Uncommon Startup Marketing Ideas You Must Try

startups

Parnas Ghosh

May 8, 2021 — 17 min read

So you have launched your startup, it’s a dream come true and you are definitely excited about it. You may have found some customers as well, but the most difficult part is to have enough customers so that you can sustain your business in market and drive profit as well in future. Invest wisely in your sales team, as they will play a major role in this trajectory. There is no direct formula like invest X amount of money and you will get Y number of customers, if there was, it would be much easier and less challenging. Alas, this is not the case. There is a lot of competition in the market today and there are thousands of ways to market your business but you will need a unique one if you want to be ahead of everyone.

According to a report, More than 1,200 startups came up in 2018. In this competitive world, where all companies are competing for being at the top in their industry against their rivals are enlarging their users or customers by doing best marketing strategies, So it will be very difficult for any startup to stand out among this competition. We know, that going for the startup is not a cup of tea and it is important to utilize monetary resource effectively at the right place. People believe that spending more monetary resources on marketing can help them gain an ample amount of users or customers. But, that's not true! It all relies on the creativity that you lay in your marketing approaches. Every company follows a similar type of marketing strategy but if you want to stand out you need some unique approaches that can able to boost up your growth in terms of users or clients. Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz and a renowned leader of the digital world, says marketing after creating your product wastes energy, time and money. Marketing firs ensures a loyal and active audience so that when you do debut your product you will be able to get feedback right away.

In 2018, it is safe to assume that your target group is bombed with messages, notifications, spams and click ads all the time. The trick to arrest their attention for more than 10 seconds and make a room in their memory to be recalled at the right time is a combined effort of your authentic intentions and creative methods.

Wasting time along with your another promoting guide? Why? You already recognize the fundamentals. And you’ve in all probability detected the recommendation 1,000,000 times; produce a mission statement, notice your audience, produce awe-inspiring content and promote. whereas there’s undoubtedly additional to that than that, you get the gist. What your startup extremely desires area unit some innovative promoting ideas which will set you except for competitors and build customers come back to you. which will sound easier aforesaid than done, however you’ll be off and running when you re-examine these five uncommon promoting ideas for startups. Here are some uncommon ways startups can conquer the mountain and be on their way to growing like never before.

Reach out to a specific community

Community - Startup marketing — Community - Startup Marketing

If you want to build a user base fast, you need to have a clear understanding of what your ideal customer looks like. You need to have a fundamental understanding of your product and the community you're targeting. Youth is the biggest user of just everything. Companies dig into the most creative ways possible to sell their products and make it a trend. You can then create a piece of content creatively and specifically for this community and can find huge and quick success. The basic idea lies in how well your product connects with the community at the target. Relevancy is the key here.

If you’re looking for something highly creative that will skyrocket your brand to success, consider using the product itself for a social cause. People these days love to see how a person is towards everyone else, there was a time when business was purely an act of selfishness. Its 21st century and people need to have trust in your brand and that can be built easily by doing something good. People take pride if they're told about the product or service they use to contribute to human or wildlife funds. It does make them feel good about the product they use and the brand they're associated within an indirect way.

Create a video that simplifies your product or service

Creating a video that explains your product in the most simplified way is one of the fastest ways of growing your fan base. Making a creative humorous, video that gets into the head of the viewer. The video shouldn't be a regular advertising one then it'll be pointless to call it a self-explanatory video. However, this can be a modified form of advertising and publishing your product.

Trust always works!

This is definitely the oldest and purest form of promoting and advertising used by businesses since the world began. While it may bring slower results than radio or television, it still works very well and solidifies customer for life. Because people are becoming increasingly suspicious of paid advertising, this old method becomes the most reliable way to market down product. I still think this remains one of the most trusted methods in the world today. When a customer is happy and satisfied with a product or service, there’s a natural human tendency that they are likely to share this experience with people in their circle of trust and influence – family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and sometimes, strangers.

