Marketing isn’t ads. It’s making the right people aware you exist, repeatedly, until trust forms. Pick TWO of these and do them consistently — two done weekly beats seven done once.
① The proof campaign: document everything — before/after photos, machine-running videos, pallet-loading clips, customer quotes. Post weekly to the ONE platform your buyers use (LinkedIn for B2B, WhatsApp/Facebook for West Africa & LatAm trade, Instagram/TikTok for consumer). A year of proof beats any brochure.
② The 10-a-day outreach: ten personal emails/messages a day to ideal customers — reference something specific about THEM, offer one clear thing. 200/month → the pipeline every game plan above assumes.
③ Google Business Profile + reviews: free listing; then ask every happy customer for a review the same day you deliver. 20 reviews change everything for a service business.
④ The e-mail list from day one: collect every buyer/prospect e-mail (with permission); a monthly short note (new stock, one tip, one story). Owned audience — no algorithm can take it away.
⑤ Partnerships: find businesses that sell to your customers before you do (the co-packer, the freight forwarder, complementary sellers) — swap referrals, 10% thank-you fees.
⑥ PPC starter: $20–30/day on the ONE platform with buying intent (Google/Amazon ads for products, LinkedIn for high-ticket B2B). Kill anything that doesn’t break even by $500 spent; double what does.
⑦ The sample campaign (physical products): 20 beautiful sample boxes to hand-picked buyers — costs a few hundred, opens doors ads can’t. ⑧ One trade show a year, done properly (book meetings BEFORE you fly; STEP grants often pay the booth). ⑨ Micro-influencers: three at $100 beats one at $3,000.
2 weeks before: tease what’s coming to your list/socials. Launch week: an honest founding-customer offer with a real deadline (“first 20 orders get X”). After: publish results + thank-yous (more proof!). Repeat quarterly with each new product/market. Track ONE number per campaign: cost per new customer — if a customer is worth $500 over time and costs $50 to get, spend more; if it flips, stop.