Best Marketing Approach for Start-ups in Nigeria

Compiled by: The Next Titan 

Startups often assume marketing is only necessary once they're established with a high turnover, but it should be part of their business from the beginning.

 

Few businesses would think twice about getting financial advice – but many still think they can muddle through doing the marketing themselves. But the two most important things for a startup business are finance and marketing. Startups should be speaking to marketing agencies from the beginning – even if it is just sitting down and having a chat in order to get some serious insight from an expert.

 

Marketing takes time, it’s not something that happens overnight with a magic “push”.What’s even more important is that 99% of people don’t sign up for your product when they hear about you for the first time. They need to read about, hear about, see stuff you did many many times before they sign up.

Marketing your startup in today's competitive business economy is undoubtedly difficult, but there are steps you can take to make sure your startup gets a fighting chance at success.Here are 6 easy giudes to get your company where it should be in the market.

1. Focus on Your Target Customer

When you first start marketing your business, it is easy to get overzealous and want to reach out to everyone at once all the time. However, it is important to stay focused on reaching your target customers who are mostly likely to help establish and grow your business.

Rather than trying to attract any potential customer, zero in on a target segment that will help you reach your short-term goals. Maybe this target segment is made up of early adopters, who you think will buy your product quickly — or quite simply, they may be a target audience you know how to reach. Whatever the case, staying focused will help you reach your target customer more efficiently, and it is a better use of your limited resources. 

 

2. Build Strategic Partnerships

Aligning yourself with an established brand will help your startup gain credibility. Choose a business that you are enthusiastic about — ideally one that has complementary services so that you can refer business to each other. You can always consider implementing a referral fee on both sides, so that there is a monetary incentive on top of the new business partnerships that each of you will bring in.

 

3. Engage in Community Outreach

Getting featured in your local news outlets is a great way to gain some brand awareness. Reach out to your local newspaper or radio and tell them about your new business venture, convince them why covering your business is worth their time and energy. Another option is to go back to your university or college, and see if they would be willing to publish your story in their student newspaper or website. Universities love to report on alumni who are doing cool things after graduation, so it never hurts to ask.

Another way to market your startup through community outreach is by sponsoring local events or competitions. If you're still looking for investors, sponsoring a tech startup competition would garner targeted publicity and investor awareness. Additionally, you could reach out to bloggers and send them a product to review, or hook them up with the service you provide. 

 

4. Incentivize People to Share

If you want people to talk about your product or service, there's nothing quite like giving them an incentive to do so. Offer an immediate discount for tweeting about your product or service, or ask them to post about it on Facebook. Or, in exchange for "liking" your company — maybe they could receive some additional perk.

Another way to incentivize your customers is through a contest. Get creative with how you incentivize your customers; just make sure there is actual value in it for them.

 

5 Leverage Social Media

One of the obvious tactics for marketing your startup is using social media. However, there are right and wrong ways of using social media marketing. You want to make sure that you are posting consistently, and that you are engaging with your customers. You don't want your Twitter and Facebook platforms to just spout off promotional information about your company. Instead, post interesting and shareable information. You want the content you offer to have value — it's crucial to know your audience so you can give them information that is either helpful, interesting — or both.

You should always consider which platforms make the most sense for your startup. If you can market your product best visually, focus your energies on Instagram or Pinterest. If you offer a service that is best expressed by sharing information, develop a strong Twitter or Facebook presence. With Twitter in mind, be sure to use it to engage B2B as well as B2C. Thank anyone who mentions your business in their articles, and even engage with your competitors from time to time — this puts your brand on the map, and can bolster relationships with people in your industry.

 

6. Consider Video Marketing

Today there are many more platforms for video marketing, you don’t need a huge budget to get your video message out to hundreds, thousands, even millions of potential customers.

It doesn’t take a ton of money to create marketing videos today. In fact some hit videos have been recorded with phone cameras! The very best platform for video marketing is YouTube. Your marketing videos can be hosted on your own blog or static website, but YouTube has a high Google ranking. It doesn’t hurt that Google owns YouTube!

Due to the popularity of YouTube your start-up can be discovered by millions if your video catches on. This is know as going viral.People love interesting and creative videos. Commercials or marketing videos don’t have to be dry or boring. By showing the lighter side of you or your business, you’ll be more likely to bring customers to your start-up or entice potential backers.

The more creative and interesting your video is, the more likely you’ll have a viral hit. Don’t be discouraged if your first few have low hits, just keep trying new ideas!If you’re going to jump into video marketing, now is the time.

TheNextTitan is the premier entrepreneurship Reality show in Nigeria.