5 Brilliant Marketing Strategies For Startups (And Why They Work)

[This article was written by Michelle Deery.]

Got a startup that you know could change a few lives if only you could target the right customers?

Competition is fierce in 2018. To reach the right people, you need to implement a few brilliant marketing strategies that help you stand out and boost conversions and sales.

In this article, I take a look at some of the best strategies that are hot right now. I’ll show you what they are – and why they work.

1. Content Marketing

The problem you might be facing as a startup is the same one that many startups face – namely, a lack of cash. This is why content marketing is essential. Not only does content marketing improve reach, it also helps to build rapport between you and your customer. How?

Content is King in 2018. If you can pump out amazing, valuable content and post it to your website and social media channels, you can build great relationships with your customers. Over time, users will come to trust you and – if you do this right – you can use your content to position yourself as the expert in your niche. Once you’ve done that, your customers are yours to lose.

Content marketing takes many forms, from blogs to videos to podcasts. All are cost-effective and the ROI is stunning if your content goes viral.

The important thing to remember is that content should not be all about selling. Instead, use your content to build a relationship with your customers. This means producing valuable content that offers tips and tricks to people. Make sure to include a CTA at the end of each piece of content you produce.

2. Develop a Mobile App

A mobile app is a fantastic investment for any startup. It really doesn’t matter what niche you’re in – there’s an app for everything.

Stats have shown that the average consumer spends 2.5 hours glued to their mobile device each day. Mobile apps improve the user experience because your customers want to be able to browse your store and experience your brand via mobile – and they want to download apps.

Do The Mambo is a great example of a mobile app that helps businesses manage events and communities. If you’ve not got a mobile app, your rivals who do have one will start taking sales away from you.

But what can a mobile app do?

A mobile app can provide your customers with key info about brand new products and services you’re launching. It can also keep them in the loop RE discounts and can therefore help to boost sales. You may need help, though, with building an app. It’s important that you don’t cut any corners as your customers will notice, and will most likely delete the app if it doesn’t work how your company promised.

3. SEO

SEO is your bread and butter. It works because SEO is all about positioning and visibility. Without it, there probably won’t be many customers at your door. Think of SEO as your foundation – your way of driving traffic to your website. It doesn’t matter how good you are at producing great content if no one can even see it.

SEO involves picking the right keywords to climb up the Google rankings, but it’s also about so much more than that. It’s about running your site through a page speed tester to make sure a slow loading site isn’t causing a high bounce rate. It’s about securing backlinks from authoritative sites.

SEO is complex and you shouldn’t do it alone. Hire an SEO agency and let them figure out an SEO marketing plan that works for you.

4. Guest Blog

Guest blogging is great because it doesn’t have to cost you much (if any) money and it boosts exposure of your brand.

What is it and how does it work?

Guest blogging involves your startup producing content for another established website in your niche. The idea is that you approach a key blogger in your niche with an idea for an article, pitch it to them and – with any luck – they’ll accept. Then, you write the article, post it to their site and link back to your own site.

It works because you’re gaining exposure to more people and showing that you’re the expert on a particular topic. Sometimes, the blogger will even let you promote your product or service on their site.

5. Email Marketing

Email marketing remains one of the most surefire marketing tactics in the world ever. Millennials might have grown up with social media, but 73% of them say that email is still their favourite way of communicating with businesses.

How and why does it work?

It’s simple stuff. All you need to do is produce a lead magnet on your website (a free gift) and exchange it for someone’s email address. Once you’ve built up a strong email list, you can then start sending out valuable content via email, as well as keeping customers in the game regarding discounts and promotions.

Below you can see HubSpot entice their website visitors with digital marketing strategies in return for their email address via a optin form.

Email marketing is great because all your customers are gathered together in one place. Plus, you can segment your list so that you send out tailored content to the right people, therefore boosting conversions and sales.

Conclusion

These are marketing strategies that your startup can start implementing right now. They work – and they don’t even cost much money at all! Get to it.

Author Bio:

Michelle Deery is a freelance writer who specializes in digital marketing and she writes content for Heroic Search, a SEO agency based in Tulsa. Her work has appeared in publications such as Entrepreneur and you can find her @MichWriting on Twitter.