How to make the best use of D2C marketing budget?

Recently, I did a survey among my connections regarding the first year marketing budget of a D2C brand. More than half of the respondents voted for a 10-20% of projected revenue in the first year as marketing budget. 

Let us assume a D2C brand that starts today and expects a first-year revenue of 60 lakh rupees. 10-20% of revenue gives us an annual marketing budget range of 6-12 lakh rupees and a monthly marketing budget range of 50 thousand to 1 lakh rupees. The D2C brand needs to budget for the following marketing activities in the first year,

• Create a unique identity
• Create content be it text, creatives, photos, video, etc.
• Run paid ads
• Manage social media profiles
• Execute email marketing campaigns
• Collaborate with the right influencers

How can the brand achieve all this within a monthly budget of 50 thousand to 1 lakh rupees? This question is a critical challenge for D2C founders. Here is how I will plan if I have to create a plan under this constraint.  

1. Produce great content - photos & videos - using the first 2-3 months' budget. With careful planning, you can create a year's worth of content. 
2. Hire a graphic designer to create a unique brand identity and enforce it across all creatives. 
3. As much as possible, manage the social media profiles and interact with the audience yourself. Social media is not only a place for engaging with users but also a great place to validate your products and get suggestions. As a founder, use the first year to understand what works and doesn't in your product and find pivoting opportunities. 
4. Barter with influencers. 
5. Hire a digital marketer with both paid advertising and email marketing skills. Yes, they do exist. 
6. Automate and scale email marketing activities such as weekly promotional emails, abandoned cart remainder, birthday & anniversary offers, etc. 
7. Test and scale paid advertising activities using the remaining budget from the 3rd or 4th month.

Will you plan differently? Share your thoughts in comments.