
Shark Tank, the famous business reality TV show, invites prospective entrepreneurs to come up with their business plan, and a panel of 5 investors or “sharks” decide their fate if their product is viable for investment or not. Currently, in its 11th season, the show has garnered high viewership numbers based on its unique concept and how investors evaluate the presentation of each participant.
The show’s popularity has raised the interest of people is going for their own business rather than living the 9 to 5 life. It also gives even a layman an insight into what happens inside the venture capital and startup world.
Starting a business and running it successfully has always been a very tricky affair for any business. For small businesses and startups, just the marketing aspect can give sleepless nights to the owner of a startup or newly launched venture. But marketing is not just about putting huge billboards on Times Square or expensive paid marketing on Google to get instant traffic. In the beginning, companies need to work out strategies through which they can save money and get the desired result too.
Before I start with the list, have a look at the following examples so that you can have an idea about successfully launching a product.
Related Read: 8 Essential Tips for Small Business Owners En-route the Gleaming Road to Success
An Apt Idea
To start with, don’t make a blunder by coming up with the idea that it is too much for your target market. For example, if you are planning to launch an app that deals with AI and is located in a small, sleepy town in the Colorado Valley, chances are your product will go unnoticed. Think of your target market and evaluate the idea before launching it.
Go for Bigger Markets
After you are ready with the idea, aim big with a strategy that targets not a few blocks or a specific area of a city. For example, if you are launching a product in New York City, don’t aim for a few neighborhoods like Broadway or the area surrounding Central Park. Go for at least the borough of Manhattan. Aim bigger right from the get-go and have a clear vision so that you can aim higher and higher in the future.
The following are the top 10 strategies that you need to employ that cost virtually nothing but can give you amazing results and a prosperous future ahead.
- A Website to Start with
It is a common observation that inexperienced businessmen waste a lot of money on such aspects of marketing that are of no use. For example, they tend to focus too much on creating an app for their product. Mind you, getting an app is not a cheap solution and thousands of dollars can be incurred as an expense for this. On the other hand, a website must be your priority for a great start.
Think about an eCommerce ready website that your prospective customers can browse through and check the products and even give an order. Make sure it is a bug-free and seamless shopping experience, right from the ordering process till the checkout. A minor issue here can be disastrous for your business.
- A Clever Elevator Pitch
Just like Shark Tank participants, you need to think about a clever strategy for making a great impact. Whether it is a pitch to an investor concerning the capital or for a marketing budget, the pitch needs to be spot on. According to research, a compelling elevator pitch is one that can get the attention of a person within the initial 6-8 seconds. That’s all the time; you have to make a solid impression; otherwise, it is game over.
For an elevator pitch, you don’t have to spend much in terms of money but need to spend much time preparing it. Just a minute can make a world of difference to your aspirations for a great future. So, take as much time as you need to craft a killer pitch. In return, you will get an opportunity of a lifetime by getting the capital to take your business forward.
- Aptly Highlight your USP
For a great pitch, you need to weave a unique story as to how your business will provide a solution to its target market. And you need to do this without overvaluing your business and its prospects in the future. Yes, you need to be optimistic all the time as you are marketing your business too, but communicate well. On the other hand, it’s not good to be overly unrealistically confident about your business, though, and highlight the unique selling proposition for a solid impact rather than beating about the bush.
- Create Enough Buzz
No matter how great your product or service is, you need to create enough noise before people start taking notice. Technology drives virtually every aspect of today’s business. Startups can turn a lot of heads by striking the right chord through tech by carefully planning each interaction. Since you are beginning the journey, taking an unorthodox approach to generate ideas can create a lot of buzz for your business in the marketplace. And that allows small players to create a big splash that would send chills down the big players’ spines if executed correctly.
Related Read: 5 Things You Should Know about the Perfect Time to Launch a Tech Startup
- Create Blogs on Evergreen Topics to Generate Steady Traffic
Blogs can work and how! Just check out our top three blogs which have shown tremendous growth over the years and a classic example of how evergreen blogs can help companies and brands. They may not be on topics directly related to your business or product, but issues and keywords like leadership and productivity are searched worldwide and are always in demand.
If you can build high domain authority through some immaculately researched articles, blogs, and case studies, the traffic on your blog will increase manifold quickly.
- Q & A Sites can be your Savior
Question and answer sites like Quora or Reddit bask in the limelight of search engines. They attract a ton of traffic year-round and thereby making it highly beneficial to be being active on these platforms for businesses. Sites like Quora are considered very reputable by Google. Other sites like Yahoo Answers and Answers.com also offer small businesses a chance to spread their message through active participation.
Establishing authority when using Q&A sites results in people starting to trust you and will look up to you when they want to learn more about anything related to your business vertical.
- Facebook and YouTube
For small businesses, the use of social media can be really beneficial, but not every platform and app will offer you rich dividends. Facebook and YouTube are two such platforms which provide great reach to any business as billions of active users make them a must-try option. For a shoestring budget, you can start getting results quickly with remarketing on both platforms that can offer amazing results.
- Email Marketing
Email marketing can be a beneficial marketing tool for small businesses. With low budget, you can start targeting your potential customers through email and present your case in detail. During the holiday season, you can spread awareness about any special discounts you’re offering or introduce new products you are about to launch. The ROI for email marketing is not phenomenal but it certainly won’t dent your budget like going for paid ads or other expensive offline marketing techniques.
- A Campaign that Really Works
Whether you’re working on email marketing, building authority through blogs, creating amazing video tutorials or carrying out search engine marketing, you must have a clear idea about what you’re selling and to whom. Coming up with a campaign that works for you must be based on how and why a product drives loyalty and engagement. You need to know how and when to start a campaign, how much budget to allot and when to pull the plug or take corrective measures if something is not working.
- Make Numbers Your Friends
Lastly, you need to gauge all your efforts for that you need Google Analytics and Google Webmaster and other tools and analyze the findings. In this way, you will get the stats about your website visitors, how much time they have spent on specific pages and other detailed analysis. You can also use online task management tools like TaskQue to analyze and complete your daily routine tasks and manage your team’s performance by allowing them to focus on what matters to your bottom line.
Over to you
What is your idea of doing marketing without spending too much on marketing? Share your thoughts with us, ask any questions you have in mind or just offer your feedback by using the comments section below.