Marketing for Startups – How to Get Started
Marketing is a big area that takes time and effort, but it’s worth it! Here are some simple and practical tips to help you kickstart your marketing in the early stages.
It’s tricky to stand out and get noticed in all the noise. So, how do you, as a new company, manage to outshine that Instagram ad for the “best lunchbox ever”? And what can you possibly do to beat that Facebook post about the next big self-help guru?
Quick Checklist to Get Going
Google the company name you want to use to make sure it’s available both as a website and on social media.
Register a domain. If your preferred address is taken, you should seriously think about picking a different name.
Google your product or service and related questions. This helps you see the competition and how visible you are.
How to Create a Marketing Strategy
By answering a few simple questions about your target audience, you can get a long way in creating a marketing strategy that keeps you on track.
Who do you want to reach?
To nail your marketing, you need to know who you want to reach. A common mistake is trying to sell to “everyone.” You might think that if you appeal to a broad audience, you’ll sell more. But “something for everyone” often ends up being “nothing for anyone.” Don’t be afraid to narrow down your target audience. One tip is to create “personas.” A persona is a made-up character that represents the customer you want to reach. Give them a name and build a story about who they are, what interests and values they have, and what they do on different platforms.
What do you want them to know and do?
The most important thing in your marketing isn’t what you want to say – it’s what the customer wants to hear. Focus on their problems and needs, and how your product or service can solve them. Tailor your message (whether it’s in an image, video, or text) to catch the customer’s interest, rather than just talking about yourself.
Where do you find the people you want to reach?
Learn as much as you can about your target audience (this is where your personas come in!) to figure out which channels to use. Digital channels are cost-effective if you don’t have a big marketing budget. There’s a ton of great data on how people behave on different social platforms – for example, check out the report “Swedes and the Internet” for insights.
When’s the best time to reach them?
Think about what you’re offering – when is the demand for your product or service highest? Successful marketing is all about timing and getting your message to the customer at the right moment. What influences their buying behavior? Is it the time of year or certain events in their life? Plan your activities around that.
How can you measure your success?
When you put time and effort into marketing, you want to know it’s paying off. Set simple goals to track how well your marketing is working. Of course, sales and the number of users or customers are key goals, but you can also measure things like website traffic, newsletter subscribers, or growing your follower count and reach on social media.
Digital Marketing – A Guide Through the Digital Customer Journey
Did you know that digital marketing is more about understanding people than mastering technology? To cut through the media noise and capture interest, you need to understand your customer’s needs, thoughts, and actions. In other words, you need to grasp all the phases a customer goes through from interest to purchase – the digital customer journey. That’s exactly what we’ll cover in this guide. At the bottom of the page, you’ll also find a recording of the online lecture “Get to Know Your Customer” with our business developer Simon Sleman.
Let’s say you sell bikes online. Your target audience includes both casual riders and elite cyclists. These two types of customers will likely behave differently when purchasing one of your products. This is because different things are important to them. The casual rider might value a safe and low-maintenance bike, while the elite cyclist prioritizes features like weight, construction, and gear systems.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a type of marketing that occurs online, through the internet and digital channels. This can include everything from advertising on social media and search engines to email marketing and influencer partnerships. The goal is to effectively reach potential customers, strengthen your brand, and increase sales of products or services.
3 Quick Tips for Digital Marketing:
Define the goal of your company’s digital presence and keep it in mind throughout your efforts.
Create content and communicate in ways that are relevant to your target audience.
Analyze your results, draw conclusions, rethink, try new things, and analyze again.
The “See-Think-Do-Care” Model
The “See-Think-Do-Care” model is a tool created by Avinash Kaushik, a marketing expert at Google. The model is based on the idea that your target audience goes through four different phases during their buying journey, and you should tailor your digital marketing efforts – such as digital advertising – according to these phases.
“See” – Phase 1 of the Digital Customer Journey:
This phase includes potential customers who might consider buying a bike in the future. As a company, this is your chance to make a strong impression. The next time the customer actively thinks about purchasing a bike, your company should be the first that comes to mind. Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn are great communication platforms for this phase.
Tips for the “See” Phase: Create messages for social media that are more inspiring than sales-focused.
