With the foray into digital marketing becoming easier and more affordable, many companies are tossing their hat into the arena and giving it a try. Your business, like many others, may benefit from using digital marketing to your advantage — if you keep your wits and focus on the audience at hand.
Using approaches such as video, content, social media and mobile advertising can help your business make a name for itself and rank higher in Google searches with minimal cost and time. But, as a new business, where do you concentrate your efforts without becoming overwhelmed?
Below, 15 members of the Forbes Agency Council share some digital marketing tips that newer companies can use to gain name-brand recognition. Here is what they suggest:
1. Be Creative In Your Communications Strategy
Once you are sure that you have a good, working product, spend as much time as possible developing a creative communication strategy. It is true that there are fewer barriers when it comes to social media, but that also means that there is huge competition. Spend time developing a creative, innovative and different communication strategy. It will allow you to expand your reach and brand recognition at a lower cost. – Carlos Machicao, Wild Pixel Media
2. Focus On Every Element Of Your Strategy
While there’s now a lower barrier to entry, there is also substantially more noise. For brands that don’t have a ton of resources to cut through the noise, they must be hyper-focused on their message, the audience they are delivering that message to, and the channels they’re using to deliver that message. – Eric Dahan, Open Influence
3. Focus On Developing Unique Content
Unique digital content is one of the most important things a startup can do to build a digital presence and grow their brand. Digital content — such as blogs, guest articles, web content, social media and videos — can provide a cost-effective way for startups to share their story and connect with their buyer personas. Remember that content takes time though, so start early to get maximum results. – Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
4. Know Your Audience
Unless you’re heavily funded and flush with cash, you can’t “go big.” So don’t try. Instead, get smart with your audience. Know what they need, what they want and how they value what you offer. That way, you’ll quickly become a big brand to a really small audience, which will be a great start and create the biggest impact. – Dan Golden, Be Found Online
5. Rely On Positive Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
While many startups rush to get a product out the door to start getting feedback, it’s vital to have something great that people want to talk about. Make sure you have a product that can benefit from amazing word of mouth. Then, you can point to great reviews about your product or service and, with a minimal budget, your satisfied customers will do a lot of the marketing for you. – Greg Kihlstrom, Yes& Agency
6. Find The Sweet Spot Between PR And SEO
The ideal scenario is that a new startup can find websites and publications that own their niche’s attention. If you can create and publish valuable content, that leads to positive PR. If you do this long term and pay attention to where you’re earning actual links back to your website, you’ll find the sweet spot between PR and search engine optimization that drives brand awareness and online traffic. – Tim Brown, Hook Agency
7. Set A Foundation To Learn And Grow
To maximize limited advertising budgets, startups should focus on channels with no minimums and granular targeting options — such as search or social — to effectively capture low-hanging fruit and avoid wasting money reaching an unqualified audience. Measurement and attribution of these tactics will allow companies to set a foundation and quickly pivot marketing strategies as they learn and grow. – Nina Hale, Nina Hale, Inc
8. Combine Existing Data With New Tools
Startups can leverage their own existing data from email subscriber lists, social media insights and more, to reach new audiences. MailChimp, Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are a few low-cost resources that startups can utilize to create look-alike audiences. Reporting and analytics are key to ensure you are reaching targeted audiences and optimizing along the way. – Scott Kellner, GPJ Experience Marketing
9. Remember That Design Matters
Improved access to media platforms has made it easier for startups to compete on an equal playing field with larger companies. To properly capitalize on that advantage, small business owners need to choose their digital placement carefully and brand accordingly. Design matters: From your consumers’ perspectives, you and your competitors are seen through the confines of screens and displays. – Ahmad Kareh, Twistlab Marketing
10. Create A Referral Marketing Program
The first digital marketing tactic every startup should invest in is a referral marketing program. You work too hard to acquire customers who love your product, so make it easy for them to tell their friends about you, on social media or a review. After that, startups should seek to identify existing customers that have influence and activate them to build brand awareness and consideration faster. – Lyle Stevens, Mavrck
11. Be Consistent
Building a new brand requires a consistent message and a content creation schedule. Don’t confuse new customers or visitors with your message or offered services. Also, as users are becoming fans and followers and engage with your brand and content, make sure to produce new branded content on a consistent schedule, so that followers don’t forget about you. – Timothy Nichols, ExactDrive, Inc
12. Target, Rinse, Repeat
A startup should be really clear about their optimal audience, and then target that audience through social media ad placements, which are low cost and allow for an incredible level of granular segmentation. This allows a cash-strapped startup to test the waters slowly, see what resonates and then invest in a much more robust campaign where they see traction. – Jenni Smith,EGR International
13. Self-Promote
As a startup, unable to buy significant media, your best option is to hack your notoriety by collaborating on as many videos, articles and posts as possible. Leverage the fame of others. Contribute to their success and the law of reciprocity will take care of you. – Trevor Chapman,Trevor Chapman Group
14. Be Very Targeted
Digital marketing can be intimidating for a new business chasing after the same audience as a large, established brand. To keep costs down, be very targeted. If you sell online and want to advertise on search engines, target specific, long-tail keywords rather than very broad ones. Broad keywords are more expensive because more of the larger brands are bidding on them. – Michael Weinhouse, Logical Position
15. Get The Timing Right
For a startup, it’s all about making the right splash at the right time. Our digital team recommends strategically coordinating a launch on Product Hunt with a key influencer. If possible, bake customer evangelism into the product (e.g., Dropbox’s share with a friend to unlock more storage). Use content marketing tactics to build a strong, passionate customer base. – Russ Williams, Archer Malmo
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by Forbes Agency Council
Source: forbes.com
