You should start thinking about content marketing only after you've created something that people want and are confident that users are not churning.

Content marketing is often used by individuals to promote their products or services, but it doesn't necessarily correlate with the early success of their startups.

In the early days of HubSpot, we wrote two blog articles a week and competed to see who could generate more leads from them, emphasizing the importance of high-quality content and effective titles. We built our audience on a blog before we even started writing the first lines of code for our startup, which took us a couple of years to be seen as experts in our space.

For generating content that drives traffic, companies should start with topics closely related to their services and expand into broader areas that establish them as experts.

Making good content allows you to shape your startup's story and share it with a larger audience through press outreach, which can be a powerful combination for growth.

Content marketing is evolving, and there's a growing opportunity for messaging-native content that resonates with audiences.

Before focusing on PR and content marketing, ensure that you are building something that people actually want, as no amount of marketing will help if your product lacks demand.

Startups should focus on producing high-utility content that helps their audience achieve their goals, even if it's not directly related to their product.

I started writing a personal blog to practice my writing skills, inspired by Paul Graham's impactful writing that helps startup founders.