The chart below from Crunchbase shows this clear downhill.
The question is, "What do startups do with their budgets in these stormy times?" In this article, we will examine 20 Central Eastern European startups and see what they did with the funding they received at the top of the funnel to attract a net new pipeline.
Startups in the analysis, country and total funding raised:
Fifteen startups serve B2B, and four serve B2C. Two, ElevenLabs and Hack The Box, bridge both, focusing on B2B professionals.
Before we dive into our case study, we must understand:
"Defining the target audience is more than knowing who might buy your product. Comprehend their behaviour, pinpoint their needs, and identify their pain points. Your marketing and sales strategies should then align with it."
Startups often need help to gain traction. Their products are valuable. But they need to connect with the right audience. This disconnect can lead to wasted marketing efforts and missed growth opportunities.
Sources: Harvard Business Review, Forbes.
In short, we can see diverse strategies for these 20 startups.
The web traffic analysis for the twenty startups reveals a clear dominance in organic search and SEO strategies, with ElevenLabs and Hack The Box leading the pack. Their ability to attract organic traffic showcases the growing demand for AI voice solutions and reflects a strong presence within the cybersecurity community.
I wouldn't say I like to keep you hanging, and I will get to the point fast. ElevenLabs and Hack The Box rule the SEO game. ElevenLabs, in particular, leads this strategy. Its trendy "AI Voice" product is innovative.
These two charts show that a high keyword rank on the search engines means a high number of website traffic. Even so, there is a debate about whether we want quantity or quality in SEO. For B2B SEO, there is no point in having traffic with low commercial intent that you can't convert. Industry benchmarks say, have both.
Taking a closer look at the articles that rank for these startups, we can see that they focus on:
The majority of these startups have tremendous opportunities with SEO. We looked at 2 critical foundational factors for organic traffic ranking.
Domain Ranking (Ahrefs ranking from 1 to 100 of your domain power; the higher, the better)
Domain age, heavily impacts ranking prospects, as older domains dominate (Not always a rule, see ElevenLabs)
To explore these B2B marketing case studies, download our free ebook: "Marketing Growth Study Report of Top 20 Venture Capital-Backed CEE Startups ๐ช๐บ". You'll get all the insights and raw data we use for the analysis.
The bottom line is that the startups we analyse have a low social traffic share, mainly because organic traffic dominates. Here is how these startups are leveraging social media for their business growth.
LinkedIn is the dominant social media platforms of these startups. They offer robust channels for B2B engagement and brand visibility. LinkedIn, in particular, serves as a professional hub where businesses can connect with industry leaders, share insights, and showcase their offerings.
Conversely, YouTube allows these startups to create compelling videos highlighting product features, customer testimonials, and industry expertise.
Thanks to their focus on trending topics like AI Voice and Cybersecurity, two startups are leading on YouTube. This trend is particularly evident in startup marketing strategies targeting professional audiences, resulting in increased inbound traffic.
This chart showcasing YouTube lifetime views suggests businesses might benefit from investing in YouTube Ads. Notably, companies like PVcase, Instacar, CastAI, and Woltair show a significant increase in views compared to their subscriber count. This highlights the potential of YouTube advertising to build brand awareness and engagement.
This video from PVCase has over 2 million views, even though their other videos have just 1.5 thousand subscribers.
Risks of Neglecting Social Media Marketing
Leverage of Social Media Strategy with LinkedIn Advertising
Our analysis: 15 of 20 startups use LinkedIn ads in their marketing strategy. The following sections will showcase the advertising strategies used by startups on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn ads show that PVCase leads with over 1,500 ads. This proves its market dominance. After PVCase, Casting AI is second with over 400 ads. Lucid Link is third with 198 ads. This data, from August 23 to 24, shows the LinkedIn ad market.
Example of ads:
If you want all the ads, we have made an in-depth ebook with all the data we used for the analysis and a library of all the ads. Get the ebook here.
Analysing the number of active ads and monthly trends reveals significant insights. In August, ads were substantially increased, primarily due to PVCase. Despite this spike, the startups have maintained consistent advertising patterns. Understanding these advertising trends is crucial for optimising digital marketing strategies and improving ad performance.
Analysing the number of active ads and monthly trends reveals significant insights. In August, ads were substantially increased, primarily due to PVCase. Despite this spike, the startups have maintained consistent advertising patterns. It's vital to understand these ad trends.
