Fast-Moving Startups Need an Equally Agile Paid Media Management Strategy

We get it. The product has GA'ed, has some early adopters, and now the board wants to see your GTM strategy in action, driving tangible financial results.

The first few months of performance across your paid media programs is critical. Poor performance out of the gates will validate the doubts of marketing budget critics and give sales a reason to discount your leads.

Fear not... your agency will apply tested strategies for delivering highly qualified leads within the first few weeks of launching your paid campaigns.

icon-startup-pink

Build trust quickly. Deliver quality leads out of the gates.

Leverage ABM Lists 

Work closely with your sales team to gather their key account lists and precise ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) definitions. By aligning your campaign targeting with these insights, you ensure that the leads generated are highly relevant and valuable to the sales team.

Involving sales early in the process does more than just align marketing efforts with their goals—it fosters a strong partnership between departments. This collaboration keeps the sales team invested in marketing initiatives and creates a more cohesive and effective strategy across the board.

Start Lean for Maximum Impact

Focus a significant portion of your budget on a few key campaigns.

This concentrated approach allows you to gather enough data to run effective tests and make necessary adjustments. Once your flagship campaigns are optimized and generating qualified leads, you can gradually expand your efforts.

Apply the same test-and-optimize strategy to each new campaign as you grow.

 

 

Invest in Content That Matters to Your ICP

Your ICP doesn't care about your brand, at least not yet.

To capture their attention, start with content that directly addresses their pain points. Focus on early promotions that leverage industry benchmarks, technology forecasts, and process best practices. Resources like analyst reports not only encourage conversions but also provide valuable insights into what your audience cares about most.

By identifying the topics that resonate with your ICP, you can tailor your content strategy to build trust and position your brand as a go-to resource for solving their most pressing challenges. This approach helps turn initial interest into long-term engagement.

Become BFFs with Your SDRs

Keeping open and consistent communication with your SDRs can help both sales and marketing hit their goals faster. If a lead gets disqualified, dig into the details—what went wrong, who missed the mark, and why—then quickly adjust your targeting. Do the same with MQLs, and double down on the strategies that are driving quality leads.

Keep checking in with your SDRs on every questionable lead until you’re fully aligned. Once you’re in sync, celebrate your collaborative wins and keep the momentum going.

Engagement Process for Paid Media Programs

KICKOFF

Identify stakeholders, timelines & expectations. Categorize and prioritize service offerings/solutions/technologies, establish program OKRs & goals.

TARGETING

Identify target personas, total addressable market (TAM), ideal customer profile (ICP), ABM lists & key accounts, target competitors.

CONTENT JOURNEY

Identify customer journey stages. Align personas, pain points, and interests. Map stages to content, pinpoint gaps, and determine content production needs.

R&D

Analyze lead database,  lead scoring methods, sales cycle. Audit PPC setup & data.  Research competitive landscape, keywords (+/-),  adjacent technologies.

STRATEGY

Paid media strategy recommendations, paid search/paid social structures, budget allocation, campaign rollout schedule, content & design production schedule.

OPS & ANALYTICS

CRM workflows, response emails, lifecycle stages, list building, SFDC campaign tracking. Analytics setup for GTM, GSC, GA4, key events, conversion tracking. Aggregate reporting, custom dashboard setup.

PRODUCTION

Production of accounts, campaigns, ad groups, keywords, text ads, ABM lists. Design & messaging for landing pages, image ads, email templates, animations, new content pieces.

OPTIMIZE & SCALE

Once programs are live, optimization starts. Nephila will monitor KPIs, lead quality, pipeline influence and ROAS. We'll identify areas to streamline or areas where we can double-down.

Why are you waiting to hire your marketing team before starting lead gen?