Startup founders have so much on their plate that they can be forgiven for not thinking too much about digital marketing. But, working with startups everyday, we can tell you that digital marketing can be a game changer for startups, if you employ the right strategy.
Larger, well-established businesses have huge budgets to spend on marketing techniques like TV, massive google ads buys, and even billboard advertising. On the surface, these may seem like the best ways to reach large audiences for your new business.
In reality, startups do not need to market to the masses. And generally startups aren’t doing something that people are searching for on Google every day.
Digital marketing offers targeted marketing with better results. It is also lower in cost than its more traditional counterparts.
Marketing will not always be the priority in a new business. You need to be effective with the limited budget that you do spend on introducing your startup to its audience.
The internet has paved a new way for businesses to get off the ground. Thanks to social media sites, video hosting sites, and more, you can even generate organic reach that is completely free.
Digital Marketing Methods
Consider some of the ways that the internet can serve to market your startup:
Video Marketing: This is a newer form of marketing. Video hosting sites like YouTube offer great reach and the ability to create a face for your business. These are top of the list for engagement.
Content Marketing: Content Marketing is the right strategy for B2B tech companies in particular. This is because buyers in this space educate themselves before they buy. If you are educating them and setting the criteria for the space to be evaluated, then you are a shoe in!
LinkedIn or Facebook Ads: Unlike PPC ads, these platforms let you target in much more detail and you can push content in front of your potential buyers. This is critical if you are selling a solution to a problem that people aren’t actively looking for.
Social Media Marketing: Social Media profiles are free to use. It is an ideal tool to get a better understanding of what your audience cares about, and engage with them.
Email Marketing: Email marketing makes use of data you already have from your contacts. You can send newsletters and offers, for example.
SEO: Search engine optimization is key to ensuring you appear in search results.
Benefits of Digital Marketing
Understand your Consumers
Customer research is relatively inexpensive online. It is also much more detailed, and requires less time than surveys and interviews.
Most websites, like YouTube and Facebook, have analytics built in for businesses. These can give you information about your audience’s demographics, interests, online behavior, and more. As a result, you can also interpret consumer behavior to adapt your marketing campaigns.
Your buyer personas are a key element to your marketing campaign. Digital marketing metrics allow you to get a more accurate image of who those buyers are. This means that you can directly target the right users, and cut out the noise.
Precise targeting results in more conversions for your ads and your business. Casting a wide net rarely results in meaningful conversions, as it’s less likely those leads are interested in your business. For example, a TV advertising campaign would be wasteful for a startup and give poor ROI. Focus on reaching those who have already shown interest in your topic area.
Continuous Marketing
Another benefit of creating content online is that your content will continue to market for you. If you create good quality and valuable content, then your consumers will return over time.
Unlike newspapers which are thrown away once read, online content will be available as long as you wish. You may need to update or tweak your content over time to keep it relevant. However, this is the best way to ensure your content continues to serve your marketing goals. As long as you are answering their questions, people can always come to your site.
Re-using and refreshing your content is also a great way to be efficient with your time as a startup.
Engagement
Digital marketing allows you to engage with your audience, especially through social media. Networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are free tools to start conversations with consumers.
Use social media to build a brand persona that people connect with and can identify. This builds trust between consumers and companies. It also gives users a place to go to communicate directly with your business.
Join conversations that your audience is already engaged with online. This demonstrates that you are present, and understand your users’ concerns and sentiments.
Social media can also be used to drive traffic to your other content. Reach on social media is organic and free, making it a cost-effective marketing method for startups.
Measuring your Success
There’s no use spending time on marketing campaigns that aren’t serving your business. As a startup, you need to be more frugal with your time and budget.
Digital marketing gives you access to analytics and results for your ad and marketing campaigns. Depending on your goal, you can identify any problem areas and see what content is serving your company best.
Traditional marketing methods cannot offer this kind of immediate feedback. Digital marketing allows you to test your content and ads, before committing more expenditure to them. You can also use these tools to optimize your existing campaigns over time. Ultimately, this will see your marketing ROI improve as you can focus on your best content.
Search Engine Optimisation
Once you have created some high quality content, users need to be able to search and find it. This is where effective SEO will help you.
While it’s true that search engines favor large businesses, Google will lend exposure to brands that target a specific audience. Optimize your online content to demonstrate what niche you serve. Search engines will use keywords and related words to identify how helpful your content is to an audience. Ensure all your meta descriptions and alternate text are correct, too.
To be successful, demonstrate that you know who your customers are and what their needs are. Google will rank you higher in search if your content is useful.
Quality content is extremely important, but it is a waste if your target audience cannot find it.
Success in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is the most cost-effective way to market a startup. It can also be extremely efficient for small teams.
Building brand awareness is usually the first step when introducing your audience to your company. Allow your consumers to get to know you as a brand, and build trust and loyalty. Tools like social media are perfect for this, and require no initial investment.
Digital marketing offers many different methods to get your name out there. Test these out before making expensive commitments. This is the best way to find out which methods work best for your company and your customers. Use metrics to measure and compare against other marketing formats. As a startup, ensure your limited time and money is being spent wisely.
At Nituno, we can develop a digital marketing strategy that suits your business. Contact us and let us show you how to take your marketing to the next level.
