Why You Need Marketing Long Before You Think You Do
Research Backs Early Marketing
There is a familiar pattern. A founder builds a product, the team becomes excited, and everyone rushes toward launch. Only once the product is already in the world does someone say, “We should bring in marketing.”
By then, the most valuable window has already passed.
The data is very clear. Brands that invest in strategic marketing early grow faster, reach product market fit sooner, and avoid the costly cycle of releasing into silence and then scrambling for traction. Several major studies point to this!
What the research shows
• McKinsey found that companies with strong branding and early positioning outperform their competitors by up to thirty percent in growth.
• Harvard Business Review reported that companies that define their messaging and audience early are two to three times more likely to reach product market fit.
• Deloitte research shows that brands with a consistent early identity see revenue grow at a rate six times higher than those without one.
Your Brand is Your SuperPower
Strong brands are built before anything is launched. When companies wait to invest in marketing, they lose clarity and differentiation. Early marketing pays back in spades: a compounding effect to immediate make it clear who you are, whom you serve, and why you exist.
All companies want to create the foundation to grow with intention, but somewhere down the line we started trusting product engineers to define the brand. What happens is you become a product-led company…and when the product changes or pivots (as is likely especially in early brands), you no longer have a narrative.
Marketing and branding clarifies who you are and why you matter.
It sharpens the problem you solve.
It positions you in a crowded market so your audience immediately understands your value.
A strong marketer (like us!) guides the work that sets a company up for success: brand identity, messaging architecture, positioning, audience definition, and strategic focus. They help answer the questions that determine whether your product lands with the right people at the right time.
Early marketing accelerates the journey to product market fit. It helps you test, listen, refine, and evolve with intention.
Waiting until after launch is the most expensive way to build a brand. It forces companies to backtrack, rework, clarify, and rebuild foundations that should have been laid months earlier.
Bringing in marketing early gives your product a voice and tells the world who you are, long before you ask anyone to choose you.
