Q: What is your most effective marketing tip for startups?
A: Stay focused on one marketing channel. “Stop trying to be everywhere, and focus on the marketing channel (yes, just one) that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. You can expand later; but when you are first starting out, you must focus on the most important channel. That channel will likely differ depending on your goals, which you and your team will need to figure out, but start with one channel only.” Joshua Dorkin, BiggerPockets
Understand your customer’s problem better than your competition does. “The easiest way to create breakthrough marketing in any industry is to understand your customer’s problem better than both your customer and competition understand it. By being able to articulate it better and see this problem from multiple angles, you’ve got a long-term advantage when it comes to creating high-performing marketing campaigns.” Nick Reese, BroadbandNow
Have in-person conversations. “In-person networking and developing long-term relationships work. Do customer interviews, meet with marketing influencers in your field and go to conferences. Relationships you develop now may take years to show ROI, but it will be worth the investment. Good relationships get you your first customers, who are the first supporters of a startup!” Mitch Gordon, Go Overseas
Build it into the technology. “If you are able to devise a few clever ways to build marketing efforts into your product, you are effectively eliminating a variable cost and turning it into a one-time fixed cost. If harnessed correctly, your user acquisition costs will exponentially go down as you as you scale.” Reza Chowdhury, AlleyWatch
Have multiple sales funnels working together. “Setting up your sales funnels is not easy, but they really work. Take the time to establish several marketing channels that will get the word out about your business, from social media to live events or webinars. When you have many ongoing programs, they can all be tracked for efficacy.” Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now
Segment, schedule and measure. “Answer this question first: ‘Are you trying to drive sales, build awareness or build technical credibility?’ Once you’ve ‘segmented’ your desired outcome by answering that simple question, build a detailed schedule by platform (e.g., Twitter) that includes the message and campaign duration. This prevents the ‘see what sticks’ method and provides a roadmap on what and when to measure. Discipline is more science than art.” Jeff Chambers, Big Machine Parts
Focus on PR. “Organic SEO is rapidly morphing into PR, as Google demands high-quality inbound links from trusted sources. A few media mentions can rapidly increase a site’s authority and visibility. Wasting money and time on low-quality SEO campaigns will not yield results, and investing in paid search or display requires an ongoing investment. Start with great PR, and enjoy the results for years to follow.” Marcela De Vivo, Gryffin
Work on success stories. “You’ll need them for your product. Those stories could be great leads for building your word of mouth and leveraging PR. In the beginning, focus a lot on those stories and make sure to help your users succeed.” Ben Lang, Mapme
Utilize your employees’ social media. “It is important to have your current employees market the brand they work for by utilizing their social media and contributing to the company’s social media. This is the cheapest and most authentic way to market your startup company.” Jayna Cooke, EVENTup
Sell Results, not services. “When marketing my company, I focus on the results and benefits we will provide, rather than the service alone. We are a video marketing company. Rather than talking about the cameras we shoot with or the editing software we use, we highlight the online results our videos have achieved for our clients, teach them why video marketing is important and how it will affect their bottom-line.” Michael Mogill, Crisp Video Group
Exchange your product/service for an honest review. “Reach new customers by finding industry experts who produce the type of content your customers read. Offer them your product/service for free in exchange for an honest review. Make sure to do your research and familiarize yourself with their work. If it’s a good match, you won’t have to explain the value to their readers; they will want to write about you.” Derian Baugh, Men’s Style Lab
Have a consistent online presence. “Whether you’re marketing your startup through blogs or social media, you must stay committed to your online presence. When our company first started, we published a blog post three times a week covering topics from mobile marketing to how-to articles. By publishing content consistently, we built our reputation and positioned ourselves at the top of search rankings.” Shalyn Dever, Chatter Buzz
Publish press releases. “Press releases are a great way to get prospects to take note of your offerings. Some services offer press releases for free, and others have nominal fees of less than $500 that can promote lead generation.” Ania Rodriguez, KeyLimeInteractive.com
(Source: TCA)
