Building a Brand: Effective Marketing Strategies for Startups

Ever since the commoditization of technology (App Stores, WordPress, Google Analytics, social sites, crowdfunding platforms, off-the-shelf freeware or shareware), now more than ever it is incredibly easy for a company with a great idea to enter a market.

Time to Market is Critical and Dwindling Very Quickly

Ultimately, the best message wins the customer, and the company with the highest conversion rate for a given amount of effort (i.e., lowest cost of conversion) comes out on top.

The signal to noise ratio is critical, there is a lot of noise and your customer is receiving noise not only from your industry but across the board on every front. To be successful, your marketing has to cut through and get noticed: make a splash, be useful, be shareable, be compelling, have emotion and uniqueness.

More is not better. If you fail to deliver value, people will tune you out. There is a ton of low fidelity, low cost, poorly executed material out there that results in nothing. You have to deliver value, or your messages will be ignored.

Useful Product or a Platform

A Product with a higher purpose, which tugs on emotions or worldview and brings people together

Something that makes people laugh and send on to others

Number 1 start-up marketing problem, is to try and be everything to everyone—include every possible keyword, repeat content in 50 different ways, use run-on sentences trying to cram everything possible in so that every potential customer sees something. This creates a convoluted, noise-filled, ineffective message. Focus on what matters and take a stand there. Have a unique brand voice and use it effectively. Think quotable sound bytes, not strings of SEO-friendly keywords.

Number 1 B2B marketing problem is being bored—overly conservative, overly safe, not saying anything that would differentiate your company from someone else’s, following the pack too closely. With such an approach, you get turned out to be perceived as more of a static organization.

Personal Connection is Key

Marketing is a matter of trust signals—the customer getting to “know” you through social media, the way (old school) a sales person would get to know people at conventions and face-to-face, which the panel claimed had the very highest conversion rates. We buy because we have that time and relationship and trust.

Case studies and testimonials—particularly by someone outside the company that the customer knows and trusts—is absolutely key. We do things because someone we know well and trust has done it and had good results. This is what pushes people over from watching to committing.

You have to have a balance of measurement and guts.

It is critical to measure impact and actually be able to analyze what works and what does not. In this day and age, that should be a given and a requirement.

But numbers can’t tell you “what else” is out there. If you are at a local maximum, but not THE maximum. You have to take some chances, know your brand, and speak with an authentic voice.

A great product and great word of mouth, as a start-up, are absolutely critical.

Cubix is a top ranked enterprise-grade Software development company with Headquarter located in Florida and other offices operational in Karachi and Dubai. Housing the team of experts, we specialize in Mobile App and Game development, Web development and designing and creating software solutions for enterprise level. Also, partnering with startups for technology execution.

Making a game changer mobile or web app? Then we should talk