For robotics founders, a warm referral from a top customer can feel like a done deal. But many of these leads go silent after they visit a website and find a lack of credible content.
A referral doesn’t guarantee a sale. Prospects do their own research to form an opinion, and a company’s digital presence is usually their first stop. This is why you need foundational marketing, which is the steady work that proves a company is a reliable partner long before a sales call ever happens.
What Table Stakes Really Mean in Robotics
In robotics, buyers make significant investments that function as a new operating system for their business. For these companies, table stakes are non-negotiable.
These elements help answer the prospect’s fundamental question about the company’s legitimacy. An amateurish or outdated digital presence signals that the vendor may not be a reliable long-term partner. This perception can cause a company to lose a potential deal before it even has a chance to compete.
Why Not Every Activity Has a Direct ROI
Leadership often asks for immediate ROI on every marketing activity, but this expectation doesn’t really match how brand building works. Think of foundational marketing like paying the rent on your office. There is no direct ROI on rent, but it is the cost you pay just to have a place to do business.
You can’t use A/B tests to prove you are a legitimate business. These basics are what give you the right to even be considered in the first place. Their value isn’t found in a few leads from a single post, but in the trust you build up over time.
Rethinking Measurement
If you cannot measure table stakes through direct sales, you have to look at their value in a different way. This means focusing less on tracking leads (MQLs) and more on how believable you look to a prospect.
You should look at how professional your site is, how often you update content, and how active you are on social media. Are your digital assets polished? Is your content current?
Language to Defend the Essentials
Marketers must give their leaders the words they need to defend essential marketing work. You can describe these tasks as “basic health” or the “price of being in the room” for your market. It is the foundation that allows every other sales effort to actually work.
When a CFO asks about the return on a LinkedIn page, the answer isn’t about how many leads you get. Instead, it is about making the sale less risky. A solid digital presence ensures that warm referrals feel comfortable reaching out instead of being scared off.
Start Where You Are
For most early-stage robotics companies, table stakes marketing doesn’t mean a massive website or a full-scale content engine. It means having the fundamentals in place so a prospect can quickly understand who you are, what you do, and whether you’re credible.
The single most important starting point is a website with clear messaging and branding.
At a minimum, your website should include:
- A clear next step: Give visitors an obvious way to engage with you. This could be a demo request, a contact form, a downloadable resource, or a newsletter sign-up. Don’t make people guess what to do next.
- Customer proof: Include at least one testimonial, or case study. Social proof signals that real companies trust you and reduces perceived risk.
- Visuals that show the product: Robotics products are complex. Images often communicate value faster than words. This could be a product photo, 3D rendering, illustration, or workflow diagram.
- Clear, customer-focused messaging: Explain the problem you solve in plain language. Focus less on internal jargon and more on how your product helps customers operate more efficiently, safely, or profitably.
Once you have the website basics in place, the next table-stakes requirement is a consistent stream of content that demonstrates expertise and signals that your company is active and invested in the market.
For most teams, the simplest places to start are:
- A blog
- Social media (typically LinkedIn or YouTube)
If you’re just getting started, pick one channel and commit to consistency. Even one post per month is enough to show momentum. An inactive channel is worse than no channel at all.
From there, you can layer on more advanced efforts over time, such as:
- Posting more frequently
- Investing in SEO
- Running paid search or social ads
- Launching a newsletter
But none of those matter if the basics aren’t in place first. Table stakes marketing is about earning credibility before you try to scale demand.
Table Stakes: The Playing Field, Not the Prize
Keep in mind that these basics won’t win the deal on their own. They simply get you in the room. This work isn’t about standing out; it’s about proving you are for real.
It is the quiet, steady effort that makes sure a great product and team actually get noticed. Without this foundation, you stay hidden from your audience. But with it, you actually have a chance to compete and win.
