HOW DIGITAL MARKETING HELPS START-UPS

What is a start-up? Any newly established organization for business purposes or non-profit reasons can be called as a start-up. All corporate in existence was once a start-up, the majority raised from scratch through blood and sweat by those who worked for it. The term which was not so familiar with the general public about 5-10 years back gained huge importance with the quick success of many brands like Amazon, Alibaba, Flipkart, Myntra etc,. in our country. There are many who have won and lost in the start-up war. Many have withstood the difficulties they have faced and many have risen and fallen due to a million reasons. Start-ups also provide a platform to many individuals who want to have a start in the corporate field.

Starting up your own venture is one of the most exhilarating business. Some of the big questions that the entrepreneurs face are how to reach masses, how to make your business resonate, how to drive your business results, how to be successful, and how to fulfill your dreams with a shoestring budget?

Here let’s take a look at a very basic question, why do startups need marketing? 

Startups solve problems for their users, and connecting with right users is about personalized marketing at scale. They need to build their own brand identity and a slow growth in this fast-paced competitive world can be harmful to the startup’s health.

How Digital Marketing can help Start-ups?

Digital marketing is the most affordable marketing tactic which a bootstrapped, as well as a well-funded startup, can use to reach their target audience for their brand. In digital marketing, there are organic ways to grow your consumer base without incurring large amounts of money, it has low entry barriers and scale. Marketers of start-ups attempt to develop strategies for boosting sales so that their startup can sustain its presence in the market. Strategies vary from company to company, but the best strategy that is universally recognized by successful startups is digital marketing. Therefore, incorporating digital marketing for the startup can increase its awareness and sales. In today’s digital age, customers are more present online on various websites such as social media sites. It has become essential for startups to utilize the advantages that marketing on digital platforms offers.

There are many benefits of digital marketing for start-up companies, which are listed below-

·  Cost-effective: Startup companies usually have a tight marketing budget; digital marketing offers efficient ways to target customers by advertising without cost through direct contact on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

·  Increase sales: Digital marketing allows you to engage with customers on a more personal level to promote your company’s brand. Building strong relationships with customers leads to converting them into loyal consumers and eventually increased sales. Increasing the conversion rate is one of the most difficult tasks for startups and digital marketing helps solve this. Increasing sales is one of the main benefits of digital marketing for start-up companies.

·  Track your startup progress: Digital marketing offers analytical tools which measure the exact number of impressions of each digital ad placed. For example, Google analytics can help measure the exact number of views your company’s emails generated or the views of ad content posted on a website.

·  Reach: Digital marketing involves online platforms, which is accessible to large/global audiences. Traditional marketing can only reach certain geographic areas but your content on digital mediums can be seen from customers in international markets.

At even country level, startups are reacting to the news a lot. With the unveiling launch of Startup India Campaign by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  lots of positive hopes among the new entrepreneurs in India have risen up in support of Digital India. It is a known fact that India has the third largest number of start-ups globally. Prime Minister has kicked off the ambitious Startup India Movement in January 2016 with an aim to fill the gaps in the economy for the growth and development of startups. It will aim to boost digital entrepreneurship at the roots which clearly justify that how Digital Marketing can be used effectively to help position your company as well as the brand in a stronger platform.

The importance of Digital Marketing is not only welcomed by Startups, also acknowledged by established players in the market. The main discussion of this post is why so startups need marketing? Here I have listed few points that would justify the statement in an affirmative way:

·  Cost Effective: The traditional marketing has low entry barrier and scale, it needs a large amount of money to promote any business. However, in digital marketing, there are organic ways to grow customer base without any large amount of investment. A lot can be done with less and sharp targeting leading to less wastage.

It helps to build brand awareness and position of your company. It builds a consistent flow of traffic, get the first few users. This form of marketing helps to drive leads and online sales.

·  Social Media Marketing: Social Media Marketing is a very cost effective medium to build your voice platform. You can choose the social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter etc as per your business requirement. It helps to interact with existing as well as new customers, involves true engagement with the followers and provides a better connect with the customers. Engagement with audience or customers is must for better results.

·  Email Marketing: This is the simplest, cost-effective, personal, customizable, and measurable tool. Through E-mail marketing, you can communicate with an audience of any size. It builds credibility, provides knowledge, improves communication and boosts sales.

·  Content Marketing: Content marketing plays a major role in start-up success. Content is called as the “King of Marketing”. It’s the basic medium to convey the brand message. This generates real traffic and leads. Be consistent in publishing a great and relevant content to build a relationship with current and prospective clients and brand awareness.

·  SEO– It stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is most cost-effective with measurable, long-term benefits. It increases the visibility and organic traffic to the website. Using this, there is free branding and it builds trust and credibility. A big advantage is that it opens your business 24X7. Make your website is mobile friendly and secure, especially if is an e-commerce website. Do ensure all pages are working properly; use appropriate tags/headers/descriptions. Optimize for faster page load times, create good content on the site, and focus on high domain authority – get users to talk about your site.

·  Growth Hacking: It is a very cost effective method to implement business strategies with the main focus on building, engaging, converting and retaining user base of business. Offer something for free, set up a referral program, and go with exclusivity.

·  PPC Advertising: Startups want to stay lean or have not been funded yet usually have a limited budget with every penny to be counted especially when it comes to marketing and advertising. New businesses need to find creative ways to acquire customers and PPC can be very effective channel if it’s done right. It is important that marketers learn to work under PPC budgets to get the highest return on their investment. One of the secrets to running a successful Google AdWords campaign is getting your ads in front of the RIGHT customers.

The way technology is changing on a daily basis, the digital marketing strategies also change with time. It is a very common misconception among the startups that one must focus only on launching the product first without even getting well prepared with its branding and digital marketing strategy. But, digital marketing is more important to make the business out of it by targeting the right audience. If digital marketing has not been on your radar in the past, this is the right time to understand its importance and start strategizing.

Team Chee-Ron's

Vyasan H