If you’re looking to grow your startup business in Singapore, you’ve probably considered the many different ways that platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be used to gain massive exposure.
While these channels can be extremely effective at gaining brand recognition and driving traffic to your site, there’s another digital marketing platform that you might want to consider.
This one provides a unique mix of SEO and viral tools that can help you grow your business effectively and quickly.
1. Build SEO For Your Startup
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of influencing the rankings of web pages in search results for specific keywords. The higher your SEO rankings, the more opportunities you have to attract visitors to your site.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to get started with SEO on your own website. You can use free tools like Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools) to track the performance of your SEO efforts and identify areas for improvement.
2. Content Marketing
As the name suggests, content marketing is all about creating and distributing content that is valuable and relevant to your audience.
This might include anything from blog posts to e-books, webinars, and how-to guides. Your content may also take the form of videos, which can be tremendously effective in today’s content-centric world. Videos that explain how to use your product or service effectively, for example, can help your target audience understand and appreciate your offering more easily.
3. Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is a form of promotional marketing that pays for impressions or clicks. The most common forms of paid advertising are search engine marketing (SEM), which helps your web page show up when potential customers type in “keywords” that are relevant to your product or service; social media marketing (SMM), which helps you gain visibility and engagement on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter; and display advertising, which involves showing your ad on websites and blogs across the World Wide Web.
There are a variety of paid advertising platforms that you can use to get started. For example, Google AdWords, which is a type of SEM, can be used to target specific keywords and phrases as well as measure the performance of your ads. Similarly, Facebook Ads, which is a type of SMM, can be used to target users based on demographics and interests. And if you’re already using social media to promote your business, you could consider exploring video advertising, which is becoming a highly effective form of content marketing.
4. Email Marketing
Electronic mail marketing (email marketing) is the process of using email to promote your product or service. Marketers use email marketing to send out regular product or service-related announcements, engage with customers, and follow up on sales. In 2019, email marketing is a form of marketing that can be used to reach your target audience whether they’re on the web or mobile phone.
You can use email marketing platforms like MailChimp and AWeber to get started with email marketing on your own business’ website. These platforms allow you to set up automated email campaigns that can be sent to specific groups of people (based on demographics and interests) when certain actions occur (e.g., visiting your website, making a purchase, etc.).
5. Influencer Marketing
In 2019, as the world becomes more of a global village, influencers are becoming an essential part of virtually every industry. If you want to grow your business successfully, you need to consider the important role that influential people can play in your venture.
Influencers are people who hold vast amounts of social media clout and can heavily influence the purchasing decisions of people who follow them. If you want to try influencer marketing, you can easily get started using free tools like Hootsuite and TikTok to find and connect with influential people in your niche. You should also look into partnering with reputable influencers in your niche to spread your message and gain credibility.
6. Video Production
In today’s digital world, consumers increasingly prefer to learn about products and services through visual content, especially videos. In fact, according to HubSpot Blogs survey data, 89% of consumers learn about new products and services through video content.
Producing helpful videos can be a great way to learn and display expertise and can also increase your website’s conversion rate. When done right, video production can also be a powerful tool for marketing and branding. Why? Videos can be shared online quickly and easily and, in some cases, may even reach a larger audience than the one that originally viewed them.
The key to effective video production is to put yourself in the viewer’s shoes and consider what they want to learn about your product or service. To make matters more complex, you need to consider the type of content that will make your audience engaged and interested in your video.
7. Mobile Marketing
In 2019, consumers increasingly access the web and mobile phone apps from all different devices, making it more important than ever for marketers to ensure their content can be viewed and used effectively on smaller screens.
If you want to take your marketing and branding efforts online, you need to make sure that websites and mobile apps are formatted correctly to suit various screen sizes. Moreover, you need to make sure that your content can be read easily and doesn’t require people to zoom in to properly view it. Finally, marketers need to ensure that their content can be shared easily via social platforms like Facebook and Twitter so that everyone can learn about their products and services.
Luckily, there are simple solutions to most of these problems. For example, you can use responsive web design to create websites and apps that look great on any device. And to make sure that your content is shared correctly, you can use tools like Hootsuite and TikTok to schedule and coordinate your social media posts.
At this point, you should have a good understanding of the various tactics that can be used to grow a business. Armed with this knowledge, you can use the following strategies to ensure that your marketing efforts are both effective and efficient.
10 Tips For Startup Success
Having a dream and a vision is essential for any business, especially a startup. Having well-thought-out objectives and a clear idea of how you intend to achieve them can assist you in creating the right business culture, and ensure your employees are engaged and committed to the company’s success.
Many entrepreneurs work hard to establish their businesses but often don’t consider the subtle yet important ways in which they might be hindering their progress. The following advice will help you avoid such mistakes and equip you to succeed as a startup.
