We’re all read articles about how startups fail, their biggest mistakes and what they could’ve done differently. Many of these articles stem from the idea that the product or service that was being offered just wasn’t good enough.
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By Dean Drobot
However, that’s not actually true.
If you take a look at startups these days, it’s not that they lack good ideas or even a dedication to the services that they’re offering. The problem, in fact, is marketing.
A lack of marketing destroys a product’s chances of success
When you create a product as a startup, no one is going to know or even care about it. Even if it’s a fantastic product, people aren’t going to know unless you fulfil three conditions.
- It appears in the news
- Their favorite content creator covers it
- An influencer talks about it
The more of these three conditions you fill, the better. Let’s face it; publicity is the key to getting a product out there even if it’s not very good. People can berate your products all they want, but if you get a handful of influencers to recommend or even speak about it, then your product is going to go a long way.
So, in this article, we’ll be talking about how to get your product to fill those three conditions.
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1. Getting your product to appear in the news
One of the best ways to get your product into the news is for it to make an impact. Sadly, this is harder than you might think and it needs to be relatively successful for it to appear on a news site. You can, however, pitch your products to smaller news sites to get the gears turning. This includes writing press releases, being active on social media and making public appearances at trade shows and industry events.
2. Getting coverage from content creators
In this case, a content creator pretty much refers to any YouTuber or blogger that could cover your piece and show it to a wider audience. You may want to speak directly to those content creators and purchase advertising space or consider sponsoring the content, but you could also have them naturally stumble on it by expanding your reach with solid website design and social media presence. After all, if your products give them content to write or make a video about, it’s a win-win situation for both parties.
3. Getting influencers to talk about it
Influencer marketing can be both cheap and impossible to achieve. It can be cheap because you could easily head to Instagram or Twitter to purchase a shout out from a well-known influencer that has many followers. However, you might also end up talking to an influencer that is known for their celebrity status. This is going to be much more expensive (in some cases they won’t be willing to talk about your product for money) but it will reach a more organic audience and result in more conversions. Both ways can be incredibly useful to help get your product off the ground and your startup into the industry.
