For many (perhaps most) startups, marketing is one of the most challenging necessities for growing and scaling a successful business. Not only are the founders – who already wear multiple hats – challenged to learn and run a marketing function, there’s often too little money, too many options, and a big sense of urgency to land those first few customers and steady revenue.
While nothing can replace a well-researched marketing strategy and comprehensive marketing program, there are some ways to leverage time-tested marketing tactics and marketing initiatives that will help our startup gain traction and land new customers quickly.
Whether you have a B2B or a B2C venture in need of new marketing ideas, or are just looking for additional ways to supplement your current marketing success, here are some ideas to get the wheels turning for your business. Thanks to career marketing expert Daniel Fell for putting together this list of proven marketing and promotional approaches that don’t require huge investments in time or cash.
Seeding the Market
It may seem counter-intuitive but giving your product away can be one of the fastest ways to create awareness, demonstrate utilization and grab marketshare. Technology companies have long used this strategy to put new devices in the hands of users (especially influential ones) with the idea that early adopters help prove out the use-case and generate powerful testimonials. Be strategic; but don’t be stingy when it comes to giving your product away in return for creating loyal customers who generate invaluable real-world user-feedback and substantial credibility among new users.
Trials and Pilots
A variation on giving your product or service away for free, is to offer it for a trial period at no cost or a substantially reduced cost. This can reduce or eliminate upfront barriers to adoption and allow new users to try the product with minimal risk. Often this results in clients finding more value than they expected, creates internal buy-in, and others in the organization may come to depend on the product, all enhancing the likelihood your client continues the trial or signs on to a full contract. Waiving installation and integration costs, and flexible opt-out clauses, can also help sweeten the deal.
Free Entry and No Cost Tiers
Another common pricing strategy is to offer a basic level of service or membership for free. Online subscription services and other SaaS companies often deploy this strategy to hook new users into their wares and create a lower barrier to trial and entry. Once someone has started using the service (and presumably finds value) the likelihood of turning it off or cancelling is greatly reduced. And a certain percentage will always opt to upgrade if they find substantial value and/or seek additional functionality not offered with the free version.
Sampling
One of the most effective ways to get new trials (and by default new, and often very loyal customers) is through giveaways and free samples. This is especially successful in the food industry and the reason why big retailers like Costco employ this strategy on any given weekend when they know high volumes of foot traffic will lead to impulse purchases and introducing existing customers to new products that they will return to the store to purchase again and again.
BOGO’s, Bundles, and Other Discounts
While discounting simply for the sake of driving traffic and quick sales is not an ideal strategy, it can be an effective for introducing your product or service to new potential customers, incentivizing existing customers, and driving demand during off-season or even peak periods. A buy-on-get-one (BOGO) approach can also be effective for moving inventory, creating passive pass-along trials, and rewarding loyal users. You can also bundle your product with other products (ones you own, or products that have a similar target audience) to create trial and promotional value.
Word-of-Mouth and Testimonials
Word-of-mouth marketing or WOM is the Holy Grail of almost every brand and product marketer out there. Getting current customers to recommend you or your product drives entire marketing programs that are often reliant on Google Reviews or NPS (net promoter score) strategies because businesses know how effective they can be in driving sales and revenue. Often referred to as “free marketing” because the endorsements and recommendations typically come from satisfied customers and don’t cost companies much if anything, they also carry significant credibility, especially with more complex products and higher priced items.
Education, Thought-Leadership, and Free Content
Almost anyone can self-publish and become an expert today, and that is probably one of the most enduring impacts of the Internet (and digital and social channels more specifically) for startups and small businesses. Creating and sharing content – from DIY YouTube videos to TikTok knowledge posts to producing eBooks and podcasts – is without question, one of the most effective marketing approaches an individual, founder or small business can make these days. Don’t underestimate the time required to create really good content, but also don’t hold back from sharing your unique knowledge and talents with potential followers and customers.
Influencers and Celebrities
A corollary for some of the ideas above, is the opportunity to tap into thought-leaders, influencers, and “celebrities” within almost any market or industry vertical. Always know and be aware of who in your industry has a following, is publishing important work, or is influencing others. These individuals can be social media stars, teachers, athletes, community and civic volunteers, authors, business leaders, and even other startup founders. Almost every industry has a host of individuals who can help you create awareness, endorse a product, and make introductions and referrals that can quickly grow your network and your brand’s reputation.
Finding Your Community of Fans, Followers and Fanatics
Enthusiasts, zealots, hobbyists – whatever you call them – they exist everywhere and in almost every industry across the globe. True crime followers (yep), new moms (of course), classic car enthusiasts (uh-huh), save the bees and the hemlock trees (both groups are out there). Clubs, societies, associations, and Facebook groups are all great sources of identifying who is out there and what their passions are. Your job as a founder or startup marketer is to find, foster and tap into these groups and individuals any way you can. Provide them with content and products. Become a resource for their events and meetups. Recruit them as advisory board members and advisors. A small group of fans can go a long way to creating awareness and a cult following.
