Digital marketing is a vital part of this era. Previously, everyone relied on organic methods to grow their businesses. Then came radio, TV, billboards, door-to-door marketing, etc. Now, in the digital era, it has become indispensable for businesses to utilise digital marketing strategies. For start-up businesses, digital marketing solutions are more accessible, as they can begin promoting their products or services at zero cost.
Start-up businesses can initiate their marketing efforts by creating social media pages on different platforms. Social media provides the easiest and quickest method to market products or services and can be started with zero cost. Businesses can share their pages with their connections and commence selling from there. If the product or service is good, satisfied customers can recommend them to others, thus facilitating business growth.
Let me explain step by step what you need to do for your start-up.
Firstly, start-up businesses need to be active on social media to increase brand awareness. Posting regularly, using hashtags, and sharing graphical and informative content are essential. For graphical content, you can use the free version of Canva. Canva offers numerous templates that can be customised as per your requirements. Although Canva has a premium version with more features, the free version is adequate for start-ups.
Now that your graphics are done at zero cost, share them with your friends and family, and encourage them to share as well. Additionally, try to sell your product or service to them and ask for reviews that you can post. This approach may yield better results than the first one, so utilise both initially as they don’t cost money.
Once you have a good number of followers and sufficient content, consider investing a bit in marketing, such as social media advertising. This can give you a boost in increasing followers. When you have a fairly good amount of sales and followers, you can consider creating a website. Website development can be a bit costly. If you know how to create one, it’s advantageous as you can save money. However, if you’re not familiar with website development, it’s better to hire a professional web developer for a one-time payment.
You can learn the basics of website management so that you can make minor changes without relying entirely on a developer. For instance, you can change content, add new posts, or create pages. There are tutorials available on platforms like YouTube that can guide you through the process of making minor changes to your website.
Once your website is ready, start planning other marketing strategies such as SEO, Google Ads, email marketing, analytics, etc. While these are paid tools, they are highly beneficial for businesses. By this stage, you should have generated some profit, which you can reinvest in these tools.
Firstly, set up analytics tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, as they are free for website owners. Additionally, there are paid analytics tools available that you can consider using. After that, focus on setting up your SEO to improve your website’s ranking on search engines.
Again, I emphasize not spending time learning new skills that you’re unfamiliar with. As a business owner, your time is valuable, and it’s better spent on activities that can directly improve your business. If necessary, hire someone for marketing tasks. If you wish to learn, gain a basic understanding of all the skills required for your business, and later, you can decide if you need to delve deeper into specific skills.
In conclusion, following these steps can lead to profitable outcomes for your business. However, keep in mind that different businesses may require different approaches, and not all steps may be applicable to every business. Adapt your strategies based on your company’s needs and behaviours. Over time, you’ll learn what works best for your business and how you can improve further.
Feel free to reach out to me personally via email or by leaving a comment if you have any feedback or suggestions.