Last updated on January 25th, 2018
[Source: niriya]
As discussed in the part 1 of this article, the success of a start up often depends on how well it positions itself in the market right from the get go. But the sad reality is that a huge fraction of start up founders have little to no knowledge about the marketing strategy for the successful launch of their start ups. Quite expectedly, such start ups usually miss vital opportunities and succumb to competitions. This article presents a carefully compiled list of 10 strategies to help you successfully launch your start up establish your brand identity, garner media mileage and build a loyal customer base, right from the get go.
In part 1 of this article, we revealed how brand development, strong online presence, guerrilla marketing, SEO & link building and digital PR programs can help you successfully take your business off the ground. In this last and concluding part of the tutorial, we will discuss the importance of press releases, blogs, online promotion, crowdsourcing contests and business communication. So, without further ado, let’s explore these vital points.
6. Strategical PR
[Source: reputationdoctor.com]
Given that there are more than 3 billion Internet users today, it hardly is a surprise that most companies now prefer digital PR activities over the traditional ways. For start ups, it really pays to create a buzz for their brands online. In addition, it is highly essential for start ups like you to concentrate on high profile awareness campaigns on the web in order to generate curiosity and draw in large number of people towards your brand. A research driven campaign that talks mostly about your consumers’ interest can be a good way to bring your start-up in the limelight especially in the initial stages or in case of shortage of funds. With such strategic PR activities and a careful and artistic approach, you are sure to tickle the fancy of modern-day discerning consumers and develop recognition for your brand.
7. Blogs
[Source: adrants.com]
e Marketer recently revealed that blogs likely to get popular in the coming years and influence the mainstream media. Quite naturally, it makes sense for your start up to make a comprehensive blogging strategy in order to improve your page rank, promote its product/service, and establish trust, authority and credibility in the market.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that today a business goes nowhere without a successful blog. In fact, Technorati Media’s 2013 Digital Influence Report reveals that around 45% of the total Internet population and around 60% of the total US population actively reads and follows blogs. More than 29% consumers trust business blogs and over 31% of consumers believe that authoritative blogs influence their purchase decisions.
Need we say more about the importance of blogs for the successful launch of your startup? But with so many successful blogs already out there, having a blog is no longer enough. You’ve got to battle it out with other blogs. And the rule of this game is simple: you’ve got to make your blog stand out from the crowd. You need to be careful with details. Make sure everything on your blog —whether it’s the color, image, font, word or the overall voice in the content—speaks to your target market and resonates with them in the best way. So that when they read your blog, it’s their experience, their voice, their taste they discover.
8. Display Ads
[Source: myseoprank.blogspot.com]
A recent research from com Score reveals that conversion is highly correlated with Ad visibility. Display ads can help you influence users or visitors to feel emotionally connected to your start up brand. And irrespective of whether a visitor clicks on your display ad or not, it can influence them to think, feel and emotionally connect with your brand they wouldn’t have done otherwise.
Since display ads play such an important role in the successful launch of your startup, it makes sense to ensure an excellently designed display ad that speaks a ton about your business and never fails to impress the visitors. But a great display ad is not just a Photoshop mock-up and instead is a careful and artistic approach to take elements of your brand and showcase them to the world in a way that’s even more awesome. Here are some highly scalable and cost-effective online promotion tools to start with:
• Google Ad Words program
• Yahoo
• Bing
• Facebook ads
• Banner Ad campaigns
9. Crowdsourcing
[Source: nextgov.com]
Over the years, crowdsourcing has made it easy for startups and small businesses to level the playing field. It eliminates the fear of issues such as risk, copyright infringements, and affordability while providing a secure and reliable service. No wonder, a fair share of big brands and small market enterprises pin down their faith upon crowdsourcing platforms when it comes to reaching beyond boundaries and get quality solutions to their problems in no time and at affordable prices. Crowdsourcing proves to be a low-risk and low-cost proposition when it comes to cost effective business development, opinion gathering, customer service support, market research, content development, graphic design development and much more.
10. Media Briefing
[Source: theguardian.com]
Once you have successfully been able to build an online reputation and awareness for your brand, your next line of action must be to work on a business communications and media briefing. It pays to brainstorm your unique ideas to effectively pitch your startup idea to garner media mileage and ensure a constant recognition for your brand. Creative media briefing activities can help you spread word of mouth publicity about your vision, values, specialties, corporate social responsibilities and your business plans.
While the idea of launching a startup sounds fancy and exciting, realities at ground zero are totally different. In fact, it takes an awful lot of efforts and time to successfully launch a startup. But by simply following this 10 fold marketing strategy, you can rest assured that you’re not starting from zero when you finally launch and take your business to the market.
