Are you a start-up?
Are you looking to build a huge audience?
Of course, you are.
Every business wants more leads, subscribers, signup. However, they often want to get them quickly without spending a lot of money.
With a little out-of-the-box thinking and by getting creative with your marketing efforts, it is easier to target your potential audience without spending a lot of money.
Have you been trying the old banner ads or relying on Google reviews? Here are some interesting marketing strategies you should try to put your business in the spotlight.
Referral Program
If you want to increase your audience quickly, you need to capture the referral marketing industry. This strategy allows customers to promote your products for you instead of you doing it for your business. A simple concept, yet it is not being used by as many start-ups as it should have been.
This is one of the best ways to increase your followers as 92% of people trust personal recommendations as compared to other marketing tactics. Give your customers an option to share the news of your start-up with their friends, family, and acquaintances.
Moreover, instead of building a referral program from scratch, you can use tools to handle the difficult part of the referral program while you focus on product creation and promotion.
Start With a Beta Version
Humans often have a tendency to want what they cannot have.
Instead of your website or mobile application, you can start with a beta version to open your start-up to new users. This helps create a sense of exclusivity while getting raving fans to sign up first.
Using this strategy can help a start-up get their first users. This strategy has been used by Slack, Pinterest, and PayPal to grab the eyeballs.
Put Your Customers First
As a start-up, you need to put your users first. This is what Alexis Ohanian did when he started Reddit. He spent $500 on stickers and that was the only investment he made in marketing. To date that is the sum of the total money that was spent advertising Reddit.
Everywhere he went, he took stickers with him. He would put them on signs, poles and sometimes on other advertisements as well. Further, he would hand out the stickers at meetups, events, or to just random people on the street. Instead of talking about putting users first, he just did it.
If you are interested in doing the same for your business, you can use a company dedicated to printing custom stickers in bulk and start promoting your business.
Get Featured in Major Publication
This may sound counterintuitive to start-ups but if you want a massive hike in your traffic, you should get features in a major publication. Getting features will help you increase the inflow of traffic that will help your company grow further.
Begin with building relationships with large publications now. Engage with the editor, share their content, but remember to avoid being overly promotional.
Be Your Own Cheerleader
If you have just started a company, you may struggle to get traction with few users. Fewer users mean less content which can discourage users from visiting your website. How about becoming the biggest user of your project?
Adam D’Angelo, founder of Quora became one of the biggest users of the platform. He answered plenty of questions in the early days to set the stage for his audience. If you are also struggling with the same problem, take notes.
Convert your Competitor’s Users
How do you identify your audience and make sure they love your products and services?
Well, you can start by targeting users who are currently using your competitors’ services but are not happy with the results. When Airbnb launched, they had plenty of competitors. However, to ensure a regular inflow of users on their website, they choose to reach out to people who can benefit from their services.
They ran email campaigns targeting people who have posted their places on Craiglist. The email campaign helped them grew their business and receive the acclaim it has today.
Connect With Other Brands
One of the best ways to draw an audience to your small business is to partner with another company larger than you. Did you know Android developers created a partnership with KitKat, a candy company, ahead of the release of Android 4.4?
This collaboration helped Android to reach out to new customers while KitKat got an opportunity to learn more about phones and tablets. Look for opportunities to find a strategic partnership that will help your business gain visibility.
Associate With a Social Cause
If you are looking for an out-of-the-box idea that will help skyrocket your business to success, how about associating with a social cause using the product?
This will make it easy for your customers to interact with your physical product. For instance, a company chooses to allow their users a free ride when they scan a can. This helped in reducing litter while also encouraging people to use public transport. It also ends up bringing the company plenty of name recognition.
Conclusion
If you are a small business or a startup, it is important to be creative and use unique approaches to reach out to your potential customers. Instead of spending your money on traditional marketing tactics, take a creative approach for huge results.
Have you ever used an uncommon marketing strategy to promote your business? We love to hear from you!
Share your answers in the comment!!!
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