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Marketing Plan

The job of marketing: generate 40% of pipeline by Year 2 at a CAC payback ≤ 14 months. We don't market for awareness alone — we market to put qualified buyers in front of sales reps.

1. Marketing strategy in one line​

"Make KeyNova the default answer to 'what should I run my property on?' in Indian hospitality — through content authority, event omnipresence, and account-based pressure on the top 500 chains."

2. Goals — FY26 and FY27​

GoalFY26FY27
Marketing-sourced pipeline (₹ Cr)860
Marketing-influenced pipeline (₹ Cr)22130
MQLs / month (steady state by Q4)6002,500
SQLs / month100400
Cost per SQL (CPSQL)₹14,000₹9,000
Inbound demo requests / month80300
Organic monthly site visitors35,000200,000
Brand-search volume (KeyNova)4,000/mo30,000/mo
LinkedIn followers14,00080,000
Webinar attendees / quarter7003,000
Active reference customers (publicly named)1260
Published case studies840
Pillar articles published cumulative60200
Anchor events sponsored68
Regional events sponsored1830
KeyNova-hosted summits38

3. Budget envelope and mix​

Line itemFY26 (₹ Cr)FY27 (₹ Cr)Notes
Headcount (loaded)2.25.012 marketers by EoFY27
Paid search (Google Ads)1.84.5India PMS keywords, branded defense
Paid social (LinkedIn)0.82.5targeted job-titles in T2-T4
Paid social (Meta/IG/FB)0.51.2PLG + brand awareness
Paid YouTube + connected TV0.41.0top-funnel awareness
Anchor event sponsorships1.22.0HICSA, FHRAI, NRAI, HOTREMAI, IHS, regional
Regional events + dinners0.61.2invite-only owner roundtables
Content + SEO (internal + agency)0.91.82 writers + agency retainer
PR + analyst relations0.30.5retainer + tier-1 outreach
Brand + creative + photography1.10.8front-loaded brand build
Website + dev0.50.3ongoing
Marketing tech stack0.50.7HubSpot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Ahrefs
OOH / TV burst (FY27 only)06.5post product-market fit
Customer marketing + advocacy0.41.0case studies, references, awards
Total11.229.0(excluded from total: SDR/BDR people cost — that's in sales budget)

4. Channel-by-channel plan​

4.1 SEO + Content (highest ROI long-term)​

Strategy: become the highest-authority publisher on Indian hospitality operations. See [[Content and SEO]] for editorial calendar.

Key targets:

  • Rank top-3 for 25 commercial keywords by Q4 FY26
  • Rank #1 for "PMS India", "hotel software India", "GST e-invoice hotel" by Q2 FY27
  • Generate 35,000+ organic monthly visitors by Q4 FY26

Investment:

  • 2 senior content writers (₹15-22 lakh CTC each)
  • 1 SEO manager (₹18 lakh CTC)
  • Agency retainer (₹2.5 lakh/month — link building, technical SEO)
  • Translation budget for Hindi (₹3 lakh/year)

Strategy: dominate intent searches. Bid hardest on bottom-funnel, moderate on mid-funnel, defensively on brand.

Keyword tiers:

  • Bottom-funnel commercial: "PMS for hotel India", "hotel management software", "best channel manager India" — high CPC, high intent
  • Mid-funnel: "how to handle GST e-invoice hotel", "OTA channel management"
  • Brand defense: "KeyNova", competitor brand terms (only where comparison content exists)
  • Long-tail: segment-specific ("PG management software", "restaurant POS multi-outlet", "homestay software")

Targets:

  • CTR ≥ 5% on top campaigns
  • Cost per click ₹35-150 depending on intent
  • Conversion-to-MQL rate ≥ 4%
  • CPSQL ≤ ₹14k in FY26

4.3 LinkedIn (B2B account-based)​

Strategy: account-based pressure on Top-500 target accounts via:

  • Programmatic LinkedIn ads to specific job titles in target accounts
  • Sponsored InMail from VP Sales for warm prospects
  • Thought-leadership content from CEO + CMO
  • Employee advocacy (every employee shares 1 post/week)
  • LinkedIn Live monthly with industry guest

Targets:

  • 14,000 followers Y1, 80,000 Y2
  • 4-5% engagement rate on company posts
  • 15% conversion from InMail to first call

4.4 Meta (Instagram + Facebook)​

Strategy: primarily PLG acquisition + brand awareness.

