For a startup to excel and grow, it needs an effective marketing itinerary. Be it attracting newer customers or persisting with the existing ones, a newly established business must be willing to take risks and determine a specific marketing strategy— based on targets and goals. We must know that it is extremely hard to exist in this digital realm sans a story-driven marketing strategy. While every
#1. Leveraging Story-Driven Pieces of Content
A marketing strategy shouldn’t solely focus on selling the product. Instead, it must be forwarded as a story which grips and engages the customer. Most startups largely focus on creating the desired product or service but falter when it comes to the marketing plan. They must realize that a product will naturally sell well if it can connect with the audience.
Therefore, a story-driven content strategy must be opted for, in order to create that bond with the prospective customers. Reports suggest that the largest consumer demographic happens to be the millennial generation which will only opt for a product or service if it is engaging enough— even on a superficial level. Gone are those days when a brochure or an advertisement could help startups sell massively.
When it comes to engaging content, strategic communication is a must. For example, if an organization are looking to drive individuals towards using WhatsApp and kik online, it is imperative that it must knit a story— enlisting the benefits of the web version over the developed application. Not just messaging applications, but this strategy can be applied across multiple genres, services and products.
Created content must be challenging enough, when it comes to driving the organization towards newer heights. If a content marketing strategy is story-driven, it can automatically engage a wider audience across social platforms. This approach works way better than emojis and hashtags— things which are currently being used with minimal results.
#2. Focusing on Viral Video Content
The future of any marketing strategy revolves around the customer complexities which are often hard to comprehend via written content. This is where video content creation comes to the fore. Startups, which are looking to interact better with the customers, must look to create videos based on the already written topics and select storylines.
Opting for both the approaches is the best way forward for marketers. A survey conducted by HubSpot suggests that video content is the best way to drive higher number of customers as compared to the likes of photos and even texts.
While video marketing is one of the most effective strategies on-board, it diverges throughout— based on preferences, platforms and even requirements. If a startup is looking to share small videos, Instagram and Facebook are the best networking channels to work with. Media-centric businesses can leverage video streaming services like Cinemabox for featuring their work online.
Videos are great allies to the startups who are looking to target a specific niche and offer relevant content to the customer base.
#3. Including Native Advertisements into the Scheme of Things
Here is a thing— content creation is of no use if it isn’t platform specific. This is where native advertising comes to play— allowing marketers to create platform specific content and share the same across relevant domains. Going native means that the marketing strategy is designed precisely for that platform where the content needs to be posted.
This is a new approach with multiple iterations, supporting the same. Native advertisements, however, should be compelling and visually driven for them to work perfectly. The actual concept is to grab the attention of the existing user base which is growing increasingly impatient with each passing day.
The likes of Megabox are opting for a similar strategy by offering HD content via streaming services. Native advertisements are not only being used by these providers offering streamed content but also by the likes of Buzzfeed who integrate the same alongside the non-sponsored content pieces.
#4. Resorting to Influencer Marketing
Have you ever considering interacting with individuals who have massive number of followers over social media? This is one approach, frequently adopted by startups to market and sell their product across multiple platforms. Influencer marketing or as well call it helps a small business monetize the trust of the customers.
Be it recruiting influential people for brand promotions or opting for a sponsored approach towards marketing— this strategy is here to stay and might be immensely popular in 2017. The only tip would be to provide value along with the advertisements— so as to avoid penalties.
Bottom Line
A marketing strategy can easily be defined as the core of any organization. While marketers need to rely upon organic methods to increase traffic and sell their services, these four strategies might just be the future of marketing, especially for the startups and other small business owners.
Image: Marketing Strategy Brainstorming Solution Concept
