Content Marketing for Pre-Seed Companies: A 3-Month Starter Plan

The Pre-Seed Paradox: Too Early for Marketing, Too Late to Wait

You're a pre-seed founder. Your world is a whirlwind of code, pitch decks, and a relentless search for product-market fit. You have a brilliant idea, a small, dedicated team, and a runway that's measured in months, not years. The last thing on your mind, it seems, should be writing blog posts.

Marketing feels like something you do after you have a product, after you have funding, after you have customers. This is the pre-seed paradox. You delay marketing because you need to focus on the product, but without some form of marketing, you struggle to get the initial feedback, traction, and validation needed to build the right product and secure that next round of funding.

At AgentWeb, we work with AI-powered marketing strategies for companies at all stages, and we can tell you with certainty: the old way of thinking is wrong. Content marketing isn't a luxury for later; it's a strategic tool for now. It's your leanest, most effective method for testing hypotheses, understanding your audience, and building a community around the problem you solve—long before your product is perfect.

This isn't about launching a massive, multi-channel content empire. It’s about being strategic, focused, and scrappy. It's about laying the first few foundational bricks that will support your entire growth engine later. This is your 3-month starter plan to do just that.

Month 1: Laying the Foundation for Growth

The first month isn’t about publishing a flood of content. It’s about deliberate, focused research and setup. Getting this right prevents months of wasted effort creating content for the wrong people on the wrong channels. Think of this as your strategic sprint before the marathon.

Week 1: Define Your "Who" and "Why"

Before you write a single word, you must have a crystal-clear answer to two questions: Who are you talking to? And why should they care?

This starts with your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). At the pre-seed stage, your ICP is a hypothesis, not a proven fact. That's okay. Your goal is to create a detailed, educated guess. Don't just say "small business owners." Go deeper. What industry are they in? What is their job title? What are their daily frustrations? What tools do they currently use? What online communities or publications do they trust?

Once you have a hypothesis for your ICP, define your core value proposition for them. What specific, painful problem do you solve? Your early content should be obsessed with this problem, not your solution. People search for their problems, not for the names of products they don't know exist yet.

Week 2: Initial Keyword and Topic Research

SEO might seem intimidating, but at this stage, it's simply about understanding the language your ICP uses to describe their problems. You're not competing for hyper-competitive terms like "project management software." You're looking for the questions and phrases that signal pain and intent.

Focus on problem-aware, long-tail keywords. These are longer, more specific search queries. Instead of "CRM," you might target "how to track sales leads in a spreadsheet" or "best free CRM for a two-person team." These queries have lower search volume but much higher relevance and intent.

Here are some simple ways to find these topics:

Reddit & Quora: Search for subreddits or Quora topics related to your industry. Look at the exact questions people are asking. The phrasing they use is gold.
Google's "People Also Ask": Type a broad topic into Google and look at the "People Also Ask" box. It's a direct insight into related user queries.
AnswerThePublic: This tool visualizes search questions around a keyword. It's a fantastic source for content ideas based on what real people are searching for.

Gather 10-15 strong topic ideas based on the specific problems of your ICP. These will form your initial content backlog.

Week 3: Choose Your Core Content Channels

The biggest mistake early-stage founders make is trying to be everywhere at once. You don't have the resources. You need to be focused.

Choose two channels, maximum:

Your Blog: This is non-negotiable. Your blog is your owned content hub. It's where you build long-term SEO equity and have full control over the user experience. Every piece of content you create should, in some form, live here first.
One Social Distribution Channel: Choose the platform where your ICP is most active and engaged. For B2B SaaS, this is almost always LinkedIn. For developer tools, it might be Twitter/X or a specific Discord community. For a B2C product, it could be Instagram or TikTok. Don't guess. Go back to your ICP research. Where do they hang out online? Pick one, and commit to it.

Week 4: Set Up Your "Content Machine"

Your "machine" should be simple and functional. Don't over-engineer it. All you need are the basics for publishing and measurement.

Set up your blog: Use a simple CMS like Ghost, Webflow, or even the built-in blog functionality of your website builder. Ensure it's clean, fast-loading, and easy to read.
Install Google Analytics: This is crucial for understanding traffic. You need to know which posts are being viewed, how people are finding them, and how long they're staying.
Verify Google Search Console: This is your direct line of communication with Google. It tells you which search queries are bringing people to your site, highlights technical issues, and tracks your overall SEO performance. It provides the proof that your SEO efforts are beginning to work, even before you see significant traffic.

With this foundation in place, you’re ready to move from planning to execution.

Month 2: Execution and Initial Validation

Now it's time to start creating. The goal for this month is consistency and learning. The data you gather from your first few posts is more valuable than the traffic they generate. You're testing your hypotheses from Month 1 in the real world.

Content Creation: The "Founder-Led" Approach

At the pre-seed stage, you have an asset that larger companies have lost: the authentic voice of the founder. People don't just buy products; they buy into a vision and a story. Your direct, unfiltered perspective on the problem you're solving is your most powerful content.

Don't worry about sounding like a polished marketing department. Worry about being helpful, insightful, and authentic. Write about the struggles you faced that led you to build this solution. Share your unique point of view on the industry. Your passion and expertise are your competitive advantage.

