As a startup, getting your business up and running might seem daunting, the fear in making errors when it comes to hiring the right people and even coming up with your business plan can be overwhelming .
As a startup, getting your business up and running might seem daunting, the fear in making errors when it comes to hiring the right people and even coming up with your business plan can be overwhelming .
Marketing is one of the vital steps in your business plan that if you get right it should make the taking the next step seem a little less daunting. Marketing is its own playing field, picking the right marketing strategies for your business can be confusing. In this blog, we detail the 3 best marketing strategies that will help you and your start up.
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Use social media to your advantage
Social media platforms can be one of the most helpful tools in any marketing plan. It is a low cost yet effective way to get your message across to the masses. Creating your accounts are mostly free and if you are interested in paid media, it can start from as low as $1 a day depending on which platform you choose to invest in.
There is a large pool of online tools one can use, for example, Google Analytics, it gives you the insights of which platform is directing the most amount of traffic to your website. With this insight you can determine which platform to focus on and invest in.
Use your platforms to engage with your audience, post interactive polls and posts to get a conversation flowing. Everyone on social media has their own opinion and uses the platform to voice their opinions loudly. This forms a connection with your audience that will help you understand their wants and needs better.
Increasing your brand awareness is so important to get your business known and out there, use these platforms to showcase your business and all it has to offer, focus on the quality of your content rather than the quantity of posts and create posts that your target audience can relate to.
After pinpointing which platforms your consumers use the most with the use of online tools, create your own account and start your social media journey, start posting your quality content, use hashtags to increase your spread, follow the relevant accounts pertaining to your industry and engage with your audience. This should help you start your social media journey for your startup and grow your business.
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Content is king
Content is the key when it comes to marketing, if your target audience is not able to resonate with your content they will lose interest in what you are offering and tend to deviate away into things that they would be more interested in. If you are unsure of what content to post, use online tools to help you to see the hot and trending topics in your industry and use them to put yourself out there.
For any startup the first step is always difficult but once you understand your target market and what interests them you will be able to create quality content that will draw your target audience to your page. Not only is your content information important but the aesthetics of your posts are just as important.
People respond better to attractive visual content which is a harsh reality of today, if your page does not emotionally resonate with your audience it will determine whether or not they will follow you or not.. You want to be creative with your content and think outside the box. Don't be a follower and be a leader.
Online tools like Canva can help you make this process easier, there are templates you can use and even some inspirational looks one can get ideas off from. Establish who you are as a brand, keep your colour scheme in mind and plan out in detail how you want your page to look and the message it sends to your viewers.
Depending on the message you want to send across to your audience, consider the use of creative tag-lines, puns and even some humour in your posts that will leave a lasting impression on your followers. Create content that reflects your brand and what you stand for, for any startup that might be a challenge, you are the fresh and upcoming face and you want everyone to know it. Have your own flair when it comes to your content and aesthetics and use that to your advantage.
By creating content and building an aesthetic that best represents your business, it will help you to get noticed by your target audience and other companies in your industry. As a startup you will have difficulty in creating your own identity that suits you, play around with online tools to create your posts and let that help you build your brand.
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How inbound marketing can help your business
Inbound marketing is the method of growing your organization with the use of building meaningful and lasting relationships with your prospects. Inbound marketing can help your startup increase its brand awareness, improve your search engine rankings,
give your customers the opportunity to engage with your brand more effectively and generate quality leads for your business in a cost effective fashion are just some of the benefits that inbound marketing offers.
There are 3 ways inbound marketing can be applied, first by attracting. By attracting the right people who can provide content with value as well as having conversations that authorise you as a trusted advisor with whom they will want to engage with.
Secondly, through engagement, showing insights and results and that you align with their pain points and goals will result with them more likely to purchase from you.
Lastly, through delight, giving help and support to entrust your consumers to find achievements with their purchase.
When clients accomplish their goals and share their success with others, it helps to attract new potential prospects to your business and this creates a self-sustaining loop. With this, your organisation builds a momentum and this is how the inbound marketing methodology will serve as a strong foundation for business.
Final Thoughts
Building the right foundation for your startup is one of the most important steps and with the right marketing strategy the next step will become clearer. Inbound marketing is not only cost efficient but also more long term and sustainable. With a successful inbound marketing plan you will be able to build a strong foundation for your startup and do it in a concise and easily maintainable way. Develop your inbound marketing plan in 2 weeks with our inbound marketing workshop playbook and get ready to grow your startup.
Download our Inbound Marketing Workshop Playbook today!
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