“Think” – Phase 2 of the Digital Customer Journey:
In this phase, the customer actively seeks information needed for buying a bike. They might search on Google using keywords like “tips for buying a bike.” As a company, you need to build trust and guide the customer through this process. You want to appear high in search engine results, so creating relevant content tailored to what the customer is searching for is crucial. Paid advertising on Google can also be effective in the Think phase.
Content Tips for the “Think” Phase: Share plenty of knowledge and expertise, such as “10 Tips for Buying a Fitness Bike.”
“Do” – Phase 3 of the Digital Customer Journey:
Now the customer is getting close to making a purchase. It’s crucial for your company to be present in search results and on social media. An effective marketing tactic to encourage the customer to click the buy button is retargeting ads – ads shown only to people who have previously visited your website or specific pages and products on it.
Content Tips for the “Do” Phase: Keep it short and concise with a clear call-to-action.
“Care” – Phase 4 of the Digital Customer Journey:
Now the customer has made a purchase, and it’s time to focus on nurturing that relationship and building loyalty to your brand.
Content Tips for the “Care” Phase: Share valuable content on social media, send out emails, be accessible, and provide excellent customer service.
Dare to Experiment, but Keep the Customer in Focus
Using tools like the ‘See-Think-Do-Care’ model and analyzing your results can help your company build a strong digital presence and increase sales. So, don’t be afraid to try new things, think outside the box, and always keep the customer in mind. Good luck!
Watch the Lecture “Get to Know Your Customer”
In this online lecture, our business developer Simon walks you through the different phases of the digital customer journey, step by step. You’ll also learn effective tools for understanding your customer – and why this is crucial for effective marketing.
8 Tips for Successful Marketing
Standing out and cutting through the noise in marketing is an art. So how do you outshine that Instagram ad you see all the time? And what really trumps your competitor’s smart and well-written LinkedIn post? We encounter millions of impressions daily and need to filter through them. What’s relevant and what’s not? In this guide, we’ve gathered our eight best tips on how to succeed with your marketing.
Create Value for Your Customers with Your Marketing
It’s become easier to get your marketing out there but harder to stand out in the overwhelming amount of “content” flooding every channel. The biggest challenge today isn’t finding ways to communicate with your customers. The challenge is making sure your communication contains something valuable that makes customers want to follow and listen to you.
The Art of Standing Out – A Complete Science
“If you’re not visible, you don’t exist” is an old truth that’s perhaps more relevant than ever. The tricky part about communication science is that it’s exactly that – a complete science, while also being subjective about what is considered “good” communication (though it’s easy to spot bad communication). There’s right and there’s wrong – and then there’s right that’s wrong and wrong that’s right. That’s how complicated marketing can feel if you’re not well-versed in it.
To make things easier – or at least less difficult – here are eight tips on how to reach your customers without spending a fortune on advertising.
8 Tips for Successful Marketing
Be Active
Being active is key. If you want something to happen, you have to be willing to work for it. Dedicate part of your work time to marketing yourself or your business. It’s an investment that will definitely pay off!
Create Valuable Content and Share It on Social Media
Give your followers a reason to keep following you – and make them want to tell their friends about you and your business. Sharing knowledge, tips, and inspiration without selling builds trust and long-term customer relationships.
Use Direct Marketing
Don’t underestimate various forms of direct marketing. Email your customers, talk to everyone you know, participate in discussions on social media and relevant forums.
Be Online – But Not Everywhere
Have a website and accounts on relevant social media. Don’t waste time on channels where your target audience isn’t present.
Be a Bit Old-Fashioned
Hand out your business cards. Put up a poster. Digital is great, but sometimes it’s good to go “back to basics.” One doesn’t exclude the other.
Get Ambassadors
Make it easy for others to spread information about your business. This can be as simple as providing such great service that others want to share their experience.
Assume No One Knows Who You Are or What You Do
… and that no one understands why they should deal with you and your business. Explain, argue, and repeat until it sticks.
Network
Attend fairs, go to lectures and events. Be where your customers are! And when you can’t meet in person, focus on your digital presence and network on various digital platforms.
A Bonus Tip
One last tip: dare to try new things! If it doesn’t work, then you know! The more you work on your marketing, the more fun and easier it will become. Communication works like everything else in life – practice makes perfect!
