Marketing strategy for impact startups: a practical guide

If you're building something in climate tech, femtech, or any other mission-flavoured startup space, chances are you didn’t sign up to be a marketer. You signed up to fix something urgent and real in the world.

And yet… here you are. Wrestling with:

• People not getting it fast enough

• Fear of sounding fake or cringe

• A product so complex your friends nod politely when you try to explain it

• Investors asking for “traction” while your audience doesn’t even have a name for their problem yet

Here’s the truth: your challenge isn’t that marketing is broken. It’s that impact marketing is different. When you’re solving something complicated, reaching an audience that doesn’t always know they need you, and doing it without sounding like a parody of “mission-driven brand”—you’re working two jobs at once.

So let’s build a strategy that fits your reality—not a full-team playbook or flashy campaign.

Why this feels harder than “regular” marketing

Before we jump into steps, let’s acknowledge something important about your “version” of marketing:

• Your problem might be invisible. Your audience doesn’t know they have it. Or they’ve been told it’s just normal and doesn’t matter;

• Your value might be technical or scientific. That’s awesome—hats off to you for figuring out a solution to something so complicated. The problem is that brilliance doesn’t always read like a story. It needs translation;

• Your credibility is under a microscope. If you slip into buzzwords (“sustainability”, “disrupt”, “eco-friendly”), you trigger instant scepticism—especially from Gen-Z;

• Your category might be new or niche. Which means people aren’t searching for you yet, and there’s no intent to buy. The typical marketing funnel feels broken.

If you’re nodding along, then great—you’re in the right place. We’re about to map out what works for you.

Things to define and understand when you’re building an impact strategy

1. Who you serve (in their language, not yours)

Many founders describe their audience based on demographics or values:

“Women 18–35 who care about sustainability”

That’s… nice. But please let me hold your hand when I tell you something you already know… No one wakes up thinking:

“Ahh, it’s a nice day to be a woman 18–35 who cares about sustainability.”

You probably also heard about buyer personas, right? The problem with those, though, is that classic personas—“Chloe, 32, urban professional, loves yoga and sustainability”—were built for a world where attention was cheap and channels were broad.

Now? Everyone’s multi-dimensional, consuming niche content, changing jobs every 18 months, and switching identities faster than marketers can update slides.

Even psychographics (“values sustainability,” “health-conscious”) are often too static. People say they care—but context shapes behaviour far more than values do.

So the new lens isn’t “who are they?” It’s “what situation are they in when they finally care?”

Impact audiences are driven by:

• A trigger—when the problem becomes unavoidable

• A barrier—what keeps them stuck with the status quo

• A belief—what they currently think is true

What does it look like in real life? It’s actually super easy to understand if you think of the femtech audience, for example:

• Trigger: “The pain keeps me awake, and I finally start Googling what’s wrong at 2 a.m.”

• Barrier: “My OB/GYN said it’s normal”

• Belief: “Everyone goes through this, right? Maybe I’m overreacting.”

When you understand those? Your messaging stops being vague mission-statements and starts being helpful.

So, what can you do as a founder or a fellow marketer?

Try this small exercise: Write 3 sentences that begin with:
“This becomes real for them when…”

2. The problem they recognise (or… don’t)

Here’s where many impact founders might get stuck: your product solves a very real problem—but your audience might not actually know they have it yet.

And that creates two very different marketing realities.

Let’s break it down.

Customers already know it hurts	Customers don’t know something is wrong
They are searching for solutions	They are searching for explanations
You compete with alternatives	You compete with beliefs
Priority is clear	Priority must be created

If people don’t think they have a problem yet, it doesn’t mean your idea is bad or your marketing is broken. It just means you’re operating a stage earlier than most—you’re helping people recognise the problem before you can sell them the solution.

That’s actually the core skill in impact marketing: teaching people to care without making them defensive.

Here’s a simple example.

No one searches for “carbon accounting automation platform.”
They say things like, “We’re drowning in spreadsheets, and no one’s sure which number’s right anymore.”

Different language. Same need.

If you can find that language—the words people use before they realise they need you—your marketing becomes a lot more grounded, and a lot less frustrating.

Try asking yourself this:

“What does life look like before someone realises things could be better?”

