Ian
A start up needs a push here, a pull there and some serious kick start. The catch is most start-ups have a lot of budget issues. This makes traditional kick-start practices almost impossible when you consider a start-up. So, let’s look into some unconventional, yet effective methods to kickstart your start-up.
1. Be heard
Paid marketing is almost always, out of the cards with start-ups. So, that means, you have to make yourself visible by doing things that get you and your business mentioned in the right places. Go to related events. Participate in forums, speak on podiums and make sure each attempt counts.
2. Social media
The greatest change in marketing that the past few years have seen is digital marketing. And it takes minimal cost. All you need is a person who can handle FaceBook, Twitter, Email blasts, Quora etc.The right kind of social media presence can catapult your start-up greatly.
3. It’s OK to copy a peer
Keep track of what peer companies do. And see what kind of activities they do pay rich dividends. a blurb in a magazine gets them visibility? Lie low for a while and then get in touch with the journalists and see if a similar blurb can help you. Stay in touch with peer campaigns. Learn to emulate!
4. Quality trumps quantity any day
It really doesn’t matter whether you have a gazillion followers on Twitter. Do you have the right people following you? Do you follow the right people? And most importantly, what is the quality of every individual tweet or FaceBook post you put up?
5. Rehash
If you have a stash of great content built over the years, keep bringing up old (and time tested) content back to the foreground now and then. You will find new takers each time.
6. Target right
Before the email blast goes out, look into the recipient list. Is it worth following leads like sxfdf@gil.com? A little time and effort here goes a long way. The same holds good with other social media marketing also. Add the right people, participate in the right discussions and forums. Respond to the right people.
7. Stay alive on multiple platforms
Yes, you have found success on Twitter. Is that taking a toll on your FaceBook and Quora? It makes no sense to hold on to a FaceBook page when the last post was 2 years ago and you have no activity there now. Revamp your social media handles if you can. Revive! The idea here is to maximise your visibility across societal strata. Die hard Twitterati aren’t always active on other forums. Quora makes for a very elite target audience these days.
Else, do the next best alternative. Give it a decent burial. No space on a certain platform is better than bad and unused, unexploited space. Such is social media!
