Each day we are inundated by thousands of brands struggling to attract our attention. So, how can you ensure that your startup outpaces existing businesses?
Marketing your business in today’s business world is difficult. However, there are a few tips that can help your startup get a fighting chance at success.
Don’t underestimate the power of social media
An effective and obvious tactic for marketing your startup is using social media. According to data released by a PBN Pilot, product information found on social platforms influence the shopping preferences of approximately 75% of Americans.
eMarketer argues that only 33% of shoppers discover new products, services, and brands on social media.
Lastly, it was revealed that 72% of marketers use different social platforms to acquire and develop fans. These numbers are proof that you should know and have a keen interest in how your startup is performing on social networks.
1. Post frequently and consistently
Keep in mind that social media is an effective way of building your brand’s voice. Thus you should post not only regularly but also in a way that reveals a uniformed identity to your pots. Besides, avoid deviating from your brand’s main message.
Consider making between five and ten posts on your social media channels weekly. These include Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
2. Focus on your customers
A common mistake that most brands make is to use their social media platforms only for overly promoting their products and services. This is a failed social media strategy as it offers no value to their audience.
Instead of bombarding your audience with pushy sales messages every time, find and share information that your audience needs. You can occasionally mix these highly informative, interesting, and engaging social media posts with your promotional content.
3. Engage with your fans
Note that social media platforms offer your startup an excellent opportunity to connect and interact with its current and future customers. So, don’t let the chance get away. Leverage your fans and make them feel they are important members of your brand.
Besides, you should never be afraid of social media confrontation. Always approach all complaints as opportunities to reveal your startup’s client service abilities. That means you should positively respond to all complaints and find a way of ensuring that the issue (if any) is addressed.
Lastly, don’t hide from failures. Your business is just starting up and is bound to face various hurdles as it grows. Approach these difficulties as opportunities to win over clients with great customer service. Remember to express your business’s long-term vision frequently.
4. Invest in social media platforms
There are different social media opportunities that you can consider investing in. These opportunities have merit depending on your unique selling proposition and industry. You can experience with the following options and figure out what warrants the highest ROI for your business.
Sponsored tweets: Twitter still offers a good amount of organic engagements. This platform also provides paid solutions such as sponsored tweets for business. This option allows you to achieve higher engagement with your followers.
Play-to-Play (Facebook): One of the most effective ways of achieving greater engagements on Facebook is promoting your posts. Therefore, consider investing in the Play-to-Play strategy.
LinkedIn premium services: The platform has a variety of extremely paid features such as Sales Navigator, a tool that makes it easier for you to find leads and contacts. Besides, the platform allows you to try the service for free for one month.
Content is still the king
It sounds like a cliché; I know that. And Content is the perfect vehicle for conveyancing your business’s message. In case your content isn’t relevant, well-formulated, and clear, you should hire a SEO agency or you could end up struggling to succeed.
5. Think about your brand message clearly
Content marketing isn’t the process of throwing crappy messages against the wall and determining what sticks.
To brand your startup effectively, you need to engage in extensive and intensive industry research to create a unique selling proposition. Your brand message should keep these USPs as the focal point.
6. Get affordable creative content
Consider hiring affordable content specialists who can produce high-quality content. Consider checking Craigslist, Fivver, and Upwork for such services. Brands like PuppyGeeks and PianoHunter utilize these services to create content for them around their puppy product reviews.
7. Consider optimizing your pages for conversion
Your content strategy should be designed to guide your readers in such a way that helps you achieve your major goals. Once you figure out what you want your site visitors to want to do after landing on your site, find the right tools to perpetuate those actions.
8. Don’t ignore outreach activities
Content promotion is an important step to an effective content marketing strategy. After creating top-quality content, you should amplify these pieces of content as much as you can. Therefore, it’s wise to leverage the power of email industry experts, social media profiles, and more.
Operating a startup on a limited budget isn’t easy. Thus, it’s good to keep marketing costs down and capitalize on viable digital marketing opportunities, and you will succeed in improving your brand’s online visibility without overspending.