How to Get Clients for a New Business: Startup Marketing Strategies to Find Paying Customers

Only one in five startups survive in the market after five years, and less than 10% continue to operate after ten years. The success of a startup is often determined by its market strategy. It allows customers to discover and see a product from the bright side, so they want to invest money in it.

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You may want to develop an approach that makes your brand feel familiar and accessible to your clients. It requires utilising language that resonates with your audience and engages them to interact. The most effective method to get customers to pay attention to your business is by having an online presence.

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In this marketing guide for startups, we’ll discuss useful strategies to connect with their audience and reach success.

Initial Steps to Market Your Startup Effectively

Choosing an effective startup marketing strategy from the get-go is a significant step toward gaining traction. Here are some initial steps you can take to get the word out about your company and attract your ideal customers:

• Define your target customer. Before developing any marketing campaigns, you need to clearly understand who you're trying to reach. Identify the needs of your ideal customer, their demographics, and behaviours by conducting in-depth market research. Send out surveys, analyse competitors, talk to your first clients and leverage market data to build a detailed customer profile.  
• Determine the channels to reach them. Once you know who you want to target, research where they spend their time online and offline. What social media platforms or blogs do they frequent? What trade shows or conferences do they attend? Identifying the right marketing channels will allow you to connect with your audience efficiently.
• Craft your brand story and messaging. You need to communicate what makes your company special. Come up with branding that reflects your startup's values and mission. Develop key messages and value propositions that resonate with your target customer. Your brand story and messaging should convey how your product or service uniquely solves your customer's needs.
• Create a startup marketing strategy and plan. With your target audience, channels, branding, and messaging in place, map out a comprehensive marketing plan. Set measurable objectives and metrics. Determine activities and campaigns to launch your startup and generate buzz. Outline a timeline and budget for execution. A thoughtful strategy will provide direction and focus for your marketing efforts.
• Leverage your network first. Start marketing to people within your network — friends, family, and colleagues. They can provide that initial traction and validation for your startup before you branch out further. Ask for referrals to people who may be interested in what you offer.
• Make the product you will use. Thoroughly understand the problem you are solving from a customer perspective. By genuinely addressing an unmet need and providing real value, you will attract your ideal audience.
• Focus on branding. Nearly 9 in 10 customers say the brand experience a company offers is as crucial as the goods or services it provides. Invest time upfront in cultivating your brand through compelling visuals, messaging, content, and an overall cohesive experience. It will allow you to stand out, build awareness, and foster loyalty with your customers.

While launching a startup presents many unknowns, following these initial steps will get you on the right path to marketing your company strategically and minimising the risk of failure.

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Do the legwork early on to validate your assumptions and connect with the customers who need what you offer. With persistence and continual optimization, you can build traction and bring your startup idea to life.

Robust Marketing Strategies That Will Get Your Startup First Clients

The success of your marketing depends on how you spread the word about your product and the efforts to make clients talk about it. We want to share some robust marketing strategies that can help your startup find success.

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Marketing for a young company is all about sharing information. Communicate to others the products or services you provide and explain the benefits they will receive from them. But don't make the mistake of thinking marketing is separate from developing your startup. The two need to evolve together.

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Here, we outline several marketing tactics to expand awareness and share insights on how to get clients. Those methods go beyond creating a website or buying some ads.

Look for Partnerships

Joining forces strategically with the right partners can assist you in tapping into a broader customer base, building trustworthiness, and pooling assets. Seek out allies whose ideals match yours, contact them about potentially working together, and investigate win-win situations, like reciprocal advertising.

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The advantages of business partnership:

• expanding market reach;
• leveraging complementary strengths;
• sharing resources and cost-efficiency;
• accelerating innovation and research & development.

One example of such partnership is the music-streaming app Spotify partnering with the ride-hailing app Uber to create a soundtrack for your ride. It’s a great example of a co-branding partnership between two very different products with a similar goal of earning more users.

Build Online Presence

Your brand communicates your values, personality, and unique selling proposition to your customers through its online presence. The initial interaction with potential customers often occurs through your website, making it an important marketing tool. A website that is easy to navigate and provides valuable information can help you build trust and credibility with your audience.

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A powerful brand image can assist in setting yourself apart from rivals and developing a devoted clientele. Combining a well-designed website, social media profile, and strong branding can attract more visitors, convert them into customers, and increase your revenue.

Show That Your Product Is “The One”

Show your buyer that you have a better offer than everyone else. Back up your claims by providing supporting evidence like reviews and testimonials from previous clients. Assure the buyer that your product is the best and only option by sharing stories how it helped in similar to your customer cases.

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Share positive feedback, endorsements, or product portfolios to show how you have helped other customers. Social proof is a powerful tool in building trust and convincing customers to buy from you.

Strengthen Your Network

Explore local business networking groups in your industry and attend some of their meetings. Focus on sharing how you can help others rather than how they can help you. Connecting with other business owners is a great way to sniff out prospects, whether you sell B2B or B2C.

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Being part of a networking group, such as District32, where members actively support each other and are invested in taking their businesses to the next level, you’ll get opportunities to test your startup marketing strategy and gain insights into what’s worked for others. You’ll also stay up to date with current trends and have access to marketing professionals willing to share their knowledge.

Don’t Miss Industry Events

Despite the growth of digital communication, industry trade shows — in-person, virtual, or a mix of both — continue to be a leading way for B2B businesses to network and showcase their offerings. These events bring together organisations in a particular field, regardless of format, so they can connect and highlight their newest goods and solutions.

Industry events give companies the chance to:

• establish or strengthen relationships with key partners and customers;
• identify market trends and opportunities;
• get insights about their competition.

