Entrepreneur, 3-time business owner

o Community champion, charity advocate, philanthropist

o Board member (compensated and non-profits)

o Speaker, guest lecturer, author, conference producer

As entrepreneurial marketers, our first (and most obvious) characteristic is that our mission is to launch our pioneering visions.

Entrepreneurs like us are a different breed of business leader, with a drive and focus unlike other individuals. We aim to be groundbreaking, independent and at the forefront of new concepts.

Entrepreneurial. Visionary.

Organizational growth requires a mission and vision to frame the process. Entrepreneurial marketing must be centered upon effective strategic planning…making it both structured and deliberate. Even when that means we have to be deliberately flexible.

Strategic. Structured.

Pivot-Capable. Flexible.Entrepreneurial marketing demands an ability to adapt strategy

and techniques when the implementation and execution action plans don’t yield the results anticipated. Not only do entrepreneurs like us NOT fear pivoting, but we anticipate and embrace redirection as part of the process in which we engage.

Passionate. Dedicated.As entrepreneurs, we (more often than not) begin with very little

outside of our exceptional ideas and our passion, will and dedication to make them a reality….which in turn means that the marketing techniques we utilize and accelerate to help get the word out about our product or service are intrinsically unorthodox.

Resource-Limited. Impactful. Very few entrepreneurs are lucky enough to launch efforts with

full financial backing. As a result, innovation and creativity are critical characteristics in our entrepreneurial marketing strategy and toolkit.

Visionary business owners in the formative phase of our organizations must be all about prioritizing initiatives that will make a huge impact for minimal investment.

Innovative. Experimental.Market disruption, product/service evolution, experimentation,

creativity and pivoting all rank among the critical characteristics and focus areas within our entrepreneurial marketer toolkits. The more aggressive the growth hacking and passion marketing techniques applied to a start-up or rapidly expanding businesses’ strategy, the more important the testing process will be.

As entrepreneurial marketing experts, we apply ten steps to optimize productivity: Innovate. Experiment. Test. Monitor. Measure. Analyze. Discover. Refine. Pivot. Repeat.

Imitative. Perceptive.While innovation is an unquestionable characteristic of entrepreneurial marketing, so too is our ability to perceive and replicate existing, successful approaches if they are relevant, applicable and constructive to our model, strategy and tactics.

Entrepreneurial marketers don’t reinvent the wheel when it isn’t necessary. We are perceptive enough to recognize if there is a proven solution that applies to our effort, we should at least consider adopting it.

Tech-Savvy. Analytical.It is nearly impossible in the current global environment for our

organizations to attempt to market newly launched enterprises without the adoption of big data and technological / analytical applications that help define and optimize the process. As entrepreneurial marketers, we are keen to the full array of tools available to us, and utilize every growth hacking strategy and resource at our disposal to expand our business.

Risk-Tolerant. Fearless.The concept of entrepreneurial marketing is based on the idea of “launch and grow”. While a select few are fortunate enough to hit the ground running with financial backing, the rest of us are bootstrappers, venture capital seekers, and creative thinkers exploring every traditional and unorthodox tactic to make our product thrive. Fear has no place in our environment.

We mandate an aversion and distaste for futility….and can stomach risk knowing it has value in helping us reach our end goal.

Cross-Disciplined. Balanced.Myopic leaders that struggle to be multi-functional or focus on the big

picture are ineffective and doomed to fail.

Externally, entrepreneurial marketing requires leaders like us who understand the value of overlapping industry, economic, community, philanthropic, government, regulatory and political realms. Balance of perspective is key.

Internally, entrepreneurial marketing expects we be visionaries who can identify and retain the big picture, are willing to learn something about everything, hire and oversee the specialists tasked to run every discipline, and consistently contribute on a meaningful level to every aspect of our business and the greater community.

Customer-Focused. Value-Generating.Effective entrepreneurial marketers engage customers with the

end-user in mind. We identify gaps in the marketplace, understand what our clients want, why consumers buy our product or service, and where new opportunities for growth among our target demographics exist.

Every entrepreneur aims to generate revenues, and we understand that often times, we have to prove our value and trustworthiness to our clients first.

Imaginative. Inquisitive.Entrepreneurs always want to know more…and when it comes to

our marketing strategies, we are most successful when we dream big, think outside the box, ask the right questions and answer those questions both analytically and creatively.

These characteristics are particularly important during the strategic planning process.

Entrepreneurs that focus on the nine critical topics of Aspiration, Assets, Challenges, Competition, Business Acumen, Customers, Infrastructure, Analytics and Profit Centers are notably more impactful at achieving our desired outcomes.

Networked. Social.Network marketing, which can also be defined as its own stand-alone methodology, is inherently critical to us as entrepreneurs. There is a reason for the adage “it all about who you know”. In entrepreneurial marketing, often the question is, “if you don’t know them already…how do you change the dynamic so that you do ?”. A positive, energetic, high-profile entrepreneur CEO can be the best marketing strategy for any organization...but they have to be good at it.

At the end of the day, every other form of marketing – whether it be social-oriented viral, guerrilla, passion, or other inventive strategies – ultimately aims to bring the unknown into the network of the known. Being networked and social from the outset makes this goal more readily attainable.

Time-Intensive. Energetic.During the start-up and formative life cycle of a business, time is

our version of money. The characteristics of entrepreneurial marketing often require the full dedication and attention of our individual and team leadership. Without question, entrepreneurial marketing requires above-and-beyond energy and dedication to our mission.

People-Centric. Personal.We are successful entrepreneurial marketers when we have an

individual commitment to our business, product, market and client base. Our investment is often the “make or break” factor in our company’s long-term success.

People matter to sustainable entrepreneurs like us. From the marketing perspective, this means the approach with both internal staff and the sought-after client is intrinsically tailored and specific.

Involved.

Philanthropic. Entrepreneurial marketing emphasizes the network, mission, vision, values and culture of our organizations...which inherently include an external focus on community-based and philanthropic causes. Our strategies are misguided if we exclude the importance and messaging associated with contributing to something for the greater good.

Entrepreneurial Marketing

The definitive characteristics of