Promoting your startup business is now more dynamic and cost-effective than ever, with the array of tools and strategies available at your fingertips. Learn about four ways to effectively use these tools and strategies to transform your startup business.
Image Credit: truthonthemarket
Contents
Build Your Brand
The first step in transforming your startup business is to build your brand, the primary identifier that will set your products and services apart from similar ones in the market. It will benefit you to establish your brand identity—how you want your consumers to perceive your business. Your brand identity can serve as a guideline for all advertising campaigns you embark on in the future.
You can start building your brand by considering the following questions. Use your answers to form a brand strategy to influence your advertising plans.
- What is your business at its core? What are your mission, vision, and values?
- Who is your target market, and what are their needs?
- What is the competitive advantage of your products and services?
Choose the Right E-commerce Platform
In a world well into the era of digitalization, an online marketplace will help your startup business keep up with the times. However, building your shop from scratch can take a great amount of time, money, and effort. Fortunately, you can set up your online business on an e-commerce platform instead.
An e-commerce platform facilitates the buying and selling of products and services over the Internet. There are several e-commerce platforms available today, such as Shopify and WordPress; each has its own advantages. Selecting an e-commerce platform will depend on what your overall goals are for your business. Some factors to consider include the following:
- Security. How secure is the platform against potential privacy breaches and hacking incidents?
- Scalability. Is the e-commerce platform capable of handling future business expansions?
- Ease of use. Is the e-commerce platform’s design intuitive and easy to use for consumers?
- Cost. Are the e-commerce platform fees well within your allocated budget?
Establish a Strong Online Presence
A robust online presence increases the visibility of your business and helps you reach more potential customers. You can establish an online presence in several ways.
- Email marketing
- Blog posting
- Social media posting
Consistency is the key in setting up your online presence. Regularly posting relevant content ensures you remain under the radar of your audience, and it demonstrates how you can adapt to changing trends. Remember to proofread and fact-check your content before publishing! You want your consumers to focus on your content and not on errors they might find.
Besides ensuring relevance, you will benefit significantly from adopting good search engine optimization (SEO) practices in all your published content. SEO strategies increase the likelihood of your content appearing in search results, helping you reach more of your target market. Some of the SEO practices you can employ include utilizing keywords in your content and keeping all your links and pages up-to-date.
Aside from generating content, it is equally vital to encourage customer involvement through social media challenges, forum Q&As, or customer reviews. Customer reviews, in particular, can be an effective tool to advertise your business when handled correctly.
Positive reviews build brand trust by demonstrating the consistent delivery of your commitments to your consumers. You can post these testimonials on your social media pages or website. On the other hand, not-so-positive reviews can serve as feedback to improve your products and business processes. Responding well to negative reviews shows consumers that you prioritize their needs, which can also improve brand trust.
Customize Your Pay-Per-Click Campaign
A pay-per-click (PPC) campaign is an online marketing strategy wherein advertising platforms display your advertisements. PPC campaigns can easily fit your budget since you only pay the advertising platform every time a potential customer clicks on your ad.
The most widely used advertising platform is Google Ads, thanks to its position as one of the top search engines worldwide. In designing a Google Ads campaign, take into account the following factors:
- Keywords. Consumers can see your ad by typing these words into the search box.
- Location. Select an optimal geographical area to display your ads.
- Budget. Set how much you can spend per campaign.
Connect with a Google Ads specialist to tailor fit your PPC campaign to your needs.
Utilizing the right content and PPC strategies, establishing your brand and online presence, and setting up shop in the right e-commerce platform are some ways to transform your startup business effectively.
