Detailed Guide on Digital Marketing Strategies For Startups with Implementation Tips

We have compiled a list of our top seven essential elements to form digital marketing strategies for startups.

Digital marketing has garnered a lot of attention in recent years because of its highly effective ways to promote products and services at cheaper and affordable prices.

And since the time the world was hit with the deadly covid-19 pandemic, many businesses shut down and came to a halt. But with the help of digitalization and digital marketing, companies were able to survive and re-establish themselves.

Thus, digital marketing has proved to be one of the most effective ways for promoting, especially for small and medium businesses as it is easier and cheaper than traditional marketing.

Thus if you’re a start-up owner, you must upskill yourself and your employees with digital marketing. Consider taking this  or if you want a professional approach, then go for a digital marketing corporate training.

Once you’re aware of digital marketing, then comes the part of strategizing it and making optimum use of it. 

So with a little of what is discussed above let’s move to what a digital marketing strategy means.Contentsshow

What is a Digital Marketing Strategy?

A digital marketing strategy is a data-driven framework that states the specific marketing goals you want to achieve, the online channels to be used for the specific digital marketing campaign to achieve those goals, and most importantly, a budget that has been set aside for it.

It’s vital to make a schedule that includes all of the ideas you wish to implement. Have a backup/contingency strategy available in case of a mid-crisis for an even broader approach.

Check out these interesting case studies which are the best examples of digital marketing strategies put to use and benefitted from: 

• Case Study on Amazon’s Digital Marketing Strategy
• Case Study on Chipotle’s Digital Marketing Strategy
• Case Study on Flipkart’s Digital Marketing Strategy

After learning what a digital marketing strategy is, let’s look at why a startup needs to have one.

Importance of Digital Marketing Strategies for Startups

A digital marketing strategy is essential as it helps in giving you a sense of direction, the goals you have set and want to achieve, and the steps you need to take to achieve them.

This reduces any potential for errors and distractions, allowing you to concentrate solely on your goals. 

With a well-defined plan, all members of your team will be able to focus on the task at hand, allowing them to work more efficiently and productively so that they will be able to spend their time refining their duties.

You may also track your progress and ensure that the plan is followed with a structured plan. Changes can be made as necessary, based on the success and goals attained.

With a perfect mix of different digital marketing elements, you can form effective digital marketing strategies for startups that bring maximum results and the least costs. 

Also Read: Top 11 Benefits Of Digital Marketing for Businesses & Students 

This is why a digital marketing strategy is important in every business. 

Now without further ado, let us take a look at the digital marketing strategies tips that will help you plan an effective digital marketing campaign.

Top 8 Elements of Digital Marketing Strategies for Startups

1. Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website with informative content, page speed & security, keyword research, and more to enable your website to rank higher in the search results pages (SERP).

Every business out there optimizes its website to rank higher, and that is something achievable by any business no matter what the size. All it takes is research and hard work.

Here are some tips from our SEO trainers that can help you better rank your website.

• Meta Tags

(Red is the meta title & Blue is that Meta Description)

It’s important that when writing content, the focus keyword you are trying to rank on is present in the meta title & description. It tells google exactly what your content is about and helps to rank that page better.

• Site Speed:

It’s critical to improve the speed with which a website loads. 2-3 seconds is a perfect speed. If your pages take longer to load, around 40% of your potential visitors will exit your site.

• Keyword Research:

Keyword research helps greatly with effective search engine optimization. It’s important to identify what organic keywords your competitors rank for, and research the reviews they receive, awareness achieved, and content produced. 

It’s also crucial to find out what your customers are looking for and try to rank for those keywords that are relevant to your business.

• Backlinking:

One of the most popular ways of growing your website when you’re starting up is backlinking. Backlinking means hyperlinking other websites to your content. 

If you have a hyperlink on any 3rd party website, it can help build the credibility of your website too!

If you’re interested in learning more about search engine marketing, you can join our  to gain a greater grasp of what makes SEO so effective and learn from our expert trainers.

2. Social Media Marketing

The process of leveraging social media platforms to grow your brand, build and connect with your audience, and drive traffic to your website is known as social media marketing.

Social media has arguably become one of the most popular/successful digital marketing strategies used by many businesses.

Facebook, for example, has over 1.2 billion monthly active users, while Instagram has over 1.02 billion monthly active users. You may not only reach a larger target audience with these figures, but you can also use them to grow your business more successfully.

With these few tips below, your startup will be able to grow into a successful brand in due time.

• The first point is to research who your target audience is and choose the right social media platform.
• Second, you can make something called a “Content Calendar”. This is a collection of all your social media content such as posts, videos, stories, and more, in an organized structure that allows you to map out the days on which you will post your content. This will enable you to be consistent with your material and attract more viewers as time passes.