Plays:

  • Instagram Reels — KeyNova staff using product, "day-in-the-life" of hotelier on KeyNova
  • Facebook groups for hosts/PG operators — content seeding + ads
  • Lookalike audiences off paid customer list

Targets:

  • Cost per PLG signup ≤ ₹500
  • PLG trial-to-paid ≥ 30%

4.5 YouTube​

Strategy: education + product walk-throughs become evergreen SEO assets.

Content plan:

  • 2 videos per week (weekly tutorial + weekly insight)
  • "KeyNova Insider" — weekly 30-min show with industry guest
  • Tutorial library — 60+ how-to videos by EoFY26
  • Demo recordings (best-of-class) — public

Targets:

  • 10,000 subscribers EoFY26, 100,000 EoFY27
  • 40% of organic traffic from YouTube within 18 months

4.6 Events​

See [[Events and Channels]] for the full calendar.

Anchor events (KeyNova always present with branded booth + speaker):

  1. HICSA (Apr/May, Bangalore/Hyderabad) — Gold sponsor
  2. FHRAI Convention (Sep, location varies) — Gold sponsor
  3. HOTREMAI (May/Jun, Mumbai/Hyderabad) — Silver sponsor
  4. NRAI India Food Forum (Nov, Mumbai) — Silver sponsor
  5. India Hospitality Showcase (Jan, Delhi) — Gold sponsor
  6. HotelsByDay India / Resorts of India (TBD) — Silver

KeyNova-hosted events (Year 1):

  • 3 city summits: Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi (Q2-Q3)
  • 12 invite-only owner roundtables (one/month, rotating cities)
  • 24 fortnightly webinars

4.7 PR + Analyst Relations​

Strategy: earn coverage in 12 tier-1 outlets per quarter; build relationships with 6 industry analysts.

Tier-1 outlets:

  • Hotelier India, Express Hospitality, Hospitality World, ETHospitality, FHRAI Magazine
  • Economic Times, Mint, Inc42, Moneycontrol (business angle)
  • YourStory (startup angle)

Analysts to build with:

  • Hotelivate (HVS India arm), Hotel Investment Insights, JLL Hotels India, HVS Anarock, Horwath HTL India, STR Global

Cadence:

  • Quarterly press release (product milestones, funding, customer wins)
  • Bi-weekly analyst office hours
  • Annual KeyNova Index report (industry benchmark) — major PR moment
  • 2 op-eds/quarter by CEO in business + industry press

4.8 Customer Marketing​

Strategy: customers as the primary marketing engine.

Plays:

  • Case studies — 1 per month per segment
  • Reference call program — opt-in, paid in credits
  • Customer Advisory Board — 12 members, quarterly meeting
  • Annual "KeyNova Awards" — categories: Innovation, Adoption, Brand
  • Logo permission program — formalised contracts
  • Speaker bureau — customers who speak at our events get $$

Targets:

  • 60 reference-able customers EoFY27
  • 40 published case studies EoFY27
  • 12 active CAB members

4.9 Direct Mail + Field Marketing (T4/T5 ABM only)​

Strategy: for top-200 named accounts, run sustained multi-touch ABM campaigns.

Plays:

  • Personalised executive briefing book (4-page magazine) shipped to CEO
  • Branded gift box on key events (Diwali, founder birthday — research-driven)
  • "Switch from [competitor]" landing pages with personalised URLs
  • Targeted LinkedIn + display ads showing relevant case studies
  • Direct executive intro letters
  • Field events tied to their travel calendar (CEO travels to your city → meeting)

Targets:

  • 80% of top-200 accounts at least 5x touched per quarter
  • 25% engagement rate from named DMU
  • 60+ executive meetings per quarter

4.10 Influencer + Industry Partnerships​

Strategy: identify 30 "hospitality micro-influencers" — GMs with strong social presence, hospitality YouTubers, industry consultants with personal brand — and co-create content.