Opt-ins, Newsletters and Alerts
Once you have some customers, followers, and enthusiasts, it’s super important to regularly stay in front of them. Fortunately, today’s digital tools make it easier than ever. From opt-in email alerts to email newsletters, blogs, podcasts, and even direct mail (yeah, it’s still a thing and for many businesses) there are a multitude of ways to stay connected. A classic advertising axiom holds that you must hit a prospect 7 to 10 time before they buy. Given the cost of paid advertising (even digital), creating an inbound or “free” mailing list you own and manage is worth is weight in ad impressions these days. And for past customers, simply reminding them about your brand through birthday wishes and thank notes can yield generate significant loyalty and repeat purchases.
Trade Shows
While trade show events can often be expensive to attend, sponsor and exhibit at, they do have the benefit of bringing a lot of potential buyers together into one space over a short period of time. This creates a massive opportunity for product awareness, networking, referrals, customer appreciation word-of-mouth, market research (especially competitor), and a variety of other marketing exposure. On a dollar cost average basis, it’s one of the most underutilized strategies when you think about how many companies don’t attend such events. And ideally, if you get on the program and speak or present at a leading conference or trade show , it carries even more credibility for the people attending – as well as anyone who even glanced at the event brochure whether they attended or not.
Be Social
Social media channels present a powerful (and relatively low cost) way to generate awareness and a following. Use them wisely, and most importantly consistently, to create the best online presence. In general, you’re better off managing one or two social media channels and doing them well, rather than trying to be on very platform and spreading your efforts too thinly. And picking the right ones is mostly a function of your business or product, where your community is likely to be (see above), and your own professional comfort level with the medium and the tools.
Any Press is Good Press (for the most part)
Unpaid media or press coverage is harder than ever today. There are just far fewer outlets that reach the large audiences that many legacy media platforms once did. There is also way more competition than ever before, and the outlets are flooded with “news” about new products and companies. That said, don’t rule our traditional public relations (PR), and when possible, work with experienced media professionals who know your industry and can be advisors for the long-term. The value of one well-placed news article, live media interview, or product review, can be invaluable to a startup’s success – and is often the trigger event that leads to new investor interest and financial support.
Contests and Giveaways
Like discounting, contests and giveaways have their place, and when used strategically and in moderation, can be valuable. Be sure to thoroughly vet local, state, and national regulations before jumping into anything that might put your venture at odds with the law. And try and find trusted partners wherever you can to maximize the reach and impact of your promotions. Often, media outlets make good partners because they have the knowledge, distribution, and promotional capabilities to ensure success – or at least reduce the risks of failure.
Your Network is Your Net Worth
Don’t overlook the importance and impact of building and maintaining your own personal network. Your personal brand is always important to the business no matter what stage or size, and you can always leverage your network to add value to your marketing efforts. A lot of the strategies and tactics above can also overlap with your own personal brand and finding the right voice and outlets – especially for a founder or startup – is just part of the marketing experience.
UGC
Along with tapping into word-of-mouth marketing and your enthusiasts, leveraging content created by others (user generated content or UGC) can be a great way to create awareness and introduce your business and products to more people. Social media platforms have long utilized this approach to creating content and communities that attract others. Ideally, these are customers, but anyone who shares your vision of the world can work if they have some connection to your business, the problems you’re trying to solve, or the people you’re trying to serve. And there are lots of outlets for engaging people like this, from inviting them onto your podcasts, to having them write guest blogs or share comments on your web site, to having them speak at hosted events.
Adopt a Cause
Cause marketing or supporting a particular universal cause, movement, or organization can be a great way to align your brand and products with like-minded people and potential customers. Take care though when identifying themes and causes to be sure they truly align with your business, don’t distract from the overall vision or plan, and don’t create controversy where it’s not wanted or needed. Non-profits leverage this marketing strategy every day, but for-profits have to be a little more intentional and careful.
Doing Good
A broader and potentially even more powerful variation of cause marketing is the concept of “doing good” while doing well financially, or the idea behind good capitalism. There are literally hundreds of ways to approach this from sourcing sustainable products and following environmentally friendly processes to giving back to creating a true impact business. It’s just a matter of finding the right approach and to what extent you want to utilize “doing good” messaging as part of your overall marketing and brand positioning. Some businesses do lot of good without making it the central point of their brand, while others choose to highlight it prominently or even build the entire brand around a mission of doing good. There is no one approach, and no one right way to do it. Be creative and find your good.
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Daniel Fell is a founder, marketing strategist, and angel investor with over 30 years of marketing and communications experience that includes running successful marketing and advertising agencies, working in product development and innovation at a Fortune 5 company, and helping hundreds of small businesses and non-profits improve their marketing programs.
