Do more with less

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Many startups are low on cash but rich on talent. It’s very important for your startup to start thinking about low cost and powerful marketing strategies from the very first day so you spend less and gain more.

Below given are few cost effective marketing strategies that you can consider to help your startup grow:

1. Leverage the Power of Press Releases

News is regularly read by a large number of people and if you have something to report there are numerous news outlets that will say it for you.

News releases can support your startup growth in the below given ways:

Helps to expand your networks: With press releases, you can mention your brand in major publications. Also, news releases will help you to grow your startup by expanding your networks and boosting your online visibility.

It’s cost effective: It is less expensive as compared to other forms of marketing like advertising.

Tells your brand story: As you know that every brand has a story behind it. It’s common that if customers are interested in your products they will also be interested in your brand story, so it’s important that you should present it in a unique way.

2. Send Newsletters and Explore the Potential of Email Marketing

Newsletters will help you to upsell current customers and find new ones.

One of the top email marketing service, MailChimp lets you get started for free. Creating newsletter will also help you in developing a personal connection with your readers. Also remember if you want to include promotions and offers in your newsletter then you need to ensure that the writing is familiar.

Here are some things to keep in mind while creating newsletters to promote your startup:

Simply start by writing an appealing title, but apart from writing an attractive subject line and crafting new template it’s also important that you should know what your audience likes to receive in their inbox.
Based on demographics and interests, create list having personalized content.
Another thing you should keep in mind is that majority of people use mobile phones to read emails, so ensure that your emails are mobile friendly and responsive to any screen.
Remember to include valuable content in your emails, therefore it’s important that you should always follow 80/20 rule which means that you should devote 80% of your content to valuable and useful information and 20% to your offer.
Consistency is important so it is recommended to automate parts of your campaign to keep the schedule consistent.
Tying the content with the latest events and social causes resonates well with the audiences.
Tips are always appreciated by the customers so ensure you send lots of helpful tips to the customers during their micro moments.
People like exclusive treatment so you need to think of special offers that you can provide to your exclusive list of email subscribers.

3. Host a Contest and Conduct a Survey

Hosting contest or promotions is one of the best ways to get people engaged with your brand. Social media is the best platform for holding surveys and contests.

Also read: Using case studies can be an excellent marketing strategy, especially for making B2B connections

Spend some time in figuring out the questions before you set up your contest. What is the reason for hosting this contest? How will the contest benefit the people? Is it based on a theme that is appreciated by the community?

Tell the viewer what to do and also make the text and associated image clear and precise. You can make use of tools like Socialtools to easily create your social contests and also track the ROI derived from it.

Moreover, regularly conducting surveys will help you in getting your customers feedback on your current products and services. Survey Monkey and Zoomerang are great for hosting your surveys for free of cost. Regularly reaching potential customers and improving your product or services based on the feedback is the backbone of a successful organization.

4. Utilize Social Media

Start using social media in order to reach your target audience as it is one the fastest and cost effective way of reaching your prospective customers.

You should have brand pages or profiles on major platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and Twitter. Make sure to update your pages on time with content that connects well with your target audience.

Here are some tips to utilize the power of social media for your startup:

Determine your primary goal from social media. Is it brand awareness, lead generation, customer acquisition or content distribution? Your next set of actions should be based on the set of goals.
Do not start promoting your brand from the first day itself. Instead, build up a community of like minded people who might be interested in connecting with your brand in future.
Listen to the problems of people and provide possible solutions for it. Do not always talk, instead respond and react.
Do not hesitate to try out new things. If you are also using the same set of strategies as used by your competitors then people will not prefer your brand. Explore your creativity and try to establish new ways to reach potential customers.

5. Make Use of Pay Per Click (PPC) Ads

If you are looking for instant results then PPC campaigns are a must to try. The best part about such campaigns that there is no limitation on the budget which means you can invest as little as you wish to and start getting results at the earliest. You can make use of powerful PPC techniques to improve CTR and reduce CPC.

PPC campaign can boost your startup in below given ways:

You have complete control over your budget.
Helps you in building a strong presence for your startup in both search and other marketing channels.
Can use the results of PPC to direct your other marketing activities. You can easily find the keywords that are more effective for your business and be able to use these same keywords to direct your SEO campaigns.
PPC that is successful involves constant experimentation. It’s important that you should frequently test your results which will help you in improving your message with time. Try to find out the below given points when testing your PPC:
- Which keywords are performing best?
- Which headlines are generating more clicks?
- Which ads are leading to most conversions?

6. Use Content Marketing to Your Advantage

Creating unique and compelling content that effectively and positively promotes your business is very important for your startup.

Also read: 3 dead simple rules to get better with content marketing

Videos, podcasts and infographics they all have the power in enhancing your brand reputation and increasing your inbound traffic.

Tell your visitors who you are, why you do and what you do through your content. Provide them with valuable information as it will help you in building your brand.
Produce quality and lengthy content as it will help to drive traffic and boost your SEO.
Content marketing is cheap and it helps to develop your brand voice.
Create “evergreen” content pieces that can serve as permanent source of organic traffic for your website.
Use effective CTA’s along with the content in order to drive actions.
Try to build a community of people who like to consume your content. They are more likely to buy from you in the near future.

Make use of the above strategies and constantly try to improve the quality of your product or service. Another thing to remember is the satisfaction of the customer. People prefer brands who provide effective customer service. Only looking for new customers and not adopting strategies to retain the existing ones is a bad business strategy. Successful brands build a community of loyal customers by offering excellent customer support.

Which strategies are you using to promote your startup? Please share with me in the comments below.

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Featured image: 123RF Stock Photography

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