As a startup business, you have any important areas to think about all at once. Nonetheless, marketing is one key area to focus on as soon as possible, as this is what will transform your startup idea into a successful business. You want to get the word out about your startup as soon as you can and start drawing in that all-important customer base and earning profit.
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By SFIO CRACHO
If you’re looking for marketing inspiration and beginner tips on how to get your startup off the ground, the following 6 ideas can help you.
1. Get to Know Your Target Audience
Before you can begin any necessary marketing, you need to first understand who you’re going to be marketing to. This means understanding your consumer market and what their activities are in terms of social media, how they interact online, or their shopping habits in person if you are a physical store or service.
Once you understand your target market, you can best formulate a marketing plan suited to their habits, wants, and needs.
This could include looking at which social media platform your target market is most active on, and during what times of the day.
2. Seek SEO and Marketing Support
There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing assistance when you need it, especially as a startup when you may have a lot of balls to juggle, and not enough manpower to do so. Whether you’re still building your team, whether you’re an entrepreneur acting alone, or whether you simply would prefer expert guidance in the realm of Search Engine Optimization and marketing, then using free SEO & PPC tools and resources can be extremely helpful for the time-restrained startup.
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3. Attend Relevant Events
A great way to get the word out about your startup company is to physically attend events and integrate with other key players. You want to network with important business contacts who not only may be able to use your business as an ally, but also offer guidance and support. Creating valuable contacts within your industry is essential for the growing startup, and gaining more knowledge is always beneficial.
Furthermore, this provides the opportunity for you to show off your business’s best qualities and sell yourself as well as your business. Startups are synonymous with hard-working entrepreneurs with a story, so if you have the opportunity to share yours, you should do so. It’s the personal touch that often makes all the difference.
4. Prepare Your Social Media Platforms
It may seem overwhelming when creating business profiles from scratch, but you need to build a solid business profile for your startup as soon as possible on all relevant channels. Social media is the opportune way to promote your new business, show off product launches, and introduce your brand. You want your profile to be busy with great content as soon as possible, so start planning introductory content ahead of time and ensure that your profiles fill up as quickly as they can.
If you succeed in consumers landing on your profile page, you don’t want it to be devoid of content when they arrive there.
5. Never Miss a Chance for Feedback
As a startup, you’re still growing and learning. There’s always the chance that your initial great product idea might need a lot of tweaks based on feedback. You should use your consumers as a progression and support tool, and don’t only focus on selling to them.
You should also ask for feedback at every opportunity. Consumers will understand that you’re a startup with a new product, and they should happily want to share their experience. Ask for opinions and feedback on products, submit surveys on social media to learn from your target market, and take all constructive feedback on board so that you can not only develop your business in a positive way but also create trust between you and the consumer by providing a platform to discuss your business with them.
6. Think About Your Personal Journey
A great selling point for entrepreneurs is the story and idea behind their business plan. If you’re developing your own company, you would usually have a great reason for doing so, and consumers love to hear that. Presenting your own personal story as well as your personal brand can provide a unique selling point when compared to big, corporate companies in the same business category.
Be sure to share your personal story when you can, such as through your website company page or through more personalized marketing material.