How to attract customers?? The satisfied customer is one of the most effective marketing and advertising tools a small business can ever have. Satisfied customers become foot soldiers, evangelists and advocates for your business. It is amazing how many of your satisfied customers will go to great lengths to promote, convince, protect and defend your business outside. This is so effective and powerful that many successful businesses rely solely on this method to advertise and market their products and services. One of the biggest business empires like the TATA group. is the best example here. So, how exactly can your small business grow an army of passionate customers, who will advertise your product free of cost? The first and most important step is to sell a product or service that really works and provides great value to anybody who uses them. If a product or service delivers on its promise and does more than what it says, it’s a winner! Most people buy products or services to solve a problem or satisfy a need. Nothing will make a customer happier and more satisfied than getting a product that makes a very challenging problem go away. They’ll scream your name from the Everest top. Most times, it doesn’t really matter how large or deep-pocketed your competition is you can grow a successful business with great customer service. People like to buy products and services from businesses that treat them with respect. People love to be given attention and treated well and will always return to enjoy that beautiful experience again. Don’t forget, customers spend their hard-earned money on your products. Don’t you think they deserve a big “Thank you’ with a wide smile on your face? People hardly forget a great customer experience and will happily tell other people about it.

Give your customers a reason to advertise and market your business but sometimes this doesn't come automatically, you have to encourage, motivate or incentivize your customers to do it for you, so that brings me to my last but not the least effective way to market your startup.

Start a referral or reward program

The more people they refer to you, the more free products, services and discounts they will enjoy. Referral codes and links are used a lot these days to attract customers. We all come across these kinds of codes and links and we do refer it to our WhatsApp contacts and others. It's a very rapid way of growing business these days but this one is completely based on the quality of your product and service. One more method which is very popular is

Creating contests and lucky draws

The reward should be large enough to trigger their interest and make them take action. It’s a win-win method that always works. Everybody loves to win. It’s not just always about the prize you win, it’s the thrill of getting lucky or beating other people. Call it ‘ego’ or whatever you like, but it always works. Let’s also say you start an interesting contest, to spread it you can use various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Even though many of them will not win the grand prize, they will still be interested in finding out more about your products and services. But make sure you can comfortably afford the prize you plan to give out. Draw out a reasonable budget and stick to it. It makes no sense if the money you make from selling your products during the contest cannot cover the cost of running it.

Be as much as creative as you can with your Business Card

A business card represents your firm and is one of the most effective ways to reflect your business. Most of the startups mainly focus on the flyers and other advertising material; instead, investment time, cost, and builds a unique card. Mostly, we can see very popular templates business cards, which are less attractive and will not give an impression on first site, instead choose the best as you do not know when someone will share your card to a prospective client.

Give group specific discounts

Generally, what we see is a business offering huge discount, but did we thought that these discounts benefits all or only some group. Therefore, throw a sale focused more on different groups instead of a regular one. This will help your client feel privileged and boost your sales. Advertise the incentives and let them know you have plans for all of them not just for a few. Focus on quality instead of just the quantity.

Bring people to your platform

Advertise, but do it in a way that one is forced to try your business once. For example, advertise in newspapers, but add a line, try your luck with spin wheel, you may get discount up to 100%. One will never deny to try it out and this is the way that customer grows. If you are a startup that provides services, give your client to try their luck, you may offer to provide a next service at a discounted price according to the offer they get. Something is always better than nothing, this quote may be old but is one of the effective ways today also.

Host a contest and give away free stickers and t-shirts

Everybody loves that. Host a contest and distribute t-shirts and stickers, this will also cover up the word of mouth marketing, never underestimate the power of this marketing. This is a free referral program that will build trust among the users and bring more customers together to your platform. Once they are on your platform, bribe them with cash, and give them free cash in their accounts for new customers. They can’t deny a platform built on trust and offering them discounts.

Send handwritten notes to your customers

Talking with your customers directly is very effective and can bring you more customers on board. Everybody likes to talk about him or herself and when you send a hand-written note to them with their order, they will feel privileged and will be willing to use your service for next time also. They will also praise your business for being special to them.

Show up unexpectedly!

