What the F*ck is Marketing?
3 strategies to help market your startup.
Marketing can be a bit of a buzzword, you hear a lot of people say “you need to do more marketing”, and as a startup you do. But what the f*ck is it? Marketing is a crucial aspect of any business, and startups face a unique set of challenges when it comes to promoting their brand. With limited budgets and resources, finding effective ways to market your brand can be a real challenge. However, there are a few strategies that startups can use to market their brand for free, and below are three of the best ways to do more marketing.
1. Utilise Social Media Effectively.
Social media is a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes, and startups can use it to reach a large audience without spending a dime. To get the most out of social media, startups need to identify their target audience and focus their efforts on the platforms where they are most active. For example, if your target audience is mostly young adults, you might want to focus your efforts on platforms like TikTok or Snapchat — Although as the platforms themselves grow so does the demographic that uses them and the longer they are around the audience itself ages with the platform as they continue to use it.
Once you have identified the right platforms, it’s important to create a strong presence on them. This means posting regularly, everyday at least, engaging with your followers, and creating high-quality content that showcases your brand and resonates with your target audience. And do this consistently.
The best type of content is one that tells a story either with the goal of entertaining or by educating, or both. Also, you can use social media to run contests and promotions, which can help you reach a wider audience and drive more traffic to your website. Eg “like, share and tag three friends in the comments to get…” This will help bring people in, it’s then your job to keep them there.
2. Leverage Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing is the oldest form there is, and it’s still one of the most powerful marketing tools available to startups. By providing exceptional customer service, delivering high-quality products or services, and fostering strong relationships with your customers, you can encourage them to spread the word about your business to their friends and family.
To make word-of-mouth marketing more effective, you can also implement referral programs and other incentives that encourage your customers to refer others to your business. For example, you could offer a discount or a free trial to customers who refer new business to you. This will not only encourage them to spread the word, but it will also help you reach a wider audience and attract more customers to your business.
One great way to help boost this a little is to offer to be a guest on podcasts that have an audience that will align with yours. As part of going on the podcast you can talk about your startup and offer their audience a special discount or promotion of some sort for being listeners. You may have even heard other people do this as guests before. If you don’t want to offer discounts or your business model doesn’t support promotions like that this is still a great way to boost your word-of-mouth marketing.
3. Participate in Local Events and Community Initiatives
Participating in local events and community initiatives is a great way for startups to market their brand for free and connect with potential customers in their local community. For example, you could participate in local trade shows, sponsor community events, or volunteer at local organisations.
By participating in these events and initiatives, you can build brand awareness, establish yourself as a trusted and involved member of the community, and create valuable networking opportunities. Additionally, by participating in local events, you can also gather valuable feedback from potential customers and learn more about their needs and preferences. Going to these events can also provide you with opportunities to build on your social media content. Eg. You can record the day as a video. You can take a mic and phone around and interview people and topics related to your business or you could set up a live feed with your logo on it. You could even be so bold as to offer to MC the event, if the opportunity is available.
So, what the f*ck is marketing? Marketing is any way of letting people know about your business, it isn’t just one thing. These are just three effective strategies that startups can use to market their brand for free. By utilising social media effectively, leveraging word-of-mouth marketing, and participating in local events and community initiatives, startups can build brand awareness, attract new customers, and grow their business without breaking the bank.
We talk about these strategies and more in our playbook and you can sign up at no cost here. We’d love helping people become awesome founders and creating success in the business they are passionate about, so let’s talk.
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