Raising a Series A is a huge milestone. It validates your product, gives you runway, and opens the door to serious growth. But many founders make costly mistakes when it comes to marketing at this stage.
The playbook that got you here won’t necessarily take you to the next level. Here’s some of the common Series A marketing mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. Thinking More Budget Equals More Growth
It’s tempting to believe that pumping money into paid ads will automatically scale your business. But without strong positioning, clear messaging, and a defined growth strategy, a bigger budget just means burning cash faster.
Solution: Start with a strong foundation. Make sure your brand, messaging, and customer journey are solid before increasing spend. Test, optimise, and refine before scaling.
2. Hiring a Big Marketing Team Too Soon
Many founders rush to hire a VP of Marketing or build an in-house team without a clear strategy. The result? Misaligned priorities, wasted resources, and slow execution.
Solution: Bring in the right expertise at the right time. A fractional CMO or specialised agency can help you build a scalable marketing engine before committing to full-time hires.
3. Treating Marketing as a Support Function
Some founders see marketing as a secondary function to product or sales. They expect it to just “generate leads” rather than shaping demand, driving positioning, and influencing the market.
Solution: Integrate marketing into your growth strategy. It should work alongside product and sales, not in a silo. Strong marketing builds long-term demand, not just quick wins.
4. Ignoring Brand Until Later
Many Series A startups focus solely on performance marketing and ignore brand-building. The problem? When ad costs rise and competitors flood the space, a weak brand struggles to stand out.
Solution: Invest in brand and demand generation together. A strong brand makes performance marketing more effective and reduces dependency on paid acquisition.
5. Focusing on Vanity Metrics Over Real Growth
Chasing website traffic, social media followers, or ad impressions might feel like progress, but investors care about sustainable revenue growth, retention, and customer acquisition costs.
Solution: Track the right metrics. CAC, LTV, pipeline velocity, and conversion rates matter more than surface-level numbers. Align your marketing strategy with investor expectations.
Avoid these Series A marketing mistakes
Marketing at this stage isn’t just about spending more—it’s about working smarter. Founders who take a strategic, data-driven approach set their startups up for long-term success.