That question usually leads you straight to the content and conversations that actually matter.

3. How your solution helps—without needing a dictionary

Let’s be honest: you probably built something pretty brilliant. I know you did. Or you’re about to. And because you live inside it every day, you can describe it in exquisite detail—which is exactly what makes it hard for anyone else to understand.

Impact founders can sometimes fall into this trap. You’re not trying to confuse people; you just know too much. The challenge isn’t dumbing it down—it’s translating it.

When you talk about your product, people don’t need to understand the full architecture. They need to understand why it matters to them, in words that feel familiar, not intimidating.

There’s a simple way to check if your message does that. Let’s call it the “Feature → Meaning → Proof” loop.

• Feature: what it actually does

• Meaning: why that matters (to a human being)

• Proof: how you can show it works

For example:

• Feature: On-device energy optimisation

• Meaning: Helps facilities lower energy waste automatically, without adding new workflows

• Proof: Clients cut monthly energy costs by 10% within the first quarter

The key is that meaning always comes before the tech.

You’re not hiding the innovation—you’re making sure people care enough to listen to it.

Here’s a quick way to sanity-check your clarity:

• Could someone repeat your value back to you ten seconds after hearing it?

• Could they explain it to their colleague without notes?

• Would they sound confident doing it?

If the answer’s “not really,” it doesn’t mean your idea is too complicated. It just means your messaging is still written for people who already get it, not for people who are still learning about it.

Try this small exercise:

Take one sentence from your homepage and rewrite it using plain language. Read it out loud. If you’d actually say it that way in a meeting or a pitch, you’re on the right track.

Here’s an example for you. Many ethical brands start with something like:

“We’re revolutionising conscious consumerism through sustainable production practices.”

If you said that out loud to a friend, you’d both probably wince a little. Here’s the same idea in plain English:

“We make clothes designed to last years, not seasons — so you buy less and waste less.”

“We make refillable essentials that save money over time and cut down on single-use plastic.”

“We make everyday products that don’t fall apart — or end up in a landfill six months later.”

Now it’s your turn.

4. How they discover you (without turning into a content machine)

This is one of the most common questions I get from founders:

“Where should we actually do promotion?”

And honestly, it’s a fair question—because there are too many options, and almost all of them come with someone on the internet swearing they’re the only one that works.

But here’s a better version of that question:

“Where would trust form fastest for the people I’m trying to reach?”

Because you’re not selling a super cute water bottle here. You’re asking someone to make a change—in belief, in behaviour, or in how they spend money.

That means you can’t just look for traffic; you have to look for credibility.

Your best channels are usually the ones that check three simple boxes:

• Where your audience already looks for trustworthy information (the places they go when they need to understand something, not just scroll past it—is it TikTok? Reddit? ChatGPT? Specific influencers?)

• Where the problem you solve naturally shows up (so you’re joining an existing conversation, not trying to start one from scratch)

• Where can you show up consistently without burning out (because forced content dies fast—if you hate it, you’ll stop doing it)

Here’s what that tends to look like in practice:

Sector	Where trust forms (and how to show up)
Climate Tech	You’ll build credibility faster through partnerships, procurement networks, or niche industry events where your buyers already trade notes. Thoughtful LinkedIn posts from your founder or team can also work—not memes, but clear insights that make complex things easier to understand.
Health / Femtech	Trust often forms through relationships—clinicians, patient advocates, or expert-led education. Communities where people talk honestly about their experiences tend to work far better than polished Instagram feeds or brand slogans.
Ethical or Purpose-Driven D2C	Here, proof is everything. Reviews, referrals, and real customer stories travel further than polished campaigns. Communities that share values—local, digital, or both—can do more for brand trust than any paid ad ever could.

And no matter which space you’re in, the same flow tends to hold true:

Awareness → Education → Confidence → Trial

That’s it. That’s your job. To guide people from “huh, that’s interesting” to “I actually trust this” to “okay, I’ll give it a try.”

The hard part isn’t getting attention—it’s earning belief. And belief builds where your audience already feels safe learning.

5. What is your message (going for clarity, not compromise)

Before we get into how to build your message, it’s worth pausing on why it matters.

Your message isn’t just marketing fluff—it’s how you scale clarity.

Huh?

