Running a startup means cutting through the noise of those offering similar products or services and finding the way to your target audience.
The problem lies in the fact that sometimes your main competitors are big and recognizable brands with huge marketing budgets and loyal customers.
In other words, even if you've managed to create a superb product and offer it at an affordable price, your potential customers might be reluctant to give you the benefit of the doubt over an established brand.
Even if its products are more expensive.
But, don't wave the white flag just yet – not before you've tried out these simple tricks for maximizing brand exposure.
Jason Leung
1. Get to know and understand your audience
Many startups make the mistake of not gaining a complete understanding of their audiences.
And this should be your first step.
Also, it's not enough simply to offer them a product that you think will solve their pain points – it's crucial to approach your potential customers, connect with them, and build meaningful relationships with them.
Ask yourself:
who these people are,
what their interests are,
what they need, and
what they think about your product or service.
It's essential to create an ideal customer profile as well as buyer personas.
Once your product is on the market, ask your existing customers to provide you with feedback. Listen to them, be responsive, and use their remarks to improve your product and tailor it to their needs.
Surveys, focus groups, and your customer support team can set you in the right direction.
2. Create exceptional content
Improving your brand exposure heavily relies on the content you share with your audience.
It's crucial to inform, educate, and entertain them by creating useful and valuable blog posts, infographics, or videos.
But, even though the quality and relevance of your content are at the core of a successful marketing and branding strategy, there's a not-so-secret ingredient that connects the dots and puts things in motion - search engine optimization or SEO.
This technique plays an important role in maximizing brand exposure by helping you target your potential customers and helping them find your content in search engines using relevant keywords,
For Australian startups, local SEO makes even more sense because it will allow you to pinpoint the exact search words and phrases your local audience uses to find the products and services they need, and use them throughout your content to increase its visibility in search engines. Enlisting the help of a digital marketing experts is the best way to get your website on the first page of the Google local search results page.
3. Establish yourself as an authority
People trust experts, and they're more likely to do business with and purchase from companies that are run by leaders with a lot of experience and expertise.
Speaking at different conferences, hosting webinars, blogging, and sharing your knowledge with others are all great ways of positioning yourself as an authority and capturing the attention of your target audience.
4. Invest in your website
And not just any kind of website – you won't achieve much unless your website is well-designed.
Its main goal should be to help your visitors learn more about your products or services and your brand.
Make sure that it's visually appealing, as that factor plays an important role when it comes to the trustworthiness and credibility of your brand. You can also rely on a professional branding company to ensure your visuals align with your brand identity and leave a lasting impression.
Superficial as it may sound, people are suspicious when they see a crummy website that looks like it has been designed in Windows Paint by a sixth-grader.
And this isn't just a wild guess.
Surveys say that 38% of people stop engaging with a website if its content or layout is unattractive.
5. Connect with influencers on social media
You already know how powerful social media is when it comes to promoting your startup and getting your audience's attention.
Regularly updating and managing your social media channels doesn't only refer to the posting content. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn have become important communication outlets, as an increasing number of customers reach use them for customer support.
But, in order to make the most of social media platforms and make them work for your startup, it's essential to identify key influencers in your niche and connect with them.
Don't hesitate to reach out and offer to do a piece of content for their website or ask them to test your product or service for free. The trick is to add value to your proposition – only high-quality content and a product or service that raises the bar will get them to say yes.
If they accept, you can tap into a much bigger audience and attract traffic to your digital channels.
Use these simple tricks to expand your reach and maximize the brand exposure of your startup, and don't forget that persistence is key.