Startup Marketing Checklist 2025
A research-backed checklist covering every marketing channel that actually works in 2025 — with separate tracks for bootstrapped indie hackers and venture-funded startups. Log in to track your progress.
Indie Hacker trackVenture Funded trackResearch-backedProgress savedFree
Startup type
Competitor Research6 items
Make a list of direct and indirect competitors with links to their websites
low effort·high impact··
Collect competitor data: taglines, pricing/business model, social links, key employees
medium effort·high impact··
Subscribe to RSS feeds of competitor blogs and follow their key employees on social media
low effort·medium impact··
Set up website monitoring for competitor sites (Versionista or Deep Dive Duck)
low effort·medium impact··
Subscribe to industry newsletters, trade journals, and blogs in your niche
low effort·medium impact··
Use Google Trends to validate demand and search volume for your category
low effort·high impact··
Customer Research6 items
Write a one-paragraph Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) — job title, company size, pain, budget, and where they spend time online
low effort·high impact··
Find people in your contact list who match your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) and get their feedback on the idea
low effort·high impact··
Attend meetups or conferences where your target customers gather
medium effort·high impact··
Find competitors' customers (via Twitter followers, LinkedIn, Facebook fans) and reach out to them
medium effort·high impact··
Create an "early access" waitlist to gauge real interest before you build
low effort·high impact··
Meet another entrepreneur with a similar or competitive product and compare notes
low effort·medium impact··
PR Preparation3 items
Create a list of tech, startup, and industry blogs relevant to your product
low effort·medium impact··
Create a list of local small business journals and industry journalists
low effort·medium impact··
Create a Media Kit page: logo, screenshots, founder bio, one-liner, and press contact
low effort·medium impact··
Website & Landing Page11 items
Choose a name and register a domain (check availability with KnowEm across platforms)
low effort·medium impact··
Write a site tagline and elevator pitch in under 10 words
low effort·high impact··
Create a logo and establish brand colours and typography
low effort·medium impact··
Build a landing page with headline, social proof, and a single clear CTA above the fold
medium effort·high impact··
Create About, Contact, and Pricing pages
low effort·high impact··
Test pricing options: free tier, money-back guarantee, invite-only, early adopter discount
medium effort·high impact··
Add social media follow and share links throughout the landing page and blog
low effort·medium impact··
Install analytics with funnel tracking (Plausible, PostHog, or GA4) and set up goal tracking
low effort·high impact··
Set up error logging and monitoring (Sentry, Bugsnag, or Rollbar)
low effort·high impact··
Add on-site live chat or messaging to capture and engage leads as they land
low effort·high impact··
Run a full SEO, speed, and security audit (Checkbot or PageSpeed Insights)
low effort·high impact··
Email Setup9 items
Set up a branded email address and configure SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) for deliverability
low effort·high impact··
Set up an email list with a signup form and double opt-in
low effort·high impact··
Set up a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to track leads and customer interactions
low effort·high impact··
Promote your email list on every social media channel — pin it, link it in bio, mention it in posts
low effort·high impact··
Create a standard branded email template for newsletters and announcements
low effort·medium impact··
Write transactional emails for signup, purchase, onboarding, and password reset
medium effort·high impact··
Create a 5-email onboarding sequence driving users to their first "aha moment"
medium effort·high impact··
Send 20 personalised cold emails per week to early customers for direct feedback
medium effort·high impact··
Send a regular email newsletter with blog posts, use cases, and customer stories
medium effort·high impact··
Blog & Content13 items
Choose a blogging platform and set up your blog on your own domain
low effort·high impact··
Research 10 keywords your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) searches for using Ahrefs, SEMrush, or KWFinder
medium effort·high impact··
Create anchor posts targeting your primary keywords — comprehensive, 2,000+ word guides
high effort·high impact··
Build a publishing calendar and commit to a regular cadence (minimum 1 post per week)
low effort·high impact··
Repurpose every blog post: record a video, turn it into a podcast episode, create an infographic
medium effort·high impact··
Write a "[Your product] vs [Competitor]" comparison page for each major competitor
medium effort·high impact··
Solicit guest posts from early customers, fans, and complementary founders
low effort·medium impact··
Refresh old blog posts every 6–12 months with updated data and new sections
low effort·high impact··
Ensure all blog posts have high-quality images (alt-text, compressed, original where possible)
low effort·medium impact··
Write and distribute an eBook or white paper exchanged for an email signup
high effort·high impact··
Build a "Best of" page curating your strongest blog posts, case studies, and guides in one place
low effort·medium impact··
Create a free online course or step-by-step guide around a problem your product solves
high effort·high impact··
Build a guest posting strategy: list target blogs, draft 3 pitches per blog, pitch one at a time, follow up after 30 days
high effort·high impact··
Social Media12 items
Choose 1–2 social platforms where your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) actually spends time and go deep on them
low effort·high impact··
Standardise profile image, bio, links, and CTA across all social channels
low effort·medium impact··
Schedule 3–5 social posts per week: behind-the-scenes, tips, product updates, customer wins
medium effort·high impact··
Share your journey publicly: revenue, failures, and milestones (build-in-public)
low effort·high impact··
Join Facebook and LinkedIn groups where your ICP discusses problems — contribute before promoting
medium effort·high impact··
Search Twitter/X for people talking about problems you solve and engage authentically
low effort·high impact··
Launch a branded YouTube channel and publish at least one video per week — tutorials, use cases, or founder updates
medium effort·high impact··
