Objectives

Like all enterprises, an incubator should be guided by the market and focus on the public that it intends to reach. This Guideline sets out useful steps in marketing an incubator to the wider community. Marketing planning is crucial for bringing in new partners and retaining current backers, as well as attracting candidates for incubation and achieving recognition in society.

Increasingly, an incubator’s success depends on its capacity to draw positive attention to itself, in addition to external support and goodwill. Public relations activities, based on a broad vision of functions and values, are of the utmost importance. As a marketing tool, public relations constitute one of the main strategies for learning what people want and how to fulfil these wishes.

An incubator’s marketing management is related to the performance of essential activities, such as:

• Specifying the portfolio of services offered to its enterprises;
• Decisions on the costs of services offered to the enterprises (which of them will be charged, and how);
• Selecting how the products will be offered;
• Developing market communications systems (partners, investors, consultants, etc.);
• Promotional drives and prospecting new clients.

For effective marketing management within the incubation process, it is necessary to understand the opportunities offered by the market, the behavior of the client (enterprise) and its needs. An essential part of the business plan, the marketing plan is defined when the incubator is being established (See Guideline on Modelling & Planning the Incubator)

Key Issues

The main marketing management actions that staff need to be aware of are:

1. Creating a Brand for the Market. In order for the incubator to become a well-known enterprise, it should create its own brand and position it within the community, so that it is recognized as a benchmark.

1. Establishing a Business Communications System. An incubator cannot be closed in on itself, meaning that it should be known and acknowledged by society at large. Consequently, the channels of communication, both in-house and outside, are of great importance. For the in-house context, clear definitions of how managerial information and items of interest will reach the incubated enterprises are needed. As people have different ways of understanding, communication channels should be designed to ensure that the information arrives correctly, not distorted. Poorly understood information can cause much turmoil, as indicated by the famous “corporate grapevine”. For the outside context, the incubator should decide how it relates to its backer institutions and society in general, in order to promote its accomplishments, striving to firm up its role in promoting regional development.
2. Price Policy. For most incubators, setting the fee for their services - the “occupancy fee” - is based on establishing the cost per square meter of the facility. However, this may result in misunderstanding, with the entrepreneur viewing it merely as “cheap rent”, and failing to take into consideration all the associated incubator services. So, the added benefits should be promoted to the entrepreneur. Moreover, it is important to set prices for all these services offered by the incubator to the enterprises. In cases where the services are built into the basic fee, it is necessary to define a strategy for ensuring an understanding of the benefits offered by the incubation system.
3. Prospecting New Clients. In order for the incubator to build up steadily increasing client demands, it must prospect for new clients. This will be possible only through steady dissemination of its purposes and achievements among the local or regional community, professional entities, universities, etc. Some types of publicity that have brought in good results are:
   1. Hosting community events at the incubator facilities;
   2. Offering technology breakfasts at the incubator facilities;
   3. Participation by the manager in events held by professional associations, clubs and social events;
   4. Organization of lectures and seminars at academic establishments.
4. Promotion. The incubator should communicate regularly with its target market, disclosing its successes. This is why it should build up good media relations and use all possible communication outlets. In addition, the incubator should produce its own publicity materials, particularly media releases, good news stories, cards, folders, and portfolios that will help consolidate its brand.
5. Investors. When attracting risk capital investors, the incubator should build up links with them, in order to ensure positive results for both the enterprises as well as the incubator. Examples include:
   1. Visits to institutions managing the capital, to establish inter-institutional links;
   2. Cost-effective media releases, sent out by e-mail;
   3. Workshops run with the specific purpose of showcasing the products and services offered by the incubator and its enterprises;
   4. Inviting decision-makers to attend theme-specific events;
   5. Disclosing positive economic, environmental and quality of life outcomes from the incubator;
   6. Other events that could firm up the position of the incubator and the enterprises.

Hint: A well-managed incubator can display its accomplishments transparently to its partners in the community, through quantitative and qualitative data.

Responsible Parties

• Management and technical staff of the incubator.

Indicators

• Increase the number of entrepreneurs contacting the incubator.
• Stepping up the number of partners and investors backing the program.

Results

• Effective marketing functions, mainly promotion strategies and ways of attracting new entrepreneurs.
• Helping firm up the incubator brand.

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