“I like treating things as if they’re small. You know Amazon. Even though it’s a large company, I want it to have the heart and spirit of a small one.” – Jeff Bezos.
First things first! You should initially invest in getting a cool website for yourself. It’s going to be the bedrock on which your marketing campaign will stand, so make it good. Although this is not a marketing tactic per se, it’s the most basic thing. Having a good landing page literally serves as the launchpad to base your digital campaigns.
The golden rule of a startup’s success is to be consistent. No matter what your brand is, keep up the efforts. In the start, it might not yield expected results. But, every startup probably knows that. Do not worry. A few months down the line with quality digital marketing, you should have the leads pouring in. The catch, however, is in the catchphrase, “quality digital marketing.”
As you might have a tight budget, it’s important to stretch those marketing dollars as far as possible. Digital marketing is a far less cost-intensive process compared to traditional offline promotions on TV and print media. Done well, it can fast-track your startup en route to success. Just be consistent, that is. Check out the best digital marketing strategies for startups, as listed below.
1. Keep Growing Your Social Media
Social Media- that’s where your customers at, both existing and potential. Growing your social presence is easier than you think. Go ahead and apply all the strategies in the book to develop a strong social presence. Connect with the people you already know. Also, create an interesting bio for yourself. Understand your audience and reach out to them. Social media sites keep providing you with suggestions and recommendations based on your preferences. Utilize those suggestions.
Keep growing your audience base! On sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, you can join groups and post there. These are great places to share your views and grab the attention of viewers. You can also run contests to engage your customers. Try to post content based on images, as these tend to grab the most attention.
You can also run advocacy campaigns and influencer marketing. But, before you hire influencers, you need to give them share-worthy content. It can be the announcements of exciting new offers or chances of winning rewards on joining you. Influencers have millions of fans and followers, and they could easily form a sizable chunk of your social media audience. You can find a great many assortments of digital tools to run and manage social media campaigns, even advocacy marketing. Don’t neglect the power of running paid ad campaigns on social media, especially Facebook. It’s a great way to attract leads as you can specify your target audience on a granular level.
Utilize the viral power of video marketing, especially through YouTube. Promote viral content via influencers to grab eyeballs. Create an attractive video with an exciting storyline, and you are good to go.
2. SEO Should Be Your Priority
The ability to be visible on the first page on Google is a nice-to-have thing. Although it would not happen on short notice, but hiring a good SEO agency will do the trick. Optimizing your keywords should also be included in the web development phase. Make sure you employ these strategies while developing your website.
See if the agency places equal emphasis on both on-page and off-page optimization. Find out if the package you choose also includes optimization for mobile devices. Another thing, there is no shortcut to SEO. Google treats all pages with the same set of algorithms, and black hat SEO is eventually going to backfire.
There are several tools out there for doing SEO. They will help you keep track of the targeted keywords, do competitor analysis, and much more. Follow SEO best practices, and in some months, the results should be visible. With advanced tools for website visitor monitoring, you can easily find out all who are visiting you. Use it to generate valuable leads.
3. Have a Blog
Go big on content marketing. Besides regularly posting articles in directories to generate backlinks, always try to have a blog. Writing is an omnipotent tool as you can get content on virtually any topic. People love to read an appealing write-up, and many of them will take positive action in response. If not anything, many of them will feel inspired to comment on your posts.
Remember that organic blog comments are also included in the list of algorithm markers that Google uses to index your page. It helps to keep your website active in the eyes of the search engine. Other content marketing strategies include forum posting, commenting on other blogs, and guest blogging. Here are a few tips for developing engaging content.
4. Get Email Marketing Done
Email marketing is, hands down, one of the best digital marketing strategies for startups. Once you grab the email leads from various channels, woo your customers to take positive action. You can get emails through comments on your blogs, social media, and by sending out good newsletters. What’s the secret sauce of getting your emails to work for you? Would your customers really look to them and take positive action, or will it end in the spam/trash folder?
It will depend on how good (and how useful) your mail is. Have a catchy subject line to start with. Use an image to grab the attention of the reader. Write a good copy that is easy to understand. Highlight the benefits of subscribing to your plan. Offer freebies and rewards for going ahead with you. Despite the occasional lament that email marketing is dead, it is still a highly effective way to generate a good ROI. It’s also relatively cheap, and hence a bright option for a startup.
Last words
Did any of the above tips give you an ‘Aha’ moment? Did your eyes brighten with the hope that your startup has a good chance to succeed following these tips? Well, that’s the purpose of getting these words to you. Let’s end with the same mantra with which this blog started, be consistent, and you shalt reap the yield.
Happy Marketing!
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