Nearly half of B2B marketers said that in-person events produced the best results in the last year. The pandemic-driven new normal compelled the creative use of technology to augment trade show opportunities.

Propose Extra Benefits

Letting new customers try your product for free or at a good discount removes the risk of paying for something they end up not liking. Of course, you need to ensure your product delivers value, so people want to become paying customers after the trial. But a free or cheap trial is a great way to get conversions when you're starting.

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Sweeten the deal by offering potential customers something extra for free. For example, a food delivery service could offer free delivery for the first 5 orders. A SaaS company could provide premium support or setup assistance.

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People love getting benefits and something for free. Having an extra incentive beyond your product can entice sceptical customers to give you a try.

Keep Connections

Building a successful startup is not just about acquiring new clients. It's equally important to foster and maintain relationships with your early adopters. These pioneering customers, who believed in your product or service from the beginning, are more than just buyers – they are your allies, providing valuable feedback and helping your startup grow.

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The early adopters can become advocates who recommend you to others. More than that, they can evolve into lasting bonds that will enrich your business for years. Keep the lines of communication open and show them some love. Their insights and support will be invaluable as you grow and improve.

Don’t Forget to Post Regularly

Consistently posting engaging content is one of the best ways to build relationships with your clients and prospects. Here are some tips for posting regularly:

• Schedule your posts in advance. Using a social media management tool like Hootsuite allows you to plan posts for the whole week or month.
• Vary your content types. Post a mix of articles, images, videos, quotes, and polls to keep things interesting. Don't just post promos for your business. Share a mix of helpful info, fun stuff, and company news.
• Post at optimal times. Study when your followers are most active online and aim to post during those high-traffic windows. Mornings and evenings often see high engagement.
• Engage with your audience. Don't just broadcast content. Have conversations by responding to comments and questions.
• Post consistently across platforms. Tailor content for each platform, but post daily on your core channels like Instagram and LinkedIn.
• Analyse what works. Pay attention to which types of posts get the most engagement. Do more of that.

The most important thing is that people know your business is out there.

Make Clients Refer to You

You never know where a great referral will come from, so alert your social media connections, neighbours, former co-workers, and even your distant cousins that you’re looking for customers. Enlist your spouse, friends, and other connections to help brainstorm ideas for first clients.

Develop These Marketing Channels to Reach the Right Audience in a More Effective Way

Today, everyone has a smartphone and Internet connection. There are various channels you can use to reach your audience:

Social Media Accounts

With a social media account on platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, you can provide an opportunity for your target customers to gather and connect, discuss their challenges, and learn. You can also share resources and position your company and brand as someone who can help.

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Social media marketing is effective because it:

• reduces marketing spend while increasing qualified leads;
• drives brand engagement, “humanisation,” and trust;
• supports and improves SEO performance.

For example, 97% of B2B companies use LinkedIn for social media marketing.

Websites

Websites are flexible marketing tools that operate continuously to assist you in interacting with your customers and expanding your company. If you're not ready for a complete website, begin with a landing page. Landing pages are an excellent approach to gathering email addresses, selling a product, or giving people a fast summary of your business, your latest offerings, or the services.

Emails

Through regular email communication, startups have a direct line to share company updates, blog posts, new products, special offers, and more. Here are some tips to make the most of your startup's email strategy:

• share company updates;
• send blog post summaries;
• announce new products/services.

Segment your list and customise emails when possible to show subscribers you care.

Offline Marketing

Even though online marketing is the primary concern for many new companies, traditional promotional methods that don't use the Internet still have a lot of merit. Here are a few ideas:

• create business cards or brochures;
• send postcards;
• get people talking.

People are more likely to become customers when they hear rave reviews about your company, offerings, or service from those they know and trust, like friends, family, or colleagues. Getting a glowing recommendation urges them to check you out.

More Tips That Will Help with Business Promotion at the Start

Here are some more tips to help promote your startup:

• Make a list of potential clients. Think about who you already know — acquaintances, friends, colleagues — who might be interested in your product or service. Reach out to them personally to tell them about your new venture. Word-of-mouth referrals can be hugely valuable.
• Look for influencers. Seek out people who are well-networked and can tell others about your business. Ask them to share info about your startup with their contacts. Offer them a discount or free trial in exchange.
• Take on a few pro bono clients. Offer your product or service for free to a handful of new customers. In exchange, ask them for testimonials and feedback about their experience working with you. It helps you build credibility.
• Partner up. Reach out to complementary businesses to explore partnership opportunities. They may be willing to promote you to their customer base in exchange for you doing the same.
• Run promotions for new customers. Offer discounts or incentives that are exclusive to new clients signing up. It can encourage word-of-mouth referrals.
• Get out and mingle. Use networking events, conferences, and industry meetups as a chance to meet and build relationships with your future customers. Have an elevator pitch ready to describe what you do.
• Create scarcity and urgency. Market your product as a “limited edition” item that customers need to act fast to purchase. This tactic taps into the fear of missing out.

Implementing small, smart marketing tactics can go a long way toward getting the word out and winning new customers.

The Best Strategy Is to Use a Combination of Ideas and Tactics

There is no single solution that will guarantee your success. The key is to try combining different strategies and tactics, and through experimentation, you'll find what works for your unique situation. No matter what direction you go, keep these two principles in mind:

• Don't be afraid to try. Some ideas will work, some won't, but you'll never know unless you give new strategies and tactics a shot.
• Don't be afraid to repeat yourself. Startups can easily be forgotten, so you need to reiterate your message to your audience constantly. Promote your product and its value at every opportunity.

Good startups utilise a mix of ideas and tactics and aren't afraid to try new things or repeat themselves to stay at the forefront of customers' minds. While startups can be risky, with a willingness to experiment and persist, you'll find the right combination of strategies that leads to success.

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