- Set A Suitable Workplace Environment
When you start a business, there are several aspects of the working environment that you will need to consider. Depending on the nature of the business, you might need to equip your employees with various types of technology, so having a reliable and modern infrastructure is a must. Similarly, you will need to set the right tone at the workplace by considering the kind of culture and environment you wish to promote.
It’s important to have a peaceful and comfortable work environment that is free from distractions. Too many things coming in from all angles can disrupt both your mental and physical faculties, leaving you prone to errors and accidents. In addition to this, you might also need to set up a suitable workstation for your employees. Having a comfortable desk or a stool is essential, as, without them, it’s physically impossible to sit in front of your computer for long periods.
- Choose Your Team For Maximum Effect
The individuals you choose to work with on your team will have a massive impact on your success as a startup, so it’s essential to find people who share your values and have the capabilities you need to succeed. It is also important to realize that your team’s dynamics will change over time, so it’s essential to consider what you’re going to need a year from now, versus what you need now.
If you’re looking for someone to bring technical expertise to your team, then you need to choose someone who has this capability and who also shares your drive and passion for what you’re doing. However, if you’ve chosen your team well and they’re all sharing the same drive and passion for your product, then that’s all you need—no technical expertise is required.
- Don’t Be Fooled By Popularity
When you’re starting a business, it’s easy to be suckered into thinking that just because a certain product or service is popular, this means it’s good and will succeed. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Many businesses that were hugely popular in their day died a slow and painful death, due to poor product design, lack of innovation, and most importantly, poor strategy. Your goal as a startup is to go beyond simply copying what others have done and to instead create something unique and valuable.
If your goal is to simply copy something that’s already out there and just change the packaging and add a couple of features, then you might as well be doing it for free, since someone else will certainly step up to take your place once you’ve released your product.
- Dress To Impress
A lot of entrepreneurs start their businesses in their pajamas and jeans since this is usually all they have to work with. However, this can quickly lose you customers and presenters if you don’t dress the part. Depending on the nature of your business, you might need to consider investing in some professional attire. Even just a simple pair of pants and a sweater will make a massive difference.
If you have investors or potential customers coming to your office, then they’ll want to see you dress appropriately. For larger companies, this might mean investing in a suit and a tie.
- Get Inspired
In order to create something new and valuable, it’s essential to get inspired by everything around you. Ideally, your workplace should be a source of creative inspiration, whether this is due to the nature of your business or the products you use daily. If you feel this is lacking, then you might consider taking a short break to pursue other interests and get refreshed.
One way of getting inspired is by reading biographies of successful and famous people. These individuals have achieved what you’re looking for in life because they were constantly getting inspired by something, somewhere, or someone. It’s easy to become disheartened when you’re looking for ways to improve your business, but keeping your passion and excitement for what you do is what will get you there.
- Stay Focused
It’s easy for the focus to slip away, particularly when you’re starting a business and have so much on your plate. This is why it’s important to make sure that you don’t let anything distract you from what you need to be doing. Having a clear organizational system and sticking to this methodically will be vital to your success. In addition to this, it’s also important to take time out for self-reflection and consider whether or not what you’re doing is actually solving a problem for the customer.
When your customers are experiencing success because of what you do, this is the moment you know you’re on the right track. However, it’s also important to continuously monitor whether or not what you’re doing satisfies the needs of the customer and improves their experience. This is something that can’t be taught; it’s a skill that comes with experience.
- Protect Your Intellectual Property
Your product, whether it’s a physical thing or a service, is now your biggest asset. This is why it’s essential to protect it and ensure it’s built to the highest standards and with the most innovative technology available. It’s also important to consider who you’re sharing it with and whether or not they have the same drive and attention to detail as you do.
When it comes to protecting your intellectual property, there are several options available. If you’re looking for an easy way to create a business that’s almost impossible to knock off, then taking advantage of the internet is the simplest and most efficient way to go. However, if what you’re looking for is a way to protect the unique value your product adds to the world, then creating a limited company with the assistance of a lawyer is the most efficient and pragmatic way to ensure this.
- Be Brave
Even though you might not feel you have anything to lose, being brave is always the answer. If you’re looking for capital, then you might need to take a more conventional route and look for investors who share your same vision and values. However, if you’re looking for a way to make your business more autonomous, then it might be worth considering whether or not to take this route.
Taking risks is inevitable when you’re pushing boundaries and attempting to do things that haven’t been done before. When you’re starting a business, you need to remember that only rarely does something work out perfectly the first time it’s tried.
This is why it’s important to be prepared for the unexpected and to have backups or fall-back plans in case things don’t work out as planned. With a little bit of luck and some forward thinking, you can ensure that you’re taking the best possible route to your goals and that this business is a success story.
