Starting a new business at any time is a risk but with the current crisis once again stalling the economy, every startup needs to have a strong marketing strategy. What online tools should be considered?

Marketing is about sales and promotion. Online marketing strategies also place a heavy emphasis on customer engagement, so where should you start?

1 Social media marketing

As well as paid ads on platforms, organic growth of your pages and social media presence is essential for a start up. It is the place where you can introduce yourself and engage with your customer demographic.

Don’t use social media just as a sales platform, however. Provide informational explainer videos to educate people, provide company videos that explain your ethos (thing Corporate Social Responsibility) and even expand your reach with foreign language voiceovers on these videos.

Social media is a great place to listen too, to what your customers are saying and what your competitors are providing (and what they aren’t).

2 Pay per click ads

Abbreviated to PPC, paid for ads on social media and search engines is a means of effectively targeting your customer demographic but is also easy on your marketing budget. This is because you have complete control of how you spend, on average, on a daily basis, as well as who sees your adverts and when.

PPC is a great way to learn too, as to how the online world reacts to you and your products or services.

3 Email marketing

Email is not dead although it has stiff competition when it comes to being an effective marketing strategy.

As well as understanding current data protection laws around how you use and store people’s information, you need to build a database of contacts in the first place. Use sign up forms on your website and social media channels to populate your database.

As it grows, you need to be able to zone in on certain customer demographics so that you offer what people are looking for and what they are interested in. As well as not bombarding their inbox with e-newsletters, you need to get the content right too.

From a budgetary point of view, used well, email marketing can yield fantastic results for very little spend.

4 Influencer marketing

It hasn’t always enjoyed a good press but working with a collaborator to showcase your products to their followers is not a bad thing. You are paying for influencers to use and endorse your products or services.

This form of collaborative, online marketing can provide a spike in interest that you need to be prepared to optimise. 

5 SEO strategy

Part of online marketing is your SEO strategy, the plan you have in place to ensure that content is of high quality and trustworthy. When it is, and people find your website, they are more likely to make a purchase.

SEO and content are also important for search engine purposes as keywords are the signposts search engines need when indexing sites. From optimised page content to a vibrant business blog, the quality has never been more important.

A combined effort

Online marketing strategies, no matter what or how many tools and platforms you use, must dovetail to bring more people, sales and enquiries to your website. But is your strategy optimised and fit for purpose?