Find out where your audience is and show up when they are not expecting. The show up could be of the product itself, a merchandise branding the startup, or a business card. ‘Accidentally’ leaving behind a pen with your FinTech company details at the banks, putting up Bumper stickers around the city, commissioning a graffiti to grab the eyeballs are just some creative ways to reach out. Find the ways suitable to your startup by asking people in your industry what grabbed their attention recently and work around the themes. Look deeply to understand where you customer is investing the time. Don’t feel shy about this and get your name out there in as many ways as possible. Literally, be everywhere!

Collaborations, Collaborations, Collaborations!

From Nike x Kanye West Yeezy to Uber x Spotify, collaborations are the new age formula to expand and impact. Identify the ways you can partner to create exciting campaigns or offers, run small samples to see which is getting active results, align it with the company’s vision and shoot! Nothing gets people more excited to see two forces coming together to their rescue.

Although you must have a digital presence through your own website, Facebook page, Instagram page, Twitter handle, but so do all your competitors. Once again, identify where your customers spend time online and make a way to show up there. Partnering with a well-known expert with an influential following on Facebook, collaborating with an e-commerce to automatically add your product’s mini pack on every purchase are just some ways you can gain traffic on your page.
Digital world is a mad jungle with unimaginable potential, so put your creative hat on and tap the popularity of already established ‘influencers’ and brands to draw your own success and build trust with the new audience!

Show that you care

An individual is more likely to trust a new service provider or product if it is suggested by a friend, relative or co-worker. Find a way to these conversations that your buyers can have with potential new buyers and mention you in appreciation. Referral programs are a huge hit for the obvious benefits but think beyond the gain. A brief follow up call to your customer to inquire their satisfaction with the service, a thank you text with a reassurance that you are available to them in the future, a birthday/anniversary email with a small incentive on the next immediate purchase can take your brand goodwill a long way.

The new age customers are very sensitive to their impact and showing that you care about your impact can leave a great impression on them and build a caring, trusting relationship between the two. Be aware of any big events that happen such as a natural disaster and ensure the customer that each business you get will also convert into an act of help. This can make others see you in a great light, and bring more people to associate with your business! Once your business grows, you will experience greater freedom to spend big on marketing campaigns but don’t lose sight of the unconventional ways of impacting people to stand apart in the crowd.

Trade shows For the marketing of your startup

You need to attend the trade shows and conference which will help you to get connected with the people and interact with them and talk about your product. you can able to build large community with them. There are many companies which follow this strategy such as Google itself is an example of this strategy. Every year Google organize programs for the developers and not only that they also invite the young developers around the globe.

This is the best way to promote your startup at first when you include your product in the some of the engaging social work. One of the examples of this is Paytm when demonetization was implemented in India the one application that was used the most for the digital transfer of the currency was the Paytm and it gives the huge boost to the Paytm company in terms of the users. Apart from this during the critical time, they also give cashback offers.

Pay to the customers

Yes, instead of paying to the other sources for getting new users for your product you can directly pay to the new user directly when they sign up in your site you can give them the reward of $10 or 100 rs. The best example of this is Paytm and Paypal during the demonetization also Paytm was giving money for signing up and also if you invite your friend and relatives through your referral code they will also get the reward and you will also get a reward. Even Paypal also use this approach to get an ample amount of users in their earlier days and this strategy really worked for them.

Hosting contest

Hosting a contest on your site or website can get you users as while participating you can ask them to sign up for your website first and then participate in this contest. This brings a lot of audiences example for Hypster application which uses this strategy in which people can participate in the contest by signing up and making videos and according to this you can easily able collect flames and this flames you can easily convert in the money and thus this application have increased the number of user in short time period. All in all, there are many techniques which you can use for the marketing online and offline both approaches are available but to stand out from your rivals you should use the approaches which is used rarely. Marketing strategy should be creative and out of the box, thinking should be used so that your startup can boost as well as stand out and can able to set an example for the other marketing strategy makers and rivals and also to your users or clients.

