One way that startups can’t differ from big companies is that they too need customers from the very first day. Just like bigger firms, the competitor’s first-mover advantage is a huge disadvantage to a startup. To fill this gap, a startup needs to chart out a marketing strategy that will boost brand awareness across markets as quickly as possible.
In this digital age when there are a lot of effective marketing strategies to implement, startups just can’t afford to choose one or two and neglect others. Every ignored marketing strategy is an opportunity lost. New business ideas require every marketing opportunity to raise the brand awareness and to acquire more customers.
We have curated 5 top marketing strategies that you and your startup must adopt with immediate effect.
SEO or Search Engine Optimization
SEO is the simplest but the most important activity that every organization, big or small, must make part of their marketing plan. It includes optimizing your online presence so as to make it search-engine friendly. As you know, search engines are where the most traffic comes for any website. If your website or online store appears at a decent position in search results, then it has a higher chance of getting more clicks and visitors. To do this, you must figure what kind of websites and features rank better on top search engines such as Google and Bing, and then optimize your website accordingly. If done right, you will observe that the smallest of the changes to website can do wonders for your search engine rankings.
Social Media – The biggest free marketing platform
Needless to say, how important social media has become for brands. Whether you are a shoes brand or a B2B plastic additives manufacturing company, social media is where you can reach your most customers the fastest. Social media is especially important for startups who cannot afford paid alternatives but need to reach their potential customers from the day one. With right kind of content and properly planned engagements, small brands can grow a customer as loyal as the customers of big brands - all this without spending a single penny. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the best way to start your social media marketing which can be optimized time to time.
Inbound Marketing – Let customers come to you
When we say the word ‘marketing’, the first image that strikes our imagination is of a salesperson wearing formals and convincing us to buy his/her product. It is true up to some extent. This is traditional outbound marketing – the company reaching out to the customer. But this is the age of inbound marketing which encourages customers to reach the company. The idea is to give something so valuable (related to your core offering) that customers comes back for more. This something can be a piece of advice, a guide, a ‘how to’ video tutorial, tips and tricks, or even an eBook. Your audience must find it useful if you want them to come back and eventually buy from you. Inbound marketing is a time taking but an incredibly effective strategy. Therefore, it must start early in your startup journey.
Email Marketing – From their inbox to their heart
Email marketing in today’s direct mailing – only more effective and economical. Email marketing gives you an option to reach to large audiences. Startups must start collecting email of their prospective customers early and start emailing them relevant marketing material. Although, email won’t do any good if it goes straight to the spam folder. The key is to write user-friendly emails.
Referrals – Build your own fans community
Nothing beats good, old and proven ‘word of mouth’. When there was no such term as ‘marketing campaign’, there were referrals. People referred their favourite products and brands to their friends and families. Especially for low-engagement offerings like farming solutions simple word mouth can work wonders.
These are some of the most common marketing strategies that you can use to scales up your startup. Make sure you utilize all of these and keep on optimizing to find your best fit.