What I mean is it’s how you make sure everyone—your team, your customers, your investors—understands what you do without you having to explain it personally every time.

Without a clear message (or messaging matrix, if you’re really cooking), every pitch takes longer, every post sounds different, and your team starts describing the company in slightly conflicting ways.

Here’s what a solid messaging foundation gives you:

• Faster alignment. Everyone knows how to talk about what you do.

• Shorter sales cycles. People “get it” faster.

• More consistent marketing. Each piece builds on the last.

• Easier investor conversations. You sound steady, not rehearsed.

For impact founders, though, messaging has a unique twist—it has to balance truth and traction.

If you simplify too much, you lose integrity. If you stay too nuanced, people can’t follow. If you sound too polished, they stop trusting you. So, the goal isn’t a slogan. It’s a structure—one that helps you stay honest and clear.

Here’s a simple framework to build messaging that works for impact-driven startups:

Steps	How to do it	Example
1—Define Purpose	Name what’s broken—the “why this matters” moment. Helps people emotionally connect before you ever mention your product.	“No one should need a sustainability degree to understand their own emissions data.”
2—Define Problem	Describe your audience’s reality—the friction, waste, or confusion they live with today.	“Most teams already care about impact, but they’re drowning in complexity and second-guessing their own messaging.”
3—Define Proof	Show what changes when your solution exists. Keep it real and concrete.	“When teams have a shared plan and language, marketing stops feeling like guesswork and starts building traction.”
4—Define Priority	Explain why this matters now—what makes waiting costly or risky (without fear tactics).	“Regulations are coming either way—getting ready now saves time and stress later.”

Put these four together and you get the spine of your messaging system:

Purpose → Problem → Proof → Priority

It’s what keeps your story coherent as your company grows. It helps every new pitch, campaign, and conversation line up behind the same truth.

And when your message is this clear, you don’t have to overexplain what you do anymore—your audience can do it for you.

6. What success looks like (and how to show it to investors)

A lot of investors ask for “traction” (did your eye just twitch?). A lot of founders respond with big engagement numbers and hope no one asks follow-up questions.

The real-life problem is that founders tend to unnecessarily overcomplicate what success means because they’re trying to please everyone—their team, their board, potential investors, and, well, the mirror.

But success in marketing, especially for early-stage impact startups, isn’t about hitting arbitrary “growth” targets. It’s about proving that you’re moving from potential to predictability.

You’re showing that people who should care about what you do are starting to understand it, believe it, and act on it—without you having to chase them down one by one.

That’s what investors want to see: not hype, but signs of repeatable, scalable behaviour. Let’s see what that actually looks like in practice:

a) Success looks like validated demand, not just awareness.

• People booking calls or demos whom you didn’t personally chase down.

• Inbound partnership requests from aligned organisations.

• Downloads, signups, or resource requests that come from organic search or referrals—not ads.

How to show it to investors: Bring a simple chart that shows how inbound interest has grown month over month—and what percentage of those leads were unsolicited. That says, “people are finding us,” which is gold in an early-stage pitch.

b) Success looks like message-market fit.

You know you’re getting close when other people can describe what you do—and they get it right.

You’ll notice it when prospects or journalists start using your language to describe your idea. It’s one of the best signals that your positioning has landed.

How to show it to investors: Include a few short quotes—from customer calls, press mentions, or early partners—where your message comes back to you. It’s simple, but it proves that clarity is compounding.

c) Success looks like efficiency, not just motion.

One of the best signs your marketing is working is when things start feeling easier. It’s not glamorous, but it’s measurable.

Track:

• How long does it take to move from first contact to close?

• How many leads do you need to get one conversion?

• How often do you find yourself saying, “This isn’t a fit”—that number should go down over time.

How to show it to investors: Bring a single, clean chart showing your average sales or partnership timeline shrinking across a couple of quarters. It quietly says, “Our marketing is maturing.”

d) Success looks like leverage—the kind that compounds.

At first, everything feels manual. You’re writing every post, joining every call, saying the same sentences on repeat.

Then something shifts. One post brings in five warm intros. One partnership turns into three others. That’s marketing leverage. It’s when your effort starts multiplying instead of just adding.

