Marketing for Startups: Promotion at the Early Stages

Startups are often like rockets, and they should literally adopt something from the latter. Just like the rockets that are fueled, startups need to be animated before launch. This can be done by means of a mature marketing strategy.

If you have a project that can become a truly needed and sought-for one, you need to make sure that its message reaches your target audience. Whatever brilliant your idea is, it may fall into oblivion without proper marketing — people just will not know about its existence. Unfortunately, many emerging companies have little idea how to manage this sphere.

What is A Marketing plan?

One of the essential things here is the creation of a marketing plan.

A marketing plan is a document that outlines your marketing activities (strategies and tactics) that need to be implemented for achieving certain marketing objectives within a certain period of time.

The composition of such a plan starts with the research and identification of specific customers’ needs and the way in which the company is going to meet these needs while getting a satisfactory return level. It usually focuses on a specific timeframe (i.e., the next 12 months) and includes analysis of current marketing conditions and detailed description of particular tasks, steps, goals, costs etc. It is not static and needs to be changed as the business evolves.

Why does your business need a marketing plan?

There are plenty of reasons to make it up. With a marketing plan, it will be much easier for you to:

• Fully understand your market and target audience
• Discover what makes you unique and know your mission
• Define what you want to accomplish
• Make sure your marketing objectives meet your business objectives
• Clearly establish tasks and deadlines
• Manage your budget more effectively
• Keep a focus on the most important things
• Track your progress

What Should I Include in My Marketing Plan?

The following are the key components:

1. Situation Analysis. It is needed in order to assess your product or service and its current standing in the market. Here you should define your goals and create a clear action-oriented message that explains why you are better than your competitors are.

2. Mission Statement. Define a key market (who you are selling to), your contribution (what you are selling) and your distinction (unique selling proposition). Will your product be best sought-after by men or women? Baby boomers or millennials? Know the essential things about your future clients and define your target audience in order to meet their needs.

3. Marketing Strategy: The Powerful Four. Your startup strategy should be based on the four marketing pillars: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. It means you need to declare yourself, outline the price policy, decide how you will promote it and where will you sell it.

4. Competition. Analyze your competitors and make notes of the most important findings. What can you do to stand out from the herd? Do not underestimate the value of knowing your rivals’ peculiarities and always keep an eye on the changes in the market.

5. Sales and Budget. Specify how much you will spend, for what and when. In this section, calculate an advertising budget and define which strategies are affordable for you.

Now that we know what to proceed from, let’s outline main marketing channels — the means via which you will reach your customers with your product.

Social Media

Today’s market promotion can’t be imagined without social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other social profiles have formed an integral part of today’s marketing. According to a Social Media Examiner’s report, 90% of marketing specialists find social media a very important promotion tool that helped their companies become recognizable and engage with their customers.

SEO and Link Building

For good or for ill, building a beautiful and functional website today is not enough to attract visitors. Every day lots and lots of new websites are created, and if you want your website not to lose among this variety (and in an ideal scenario — you want it to come up on the top), you need to go in for search engine optimization. It will raise your Google rank, increase traffic to your website, boost content reach, enhance your web presence and favor the creation of a solid reputation.

Public Relations

In order to steer the online presence and social media marketing activities in a right direction, a smart PR and partnering programs are needed. With them, marketers can create or boost interest in your brand or product, influence particular target groups, and defend the image of a product or service in case of a negative perception. You will be able to see what people think about you and influence their opinion. Sponsorships and affiliate programs will in turn complement and contribute to these strategies.

Content Marketing

Regularly update your blog and publish the quality content that your visitors objectively need. In fact, valuable content is able to galvanize every other marketing channel used by you. It is a technique that doesn’t give quick results, but its efforts are generously repaid with the increased visibility, credibility and authority of your brand, elevated brand awareness and long-term relations with your clients.

Email Marketing

Some may say this tool is gradually losing its grounds, but that’s not true. It hasn’t lost its popularity and is still effective for the customers’ engagement. It may include newsletters, invitations to events, greeting cards, educational articles, etc. Build a quality list, show an amazing design and get ready to spark the people’s interest.

In spite of the wide spectrum of modern promotion instruments, marketing for startups may involve manifold strategies and tools, which may differ greatly depending on the project’s target audience. Whichever marketing strategies you choose, your plan should be consistent and thoroughly developed. Remember that marketing plan is not something static, but something that is constantly evolving and being altered as the time passes and the realia change.

A promising and auspicious startup launch implies using various marketing approaches and channels. However, remember that quality always comes first. We have already discussed the 5 stages of a first-class product’s creation. The fine product complemented by wise marketing measures is a key to successful startup launch.

Which marketing channels are the most effective for your company? How did you promote your project at the earliest stages? Share your experience with all the startuppers!