Almost half of all businesses fail in their first year after they launch their start-up
When you make the choice to start your own company, you plan meticulously from the get-go. A start-up takes a lot of work and getting the money together to get your startup off the ground is the first hurdle. Almost half of all businesses fail in their first year after they begin, with there being three major factors for those failures. Improper planning and lack of budget are two main factors for this. The third is a failure in marketing their product or service in the correct manner.
Making the choice to start a new business is not an easy one to make, but it’s exciting! Having a company that you have put your all into can give you a solid and secure future – if you can get it off the ground. One of the biggest challenges in marketing for new companies is having the right budget for their marketing team, and most start-up companies come with limited budgets for each area of their business. Marketing on a limited budget has become easier in recent years due to the influx of social media websites and digital marketing techniques that are available. If you know how to harness the free tools like these for marketing, you can do well with even the tightest of marketing budgets!
Every year, marketing strategies evolve and change. Generally, these change with the development in digital technology and as a start-up business, you have to pay very close attention to what may be current and profitable in your industry. Some of the developments in marketing that you may have been planning to rely on go down in their efficacy and there may be those you aren’t too familiar with that suddenly burst into the spotlight. If you are looking to make the most of your marketing budget, you should look for the most unique ways you can market your start-up business and play to your strengths! We’ve put together some clever marketing tips that your new start-up could benefit from greatly.
Go Guerrilla
If you haven’t heard of it, you need to click here to learn some more about guerrilla marketing. The way it works is by harnessing creativity and originality in place of a large marketing budget. For those out there who are wondering how they can manage marketing on a smaller budget than most companies in their industry, guerrilla marketing could be the key. By going guerrilla, you can really get creative with your marketing techniques. For example, if your business has a brick and mortar shop or office that you own, you could hire an artist to do some eye-catching chalk drawings on the side of the building marketing what you do. You could even go as far to organize a flash mob somewhere busy, like a train station or market square, to gather the attention of the crowd and promote awareness. The best part about guerrilla marketing? People. Your free, eye-grabbing displays like the ones mentioned will always be picked up by smartphones and cameras and shared on various platforms on social media. People will spread the word among their friends and online and bam, you’ve just been marketed globally without spending a cent.
Socialize Online
It is highly likely that you will have planned for online SEO services and PPC campaigns to analyse your marketing strategies that your marketing plan has put in place. But have you thought about actually getting social yourself? It’s very easy for a company to separate themselves professionally from the people that they are trying to reach, but this separation can actually cost your business. It is one thing to be professional and aloof from your customers, but quite another to be disengaged from what the people think of your company. According to this article, nearly two-thirds of adults use social media. That’s an awful lot of people to reach! Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and SnapChat are just a few of the social media sites that people use on a daily basis. If you are personally flooding these sites with your promotion of products and services, you will find people to be receptive. You don’t have to master every single one of these, but getting to grips with a few will lead you onto others and serve you well in your attempt to get down with the customers on their level and figure out what they want from your business.
Giveaways
On a hot day, brands like Coca-Cola take advantage of the heat to promote their products in public near to subway stations and areas of increased heat. This type of marketing is not only clever, it’s effective – especially on the day of a new product launch! Everyone who is anyone loves to get something for free, it’s just in our nature as humans. Giving away desirable items that your company can offer can promote awareness of your brand and help you to connect on a more personal level with potential customers. This is especially true if you are going to be physically dealing with the public at a street level. Get involved in the community and tip of trade magazines and local newspapers with what you are about to do; this gives you some exposure so more and more interested parties can come forward and see what you’re doing. Lining up your free giveaway across social media is a great way to help get your name out there and draw in the crowds; especially with contests that have free entry.
Help Others
As a new start-up, it should be a concern of yours how you impact the environment around you. You may not know much about your community, but if you hope to attract the crowds, it’s time to learn! Getting your business featured by local media stations should be a priority for you, especially if you are just getting off the ground. Think of the funniest, most attention-seeking publicity stunt that you can pull off as a company and implement it. Check out this stunt that Richard Branson once pulled off for his airline, and you’ll see what we mean. Where you can, do something that positively impacts the community, especially if you are moving into local offices. Send out press releases to local radio and newspaper stations before the event. For example, if you are opening a salon, it would be a smart idea to offer free haircuts to those in the community who are homeless. You could even set up a station near a local job centre so that those looking for work can have a tidy-up. This type of engagement is positive and will be favourable on your business, meaning you can get positive support from the local community. If you stream this type of stunt on your social media platforms, you will be able to engage your online fans at the same time.
Whichever way you decide to go with your marketing strategy, you have to look at the bigger picture with your company. Not all publicity is good publicity, contrary to popular belief! You need to keep a squeaky-clean image to ensure that your company stays popular in the eyes of the people you are aiming your marketing strategy toward. Using unique marketing techniques to show your company off to the world means that you are a company that is able to think outside the box. This is the image you want to project to the world. You may be a small start-up, but that doesn’t mean you cannot be a mighty one!
