March 11, 2015 11:26 p.m. ET

For founders of young companies, marketing is something of a catch-22. Startups need money to advertise. Yet some believe that only by advertising can a business grow and make money.

Social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube can offer startups the chance to expand their audience for little or no money. Yet most founders don’t know how to measure whether they’re getting any return on investment of time spent using these platforms.

On The Accelerators, experienced entrepreneurs and venture capitalists share their opinions on how much founders should spend on marketing their nascent companies, and their views on the marketing strategies most likely to pay off. Edited excerpts:

Focus on Investing Time Not Money

Startups can market effectively with very little money. You can write blog posts to attract potential customers or engage with current users. If you’re a good public speaker, consider starting a podcast to add a human voice to your brand. Or maybe you have excellent design skills—if so, you can create PowerPoint presentations or infographics and upload them to SlideShare, Docstoc or Scribd.

Marketing does require time, however. Brainstorming, outlining and publishing professional-grade content requires a great deal of energy. The trick is to systematize this process without sacrificing creativity. This starts with setting up an editorial calendar.

Blogs are written on Mondays while podcasts are recorded and published to iTunes on Fridays, for instance. Having a regular schedule ensures there will be time on your calendar to get into production mode. It also creates a sense of predictability and continuity for your readers, viewers and listeners.

One thing to avoid at all costs is wasteful advertising. Early on in my startup, I spent $30,000 sending jumbo-size postcards to advertising agencies in New York City. The idea was that recipients would be directed to our website, where they had the chance to win an iPod by signing up for a free account. The campaign was a flop—nobody wants to receive a piece of mail and then trudge their way over to the computer to enter a promo code, no matter how good the offer is. Taking a do-it-yourself approach to marketing allows you to avoid wasteful mistakes and gain an understanding of what does and doesn’t work.

David Ciccarelli, founder and CEO of Voices.com, Ontario

New Company Needs Trusted ‘Figurehead’

Businesses with a popular and trusted figurehead as a leader tend to do better than those without one. Apple Inc. had Steve Jobs, Microsoft Corp. had Bill Gates. Even in the restaurant business you see celebrity chefs driving their company’s success. In the process of building a marketing agency, I’ve learned that it’s possible for any entrepreneur to gain stature in their industry. This, in turn, increases the visibility and trustworthiness of a startup’s brand, which can have a serious impact on the bottom line.

Developing a strong personal brand can benefit a startup’s inbound marketing strategy. The more places your company figurehead turns up, and the greater his or her reputation becomes, the more likely it is that potential customers will be naturally directed to your business.

Additionally, startups with a charismatic and well-known leader have an easier time landing sales. The difficult tasks of gaining trust and demonstrating value is already solved—prospective clients in the know will recognize the leader, and those who are unfamiliar need only to do a quick search to see their accolades.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of this strategy is that startups can afford it. Start with a strong social media campaign and find a platform to create ongoing content. From there, build connections with customers and people in your industry. Without a reputable leader, your startup can be seen as a plain and faceless business, and your sales could suffer as a result.

Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, Seattle