Last Updated on March 17, 2023 by Guest
According to the Small Business Administration, over 20% of the startups fail within the first year of their operation. Quite often, the startups are based on innovative ideas and have great potential. Then you might ask, what is the cause for such a staggering number?
The failure of such a large percentage of startups cannot be boiled down to a single factor. Several hurdles have to be overcome before you can pat yourself on the back for having established a flourishing business. But one of the major obstacles in any business is finding prospective clients to buy the products and services.
Thankfully, the good thing is that the solution is pretty straightforward. And it is marketing. But the problem with any straightforward solution is that everyone knows it. And because of that, the competition is fierce. As a matter of fact, the competition has never been more difficult than today.
Technology is evolving, and the winners are always those who adapt. To be successful in your startup and stand out, you always have to be up to date with the latest trends in the industry.
This blog will discuss five marketing strategies that you can adopt in 2021 to kickstart your startup.
1. OFFER A FREE GIFT WITH EVERY PRODUCT
If you are struggling to get an exceptional sales pitch for your product, look at offering something “free” with every purchase.
There is a lot of psychology that convinces the customers that they are getting a good deal. Sometimes, people increase the value of a product and service and offer that as a discount. Other times, instead of a flat discount, they call it free shipping. Then there is also the tactic of pricing the products without rounding them to the next ten (say $99 instead of $100), and so on. Giveaways and gifts are one such method that motivates the customers into thinking that they are getting a good deal.
Your brand is fresh, and individuals can be doubtful about your goods. Thus, it is normal that they don’t trust you. So, you can offer them something free to break the ice.
Based on your organization’s particulars, it is possible to offer promotions or gifts to first-time buyers. By offering compliments, you will surprise your clients and make them feel exceptional.
As a startup, even more than making one-off sales, your aim should be to establish your brand and gain a network of users so you can gain some reputation and constructive feedback. In this way, you get to know what features they appreciate and some things you should abandon.
Similarly, offering free trials is also a good way to collect lead data that you can use for upcoming promotions and campaigns.
You can even organize a giveaway and make some noise around it by dealing with a larger brand in your niche. This will boost your brand awareness, and there is a chance that you may reach out to their audience too.
2. SEO AND CONTENT MARKETING
Marketing to prospects that are already looking for your products or services is incredible for several reasons. The average conversions are high, and also, the price of acquisition per customer is lower. This is the reason search engine optimization is so successful.
As the name suggests, SEO (search engine optimization) is the method of optimizing your website. Hence, its pages appear on the first page of search engines such as Google and get you organic traffic as a result.
In this way, when someone would search for your product or service. If it is featured at a high rank in the search engine, the chances are high that it will discover your page and click it. If your service or product is good, you have got a potential client there.
Implementing SEO onto your site includes just two parts, on-page search engine optimization coping with keywords and off-page search engine optimization coping with backlinks. These two elements are crucial for an effective campaign.
With a fantastic content-promoting strategy, you can produce and promote useful and authentic content that can help you index your own pages on certain keyword phrases.
Ranking at the search engine results (SERPs) indicates your website is an important source of information. This provides users with an awareness of confidence in your enterprise, hence building authority and trust.
Many startups are turning to SEO agencies for help in boosting their online presence and visibility. Through an effective mix of knowledge, cutting-edge tools, and laser-focused strategies, these firms can help a business reach the right audience by initiating highly targeted content that meets the needs of customers, while at the same time improving organic search engine rank
3. EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing can be a superb way to build your startup’s system and boost your internet presence. It’s really a long-term plan that demands thorough preparation and frequent revisiting and advancing.
This includes making a relevant email template that can convey your information to the ideal clients. The content ought to be tailored to the language of buyers. It needs to be well-targeted, private, and specially built to coordinate with your viewer’s demands.
You ought to put some parameters to assess the success of your email marketing effort. It would be best if you tracked your Ctr, open rate, forward rate, frequency of sending emails, etc. It would help if you also used smart approaches to grow your email list, e.g., have the signup form available on every page of your own website. Track and analyze website conversions via traffic.
You can improve your content to make your readers participate based on this data.
4. RUN A REFERRAL PROGRAM
Referrals are a pretty strong tool for driving attention toward your products. In simple words, referral marketing is based on the idea of keeping your clients happy. Happy clients will spread the word about your brand. They’ll eventually become your ambassadors and boost your small business.
Although an old-school method, Referral or Word of mouth marketing is still one of the most successful marketing techniques. According to a study by Chatter Matters, over 80% of Americans say that a recommendation from family or friends positively affects their decision to buy a product or service.
To add a cherry on top, you can maximize referral marketing by offering discounts or other advantages to people who get you fresh leads.
5. GET FEATURED IN A MAJOR PUBLICATION
If you become featured on a significant website or one of the other credible resources, you will get popularity and confidence in your intended audience. This strategy contains many advantages, for example:
- Increases brand awareness
- Increases your online reputation and ability
- Strengthening the domain authority of Your Site
- Increasing your visitors
If you want to get your business mentioned in a significant publication, you might have to make more effort. It is not that simple; however, it will add some points to your authority as a market expert.
Begin to build relationships with large websites today. Share their articles, participate with the editors, and also, you should not be too promotional.
You may begin with creating quality articles that will assist in connections with authority websites like Forbes, Entrepreneur, NY Times, and so forth by sharing their articles and engaging together. You can also go further and offer a guest article.
6. TOO LONG DIDN’T READ (TL;DR)
Marketing plans for start-ups do not differ that far from plans which big organizations utilize. The major difference is that you will be dealing with a smaller budget; therefore, you must become smart about the way you employ your hard-earned money. Five strategies can be adopted at very reduced costs, making them great choices for startups. Some of these include Giveaways, SEO & Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Referral Marketing, and Getting Featured in a Major Publication.
Besides these plans, you should also have the right mindset when designing a business enterprise. Pay attention to things that bring attention to the current market, what distinguishes you from the competitors, and how you’re able to turn clients into loyal fans of your brand. If you can achieve this, then there will be a huge success for your business.
Our Guest Contributor:
Fahim Ahmadi is an entrepreneur, blogger, and marketer. Follow Fahim at fahimahmadi.com as he writes about making money online, emerging software, and technology.