Launching a startup is the easiest way to build your own business because it doesn’t take more than one person and an idea. However, running a profitable startup is definitely not the easiest thing since 90% of such projects fail eventually. Here are the 7 Essential Ingredients of a One-Person Marketing Plan for Startups:
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So how come the failure rate for startups? There are many reasons why startups fail, with the most common being these:
- No market need for product
- Running out of cash
- Getting outcompeted
- Pricing issues
But there is one problem that stands out as critical in the post-launching period. Namely, a lot of one-person startups are not able to develop a good marketing strategy to promote their products or services. In such circumstances, it is almost impossible to make a breakthrough and distinguish yourself from competitors.
If you want to avoid this sort of problem and give your startup a boost when it matters the most, you should learn how to promote it. In this post, we will show you 7 practical marketing tips to build a successful one-person startup.
1. Market Research
Conducting the audience research is crucial for every stage of the business, but it’s even more important for your marketing strategy. You have to know the traits of an average buyer: Who are these individuals? Where they come from? What are their basic values and beliefs?
You need to answer all user-related questions in order to adapt marketing tactics. Each channel of communication should have a concrete purpose because you cannot afford a big team. Therefore, you must understand a buyer persona to be able to narrow down your marketing strategy and concentrate on what matters the most for your startup.
2. Word of Mouth
Word of mouth is one of the most reliable marketing tools because it adds to the credibility of your business. It goes two ways because you need referrals both in the online and offline environment, so try to make use of your professional and personal connections.
In case of real-world promotion, you just need to approach colleagues and professional acquaintances to present them with your products or services. Some of them might be interested in supporting you or recommending the project to their own business associates.
The process is much simpler online as you only need to offer an incentive to the first-time buyers and ask for a testimonial in return. It doesn’t require more than the small giveaway or discount, while you get much more in return in the form of positive reviews.
3. Content Marketing
As the 21st-century entrepreneur, you must be aware of the power of content marketing. It’s the best way to approach target consumers and educate them about your brand and the industry in general. Keep in mind to use the 80/20 model, meaning that 80% of posts should be informative and entertaining, while only 20% of content should be designed to sell items.
“For a one-person startup, blogging is the first content marketing activity. You need to prove professional knowledge by introducing website visitors to the key ideas in your industry. It won’t only raise brand awareness but also establish you as the key opinion leader in the niche, so you’ll have the chance to build your self-brand in the long run,” shares Kim Roberts, a content strategist at AU Best Essays.
However, don’t stick only to blogs and don’t neglect the power of multimedia marketing because it’s the main source of user engagement nowadays. According to the research, videos will make almost 80% of the entire Internet traffic by 2019.
There is obviously a huge demand for visual marketing components, so you need to exploit this trend and produce multimedia content. And if you can’t make it alone, we highly recommend you hire external help – it will pay off big time.
4. Social Media Marketing
Content creation goes hand in hand with social media marketing. With more than 2 billion daily active users, social platforms give you a large potential to promote the startup globally using a limited budget. However, it is necessary to find channels that really suit the needs of your target audience.
Studies proved that Instagram gathers a lot of young people, whereas Twitter users earn the most on average. On the other hand, LinkedIn is perfect if you are focused on the B2B niche. In order to find the right channel for your startup, you need to understand demographic features of each platform and then select only one or two that make the biggest impact on your target group.
5. Email Marketing
Although being one of the oldest digital marketing tools, email is still generating the highest ROI. That’s why you need to use it and keep the customers informed about the latest deals and offers. Don’t be too pushy – it’s enough to send up to five messages a month to avoid bothering your subscribers.
There are three basic rules of email marketing:
- Write attractive subject lines to inspire receivers to open your messages.
- Keep email brief and concise, revealing your intentions clearly.
- Include calls to action so that consumers can make concrete moves based on your recommendations.
6. Influencer Marketing
Besides your own efforts to establish a sustainable startup through content creation, you can also reach out to social influencers and find help for your project. They are highly reputable individuals in any given niche who can present your products to the wider audience and increase brand authority.
For this reason, you should find the right influencers and send them invitations for guest blogs, interviews, or product reviews. Personalization is crucial in that respect because you need to treat each influencer differently and prove that you follow and appreciate their work. Doing so, you can establish closer connections and grow the network of professional acquaintances.
7. Measure Results
After everything you’ve seen so far, you should round up the story and learn how to measure results of your marketing activities. Google Analytics will help you to understand how users behave browsing your website, while social media platforms have their own intelligence tools for every campaign you launch. This will help you to detect the flaws of your marketing strategy and to make improvements accordingly.
Launching your startup is usually the easiest part of the business as the real work is yet about to begin. It takes much more than a good idea to make your project profitable, so you definitely need a sustainable marketing plan to give it the extra boost.
In this post, we showed you practical marketing tips to build a successful one-person startup. Keep our tips in mind and don’t hesitate to give them a try when you initiate your own project.
Source: Business Achievers
