Go to market strategies for startups
You may already know how to set up shop, but the hard work doesn't stop after your business is up and running.
Statistics show that 90% of new businesses fail. Approximately 21.5% of startups fail within the first year of opening. Even though you have something extraordinary to offer, it will be for nothing if nobody has heard about it. The profitability of your product or service will mostly depend on how well you can market it, connect with your customers, and manage your marketing budget. This can be a challenging feat for many entrepreneurs.
If you're struggling with marketing your new business, keep reading! In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about promoting your startup, from creating a strategy to implementing tried-and-true methods and measuring your results.
Creating a Strategy
Startups are no exception to the rule when it comes to needing an effective marketing strategy. A startup's marketing plan lays out the road it intends to achieve its objectives. Having a solid marketing strategy in place is essential for the long-term success of any new business.
If you want to get your company off the ground quickly and easily, here are some things you should consider while developing a marketing strategy.
Establish Your Goals
Your marketing strategy relies heavily on your objectives. In many cases, they serve as a jumping-off point. The cornerstone of your plan is laid out in your goals, which will define the steps you need to take for your products or services to succeed in the market.
The objective of marketing is to get your service or product in front of your target market and explain the advantages of using it so that you can gain, retain, and expand your customer base. As such, your marketing objectives must be aligned with your company's specific business goals.
Prioritizing your marketing efforts by establishing clear, measurable, and attainable objectives will help you stay on course. Showing your marketing plan's strategic importance will enable you to convince others that it is the right path for your company.
Identify Your Customers
Identifying your target audience and customer is among the fundamental principles of marketing for small businesses. Your customers' age and gender can give you a deeper understanding of the types of people who are most likely to buy your products.
As a business owner, it's also crucial to understand how your customers feel about your company. This kind of input can help you determine what's effective and needs to be improved in your startup.
Determine Your Value Proposition
A report by CB Insights reveals that one of the most common reasons for the failure of a startup is a lack of customer demand. What a company offers might not be a solution to any problem or falls short in providing unique value to customers. As such, it's critical for your startup to figure out what makes you stand out from the crowd and define how you can help your target market.
When considering your company's value proposition, consider what makes it special. Conduct extensive research on other products available on the market and see if your potential buyers are interested in your offering. Your product or service offerings, business model, and target demographic should be described in detail.
Set a Marketing Budget
Your marketing budget must first be determined before any strategy can be developed. If you're in the early stages of your business, you'll likely have a limited budget, so you'll have to spend it wisely. As soon as you've set your marketing budget, split it up among the various strategies that will most benefit your company.
For a startup, operating expenses and profit forecasts will have an impact on the marketing budget. Regardless of the funding you have available for marketing, it is crucial that you take extra care when allocating your resources. Consider your objectives and devote your marketing budget to the techniques that will aid you in achieving those goals. Be prepared to tweak your strategy or change it if one channel isn't working out for you.
Determining Your Marketing Channels
When you first start out, it's best to focus on a variety of channels. However, after several months of experimenting, narrow your attention down to a handful that are truly effective. Here are some go to market strategies for startups:
Email marketing is a vital technique for acquiring clients for your startup at a low cost. This approach is frequently regarded as having one of the highest returns on investment. Aside from the apparent benefit of attracting new customers and retaining existing ones, you can also upsell and generate referrals.
Gathering email addresses is the first step in implementing this marketing technique effectively. Consider including a newsletter registration form on your company's website. You can even ask customers for their email addresses directly. Keep in mind that your emails should include relevant non-promotional content, such as tips, step-by-step guides, infographics, and videos. Readers may unsubscribe from your newsletter if you simply send advertisements.
Social Media
Social media has more than 4.2 billion users; therefore, incorporating it into your company's marketing strategy is essential. As your startup's social media presence increases, more individuals will become aware of it. Businesses can also pay for traffic and promotion on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.
It's not enough to just have a Facebook or Twitter profile to thrive in social media marketing. You also need to publish interesting and relevant content that encourages people to follow you on social media. In addition, you should respond to your followers' concerns and comments after you've built a community.
Website and Blogging
Virtually every business needs to have a website. A corporate website and blog are definitely a good idea, regardless of your target audience or what industry you're in. These can help you develop credibility for your startup. As a business owner, you can either build and maintain your own company website or pay a professional to do so.
However, it is not enough to just create a website. You also need to keep them up to date by creating new content. If you run a blog, only post high-quality content and stick to a regular publishing schedule that suits your readers. Starting a blog is an effective way to get the attention your startup deserves. According to a study, firms with blogs get 126% more leads compared to their counterparts who don't. A blog can help you establish your company as a thought leader while also bringing in organic traffic from search engines.
Paid Advertising
The importance of advertising cannot be overlooked. Among the first steps in starting a new business is to establish your brand and then promote it to the right people. With the right message delivered to the right audience, you can attract customers and grow your business. As such, you need to determine which marketing channels are the most cost-effective for acquiring new leads.
However, paid ads don't often guarantee the best result. For this reason, you must diversify your startup's inbound traffic sources beyond paid advertisements.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Many startups rely heavily on search engines for income generation. A steady stream of organic traffic can be obtained through search engines. Consequently, new businesses must pay attention to their search engine results to succeed.
Customers use search engines to find what they are looking for, and SEO is the method that makes your content appear higher in the results for those keywords. It is a cost-effective way to boost your company's bottom line. Businesses appreciate SEO because it often takes relatively little time and money to maintain those results once you've established a successful generating machine.
Three of the most popular websites for searching the web are Google, Amazon, and YouTube. The basics of using each platform are similar, but the criteria for success are not the same. As such, many entrepreneurs often struggle to make sense of this strategy.
Fortunately, SEO marketing agencies like Growth Friday can assist startups in planning and implementing their SEO successfully.
Measure Your Results
The only way to tell if your marketing strategy is working or not is to keep track of the results over time. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are the measures used to measure your success toward your marketing objectives. Don't be scared to make changes to your marketing strategy if necessary after evaluating your results. Your marketing plan should grow and change along with your company.
The Bottomline
Digital marketing for startups is challenging, especially in light of the fierce competition. Mastering it requires a great deal of time and energy. For this reason, it's critical to begin your digital marketing campaign with a solid strategy, a positive mindset, and some essential best practices.
The good news is you don't have to do everything alone. If you need any help with go to market strategy for startups, particularly in SEO, a professional like Growth Friday can help. We have the expertise and experience you require to achieve marketing success. Contact us today to schedule a discovery call.
