Marketing, PR and brand building, oh my! TechCrunch Early Stage goes down July 21 and 22

Your product may solve problems. It may cost less and do more. It may very well change the world. But unless you can get the word out, ensuring the right group of people know about it and are willing to use it, pay for it and evangelize it, then your hard work is in vain.

At TechCrunch Early Stage, we'll hear from some of the world's top minds in the fields of marketing and brand building. They'll talk through different growth marketing tactics, from creating growth assets for paid channels to capitalizing on podcasts to SEO to email. They'll cover the complicated world of PR, and they'll teach us about how to develop a brand that users can relate to.

Of course, this is just one slice of the pie. At Early Stage, experts across a wide variety of startup core competencies - fundraising, legal, recruiting, tech stack, scaling and more - will take the virtual stage to give early-stage founders the tools they need to get out there and succeed. What's more, these experts have made time to answer audience questions, so don't be shy!

Here's a look at all the marketing sessions you can expect at the show:

Why should anyone care? (Making your brand stand out) with Caryn Marooney

Startups often struggle to create a narrative that stands out. As a general partner at Coatue, former head of Comms at Facebook and co-founder of the OutCast Agency, Caryn Marooney has seen it all. Come learn the brand and messaging framework that can help your company stand out (while staying true to yourself.)

Growth Marketing: Minimum viable email with Susan Su

Love it or hate it, email is here to stay. But understanding where it fits into the conversion funnel and how to maximize its impact can be arduous. Learn from Sound Ventures partner Susan Su how to optimize open rates, deliverability, unsubscribes and conversions for consumer and enterprise products alike.

How to build a high-performance SEO engine with Ethan Smith

Hear from Ethan Smith, who has worked with brands like MasterClass, Ticketmaster and Thumbtack, as he shares some of the most effective modern SEO strategies. Starting with a deep understanding of the user and their intent, the most successful modern SEO strategies focus on building a data-driven approach to drive user experience, content and conversion to ultimately beat the competition.

Be the best at preparing for the worst with Margit Wennmachers and Miguel Helft

Inevitably, something will go wrong - from product recalls and lawsuits to executive firings and sexual harassment allegations, so you better be prepared. Hear from Margit Wennmachers, operating partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a co-founder of OutCast Communications (now The OutCast Agency) and Miguel Helft, editorial director at Message Lab, about how to develop a framework for crisis and withstand through tough times.

Growth Marketing: Podcasts as a secret weapon with Krystina Rubino and Lindsay Piper Shaw

Podcast advertising is widely viewed as a nascent medium, but smart companies know it can be a powerful channel in their marketing mix. Opportunity is ripe - get in early and you can own the medium, box out competitors and catapult your growth. Krystina Rubino and Lindsay Piper Shaw have launched and scaled successful podcast ad campaigns for early-stage startups and household name brands and will be sharing their strategies for companies to succeed in this often misunderstood channel.

How to get people obsessed with your brand with Emily Heyward

During her 12-year tenure running Red Antler, one of the leading brand companies for startups and new ventures, Emily Heyward has launched more brands than anyone. In this session for TechCrunch Early Stage, she'll share the modern rules of brand building, breaking down the traditional notions of how modern brands look, feel and behave. Covering a few case studies and tactical applications, Emily will outline the best practices for driving obsession from day one while also building a foundation for long-term growth.

How to create great growth assets for paid channels with Asher King Abramson

Learn about the right ways and wrong ways to create great assets for paid channels, landing pages and more in this teardown workshop with Asher King Abramson, a top growth marketer who has worked with 100+ successful startups. Submit your landing page and ads beforehand for a chance to receive feedback live onstage.

A brand personified with Anna Pickard

Anna Pickard is the head of Brand Communications at Slack, responsible for establishing the company's voice and tone. Hear Anna share how to bring together the various functions of your organization to create a distinctly unique brand voice that engages and delights customers.

Early Stage goes down July 21 and 22. You don't want to miss it. Tickets are almost gone - register for your ticket here.