The success rates for startup businesses are dismal. According to Forbes, a renowned media outlet, up to 90% fail. And this is for both B2C and B2B brands. Now, if you are a founder, this should worry you. But do not worry. In this post, I am sharing four specific growth marketing strategies that can take you up the success stairway and that you can implement right away in your business.
1. PR via media mentions
Public relations is one of the most effective ways a startup can amp up its authority in search engines and even close deals with partners and investors. Also, it ensures that when prospects search your brand, they find quality and credible articles by renowned sources, such as Forbes and Techcrunch.
Think of this as early birds during music festivals. Being an early bird has several perks. The same goes with PR. Implementing one before the official launch renders the benefit of shorter agency retainers. Also, you get a wealth of timely consultations and advice.
The top priority of PR is to enhance brand awareness. Therefore, what it can do is put forth a favorable image for your startup. But, it is also important to understand that PR efforts take time. PR is a marathon, not a sprint. The team needs a story to push and then follow through.
Although PR activities can happen at any stage, it is best when pursued at the customer creation stage. In addition to this, startups should also look for PR firms that can support crowdfunding campaigns.
2. Email Targeting
The old-school tactic of cold emailing still stands prevalent. Email marketing is voluminous and helps with groundwork. It marks one of the quickest ways of capturing client information and data. But, here’s the downfall: emails tend to go unchecked.
So, perform thorough research for your business and its target audience. In doing so, study the demographic and psychographic aspects of the customers. Once done, next comes building a list for a pre-launch. One way of getting around is to create an email waiting list, also known as a soft launch. Doing that enables the startup to test the waters and gauge customer reactions. In this stead, enterprises get insights about which aspects of their renderings need to be tweaked to suit the larger market. Today, several email marketing tools can help curate a successful campaign in no time.
When it comes to B2B businesses, building a combination of business networking sites and email is ideal. Founders at established agencies such as EstablishCred regard it as an effective way for generating quality leads on demand.
Another point is that businesses should devote considerable time when establishing their email list for the soft launch. This will enable the brand to get the initial experiences and analytics flowing.
3. Influencer Marketing
Today, influencer marketing stands among the top brand marketing techniques. It is highly effective in garnering visibility on social media platforms. A reflective growth engine of sorts, this offers significant exposure and return.
So, choose the right person and fit. And this means the number of followers and the brand personality. You need not go for top-ranked celebrities with millions of followers; this can prove exorbitant for startups. A better approach is to pursue nano and micro-influencers. The way to go about this is to categorize influencers into follower counts. For instance, 10,000 to 100,000 followers, 100,000 to 250,000, 250,000 to 500,000 and so forth.
4. Podcasts
There is a world of work that goes into creating an episode of a podcast. But, once the ball gets rolling, it is smooth sailing. As per a survey, an average listener spends over one and a half hours daily on podcasts. Also, it calls for the power of persuasion. About 71 percent of people who hear about a brand on a podcast look it up later. Quite a lot of podcasts today are targeted at startups and small businesses.
Podcasting is beneficial in the following ways:
Authentic and cost-free
Podcasts cut through the clutter and make authentic connections with listeners. Plus, founders get to put forward their messages to the listeners for free. The podcast can later get revamped into image quotes and social media posts, for instance. That is, the content is recyclable. So, podcasts narrate the story, and the images and posts offer the follow-on!
Networking with industry leaders
Attending a podcast as a guest renders access to bigger circles and an extensive playing field. It serves as an incredible way of forging connections with the industry bigwigs, clients and retailers, among interested stakeholders. Also, the founders come out as thought leaders and get to instill inspiration in the minds of their listeners.
Web traffic
Podcasts also help you pander to worldwide audiences, thereby increasing traffic. In this way, this makes new audiences come to you.
This article was written by Sim Aulakh and was originally found here: 4 Growth Marketing Strategies That All Startups Should Implement (entrepreneur.com)
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