Starting an online business: The pragmatic guide for marketing teams

You want to start an online business or introduce a new digital initiative, but internal processes block your team? Long waiting times for content updates and campaign launches cost valuable time and market share. This guide shows you how to overcome these hurdles and accelerate your marketing activities.

TL;DR

• Increase speed: Rely on an agile CMS so your marketing team can publish new landing pages and content in hours instead of weeks.
• Remove blockers: Establish lean processes and clear responsibilities to reduce dependency on the IT department.
• Measure growth: Focus on key KPIs such as conversion rate and customer acquisition cost (CAC) to prove the impact of your actions.
• Start directly: Use the checklist at the end of the article to take the first steps immediately.

Problem → Desired outcome

Marketing teams in medium-sized companies often face a dilemma: the strategy is in place, but implementation is slowed by rigid systems and lengthy approval processes. Every new campaign or website adjustment requires weeks of coordination with IT. The desired outcome is an agile setup where the marketing team can act autonomously, respond quickly to market feedback, and thus contribute directly to company growth.

Step-by-step: In 5 steps to agile online marketing

1. Market validation: Before tying up resources, test your idea with a simple landing page and a small test campaign (e.g., €500 on LinkedIn). Measure interest via sign-ups or downloads. A conversion rate of 2–5% is a strong signal of genuine market demand.
2. Technical foundation for speed: Choose a technological base that grants your marketing team autonomy. A headless CMS like JET-CMS decouples content from design, so your team can create and publish campaigns pages themselves without waiting for IT.
3. Launch strategy with clear responsibilities: Create a 90-day launch plan. Precisely define who is responsible for which task (e.g., SEO basics, first advertising campaign, content creation). This ensures all activities run targeted and without delays.
4. Make success measurable: Set up a privacy-compliant analytics system from day one (e.g., Matomo or GA4). Define 3–4 core KPIs such as conversion rate, CAC, and site traffic to make the impact of your actions transparent and data-driven.
5. Establish iterative optimization: Implement a monthly review process. Analyze performance data and derive concrete next steps. This agile loop of measuring, learning, and adapting is the key to sustainable growth.

Case study: How a B2B company accelerated lead generation

Before: A medium-sized software company needed an average of 14 workdays to create a new campaign landing page. The reason was dependence on IT and an outdated CMS. Per quarter, only 3–4 new campaigns could be launched.

After: After switching to an agile headless CMS, the marketing team could create landing pages autonomously. The average time-to-publish dropped from 14 days to just 4 hours. In the first quarter, 12 campaigns were launched, resulting in a 45% increase in qualified leads.

Your starter checklist

Use this template to plan the first steps directly within your team.

### Kick-off Plan: Online initiative Q3

**1. Validation & Strategy (Week 1)**
- [ ] Define target audience and core message (Responsible: [Name])
- [ ] Create landing page concept for MVP test (Responsible: [Name])
- [ ] Budget for test campaign (€500) approved (Responsible: [Name])

**2. Technical setup (Week 2-3)**
- [ ] Define CMS requirements (Focus: autonomy for marketing)
- [ ] Create analytics concept (GDPR-compliant) (Responsible: [Name])
- [ ] Clarify domain and hosting (Responsible: [Name])

**3. Launch preparation (Week 4)**
- [ ] Create content for the first 5 core pages (Responsible: [Name])
- [ ] Prepare first Google Ads campaign (Responsible: [Name])
- [ ] Finalize legal review (Imprint, GDPR) (Responsible: [Name])

KPIs & measurement: How to keep track

Focus on a few, but meaningful metrics.

• Time-to-Publish: Measure the time from idea to publishing a new page or blog post. The goal is to significantly reduce this value. (Tracking: internal, e.g., in Asana/Jira)
• Conversion rate (CR): What percentage of visitors complete a desired action (e.g., form submission)? This is the most important indicator of content effectiveness. (Tracking: Google Analytics 4, Matomo)
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC): How much does it cost to acquire a new customer via a given channel? This shows the profitability of your marketing spend. (Tracking: CRM, ad platforms)
• Organic traffic: How many visitors come from search engines? This shows long-term success of your SEO and content measures. (Tracking: Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console)

A clear understanding of the benefits of online businesses and their measurability is essential for defending the budget. A successful launch case study can serve as an internal business case.

Common pitfalls & quick fixes

• Problem: Perfectionism slows the start.
  • Solution: Pursue an MVP approach (Minimum Viable Product). Launch a good but not perfect version online and optimize based on real user data.
• Problem: Unclear legal framework (GDPR).
  • Solution: Use verified templates for imprint and privacy policy and have them reviewed by a lawyer. Use a consent-management tool for cookies.
• Problem: Marketing budget not used efficiently.
  • Solution: Focus your budget initially on one or two channels. Only scale once they demonstrably profitability.
• Problem: Technical dependencies slow the team.
  • Solution: Evaluate a CMS designed for marketing autonomy. The goal is for your team to perform 90% of content adjustments themselves.

FAQ: Frequent questions from Marketing Leads

What are the first legal steps in Austria? Register your business with the competent authority (Magistrate/District Administrative Authority). Ensure your website from day one includes a GDPR-compliant imprint and privacy policy to avoid warnings.

What is a realistic startup budget for a new initiative? Plan besides technology costs (e.g., CMS license) for an initial marketing budget of at least €1,000 to €2,500. This is needed for test campaigns to quickly learn which channels and messages work.

Which marketing channels work best at the start? Focus on channels with clear measurability. For B2B, Google Ads on transactional keywords and targeted advertising on LinkedIn are often most effective to quickly generate qualified leads.

How long does it take for first measurable results to appear? With paid ads, you can achieve initial conversions and learnings within the first 30–60 days. Sustainable organic growth through SEO typically requires three to six months to generate significant traffic.