Plays:

  • Paid sponsorships (₹50k-2 lakh per influencer per campaign)
  • Affiliate program (referral fees)
  • Co-branded podcasts / webinars
  • Conference co-presence

5. Funnel architecture​

                Awareness
              (cold audience)
                    │
                    ▼
         ┌─────────────────────────┐
         │ Content + SEO           │
         │ Paid social (top-funnel)│
         │ Events + PR             │
         │ YouTube                 │
         └─────────────────────────┘
                    │
                    ▼
             Interest / Visit
                    │
                    ▼
         ┌─────────────────────────┐
         │ Pillar articles         │
         │ Webinars                │
         │ Tools (ROI calc, etc.)  │
         │ Re-targeting            │
         └─────────────────────────┘
                    │
                    ▼
            Lead (form fill / signup)
                    │
                    ▼
         ┌─────────────────────────┐
         │ MQL nurture (HubSpot)   │
         │ Email + WhatsApp        │
         │ Sales hand-off (SLA 15') │
         └─────────────────────────┘
                    │
                    ▼
                  SQL / Demo
                    │
                    ▼
                  (over to Sales)

6. Marketing tech stack​

LayerToolCost (₹/yr)Notes
CRMSalesforce Sales Cloud₹35 lakhsource of truth
Marketing AutomationHubSpot Marketing Hub Pro₹18 lakhnurture + email
AnalyticsGoogle Analytics 4 + Hotjar₹3 lakhsite behaviour
SEOAhrefs + SEMrush₹4 lakhkeyword + backlink tracking
Content workflowNotion + Frase₹2 lakheditorial calendar + AI assist
WebinarHopin / Zoom Webinars₹3 lakh
VideoLoom + Wistia₹2 lakhtutorials + tracking
Customer commsIntercom₹6 lakhin-app + chat
ReviewsG2 + Capterra paid presence₹5 lakhreputation management
SurveyTypeform + Delighted₹1 lakhNPS + research
DesignFigma + Adobe CC₹3 lakh
ABM6sense or Demandbase (Y2)₹15 lakhT4/T5 account intelligence
Total Y1~₹85 lakh

7. Headcount plan​

RoleEoFY26EoFY27
CMO / VP Marketing11
Director of Demand Gen11
Director of Brand + Content11
Director of Customer Marketing01
Director of Field + Events01
Content writer (senior)24
SEO manager11
Performance marketer (paid)12
Lifecycle / email marketer12
Designer12
Video producer01
PR + analyst relations0.5 (PR agency)1 in-house + agency
Marketing ops12
Field event manager01
Total9.521

8. Operating cadence​

CadenceMeetingOwner
Daily 15 minMarketing standupDemand Gen Director
WeeklyPipeline + MQL reviewCMO + VP Sales
Bi-weeklyContent editorial reviewBrand Director
MonthlyMarketing all-handsCMO
MonthlyCampaign retrospectivesPerformance lead
QuarterlyMarketing OKR reviewCMO
QuarterlyCustomer Advisory BoardCustomer Marketing
AnnualKeyNova Summit + AwardsField Marketing
AnnualBrand health studyBrand Director

9. Attribution model​

We use W-shaped attribution for opportunity sourcing:

  • 30% to first-touch (awareness channel)
  • 30% to lead-creation touch (form fill)
  • 30% to opportunity-creation touch (SQL stage)
  • 10% distributed across mid-touches

Sourcing rules:

  • Marketing-sourced: ≥ 50% of touch credit was marketing channel
  • Marketing-influenced: any marketing touch existed in journey
  • Outbound-sourced: BDR/AE outbound was first substantive touch
  • Channel-sourced: partner-registered

Tools: Salesforce Campaigns + HubSpot + Bizible (Y2).

10. Quarterly review template​

Every quarter, marketing presents to CEO + CFO + VP Sales:

  1. Performance vs goals (MQL/SQL/pipe)
  2. Channel ROI (CAC, CPSQL, CPL by channel)
  3. Pipeline mix (sourced/influenced %)
  4. Brand health (search volume, NPS, sentiment)
  5. Customer references and case studies created
  6. Campaign retros — what worked, what to kill
  7. Next-quarter plan + budget request

11. What we will NOT do​

  • No vanity metrics (followers without conversion, "reach" without intent)
  • No press-release theatre (PR must have a hook + business outcome)
  • No SEO black-hat tactics
  • No event sponsorship just to "be there" — must show ROI
  • No content farms or AI-generated articles published without senior edit
  • No spammy email blasts
  • No competitor name-bidding without a comparison page existing
  • No mass cold email outside SDR-controlled outreach

12. The 90-day kill-criteria​

Any channel that doesn't meet these by Day 90 gets killed or restructured:

ChannelKill criteria
Paid searchCPSQL > 2× target after optimization
Paid LinkedInEngagement < 1% after creative refresh
Webinars< 100 attendees after 3 sessions in a series
Events< 3 SQLs sourced per ₹10 lakh spent
InfluencerEngagement < 2% AND no attributable conversion
Press release< 4 tier-1 pickups

Last reviewed: 2026-05-16 — needs CMO + CEO sign-off