Getting customers is a challenge that most startup businesses go through and often experience teething problems. There are a number of techniques that different startups utilise with cost effectiveness usually being a high priority.
Not all types of marketing will be right for businesses in certain industries; there are often a number of variables to consider, such as aims and objectives, target audience and also the level of investment that they have on board to allocate towards this.
There are though a number of highly cost efficient ways that startups can use to start building a loyal customer base.
Creation of addictive content
Content is one of the most effective customer generation techniques around, with more and more people preferring to see interesting content on a regular basis. It is this that quite often helps to turn people into fans which as a business, is what you should be aiming for.
Not only this, great content can drive traffic to your company’s website, improve ranking and even help your site convert.
Making sure that your content is relevant and useful to your target audience is the best way to ensure that readers find what you have to say engaging, so making sure that it is interesting and niche appropriate is fundamental.
This could be anything from written articles or videos with each one proving to be just as effective over the years.
Boost social media reach
Leveraging the ability of social media is key for startup companies. In an age where this is such a valuable sales channel, businesses risk missing out to their competition if they don’t have some kind of social media account.
It is highly recommended to use Facebook, which has over 1 billion global users and as a result a huge potential customer base; especially if your business operates purely online.
However, it is worth noting that simply using the likes of Facebook to promote your own products and services will quickly alienate people and you may lose what could have been a potentially interested customer.
Instead, share interesting content whether this be in the form of articles, statistics, videos or memes about your particular industry. What this does is help to establish trust between your brand and your audience which can effectively lead to them becoming not just customers, but fans.
While LinkedIn isn’t for every business, if you are in an industry where it is appropriate to have a business page, such as professional services, where you will perhaps find that most of your target customers/clients might be, then this can be effective.
LinkedIn is one of the most effective platforms for publishing content with each piece having the ability to go viral and perhaps be republished. The vast majority of people on LinkedIn read content that is produced by people in their network, so appropriate startup companies are certainly missing a trick if they are not on LinkedIn.
Leverage Mar Tech SaaS platforms
Perhaps one of the most effective methods from a proven return on investment standpoint, there are some highly innovative companies around, who have had considerable investment towards building exceptionally intelligent software.
One of the great things about this from a startup perspective is that due to the level of investment that was committed and long term business plans in place before reaching profitability, their services are often available on a monthly basis at a very reasonable rate.
These use technology to specifically target relevant customers through a series of different high converting methods. Snizl allows businesses to quickly and easily create competitions and then with a click of a button share the competition with an active network of interested buyers.
Available on a 30 day non obligatory free trial, this is a great way for businesses to experience how effective this can prove to their startup!