It is not easy to start your own business and turn your idea into a working and profitable company.
With all the work that goes into starting a business – from creating your brand, getting your first clients and hiring employees – there is a big chance to miss important parts of planning, and it can certainly slow your movements down from ‘early stage’ to ‘growth stage’.
Whether you try to raise investments or scale your start-up yourself, you must have a marketing strategy, be able to manage your brand and reputation, as well as learn more about common mistakes.
Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy is your plan of actions and a blueprint to marketing activities. It is essential to have a strategy for your brand that includes target audiences, measurable objectives, key messages, content and tactics.
Below, we will review main points that will help you build a winning strategy, to lay the foundation for your future success.
- Set up SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely)
Don’t make them too complicated, make them clear, focus on business-critical goals first and tackle them in a strategic way.
You probably have many goals in your head you want to achieve; however, you need to have 3-4 main goals that require your attention right here and right now to get the ball rolling.
- Identify your target audience
Draw your ideal customers, create personas – what they want, how they learn about new things, what your customers’ problems are and how your product can solve them.
- Compose a meaningful message
To ensure you speak the same language with your clients, messages have to be tweaked and adapted to each persona. It will help you with generating demand, and thereafter – high-quality leads.
- Identify your main platforms for content distribution
Remember, each content channel has its own framework and approach, whether it is electronic Direct Message (e.g. newsletter), blogs or social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. If you have resources to cover the most of them – awesome, go for it! However, we recommend picking up to 3 channels and concentrate your forces on them.
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Build public relations
This is how many businesses are getting founded – by being mentioned in media, professional articles, blogs. If you want to acquire the most out of your marketing and start getting your ‘name’ out there, you need good PR.
- Find your ideal marketing tool
There are tons of different marketing solutions and tools available for businesses. Depends on your needs, you can automate many tasks; store your data on a secure cloud, create campaigns, schedule social media posts, design digital assets, build websites and blog pages. Most of them have a trial option – you don’t need to pay for your subscription straight away. Explore and try them.
- Ask for feedback, testimonials and referrals
Word of mouth is still the most powerful marketing tool. Your clients can refer you to their contacts and connections. Don’t be afraid, ask for a referral or and feedback!
You can also use your previous experience as educational content for your prospects – create a case-study and demonstrate how your product works in practice.
Brand Management
A strong brand presence in the market differentiates a company’s product from its competitors; get it right from the beginning.
- Prioritise your brand from day one and create your story
When creating a brand identity, it is crucial to describe your personality, beliefs and values. It is a great opportunity for new businesses to grab their audience’s attention. When communicating with your audience, focus on brand benefits and solutions you offer.
- Connect your brand strategy and marketing
Use your brand identity when creating marketing materials, digital assets, invoices and templates. Think outside of box – how you can use your brand on social media when telling your story, launching a product or communicating with clients.
- Ask for professional advice
Don’t be lazy, review your brand strategy every six months with professionals involved in the process.
Once you have developed your brand and got the ball rolling, it’s a good idea to check on how you are going. You can do an internal audit with your team, and track how your brand comes across. However, if you don’t have a strategist or a brand professional – ask for external advice, outsource a consultant who will review your marketing activities, brand positioning and structure your next steps.
Mistakes to avoid
There are a few mistakes you should avoid when starting your business that can impact your future success:
- Targeting wrong audience
If you don’t understand who your customer is, there is a big chance they will never hear about you. Focusing on only one marketing channel, can reduce your exposure to audience who might be interested in your product.
- Not writing articles and blogs
Writing blogs and articles is another way to communicate with you audience and educate them on your product. Every business should have a blog page on its website.
Another tip – if you temporarily don’t have resources to write blogs and articles, try social media platforms to practice. For example, post your short educational blogs on LinkedIn, comment on other users’ posts, share your expertise in groups and communities of your industry.
- Not consulting with marketing experts
As was mentioned above, to have a marketing professional involved, will increase your competitive edge and help you focus on your business growth. Leave marketing activities in capable hands.
If you have an in-house marketing team, they can still run your day-to-day tasks, where your outsourced expert can work on creating specific marketing projects.
Remember, if you start working on your brand and marketing strategy from the beginning, it will save you time, money and resources in future.
Olga Bubnova, Founder & CEO at B.gain
Expert in Brand Management, Marketing and Communications for Tech.
I write about tech in simple terms.