Startup Marketing in the Post-Covid Era

Mrs. Einav Laviv, managing partner and co-founder of G2Mteam tells us about flexible business-to-business startup marketing.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Einav Laviv: We are well adjusted by now. We’ve had a whole year to get organized. My husband and I are used to working from home, and our kids are in middle or high school, so things are manageable.

Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded G2Mteam.

Einav Laviv: I cofounded G2Mteam about 8 years ago when both my partner and I learned that Israel was missing startup marketing professionals, and most agencies we not offering unique services for early-stage startups (post-seed to round B). As starts in their early stages are short in internal teams, we have opened G2Mteam to allow them to outsource their entire marketing operation. Before G2MTEAM, I was working in multiple global and technological firms as a marketer. In my background, I have a master’s degree in Cognitive Psychology, and my thesis research focused on biases among consumers of different ages.

How does G2Mteam innovate?

Einav Laviv: Working with multiple deep tech startups, we needed to invent what we call the “agile marketing” method and work processes. It means that in everything we do, from messaging to growth activities, we follow methods that are borrowed from other units such as R&D, with regards to pace of operation, level of communication, transparency, data monitoring, and more.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business finances?

Einav Laviv: Well, it started with panic, and then it went to all times high (probably due to the leap towards digital), now it balances back to normal. Other than that,  our operation focus areas shifted drastically towards data-driven marketing, growth tactics & sales enablement activities.

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources, and what are the lessons learned?

Einav Laviv: Fortunately, no, but we were close to it at some point.

How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient?

Einav Laviv: We’ve learned to work closely together with our startups to overcome this challenge together, shifting operation areas instantly and monitoring their sentiment regularly. As we are used to working remotely, we didn’t need to onboard new tools, and we don’t feel that our customers are too affected by the volume of remote meetings. Even before COVID and especially these days, we lean on multiple SaaS tools to build smooth communications and transparent operations while working remotely.

Did you benefit from any government grants, and did that help keep your business afloat?

Einav Laviv: Gladly, we didn’t need grants to survive. We did take instant actions to reduce expenses when it all started until we felt that the ground was stable again. That helped us go through the first months without shaking the boat too hard. Within a few months, things started looking better, and we could start going back to normal.

Your final thoughts?

Einav Laviv: The startup scene was not impacted by COVID as other sectors (such as physical stores or restaurants). Though startups are fragile, I believe that, in the long run, COVID will not damage this industry, but alternatively, it will even contribute to the evolution of the startup ecosystem. Investors are moving to support founders who prove to be tough enough to keep resilient in such times. Also, the entire world learned how technology tech is a lifesaver in such times, from medical innovation to remote communications, to smart online services, etc. This will only increase the impact of the technological evolution that we are all witnessing today.

In terms of marketing- we all learned the power of the digital, and B2B companies would invest heavily in digital channels, not only for provoking awareness but also for running enterprise-sales outreach and closing premium deals.

Your website?

www.g2mteam.com