Most LinkedIn ads run up to 50 days. This duration helps businesses reach their target audience without bombarding them with ads. Short-to-medium ads let startups adjust their marketing strategy. They can do this based on ad performance and new platform trends.
Regularly monitoring ad effectiveness can guide future strategies and boost return on investment.
Single-image ads dominate B2B marketing on LinkedIn. Video ads are a close second. Surprisingly, carousel ads are rarely used. They can show more content than a single ad. Carousel ads enable micro-learning. Yet, many firms prefer the more straightforward "single image ad." This preference is understandable, as it is easier to create and allows for a focused message.
When it comes to advertising impressions, the US unsurprisingly takes the lead. Startups often choose to advertise in the US and UK due to their vast markets and the absence of language barriers. These regions are prime targets for achieving maximum reach and engagement.
B2B startups that target mid-market firms have similar sales funnels. To understand how these companies do B2B marketing, let's take DRUID AI from our list as an example.
Druid AI is a startup in the chatbot space. Its goal is to improve customer experience.
TL;DR of their strategy based on the analysis:
Here are some examples of their assets
This section analyses the B2B marketing strategies utilised by DRUID AI's marketing teams and its approach within the chatbot sector.
They are actively running webinars and podcast ads, likely to boost brand awareness and showcase their solutions. The screenshot below highlights their podcast promotion with Accenture.
These ads are content syndication with paid media methods where the startups share valuable content and case studies with their target audience.
Source: LinkedIn Ad Library
They run extensive campaigns for these ads, targeting developed European countries.
We can assume they are using an engagement objective ad from the UTM structure. You'll be able to read more about LinkedIn Ad objectives here.
If you want to get all the ads used by Druid AI and all the 20 startups, get the ebook with the complete insights and the Ad Library here.
The marketing team needs to generate leads to support the sales process. We've looked at some of the landing pages where these ads appear.
Prospects from the ads I showed you above are sent to the landing page below. I made an AI heat map using Attention Insight to understand if the landing page design is built for conversion.
As we can see above, the focus is on something other than the form, which lowers the chances of conversion.
What we recommend for startups in these scenarios is to:
People often ask these questions, so we responded to an agency.
Yes, and we can see the proof. LinkedIn ads are a powerful B2B marketing tool. They reach a professional user base. These ads let companies target specific industries, job titles, and company sizes. They are a strategic way to reach decision-makers. This targeting boosts the chances of reaching the right audience, making LinkedIn ads very effective. Also, LinkedIn has robust analytics.
They let marketers track campaigns in real-time and adjust their strategies. Features like Lead Gen Forms make it easy to collect contact info.
LinkedIn ads are vital for generating leads in the competitive B2B space. You can optimise your B2B marketing strategy with LinkedIn ads for better reach and results.
Determining if you're paying a fair price for lead generation can be tricky, as it depends on factors like country, buyer personas, job seniority, ad types, etc. While various benchmarks are available, comparing your ad spend with industry peers is the most effective way to assess it.
You can achieve this by directly asking them or using benchmarking tools like Dreamdata. Understanding and optimising your advertising costs through peer comparison will help you invest wisely in your marketing strategy and gain data-driven insights.
SEO remains a highly effective and profitable strategy for businesses seeking online visibility. We can see clearly in this.
As organic search traffic continues to be a significant driver of leads and conversions, investing in SEO can yield substantial returns over time. Companies that optimise their websites for relevant keywords, improve site speed, and enhance user experience tend to rank higher in search engine results, attracting more qualified traffic. Additionally, SEO strategies often complement other marketing efforts, such as content marketing and social media engagement, creating a cohesive approach to digital marketing. To ensure ongoing profitability, businesses should focus on staying updated with SEO best practices and algorithm changes, continually refining their strategies for sustained success.
Weโve written a lot about ABM here, but in a nutshell:
In short, it is a way to track clicks and web traffic. UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. UTM parameters are tags added to URLs. They let you track your campaigns' performance in Google AnalyticsโAppend specific UTM parameters, like source, medium, and campaign name.
They will show how users engage with your content on various marketing channels. This data lets you see which campaigns drive traffic and conversions. It helps you improve your marketing strategies for better results.
Here is a free UTM builder in Google Sheets, or use a tool like UTM.io