Create multiple TikTok accounts for the same startup targeting different angles — e.g. one for tutorials, one for behind-the-scenes, one for customer pain points
medium effort·high impact··
Repurpose every YouTube video as YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels (same clip, three platforms)
low effort·high impact··
Participate in Twitter/X chats and LinkedIn Live events related to your industry every week
low effort·medium impact··
Offer early users a discount or upgrade in exchange for sharing a photo or video of your product on social media
low effort·high impact··
Set up F5Bot to get email alerts whenever your product, competitors, or key topics are mentioned on Reddit or Hacker News
low effort·high impact··
Launch & Distribution13 items
Submit to 20 startup directories and marketplaces (expand to track each one)
0/20 ▼medium effort·high impact··
Launch on Product Hunt (prepare 2 weeks in advance: hunter, email list, comment strategy)
high effort·high impact··
Post "Show HN" on Hacker News at 9am ET on a weekday
low effort·high impact··
Post your story on Indie Hackers — milestone posts with revenue numbers, not just launch posts
low effort·medium impact··
Write and distribute a press release to your journalist list at launch
medium effort·high impact··
Identify 3 subreddits your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) uses — become a genuine contributor before any promotion
medium effort·high impact··
Reach out to podcasters in your niche to get featured as a guest
medium effort·high impact··
Become a source on Help a Reporter Out (HARO) in your category
low effort·high impact··
Share your founder story on Starter Story (free, includes a do-follow backlink)
low effort·medium impact··
Answer relevant questions on Quora, Stack Overflow, and industry forums regularly
medium effort·medium impact··
Create and publish presentations on Slideshare or Google Slides relevant to your industry
medium effort·low impact··
Run a link-building campaign: skyscraper, guest posting, ego-baiting, broken link building
high effort·high impact··
Give free access to influential bloggers and niche micro-influencers in your industry
medium effort·high impact··
Paid Channels7 items
Test social, search, and commission-based advertising platforms with small budgets first
low effort·medium impact··
Sponsor a local meetup or conference where your target customers attend
medium effort·medium impact··
Sponsor podcasts your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) listens to
medium effort·high impact··
Sponsor or advertise in an industry newsletter your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) reads
medium effort·high impact··
Set up retargeting ads for website visitors with a specific free offer or trial CTA
medium effort·high impact··
Launch a referral programme with a meaningful incentive (free month, cash, upgrade)
medium effort·high impact··
Run an engagement contest with prizes for winners who share or sign up
medium effort·medium impact··
Optimisation18 items
A/B test your landing page headline, CTA colour, and signup form placement
medium effort·high impact··
A/B test email subject lines, send times, and CTAs for every major campaign
low effort·high impact··
Ensure every page has a single, clear call-to-action — remove competing CTAs
low effort·high impact··
Survey users at 30 days with a 3-question NPS (Net Promoter Score) survey
low effort·high impact··
Interview every churned user personally for 15 minutes
medium effort·high impact··
Collect and display testimonials with specific results (numbers, not just praise)
low effort·high impact··
Publish one detailed customer case study with real before/after numbers
high effort·high impact··
Run a heatmap tool (Hotjar free tier) for 2 weeks and watch at least 5 session recordings
low effort·high impact··
Add an exit-intent popup to your site with a last-chance offer or email capture
low effort·medium impact··
Run a customer poll or survey quarterly — use findings as blog or social content too
medium effort·medium impact··
Watch a first-time user use your product without helping them — take notes on every friction point
low effort·high impact··
Set up automatic weekly analytics reports emailed to you every Monday
low effort·medium impact··
Implement Twitter cards and rich snippets for all blog posts
low effort·medium impact··
Create a side project or free tool that promotes your main product
high effort·high impact··
Create a comprehensive FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page that answers every objection a buyer might have
low effort·high impact··
Complete GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance — cookie consent, privacy policy, data deletion workflow
medium effort·high impact··
Audit all tracking tags with Google Tag Assistant and fix any misfiring or duplicate tags
low effort·high impact··
Run Monkey Test It and Checkbot on your site to find broken links, UX errors, and SEO issues
low effort·medium impact··
Alternative Pages & Free Tools7 items
Create an "[Alternatives to Competitor]" page for each major competitor in your space
medium effort·high impact··
Create a "[Your Product] vs [Competitor]" comparison page targeting buyers evaluating both options
medium effort·high impact··
Create dedicated landing pages for each major use case your product serves (e.g. "[Product] for freelancers", "[Product] for agencies")
medium effort·high impact··
Create a landing page for each major integration your product offers (e.g. "[Product] + Slack", "[Product] + Zapier")
medium effort·high impact··
Build one free tool closely related to your paid product and publish it on your domain
high effort·high impact··
If your product has local relevance, create city or region-specific landing pages (e.g. "[Product] for London startups")
medium effort·medium impact··
Create a dedicated, detailed pricing page with a comparison table, FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), and a free trial or money-back guarantee CTA
low effort·high impact··
What marketing actually works in 2025?
Community-led growth
Slack, Discord, and Reddit communities are the #1 distribution channel for SaaS in 2025. Build value first, promote second.
SEO compound interest
A well-researched blog post ranks forever. Founders who invested in SEO in 2023 are reaping traffic they no longer pay for.
Build in public
Transparent growth updates on Twitter/X and LinkedIn consistently outperform ads for indie hackers. Authenticity converts.
Email still wins
Email lists outperform every social platform for direct revenue. An engaged list of 1,000 beats 10,000 Twitter followers.
Startup marketing checklist — frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about using this tool.