A look around will tell you that, we are surrounded by businesses everywhere. In fact, coming to think of it businesses are what drives economies and run nations. Successful businesses provide employment and pay large amounts in taxes that helps a Government run a country. COVID led to closure of brick and mortar stores, sales and thus several businesses. As a result, the world economy faced a global meltdown. Situation has been such that Governments have had to step in to take charge to support businesses with progressive policies.
New Business Startups and its Issues
Let us first understand the concept of a startup business in any field and exactly what leads to mushrooming of these companies. Individuals or an already existing company finds a market gap or a space of customer requirements, which has not been much exploited and can create scope for a business to grow. This idea then develops in a company. Its success or failure is however unknown, until a specific period of time it exists amongst its touted customers. There are certain limitations and challenges for businesses that they need to work around. Shortage of Funds, short time period to break even, ambiguity about market response about their product and quality, market presence and marketing strategies are a few of them.
What You Need to Know before Drafting a Marketing Strategy?
Every business, however big or small, is touted to know and understand its own market and preferably a market share to grow in. In fact, a ‘prominent market share’ is a common goal for each new or an old company entering a new business space. For this, every business should conduct a thorough market research and clearly zero in on a customer base that they tend to target. Before drafting a marketing strategy, there are some prerequisites that can help a business to make it an effective one:
- Enumerate Your Business Parameters: To create a business strategy, a new business should first conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis for its vision and market space to target with the optimum marketing strategies.
- Setting Goals: Every and any new business requires set goals. These goals help in creating business plans and marketing strategies and also work as parameters to examine success and failures of marketing strategies. Goals may be in terms of sales numbers, subscribers or market share; but they should be well-defined.
- KYC: KYC’s are just not limited to banks. Every business requires this. Since, customers will not fill in a form for them, new businesses need to find ways to actually make their strategies effective. This includes understanding the market of your product or service and analyzing the market gap and the intended customers that it may be affecting.
- KYCompetition: Before zeroing in on the marketing strategy that according to you would be the most effective; you also need to keep in view the existing markets, competitors and strategies that seem to have worked for them. Herein, you need to understand that you are a new business which has to create its foothold in a market that already has these players existing and thriving. Thus, they would definitely have some tricks up their sleeve that have been working to connect to their customers. Knowing it could prove priceless for you too.
P.S. : It is always a good idea to create a marketing mix of strategies that have already proven to be effective for your industry as well as introducing some newer ones that have not been much exploited by the already existing competition.
Marketing Tips That Seem To Work For New Businesses
Once you have clear answers for all the above stated pointers, you are ready to sort through the marketing strategies and the way they should be altered to gain maximum tractions nd sales for your business:
- Be Seen: It is really old, but an important advice for all businesses, ‘What is seen, is sold’. This marketing strategy has been utilized by businesses since time immemorial. Even the small retail shops tend to put up separate show tables and cases to ensure their products get customer’s clear vision and may be able to attract sales. Times have changed, markets have evolved; yet the strategy remains the same. It is pertinent for every business to get seen, especially in the digital world (it nowadays has the maximum viewership) and should somehow be able to become a part of conversations.
The biggest scope of marketing as on date is Social Media Platforms. The major ones amongst them are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat. Ensure that your business gets featured in all of these. As a new business, you might not have direct brand or business subscribers; so you could go in for paid marketing as well on these platforms. You could customize this paid marketing aspect as per the SWOT analysis and KYC’s (market research) of your customers done beforehand.
For Organic Growth of your business, ensure proper handles and accounts on each of these accounts and if possible, hire expert mobile app advertising companies to handle them initially. Regular posts, with uniform content on these platforms will help generate regular subscribers to your accounts who are interested in such content. For instance: A jewellery brand may regularly post in one of their bestselling designs, in order to attract customers; who may visit at times just asking about the price. This strategy will help to register your brand name within the mind of the viewer.
These are also the platforms that shall eventually include your customer reviews and feedback, which can be both positive and negative. Ensure that negative reviews too get dealt in a positive tone and make sure they are taken care of soon as possible. Thus, you should be seen ( and frequently at that!) as a realistic brand with a positive mindset and
- Collect Data, Use it and Discard it: In these digital times, data is the most ominous tool for any business. Data is required for understanding the requirements and expectations of your intended customers. This data could be collected from your website and subscribers, or bought in from legitimate data vendors. Once in the business flow, your business shall churn in tonnes of data. Remember to use it well with Artificial Intelligence Algorithms to derive customer patterns and sales gaps. This data would also help you analyze your shortcomings. All this information can be used to make insightful decisions about the business.
Apart from usage, also remember to wipe clean the old redundant data which is of no more use to you. Remember that as your business grows, data will increase at a phenomenal pace and storing it in different backup technologies like clouds, is gonna prove a lot more expensive. Thus, sieving through and deleting unwanted data at regular intervals is a must for all new businesses.
- Use Video Content wherever possible: Another not to be missed marketing strategy for a new business is to create and launch its own video. Any and every mobile app advertising company will tell you that. As a new business you need to understand that your intended customers are more likely than not bored with different content in one form or the other pushed towards them from all sides.You need their attention and make them understand what your product, services and brand stands for. Video content can sort through all these issues with ease. Get an introductory video done, which can be posted on your application android and iOS store installation pages. The same can also be posted on various social handles and can even be embedded on various chat platforms through the usage of YouTube. This simple step is sure to have far reaching results. Let’s take an example; if you want to explain to your audience about Minimum viable products (MVP), you can create a video content with titles such as “MVP Guide”. To compare it, you can create an article and observe the performance of both content for a while. After a period, you will find that the video content will have a better reach and impact on the audience, compared to the written content. Also, do not forget the marketing part. As, it might also manipulate the results.
- Write Mails: This is also an older marketing strategy, but still effective. Create a mailing list of your genuine intended and interested customers, who may or may not be needed to be nurtured in buying your product or service. Try and get these mails customized as per the earlier collected KYC. Push in content that is relevant to them. Though most of the marketing mails still end up in ‘trash’, the ‘subject’ may sometimes click with the viewer and lead them to open the mail. It will create direct subscribers and loyalists of your brand.
- Extra Something: They are already in the business. You need to provide the customers something extra to at least try your product and service once, in place of the competitors. An extra something special could be certain points, discounts, offers for other platforms, coupons, special add-on gifts, etc. that you think will do the trick and yet, not weigh too heavily on your already tight stringed pockets. These offerings can then be highlighted to gain maximum traction and sales.
Conclusion
Making it to a new market, with a new product or service is a big step for any individual or a company. But, being able to stay there as a viable option, and reach to the break even point and rather make profits; is an altogether other ball game. But, success comes to those who take the risk, show perseverance and work for the elusive success. We hope this discussion on simple marketing strategies with due diligence on your end, will help you through this initial grind with ease. You can and will make it!!
Author Bio –
Andrea Laura is a very creative writer and active contributor who love to share informative news or updates on various topics and brings great information to her readers. Being writing as her hobby, Andrea has come out with many interesting topics and information that attracts readers to unravel her write-up. Her content is featured on many mainstream sites & blogs.