How to plan your marketing before launching a business

There's more to marketing than just promoting the business.

In fact, marketing is the thinking that helps you work out who you're selling to, what they care about, what problem you're solving and why someone should pick you instead of someone else.

So before you spend too much money on stock, branding, a website or premises, it's worth asking a few awkward questions.

• Do people want this?

• Who wants it most?

• What would make them buy it?

• Where will they find out about it?

The answers may change your business before it launches. That's a good thing.

1. Why marketing starts before you launch

One of the most common traps is thinking: "I'll figure out the marketing later." It sounds reasonable when you're so busy preparing to launch.

But marketing should never be something you bolt on at the end. At its best, it helps you make better decisions much earlier. It can show you whether:

• People understand your idea.

• The price feels right.

• The problem is painful enough.

• The audience you had in mind is actually the audience most likely to buy.

You might start out thinking you're selling to young professionals across London, then realise your first real demand is coming from parents in one borough.

Or, you might build a service for small businesses generally, then find that creative freelancers respond far more strongly than anyone else.

You only discover that by testing the idea with real people.

2. Defining your target audience early

Saying your business is for "everyone" feels safe. It isn't.

If your audience is too broad, your message becomes bland. You end up writing copy that could apply to almost anyone. Which usually means it doesn't hit anyone properly.

Be more specific.

Start with the people most likely to care. Not the biggest possible audience, but the most likely first buyers.

Think about who they are, but go beyond age, income and location. Those things can help, but behaviour often tells you more.

• What are they already buying?

• What frustrates them?

• Who do they trust?

• Where do they spend time online?

• Where do they spend time in the real world?

• What would make them hesitate?

• What would make them recommend you?

London makes this both easier and harder. There are huge audiences here, but they're not all moving in the same direction.

A business in Brixton may grow through local networks and community trust. But a founder in Ealing might start with one neighbourhood, then expand borough by borough.

You don't need to reach the whole city at first – just the right pocket of people.

3. Being clear on your value proposition

Your "value proposition" is the reason someone would pay for what you offer.

That's all it is. It doesn't need to sound clever, but people must be able to understand it right away.

A useful test is this – could someone explain your business to a friend after hearing one or two sentences about it? If not, the message probably needs work.

Try answering these questions without dressing them up:

• What problem are you solving?

• Who has that problem?

• Why does it matter to them?

• What do you do differently?

• Why should they trust you?

• Why does this idea make sense now?

The "why now?" question is useful because timing often shapes demand.

Maybe people are spending more carefully, or they want more local options. Maybe a group of customers has been ignored, or a service that once felt premium now needs to feel accessible.

You don't always need a completely original idea. Most businesses aren't completely original. What you need is a clear reason to exist.

But avoid saying things that every business says, like:

• "High-quality products".

• "Excellent customer service".

• "Tailored solutions".

• "Helping businesses thrive".

These are worn-out phrases that don't give people much to hold on to. Say what you actually mean.

4. Validating your idea before launch

You don't need a finished business to find out whether people are interested. In fact, it's better if you don't wait that long.

By the time you've built everything, you may already have spent money on stock, packaging, design, software or a lease. If your business then lands badly, changing direction becomes harder.

So test early. Here are some ways to do it:

• Put up a simple landing page explaining the offer and ask people to register interest.

• Share early content and see what people respond to.

• Speak to potential customers before you try to sell to them.

• Offer a small trial, a limited run, a pre-order or a waiting list.

• Take the idea to a market, local event or relevant online group and watch how people react.

Don't rely on "Do you like this?" as your only test. Friends and family are often supportive, which means their feedback might not truly represent real customer demand.

It's better to ask questions such as:

• What would you use this for?

• What would stop you buying it?

• What do you use now?

• What feels missing?

• What would you expect to pay?

• When would you need it?

You're looking for signs of real interest. Email sign-ups, enquiries, deposits, repeat questions, people asking when it's available.

Feedback can sting a bit. But most of the time, that's a sign there's something worth considering.

If people are confused, pay attention. If they keep questioning the price, look at the value you're showing.

If they like the idea but don't act, the problem may not be urgent enough. If they love one part of the offer and ignore another, that tells you where the energy is.

5. Choosing the right marketing channels early

Don't worry if you're not on every marketing channel. That's not the goal at this point.

Trying to post on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, email and a blog while also building the business is a fast way to spread yourself too thin.

Start with your audience. Where are they already paying attention?

Where do they look for businesses like yours? Where are they in the right mood to listen, compare, ask questions or buy?

For some London businesses, the strongest early channels will be local. That could mean:

• Pop-ups.

• Markets.

• Local partnerships.

• Community events.

• Flyers in carefully chosen places.

• Introductions from other business owners.

• Relationships with organisations your audience already trusts.

For other businesses, digital channels will matter more.

Search, social media, email, online communities, founder-led content or useful guides can all work, but not for every business in the same way.

Don't choose a channel because everyone's talking about it. Choose it because your customer is there and you can use it properly.

6. Branding basics at the idea stage

It's tempting to spend weeks choosing colours, tweaking a logo, testing fonts and rewriting the tagline. Those things feel productive because you can see the results.

But at the stage just before launch, you need a clear enough brand identity to look credible and make sense to customers. That means:

• A name people can remember.

• A simple explanation of what you do.

• A tone of voice that fits the audience.

• A visual style that feels consistent enough across your website, social profiles and early marketing materials.

• A clear sense of why the business exists.

Your first version may change once you learn more from customers. That's normal. Try not to lock yourself into an expensive identity before you've properly tested the offer.

The story behind the business can help too, especially for independent founders in London.

People often want to know who's behind the thing they're buying. But the story still needs to connect back to the customer.

• Why did you start this?

• What bothered you about the existing options?

• What are you trying to make easier, better, fairer, more useful or more enjoyable?

Keep it honest. A small, specific reason usually feels more believable than a grand mission statement.

7. Early content and building an audience

At first, you only need a small number of people paying attention. That's the time to start:

• Discussing what you're building.

• Talking about the problem you're trying to solve.

• Asking for feedback.

• Explaining what you're learning.

• Sharing useful advice linked to your product or service.

Bring people into the process without making the whole thing feel like a sales pitch. This will help you in two ways.

1. It gives potential customers a reason to remember you.

2. It gives you clues.

You'll see which messages land, which questions come up and which parts of the idea you need to explain better.

Early audience-building is about finding the people who might genuinely care. So be patient with it. Trust builds slowly, especially when no-one knows your business yet.

8. Turning your pre-launch strategy into a strong launch

By launch day, you should know more than you did at the start.

You should have a sharper audience, clearer messaging, a better sense of which channels deserve your time and a rough idea of what customers might object to. So use it.

• Rewrite the parts of your website people found confusing. Put the strongest customer problem near the top of the page.

• Shape your social media content around the questions people kept asking. Drop the messages that didn't resonate, and keep the ones that did.

• If the offer needs adjusting, adjust it before you ask lots of people to look.

And try not to launch from zero. A small email list, a few warm leads, a group of early testers, local supporters, useful partnerships or a run of pre-orders can give you a much stronger start.

The key to pre-launch marketing is removing some of the guesswork. For London entrepreneurs, that can make a serious difference.

The city has room for new ideas, but it doesn't reward muddled ones for long.

The clearer you are about your customer, your message and your route to market, the better chance you give the business when it finally goes live.

Read more

• Building a brand in London: everything you need to know

• How to refresh your marketing strategy for the months ahead

• Content marketing made manageable for London SMEs

• How to measure the impact of your social media marketing

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