Having a sturdy marketing strategy for start-ups is the cornerstone of successful growth. However, considering the fact that start-ups struggle with finding financing for complex and effective marketing campaigns, what solutions do they have?
Let’s face it, unless your audience already knows about your small company and its products and services, you are unlikely to succeed in competitive and challenging markets. Yes, you can work with a marketing and advertising agency, but in the first years of activity, you’re unlikely to find the money you need for this. The good news is, you can always design and implement strategies on your own. Effective marketing is not expensive; it’s smart. No matter your field or industry, the tips and tricks below will help your company reach the audience you want in a simple and effective fashion.
Press releases.
Publishing press releases is one of the most effective ways to advertise your fresh company. Although collaborating with a specialised agency is the surest way to have your press release published, this investment is worth every penny.
But still, if you have newsworthy pieces of content to publish to the world, most newspapers and news platforms will be more than happy to have you published.
Press releases are an effective way to grow your audience. Once your piece of news reaches big publications, more people will grow aware of your company, products, and services. Your website’s traffic rates are also more likely to grow, and you may pick some inbound links along the way, too.
If you deal with the whole shebang yourself, this is free marketing. Get in touch with journalists and ask them to publish a press release you write on your own.
Referrals.
To cut down marketing expenses, all you have to do is give up marketing altogether. Referrals make a great system where your clients can do all the marketing for you! According to this study, people are 25% more likely to buy a product or work with a company if a friend or family member recommends. Offer your current customers discount codes and sales deals when they recommend a product or service of your company to others. Cash rewards also do the trick, but you have to get invested in this strategy to succeed. Get the word out about your referral program and your audience will grow like never before.
SEO-friendly content.
Content marketing is one of the most popular ways to grow your website traffic and audience. Considering you are already publishing a lot of content for this purpose, optimize it so it becomes more visible to search engines.
New to SEO? No worries. You have many tools you can use to start improving your SEO ranking. Start by reading dedicated websites and platforms. HubSpot and Moz are perfect for SEO noobs. They feature detailed content on the topic, but they also have many tools you can use when planning your SEO campaigns. Take Moz’s Keyword Explorer, for example. This is a smart tool that will help you identify some of the most relevant keywords for your business and niche. You know what relevant keywords mean, don’t you? More traffic will help your business grow stronger in the face of ruthless competition. This is how pros do it, and you should do it!
Offline advertising.
Who said offline advertising is dead? It’s still thriving, like in the golden age of advertising. Just pamphlets, brochures, and leaflets make up so much for the offline advertising methods used by large marketing companies in hot cities like London. They do an amazing job of spreading the word about your company and your products to people who don’t use the Internet every day of their life. All you have to so, in this case, is develop your own leaflet or pamphlet content, the structure, and design, find a company specialising in leaflet distribution London, and spread the word around the city!
Billboards and advertising boards are also thriving in the digital age. Think about their placement. to make the most of an offline marketing campaign, think about placing billboards in high-traffic areas.
Branding.
A valuable trick you can use to grow your audience and brand awareness levels, is to start improving your branding strategy. Promote your company and the experience behind each team member online, make the most of your website’s “blog” section, and help your brand grow through social media followers and likes.
Try to collaborate with Instagram Influencers. People tend to identify better and relate to better with other people rather than companies. Using them to build a stronger brand will help you earn a bigger follower base and a new source of online attention and traffic.
Search to associate your brand name with reliable, trustworthy people in the online, even specialists in the industry you play. This will have a huge word to say in terms of advertising. The only downside is, you will have to pay influencers to mention you in their posts and stories. But, in the end, it’s well-invested money.
Forums and groups hold a huge advertising potential.
Social media groups and forums hold huge advertising potential. This is where people gather to ask questions they have been trying to solve, and where, with your expertise, you can come to their help!
You might learn something about a local event where you can advertise your brand and company. These tight-knitted communities have helped brands and companies grow their audience and sales throughout the years. Your company might find itself in the same position when forums and local social media groups are used correctly.
The best thing about forums and groups? It’s all free. Your presence there, offering your expertise, letting people know about your brand. Everything is free advertising, just what a fresh start-up needs, in terms of marketing strategies.
Use all the information above to your advantage and try to tailor a marketing strategy that fits within your budget. Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. You can take care of everything with a little dedication and wish to learn new skills.