How to show it to investors: Keep a short record of these small but powerful chains—“one article led to three meetings and one signed pilot.” That’s how you prove your go-to-market motion can scale without burning out your team.

e) Success looks like credibility in your niche.

You don’t need to be famous; you need to be trusted by the right people. When subject-matter experts, early adopters, or respected organisations start treating you like a peer, that’s huge.

It means you’ve crossed the credibility threshold—the point where people stop seeing you as a risk and start seeing you as a partner.

How to show it to investors: List credible partnerships, pilot programs, or advisory relationships that required vetting or approval. That’s third-party validation—and it’s one of the strongest proof points you can bring.

Turning Your Strategy Into Action

So by now, you’ve got all the pieces defined—who you serve, what problems they recognise, how your solution helps, what your message is, and how you’ll measure success. That’s already more clarity than most early-stage companies ever have.

The next step is turning all of that thinking into something you can actually run. Because a strategy that lives only in a document won’t help you when you open your laptop on Monday and think, “Okay, so what do I actually do this week?”

That’s where a 90-day plan comes in.

Why 90 days and not a full year

A one-year plan looks beautiful in a deck, but in practice, it rarely holds up. The reality is that things change—the market, your team, your funding, your product direction, even your confidence in what’s working.

Ninety days gives you a timeframe that’s long enough to build real momentum but short enough to adapt before you waste effort. It’s a window you can see across—you can imagine what 12 weeks from now looks like, and that helps you stay connected to what you’re building.

More importantly, it forces you to treat everything you’ve defined—your audience, your message, your success metrics—as a hypothesis, not a verdict. You’re not declaring truth; you’re setting up experiments. Each quarter is your next round of testing: you try things, collect evidence, learn what holds up, and rewrite what doesn’t.

You’re not locking yourself in; you’re setting yourself up to learn on purpose.

Turning strategy into a 90-Day marketing plan

Here’s what that rhythm roughly looks like:

Step	What to Do	Example
1. Start with one clear goal	Define one outcome that would make the next stage of growth easier. It’s your north star for the quarter—clear, measurable, and realistic.	“Validate our new positioning with five paying pilot customers.”
2. Pick up to three priorities	Choose up to three areas that directly support that goal. These become the backbone of your work for the next 90 days.	1. Publish a proof story that shows real customer results. 2. Improve website clarity and messaging. 3. Build early inbound traction through partnerships.
3. Set a light weekly rhythm	Focus on steady progress each week—create, share, review, refine. You don’t need a complicated content calendar, just consistent movement.	Weeks 1–2: update messaging and proof story. Weeks 3–6: publish and promote. Weeks 7–10: collect feedback. Weeks 11–12: review and plan next cycle.
4. Measure what matters	Track a few indicators that tell you if things are moving—no vanity metrics, just direction and traction.	Inbound leads from organic traffic, demo conversion rates, shorter sales cycles.
5. Pause and reflect	End each cycle by reviewing what worked, what didn’t, and what surprised you. Use that learning to refine your next 90-day plan.	“Customer stories perform best when they lead with problem clarity—we’ll create more of those next quarter.”

That’s really all a marketing strategy is—not a year-long prediction, but a repeatable rhythm of planning, testing, and learning.

When you treat marketing as a 90-day practice instead of a guessing game, you stop chasing perfection and start building something you can actually sustain. The more you work this way, the less it feels like “marketing,” and the more it feels like building clarity into your company one decision at a time.

Growth isn’t about doing everything. It’s about learning what matters and doing that consistently.

And honestly, the minute your marketing starts reflecting who you really are, that’s when people start to trust it. Until then, keep it simple, keep it kind, and keep testing your way forward.

💬 Final Thoughts

If you’re reading this, you probably care about building something that matters. You want your marketing to mean something—to actually make a difference, not just drive KPIs.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. (Spoiler: no one does.)

Marketing isn’t about hype. It’s about helping your idea reach the people who need it most. If you’re ready to stop overcomplicating and start focusing on what truly matters, reach out to schedule a free session with me.

We’ll map out a simple 90-day plan that aligns with your purpose—and keeps your sanity intact.

🪶 Disclaimer

Written by a human (hi, that’s me—Elena)—with a little help from ChatGPT to organise my ideas. The thoughts, experiences, and occasional anxious opinions are all mine.