We understand that, when you’re getting started, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to afford a marketing agency or hire your own dedicated marketing team. In the early days, you’re probably going to have to take care of marketing yourself.
Startup marketing might seem daunting, but we’re going to let you into 5 startup marketing secrets to help you tell the world about your new business…
1. In Social Media Land, content is king
We’ve all seen businesses on social media who make it look easy. A quick look at the Coca Cola Facebook page might make you think we can all get 10,000 likes every time we change our cover photo.
The truth is, these big brands have earned their attention, and as a startup, you have a long way to go….
“Throwing up a free Facebook and Twitter account, making an “explainer” video and waiting for a rush of attention isn’t a viable strategy. You’re going to have to buy some attention to get off the blocks. The thinking here, is that you pay up front, and go from “paid attention” to “earned attention.” That’s where you want to be. That’s when the media, influencers and new customers start looking for you!” – David Murdico, Director of Supercool Creative
Creating useful, high-quality content is a great way to earn attention in your industry. You’ve probably noticed how everyone has a blog these days. Well, sharing unique content, that brings value to potential customers, is going to make them notice you. Opening a Facebook page and commenting on the weather isn’t…
2. Customer support and marketing aren’t as different as you think
I hate to break it to you, but there’s probably at least a handful of companies out there offering the same things you do, and they’re targeting the same market.
These days, we have access to so much information about the brands and companies we buy from. A quick Google search can reveal if a company is trustworthy and reliable, and if we’re not satisfied, many of us will turn to online reviewing sites or social media to spread the word.
“Customer service is the new marketing. The days of dictating your brand to the public are long gone. There is so much access to information; the customer is actually dictating your brand to you.” Aaron Magness, former Marketing Chief at Zappos
At it’s absolute finest, great customer support can go viral. At the very least, you will build a reliable and trustworthy brand that will keep customers coming back.
3. No one cares about your startup as much as you do
Our friend and founder of Coull, Irfon Watkins, once gave a piece of advice we’ll never forget…
“No one gives a fuck about your startup except you”
Starting a business is exciting, and, if you’re doing it right, it’s something you’re really passionate and excited about. You have to remember that no one else is going to be as excited as you, and you have to be okay with that.
You can’t expect TechCrunch to publish an article about every update you make. You can’t set up a Twitter account and expect 10,000 followers overnight. You can’t expect everyone who tries your product to love it.
Startup marketing can be difficult and often unthankful. Don’t get discouraged. Keep working on it and you will start seeing results over time.
If you outsource your marketing, make sure you work closely with the marketing team so that they understand your passion and pass on your enthusiasm. At Simpleweb, we treat every product as if it were our own. If you work with any agencies, you should expect them to do the same.
4. If you’re not measuring your efforts, there’s no point in doing them
We know how much you love your startup, and we know you’re dying to bring in new users, but if you’re not measuring the effects of your marketing efforts, there’s not really any point in doing them.
You’re spending time and money on your marketing efforts and if they’re not working, you need to know that, and be able to understand why.
Serial entrepreneur and founder of The Startup Garage, Tyler Jensen, sites “neglecting to measure marketing metrics” as one of the most common startup marketing mistakes he sees…
“Results and feedback are crucial to measuring the success of your marketing strategy. By developing and tracking your marketing metrics, you are able to continually adjust and revise this strategy to improve the yield of your marketing dollars.”
5. Sometimes you have to take a stab in the dark, make it an educated one
As Renee Warren, Co-Founder of Onboardly points out…
“Simply put, startup marketing is a unique challenge often times because of the limited resources, whether it’s time, money or talent… You have to be sure every effort, no matter how small, is well-planned and flawlessly executed.”
If you’re going to succeed, you need to plan your foundations meticulously. You need to know and understand your product (and where it’s true value lies), your market, your target audience and what you actually want from your marketing efforts.
Of course, growing your startup is a slow process and sometimes you’re going to try something that doesn’t work. No matter how much you strategise, sometimes, especially in your early days, you’re going to have to take a stab in the dark. Just try to make it an educated one…
