According to a report in the Times of India, “India is home to 81 unicorns as of now, with a total valuation of $274 billion.” With so many startups joining the league of Unicorns, it has become essential for the existing ones to focus on their branding and marketing game.
Branding and marketing are those two pillars in an organization that help a business to reach out to its potential customers. But as there are so many marketing avenues, small startup businesses often face the challenge to determine where they should invest their limited marketing resources.
Startups often lack clarity at early stages on how much time, money, and effort they should spend on their advertising, public relations, branding, social media planning, and content strategy at the outset.
So, if you have a startup business made from your dreams, passion, and determination, here is a list of some of the most effective strategies to help entrepreneurs and founders to develop first-time marketing budgets to optimize their investments and achieve maximum results:
1. Master One Method First
Just like when we learn driving, we want to do everything at once. But, as the primary rule, we learn to control the steering wheel. Similarly, as an entrepreneur, you should pick one thing and do it well. Once you have mastered it you can start focusing on building out the other options as you begin to get more business. Focus all your efforts, time, and money on a single method and use that as your power to get more business and break through the noise.
2. Pick Measurable Outcomes
When looking out for the best marketing choices, it is best to find out what you want for your measurable outcomes to be. For instance, if you want to sell 200 products in your first month, with an average value of INR 500 per customer, you should provide this to a marketing company to receive quotes on actions, and not just marketing services. It will help them to filter out the options deemed best for your business on actual budget samples.
3. Allot a Budget to a Few Targeted Areas
It will be unrealistic for any business to allot a budget without considering their revenue. A new startup must need to consider its targeted areas and how much budget should be allocated. It is best to focus on one target area and then grow into others as traction is gained. You can also take an online business course for entrepreneurs to learn more about marketing and advertisement.
4. Find Out How Each Strategy Will Impact Your Business
While budget allocation initially is a smart decision, understanding how each strategy is going to impact your business is paramount. Dedicating between 10 to 20 percent of gross revenue is a good starting point to invest in marketing and advertisement. Basics such as collaterals should not go beyond 5% of your gross revenue unless a brand strategy calls for it. PRs, advertising, communications are all similar. But to determine what will help your business to grow and attract your potential customers is essential. Focus on what is going to help you succeed.
5. Build a Scalable & Multi-Year Strategy
In the first year, you need a logo, a website, and some basic branding elements. But one most essential thing is content. You need great content for any marketing strategy to work. And as your company grows, you can spend more on advertising and promotions. When your company begins to scale, you can increase your budget.
6. Know Your Customer Journey
One of the most crucial things that every startup must do is that they should have a solid understanding of their customer journey. Run test ads on social media platforms and Google to find out how much you will have to spend to acquire a customer. You can also take an online course for entrepreneurs for marketing.
Investing in PR and branding can help you to lower your ad expenditure, only if done right. It will also increase your conversions, and give you a better idea of how much you must invest and in which medium of marketing.
7. Begin with Organic Marketing
There is no magic formula or shortcut to marketing your brand and advertising your products to increase your revenue. Startups should always begin with organic efforts, such as content marketing, PR, SEO, before diving into big ad spending. Why? It offers three benefits:
a). It reduces your budget
b). It lets you find out what works by trial and error before investing in advertising.
c). Delivers ROI
Every single penny plays an essential role in a startup budget. Hence, it is important to allocate the budget carefully for marketing and advertising. Hope the above-mentioned techniques will help you to seek out choices that will give you the best results for your startup business.
Having a compelling marketing idea is great. But you know what is even better? Personal guidance to increase your brand presence consistently to facilitate sales, engage your customers and close leads. Our Problem Solving Courses can help you to overcome marketing and advertising challenges.