At Ranky we believe in startups more than the average person. We believe that every idea should get a fighting chance. So, we decided to create an article with tips that map out the steps to digitally promote your startup.
These tips and tricks will help you get noticed in the ever so flooded hi-tech world, which if the product is good enough, sometimes doesn’t even have to be perfect, can be funded by the big boys and basically make you rich.
Let’s start off with a ringer:
90% of startups fail!
Sorry to bum you out right off the bat, but it’s true. Most startups fail and, I won’t get into the reasons because they are vast — from poor planning to poor execution. The idea is, if you want to make it big, you need to be ready for failure. And your mindset should be that you are in the 10% until you aren’t.
First rule: never quit! We aren’t saying that if your idea is bad you should keep trying to push it. We are saying if one idea doesn’t work out find another that will.
To get us started let's see if you do have a good idea to being with:
Is your idea relevant?
1.a) Are you trying to create something that already exists?
b) If it doesn’t, is there something out there that will make your product obsolete in a year or two?
2. If it does, do you think you can make it better?
Before answering, you need to research a bit. To continue your process, make sure you answer positively but only after you do a lot of research — and I mean a lot.
This is something that a lot of people don’t do, they think they do but they don’t.
They think because they haven’t heard of it and they didn’t find it after a quick Google search it doesn't exist.
A lot of business owners never do the right amount of due diligence and basically burn their time and money away by creating something that shouldn’t be created.
Now you got the idea — What’s next?
I’m going to jump ahead here because we aren’t here to talk about product creation or Q&A as much; we at Ranky are online marketing experts so that is what we are going to share with you today.
If you have an up-and-running product that works and “changes the world,” this is what you have to do:
This list is in no particular order, and ideally should be done together.
Kickstart Social Media
SM Tip #1: “Attack” your friends, family and potential clients
The reason for friends and family is because you don’t want a social business page that has ZERO followers/fans/whatever.
SM Tip #2: While approaching your potential clients in the beginning stage, don’t be shy
Explain that you are a new business, and ask them to share, but only if they really want to. Never put pressure.
SM Tip #3: Don’t flood your social media with posts right off the bat
Let the posts breathe.
There are two reasons for that: when you don’t have a lot of followers, the engagement won’t be a lot anyway. It also takes time for all of them to see the posts, and adding many quickly will cannibalize your reach.
SM Tip #4: Don’t buy followers, likes and fans
You are giving literally throwing money away.
This is not a fake it til you make it kind of situation. If someone is going to be a follower because you have so many others, he probably doesn’t care about your product anyway.
SM Tip #5: Don’t only post your own stuff
Your audience will get bored unless they have an engaging experience, so of course post your own content, but in addition, share, Retweet, etc. so that your users understand you are connected and engaged with experts in your field as well.
Kickstart Your Search Engine Optimization
Ahhh my favourite…
SEO Tip #1: Make your website as SEO optimized as possible
There are technical aspects in SEO that are basic, easy to implement and follow. However, when you start getting into a difficult niche it’s time to call an expert. By then you should have the capital to take care of issues like these.
SEO Tip #2: Before you do anything else, perform Keyword Research
If you don’t know what people are looking for, you might as well be barking up the wrong tree. Searching for keywords that people are interested in will boost your content immensely.
SEO Tip #3: Opt for a clean and simple design
Doing crazy things for a “unique” user experience will probably do more harm than good for your organic traffic. Remember, SEO isn’t just how many times a keyword is on the page anymore.
SEO Tip #4: Create a blog
Write about topics your audience would be interested in and do so as frequently as possible. Ideally, the more you write the more you have a chance to get found organically, especially if you base your topics on your keyword research.
Kickstart Your Brand Awareness
BA Tip #1: Do what everyone else is doing
A quick Google search on how to perform online brand awareness can show you the everyday run of the mill things that everyone is doing, which you should be doing too. Just make sure it’s in your budget. Creating swag with no actual user base may be nice to look at, but if you can’t afford it, it’s just plain dumb.
BA Tip #2: Learn everything you can about Growth Hacking
Here at Ranky we take pride in the level of growth hacking that we’ve been able to reach. Growth hacking is all about finding ways to elegantly insert your site into well known sites. This requires creativity and a whole lot of effort, as well as the ability to recognize what sites you should spend your energy on. Check out our growth hacking 101 article to get your brain in the right mindset, and get started.
BA Tip #3: Become a thought leader
Start small and slowly grow. Ask different blogs that are in your niche to write a blog post for them that could be useful to your audience. Then look for a slightly bigger blog and reference the last blog. It’s a great snowball effect that may take a lot of time and effort, but it definitely works.
Paid Advertising — Pay to Play!
This part right here is a little tricky, since if you don’t have enough money, you simply can’t use paid services to promote your business, such as Facebook ads, adwords, other social media ads, and more.
This is where you might need to dig deep into your pocket or preferably, into someone else's.
What is great about PPC is that if you do pay, you exist and now with Google and social media giants (FB, TW, LI) giving extra attention to the way they display ads for their paying customers is usually worth it.
PPC Tip #1: Do the research
There are some great tools out there that can help you see what competitors are doing. You can also use your Keyword research from SEO as a great starting point for your own paid campaigns on Google.
PPC Tip #2: Watch your budget daily
This might seem super anti-productive but in this case it isn’t! You need to see where your money is going so you can make changes. If after two weeks you are getting reasonable results you need to change or stop a campaign.
PPC Tip #3: Not all social media is equal
Make sure you’re targeting the right kind audience that will buy whatever it is you’re selling. If you’re not on the social media channels they are, your money is essentially going to waste.
PPC Tip #4: Targeting is key
Make sure that you study the targeting options available to you in each platform, and use them as much as possible to display your ads to the most relevant audience.
Starting your own startup is not an easy path to take, even if you’re idea is groundbreaking and the first of its kind. Being first, or even better than others, doesn’t mean you will be a tech millionaire. Just ask Tesla, Nikola Tesla that is.
You need to know how to market yourself otherwise you are just another speck of dust no one will ever hear about, even if you are the next best thing.
Starting your own startup is not an easy path to take, even if you’re idea is groundbreaking and the first of its kind. Being first, or even better than others, doesn’t mean you will be a tech millionaire. Just ask Tesla, Nikola Tesla that is.
You need to know how to market yourself otherwise you are just another speck of dust no one will ever hear about, even if you are the next best thing.