Your First Four Pieces of Content

Aim to publish one piece of high-quality content per week. Here are four proven formats that are perfect for pre-seed companies:

The "Pillar Problem" Post: Choose the most painful problem your ICP faces and write the definitive guide on it. Go deep. Explore the nuances, the hidden costs, and the failed workarounds. Barely mention your product. The goal is to build trust and authority by demonstrating an unparalleled understanding of their pain. This positions you as an expert resource, not just a vendor.
The "Smart Comparison" Post: Your customers are already using alternatives, even if it's just a messy spreadsheet or a combination of free tools. Write a post that honestly compares these alternatives. For example, "Google Sheets vs. Airtable for Tracking User Feedback." By providing a balanced view, you intercept users who are actively looking for a better way and can subtly introduce your solution's unique value.
The "Founder's Journey" Post: Write a personal narrative about why you started this company. What was the "aha!" moment? What frustrations did you personally experience? This type of content builds an emotional connection. It tells investors, future employees, and early customers that you are deeply committed to solving this problem. It builds a brand with a human heart.
The "Unique Point of View" Post: Take a stand on a popular trend or a piece of common wisdom in your industry. Write a contrarian take or offer a unique perspective. For example, if everyone is talking about "growth hacking," you could write a post titled "Why 'Growth Hacking' is a Distraction for Early-Stage Startups." This positions you as a thought leader and attracts an audience that resonates with your philosophy.

Simple Distribution: Don't Just Publish, Promote

Hitting "publish" is only half the job. You need to get your content in front of people. Again, keep it simple and focused.

Your Chosen Social Channel: Share your post on LinkedIn or Twitter/X. Don't just drop a link. Write a compelling introduction that summarizes the key takeaway or asks a provocative question to spark discussion.
Online Communities (with care): Find 2-3 relevant Reddit, Slack, or Discord communities where you can share your content. Do not spam. Participate in the community first. Only share your content when it directly and helpfully answers a question or contributes to a conversation. Frame it as "I wrote a detailed post about this, hope it helps."
Your Personal Network: Email your article to your personal and professional network. Don't ask them to buy anything. Ask for feedback. This is an easy way to get your first readers and valuable critiques.

Month 3: Analysis, Iteration, and Scaling

The final month of your starter plan is about taking a breath, looking at the data, and making intelligent decisions about what to do next. You are now moving from guesswork to a data-informed strategy.

Reviewing the Data (Even When It's Small)

After publishing 4-8 articles, you'll have some initial data points. The numbers will be small, and that's fine. You're looking for signals, not statistical significance.

Google Search Console: Check the "Performance" report. Which articles are getting the most impressions and clicks? What specific search queries are people using to find you? You might discover that a term you didn't even target is starting to bring in traffic. This is a powerful signal of user intent.
Google Analytics: Look at your top-viewed pages. Which articles are holding people's attention (longer average time on page)? Where is your traffic coming from (social, direct, organic search)?
Social Engagement: Which posts got the most likes, comments, or shares? Was there a particular topic or format that resonated more than others? A single thoughtful comment can be more insightful than a hundred likes.

Doubling Down on What Works

Your analysis should inform your next batch of content. Your goal is to iterate and improve.

Topic Resonance: If your "Pillar Problem" post performed well, identify another core problem and write a similar deep dive. If a specific keyword in Search Console is getting impressions, create a new article that targets that keyword directly and more comprehensively.
Format Resonance: Did your comparison post get a lot of engagement? Create another one comparing different tools or workflows. Did the founder story lead to DMs or emails? Share another lesson learned from your journey.

This is the beginning of a feedback loop: Publish -> Measure -> Learn -> Iterate. This is the core of all successful content marketing.

Building Your First "Content-to-Lead" Funnel

Now that you have some attention, you need a simple way to capture it. It's time to add a Call-to-Action (CTA) to your best-performing blog posts. This doesn't need to be a hard sell for your product. At the pre-seed stage, a softer CTA is often more effective:

**"Join our waitlist for early access."
"Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more insights on [your topic]."
"Book a 15-minute chat with the founder to discuss your challenges with [the problem]."

This simple step transforms your content from a branding exercise into a lead generation tool, providing you with a list of highly-qualified individuals who are interested in your solution.

Planning for the Next 90 Days

As you exit your first three months, you should have a foundational understanding of what works for your specific audience. You have a handful of content assets, some initial data, and a process for creation and distribution.

Now you can start planning ahead. Build a simple content calendar for the next quarter. Plan to repurpose your successful blog posts into LinkedIn carousels, Twitter threads, or short videos. Your initial 3-month sprint has given you the momentum and the insights to build a sustainable, scalable content marketing engine that will fuel your growth for years to come.

Your Content Journey Starts Now

Content marketing for a pre-seed company is not an expense; it's an investment in learning. Over these three months, you will have done more than just publish articles. You will have clarified your ICP, validated customer problems, built an initial audience, and created long-term assets that will attract users and investors around the clock.

It requires discipline and a commitment to a long-term vision. But by starting now, with this focused and actionable plan, you are building one of the most powerful and defensible assets for your startup: a direct relationship with your customers, built on trust and value.

Ready to turn your founder-led insights into a predictable growth engine? At AgentWeb, we use AI and data to help startups scale their content marketing effectively. Let's talk about building your future.