The success of a start-up normally depends on its approach to marketing. Though, usually the vast majority of founders have little or no experience managing a marketing strategy/budget. How do you overcome this problem? Planning of course! To help you get on the right track with your start-ups digital marketing strategy, we’ve put together our top tips below.
The very first step in a successful brand/product launch programme is understanding where to position yourself. This is a critical factor, and by defining the ‘category’ that your product/service exists within you are sure to be on the right track. You should map out your start-ups key product benefits, competitor benchmark, launch strategies, and its objectives. Be sure to keep asking yourself: ‘who is my customer and why should they buy from me?’
Once you’ve done the above, you can start to think about the following:
Being active on social media
Social media is one of the most effective ways to shout about your start-up to the world. As well as providing a platform for your growing brand, it offers an easy way for promotion and customer service strategies. In order to use it effectively you should:
Be frequent and consistent: Social media is a fabulous way for you to give your brand a voice. In order to do so, you should post informative information on a regular basis. Research has revealed that the optimal number of tweets on Twitter is five a day, Facebook posts is between five and ten times a week, and LinkedIn is once a day. Remember though, don’t ever post or deviate from your brand’s message.
Engage with your followers: Social media is a way for your start-up to interact with future and current customers. You should make them feel like valuable members to your brand and appreciated. Though, at the same time you shouldn’t be afraid of social confrontation, approaching any complaint as an opportunity to grow and better your start-up.
It’s about your customer: A lot of brands use their social media accounts for promotional purposes. If you do this you should prepare to fail, as this provides absolutely no value to followers. Instead of this, share information that your customers want to see and mix with.
Content is still king
Content marketing is often overlooked whilst launching a start-up.
Why is content so important? Well, it acts as a vehicle for conveying your brand’s voice and message. Ultimately, if your content isn’t clear, you will struggle to succeed.
Think about your message: Content marketing shouldn’t be a process of throwing a message out there and waiting until something sticks. You should engage in industry research and devise effective selling propositions. Our top tip here is to avoid focusing on your features, and sell the benefits of your company instead.
Optimize internal pages for conversations: What do you want users to do once they land on your site? Your whole website and content strategy should be designed with this in mind. When you know what you want your users to do, you can then find affordable tools to put those actions into place.
Outstretch yourself: One of the most important things to consider when you have content is to promote it. After you’ve produced an incredible piece of branded material you must amplify it. This is where your social media profiles come in. Be sure to post, share and email respective clients/followers to let them know about your new content. You should invest in a few hours per week to do this, and once you’ve got into a routine you are sure to notice your start-up gaining attraction.
Running a start-up on a budget is difficult, although if you can keep marketing costs low whilst capitalizing on digital opportunities, you are sure to notice your brand grow on a weekly basis.
If you are a start-up looking to create a site this year, contact us at Gomie Design. With competitive pricing, paired with a brilliant team of professionals, we are able to cater to your web design style and needs.