Build a weird Bedfellow

You’ve in all probability detected that after upon a time M&M’s were offered a major role in E.T. The provide was turned down, that the film went with Reese’s items instead. whereas that hiccup didn’t take away M&M’s from grocery shelves, it did facilitate build Reese’s items a particularly standard candy. The idea here is that it’s not about to hurt your startup by teaming up with associate surprising partner or place to market it. It may be one thing as straightforward as showing off your product in a very video – suppose Snoop Dogg carrying Tommy Hilfiger within the 90s’ – to delivering brewage to fans at the OppiKoppi competition in Republic of South Africa via drones. In either case, you’ll be sound into a special audience.

Be all over

This doesn’t mean simply blogging or being active on social media - that you must be doing anyways. It virtually suggests that to be all over. you would like to be that complete that folks notice once they’re walking down the streets. Even if they don’t recognize what your startup will, they’ll acknowledge your name. Some examples would be commission a mural on building and covering the streets with chalk, paint or displays. you'll conjointly make-up bumper stickers and t-shirts and provides them to workers or as freebies at events. they'll not be the foremost uncommon, however an ingenious shirt not solely lets individuals have the prospect to diverge, it'll build others wish to leap on board – suppose Zaarly shirts floating round the Bay space. In short, don’t be invisible. Get your name out there the maximum amount as potential.

Be a Hero and Save The Day

At some purpose you’ve scan that a business ought to be donating cash or sponsoring a charity. It simply makes your startup look sensible. And whereas that’s all well and sensible, you'll continuously take that to subsequent level by being a hero to your community. For example, there was a brewage gate campaign during which individuals may get their train ride with empty brewage cans following Carnival. However, the cans had to be from Ambev‘s Antarctica brewage World Health Organization saw the simplest way to spark a utilization program. One more cool example from Brazil was the Rescue Drive campaign. killer Chevrolet drove around searching for normal driver and so offered them a free take a look at drive so they may build it to figure, home or where they needed to travel. Over in Asian nation, billboards were used as shelters for the homeless within the “Other Side” project.

Show Some SkinWell, not virtually

Unless that’s the type of attention you’re searching for. we have a tendency to meant metaphorically. this suggests giving your startup a temperament. think about dollar Shave Club. The startup launched a beta version in Apr 2011, however it wasn’t till March 2012 once everybody noticed the razor-blade subscription service. A risible ad that includes co-founder and CEO archangel Durbin took off leading to 12,000 orders within the 1st two days and also the company’s web site blinking inside the primary hour. The ad was funny, however conjointly introduced individuals to the corporate and also the man World Health Organization contains a love for shaving at an inexpensive value.

Have Customers Become a region of the Team

While paying attention to and interesting your customers area unit important techniques in every and each of your promoting campaigns, you actually wish to boost the bar and build them desire a region of the team. That’s what the Karl Lagerfeld Store in capital of The Netherlands achieved in 2013. The store equipped dressing rooms with iPads and a wall-mounted touchscreen and camera. the concept was to own customers to share their new appearance with social media and email contacts. there have been conjointly Instagram-style filters that would be accustomed produce a lookbook. It absolutely was fun and interesting and an excellent thanks to promoting the complete. And it achieved that by creating the shoppers desire they were a region of one thing larger.

Conclusion

In this digital era, there is a huge competition in every industry. Thus you can't rely on just traditional marketing and advertising, rather you should think out of the box. It's not about spending too much money for marketing, it's about to identify your target audience and run optimum marketing campaigns. Hope above startup marketing ideas will help you to craft your marketing strategies. Share your thoughts on the comment section.

FAQs

What are some of the best marketing practices for startups?

Best Digital Marketing Strategies for Startups:-

Email Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Pay-Per-Click Marketing (Google AdWords)
Search Engine Optimization
Influencer Marketing
Content Marketing
Retargeting Ads

Do startups need marketing?

Yes, startups do need marketing.

How to promote a startup business?

Send Emails
Start A Blog
Post On Social Media
Use Paid Search Advertising
Sponsor An Event

Must have tools for startups - Recommended by StartupTalky

Convert Visitors into Leads- SeizeLead
Payment Gateway- Razorpay
Spy on your Competitors- Adspyder
Manage your business smoothly- Google Workspace