If you're an entrepreneur or a tech startup founder, you have to get on board with the idea that marketing is essential. The startup market is incredibly crowded right now, and as technology advances and business needs change, it's only going to get busier. You have to create a buzz around your unique solution by investing in marketing and branding. We've collated ten top startup marketing strategies for boosting your bottom line and increasing ROI.

1. Create a Marketing Plan

Preparation prevents poor performance, so create a document that shows exactly what your marketing goals are and how you'll achieve them. Decide whether your focus is on generating leads or attracting investors, or both. 

2. Make Your Marketing Goals SMART

Whatever goals are on your marketing plan, make sure they're specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed. This is the SMART method of setting goals and ensures you're not being vague or setting goals that you simply don't have the budget to follow through on.

3. Define Ideal Customer Profiles and Buyer Personas

Your target audience should be based on your ideal customer profile or ICP. This can then be split into different buyer personas to help market your tech offering in a more focused way. You can't market to everyone, so don't try – it's a one-way ticket to burnout and loss of revenue.

4. Build Your Brand

Brand messaging is absolutely key for early-stage startup marketing. Create a brand messaging framework document and ensure everyone who engages with customers follows it. Be clear, consistent, and create a brand personality that you can use across all your channels.

5. Content Marketing Based on Education

 Content marketing, combined with good SEO practices, creates leads by driving traffic to your blog or website. But many businesses forget that great content can have a much longer-term effect: it can neatly position you as a trusted resource or industry expert. Invest in high-quality content that provides genuine value. This becomes a shareable resource, helping increase your brand visibility and reputation.

6. Social Media Marketing

Research which channels your target audience uses, then focus your marketing efforts there. LinkedIn and Facebook are both heavily used by businesses, and it's worth looking at Twitter, Instagram, and even TikTok for some industries.

7. Short Videos

Video content was once primarily seen as a B2C marketing tool, but Hubspot reports that it was a top investment for B2B marketers in 2022, with 87% of video marketers reporting increased traffic. Concentrate on short, educational videos or footage that shows the human side of your company, such as employee stories, work in the community, or feel-good clips that are highly shareable.

8. Podcasts

Audio marketing content is on the rise. Founders can take advantage of this by becoming guests on existing podcasts or starting their own. There are even tools to turn existing blogs or articles into podcasts for free, which also makes your content more accessible.

9. Repurpose Your Content

As well as turning your blogs into podcasts, you can turn snippets of them into shareable social media snippets, use quotes from your team with gorgeous imagery to increase your Instagram traffic, or create videos based on your educational topics. Diversifying the channels you're available on could help you reach a broader audience, and you can do it without having to create too much additional content.

10. Create a Referral Program

You know your tech offering rocks. If you can find five or ten other people that agree with you, give them incentives to tell their peers and colleagues about it. Reward them if another business signs up to use your product or service. Buyers trust personal recommendations far more than any other marketing source. Utilize that fact to gain more leads and more positive testimonials.

Final Word

78% of marketers agree that the marketing world has changed more in the last three years than it did in the previous 50! For businesses at the start of their journey, startup marketing might seem like an overwhelming whirlwind of ever-changing information. That's where we can help. Book a 15-minute introductory call with a member of the team here at Arch Collective. We'll connect you to a freelance marketing expert who can give you the best advice and support to help you grow your business effectively.

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