Open Access

Nguyen Phuong Hoa

• This paper elaborates the effectiveness of marketing channels for startups in all stages of their startup lifecycle. The focus here is put on startups operating in the German market. In general, nine out of 10 businesses fail within their first three years of operations. Even though there seem to exist numerous “how-to” guides and advices on how to run a startup, there are none giving a reasonable answer on customer acquisition strategies and on the effectiveness of channels startups may consider for their survival. Finding out common best practices for marketing should prevent the high failure rate that the market for startups undergoes. By investigating latest research findings and conducting expert interviews, this paper recommends best practices for a successful customer acquisition strategy and shows valuable insights based on an analysis of real startup cases. The results of the analyses reveal that a successful customer acquisition strategy does not depend on one marketing channel but rather on an interaction between all marketing channels providing overall consistency in communication. Furthermore, the stage of the startup is of utmost importance as the focus on different channels changes depending on its stage. This paper should not serve as a guide but rather as an inspiration for future marketing strategies considered by startups in their early stage.