Your #start-up has just been launched and everyone is excited. Next, you and your team set out to build brand awareness, promote your services and create as much exposure as possible. One thing you do not want to do is spend too much on #marketing. The goal for any start-up should be about how to minimize costs and maximize outcome.

Here are 7 ways to keep your marketing lean:

Building Brand Awareness and Value

Spend more time in building your brand and putting things like your brand logo in the consciousness of your customers. The more people who recognize your brand from a distinctive logo, voice, and design, the better your chances are of getting content in front of them and driving conversions. The longer your company stays around and improve its brand awareness, the more recognizable your brand and this is like an insurance policy for your #business goals.

While some companies start big, gain massive market penetration, use vague slogans and still achieve brand value, it may not work for your startup the same way especially if you are starting small. You haven’t gained enough market penetration. Startups have to use explanatory and emotional cues in their messaging to build awareness and trust.

With the world already being digitized, today’s startups have more power than ever to create brand awareness and value without straining their budget. Even young individuals on #social media can create an impactful brand that resonates with followers which can be converted to financial gains. The key is finding where your target audience spends time and using those platforms to emotionally connect.

Optimizing Digital Marketing on a Budget

You don’t need to invest millions into marketing as a startup. Your website is a great platform, and should be optimized at every level. Ensure the site acts as its own marketing as email, search-engine optimization, content development, and PR don’t have to cost much money in the beginning.

Consider investing time and money in having a strong #web presence and an active social media. A strong web presence through your website is at the core of digital marketing. Without one, you have nowhere to direct inbound marketing activities. Your page will serve as a data repository you can tap to gauge success, and it’s also the only place online that’s completely yours to create. To ensure visitors are not bored, update your website for visibility on search engines as it will become a source of value for inbound visitors.

On social media, find out where your market audience spends its time and meet them there. Are they younger folks who prefer to Snapchat, Instagram, and Yik Yak—or are they an older generation who’s more comfortable with Facebook and Twitter?

Social media is a forum for natural engagement that builds credibility which in turn improves revenue generation by referring customers to your business website or locations. People of every age use social media, making it a fantastic forum for startups to tap into.

Your Personal Network

As much as your personal life should be separated from your business, your personal network should not, as it is useful and valuable in promoting your business. Every #entrepreneur has to become a brand champion and become your company’s first ambassador. Grassroots marketing is effective because it allows you to leverage personal relationships for the benefit of the business, and almost every company uses it in some form. Get on social media, call up friends and old schoolmates, go to LinkedIn and take advantage of those professional connections, and ask your family to get in on it. Your first customers are likely to be your family, friends and close associates.

Use your influence among your networks to request that everyone do something to promote the brand, whether that’s reviewing the product on a third-party site, sharing content on social media, or mentioning your company online. Every extra link your network puts out has the potential to reach hundreds more people than you could on your own.

Content

Ever heard the phrase “content is key”? Content is the core of the digital marketing world. Whether you use slideshows, quizzes, surveys, blogs, videos, articles, or infographics, take the time to make each piece of content feel like an extension of the company. Do research on successful content models used by other companies and improve upon them for your business.

Engage with Your Customers

Digital marketing and social media are two-way communication channels. Part of the beauty of digital marketing is the ability for brands to create a personal connection with consumers. Companies are living, breathing organisms that consumers care about because they create a connection with their audiences.

Companies that win at engagement by satisfactorily meeting the needs of their customers have created an emotional connection. They respond to feedback quickly and publicly. They understand what their target audience finds valuable. Startups can mimic these larger successes with fast responsiveness and by sharing in consumer experiences online.

Mobile and App Marketing

To create a more personalized experience for your customers, earning visibility in Apple, Google and Blackberry app stores could yield great marketing results. Make sure users looking for products like yours can find your app among the millions of apps available in those stores by spending time on app-store optimization, including keywords, icon graphics and descriptions and screenshots to encourage users to download.

Email

The majority of your customers are networked and even those who are not social media savvy still use emails as against traditional letters. Email still offers a lot of bang for your money. Most online consumers check their email many times a day, and many use a mobile device to do so. E-commerce companies, in particular, invest in email marketing over every other type of marketing activity.

On a small budget, you can find an email marketing platform that allows you to create, send, and monitor responses to your campaigns. Add a subscription form to your website, and start building up your consumer contact base. Send out regular newsletters with the last few blog links or highlight promotions.

To Market, To Market

The world is a global market and you can create a niche for your business. You can go social all the way or you can focus on using data to carefully market to a niche looking for more than a snippet of information. However, every business is different. Try out a few tactics and measure the results to see what works for you. If you can only spend money on one digital marketing front, invest it in your website.

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