The global pandemic not only showed millions more people around the world how possible working at home is but also that, in turn, starting a business has never been easier.
If you’ve recently launched a new venture or plan to soon, there will be all sorts of startup elements top of mind for you. You’re likely thinking about developing or purchasing products and services, business structure and legalities, customer services, sales, and bringing on board or outsourcing team members.
However, one thing that should be a definite area of focus is marketing. You need to invest a lot of time and energy into this area if you want people to learn about your venture and buy from you more than once. As a startup owner, there are numerous strategies worth considering.
Email marketing is a fantastic option for attracting and helping to convert customers at a low cost. Once you’ve built a list of people you can send your newsletters and other emails to, which you can begin to do before you even have products or services ready to sell, you can send messages to promote your startup and showcase what you do and why people should buy from you.
Use emails to create more trust in your brand, clarify how your wares will help potential customers, and keep engaging your database so they buy from you repeatedly. It’s wise to send out a mixture of messages, including sales-based advertorial content and helpful tips, how-to guides, inspiring or educational videos, infographics, etc.
#2. Blog Content
Blogging is a great tool that can help you generate leads and boost your search engine rankings. Most website platforms enable the integration of blogs for no extra cost, too, so this is a powerful strategy for a low fee. Blogs can help you position your business as a leading name in your niche and show readers why you and your team are experts in your field and can assist them in solving their problems.
Publish valuable, memorable content that people share, and you’ll soon attract more and more visitors to your site, which means more and more people will learn about your venture and be inclined to shop with you. Search engines rank blogs more highly if they create relevant, quality content frequently, meaning you can get closer to the top of the search results and bring more visitors without having to pay for ads, which is a huge bonus for a startup.
#3. Paid Advertisements
It does take time for a website to rank, though, even when you have a fantastic blog. As such, in the early days at least, you’ll likely want to invest some of your marketing budgets into paid advertisements. You can spend money on ads in magazines or papers or on TV or radio commercials, but most businesses find, these days, those online avenues bring a better return on investment.
You might place some laser-targeted advertisements on Google and Bing through Google AdWords and Bing Ads, plus some ads on social media sites. Many see Facebook as the most beneficial option for digital advertising, but it depends on your brand, wares, customer base, and more. Be sure to test and measure the ads you run to see what works and what doesn’t and keep tweaking the content to get more out of your investment.
#4. SMS Tools
Another great marketing strategy for startups is utilizing SMS tools. Many people assume these are expensive and hard to set up and, as such, only for big brands, but that’s not the case. You can set up text messaging campaigns and SMS autoresponders to better engage with and inform your audience and streamline your operations, too, which is fantastic when you have a limited team or are running your business by yourself.
Most of us are on or near our smartphones throughout the day, meaning most consumers open and read SMS communications faster than they read emails or social media posts, and in a more focused way than advertisements and a lot of blog content. Text messages can be a great way to stay relevant and top of mind with your target market.
When sending SMSs, keep things concise and have clear calls to action in each text. You might use this platform to mention deals or pop-up events, share links to videos or other helpful content, or remind people about and confirm appointments. Plus, you can use autoresponders to send a welcome message, complete a sales follow-up, confirm signup of some type, thank people for making a purchase or leaving a review, etc.
To Sum Up
Other excellent marketing tools for startups include being involved in events (e.g., sponsoring or speaking at conferences or exhibiting at tradeshows), setting up loyalty and referral programs, and arranging joint ventures with other businesses. Social media is another key strategy, as is running contests, getting some media exposure, and offering free gifts with purchases.
You won’t be able to do all of these things at once, most likely, but pick one or two to start with, analyze your results, and then try some new things. Keep improving your marketing campaigns as you go and learn along the way, and you’re sure to start seeing excellent results.