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Market Your Business on Social Media – How to Create a Strategy
Creating a social media strategy doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult – and you’ll thank yourself when you reap the benefits of that extra effort. However, getting started isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve written a guide on how to create a simple social media strategy.
It all boils down to understanding:
Why your business should be on social media
What you want to achieve by being on social media
Who you want to communicate with
Where you want to be
How you will communicate your message
What results your efforts have yielded
1. Purpose – “Why” Should Your Business Be on Social Media?
What problem do you need to solve, and how will your presence on social media help? Start by answering these questions:
What are your needs?
Is it to create brand awareness and reach more potential customers? Do you want to drive traffic to your website or a physical location? Or is it to sell products or services? Write down all your needs in a list.
What can you contribute?
Besides what you actually sell (your product or service), what knowledge and inspiration can you offer? Make sure to define your brand. Think about the role you want to play in the market.
Who are you and what do you stand for as a company?
If your company were a person, how would you describe it? What qualities and values does your company have? Once you’ve defined who you are and what you stand for, your communication and message will be clear. This way, your target audience will more easily understand why they should choose you and your products or services.
2. Goals – “What” Do You Want to Achieve?
The difference between purpose and goals is that goals should be measurable. If your purpose is to create greater brand awareness, it might be a good idea to measure the reach of the content you publish on your social channels. If the purpose is to drive traffic to your website, you should monitor visitor statistics.
Just like you can have multiple purposes for your social media efforts, you might need to set multiple goals. The important thing is to define, track, and learn from them.
3. Target Audience – “Who” Do You Want to Communicate With?
A clue here is: it’s not “everyone.” So be a bit self-critical. No matter how fantastic your product or service is, you need to think about who actually needs it. Here, it’s the customer’s needs that matter – not yours. What problems does your product or service solve? And who needs that solution?
4. Channel Choice – “Where” Should You Be?
Only once you’ve defined your target audience can you start thinking about which channels to use. So you need to know – are the people you want to talk to on social media? And if so, on which platform? Is it Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, or Twitter? The report “Swedes and the Internet” – an annual study of Swedish people’s internet habits – gives you a good overview of who is where.
5. Content – “How” Will You Communicate Your Message?
Now you know why you should be on social media. You know what you want to achieve and who you want to communicate with. You also know where the people you want to talk to are. Great job! But now you need to figure out how to talk to them.
What kind of content is your target audience interested in?
Refer back to point one, your purpose, and your list of needs. The needs you’ve listed, along with the role you’ve chosen and what you can contribute, will form your content strategy.
If your business idea is to buy and sell antique furniture, you probably know a lot about different furniture brands, their value, and history. Maybe you have skills in reuse, upholstery, and furniture restoration. Or are you focused on sustainability, environment, and cultural heritage? By creating content about all this, you can share both knowledge and inspiration that will interest your current and potential future customers.
Start with a few types of content. Test what engages your followers and make adjustments as you go.
Examples of different types of content:
Examples of different types of content:
- Knowledge, tips, and information in a niche
- Top lists and summaries
- Polls and Q&A boxes that engage the audience
- Inspirational stories and quotes from customers
- “Behind-the-scenes” glimpses
- Employee introductions
- Instructional and unboxing videos
- Trend spotting
Remember to tailor your content for each channel and the audience you want to communicate with on each platform. ChatGPT is a great tool for both generating content ideas for a specific audience and generating text for different social media platforms. Check out our guide “How to Write Effective Prompts for ChatGPT.”
6. Follow-Up/Analysis – What Results Have Your Efforts Achieved?
Follow-up is often the step that gets neglected, even though it’s just as important as everything else. If you don’t track what your actions generate, you’ll be working blindly, and you risk spending time on the wrong things.
Most social channels have excellent analytics tools where you can get all the stats you need – and even some you don’t. Choose a few key metrics to track, ideally weekly or monthly.
Examples of metrics to track:
- Impressions
- Reach
- Engagement rate
- Conversions
Be brave and experiment
Now it’s time to stop talking and start doing. Set aside time in your calendar to produce content for your social media, and don’t be afraid to take some risks and experiment. Learn from your competitors’ content and stay updated on trends in each channel. You’ve got this!