(Content Calendar)

• Thirdly, you should invest in high-quality video material. You may concentrate on creatively providing interesting information. That ensures viewers learn something new and continue to be interested in what they are seeing.

Interesting Read: New Instagram Reels Insights Features and How is it Going to Help Creators – Everything You Need to Know

Create an impactful social media presence organically as well as with paid efforts for your startup with our .

3. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a marketing method that entails creating and sharing valuable, informative, and consistent content to attract the attention of the target audience and generate profits.

It’s all about engaging with your audience and providing them with helpful material when it comes to content marketing. This can be done through blogs, videos, and other mediums. 

Users become more familiar with your brand and what you stand for as a result of the relevant information you provide.

Let’s look at some strategies for improving/expanding your content marketing approach.

• Consistency is crucial, which means you should post high-quality content on a regular basis. Two high-quality articles per week are far more valuable than five bad ones.
• It’s critical to assess the content you create and distribute. We’re not just merely looking at likes, views, and shares. We’re talking about employing analytical tools like Google Analytics to figure out why people are looking at your material. It could be because of the information you offer, the outcome of backlinking, or something else.
• Backing up your content with data is another way that can help interest your readers. Data should be as natural and crucial in your text as spell-checking. If you’re making a point, back it up with data and facts.

These are just a few ideas to help you improve your content marketing strategy! IIDE’s  can help you learn more about content marketing and how to develop a credible website.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a marketing strategy that informs the customers in your mail list about new products, services, and offers available.

Emails are considered to be the best mode of formal communication channels to interact with your consumers with customized and personalized messages. And now you can devise a digital marketing strategy around it.

Let’s take a look at some of the strategies you can use.

• Personalize your email, and by that, we don’t mean that you should send an individual email to each subscriber. Personalization refers to the process of creating a tailored message based on consumer information.
• Depending on the marketing campaign, segmentation can help you reach the right demographic. Email segmentation is the process of categorizing your email list into distinct groups. It has been demonstrated that it increases reader engagement in a variety of ways.

Build a powerful email list and target your customers correctly with this  which is a great place to start.

5. Search Engine Marketing – SEM

Search Engine Marketing is a popular form of digital marketing strategy. Search Engine Marketing means ranking higher on Google through paid advertisements. 

You can promote your website by increasing its visibility through SEM. With the number of websites competing on Google today, SEM strategies are very vital in getting traffic to your website and acquiring leads. 

Search engine advertising (SEM )can be an effective way to increase traffic to your website and grow your business. However, many small businesses end up losing a lot of money on advertising and are forced to close.

Bonus Read: Top Benefits of Search Engine Marketing

This is because they do not conduct the necessary research before advertising. Hence why we have listed down some ideas on how you can educate yourself and conduct SEM efficiently.

• Avoid something called “broad match keywords”. This means that when you’re setting up an ad for a specific keyword, you should avoid enabling the broad match option.
• Although broad matches give you more exposure, it also attracts irrelevant traffic, which can cost you extra money. 
• Many businesses fail to successfully match landing pages to advertisements. Sending a visitor from your PPC ad to an irrelevant landing page not only disrupts the sales process but can also result in poorer ad quality scores.
• As a result, you’ll spend more per click and have less exposure than advertising with better scores. To minimize ad and landing page combinations that aren’t appropriate, reduce the number of keywords you use. As a consequence, you’ll have the most appropriate landing pages possible.

Our  goes through all of the above in greater depth, ensuring that you are fully prepared for creating SEM campaigns.

6. Video Marketing

In short, the use of engaging video content in your digital marketing strategy to bring in awareness and grow your business to earn a profit is called video marketing.

Today, most of the users end up watching videos that are informative yet quirky and funny. People find it more visually appealing to watch videos than read a piece of content, and many times they end up sharing it.

• Make sure your videos are consistent, informative, and content-rich. This matters a lot as this can help viewers engagingly learn more about your business. 
• Make titles that are engaging and eye-catching. Make sure your video titles include your main keyword and are relevant to your brand. As a result, the title may be effective in attracting potential consumers.
  
• Use video to link to other pages on your website. Upload a few videos to video-sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, and consider linking to related content and other relevant videos on your site.

Also Read: How to Increase Conversion Rate By Using Animated Videos

7. Influencer Marketing

Influencers are the most recent market trend. Influencers are individuals that engage with their followers on social media platforms and influence them with their ideas on various topics. 

Audiences adore and trust their favorite influencers, therefore it’s best if they learn about you from those they know and trust. According to a survey undertaken by “mediakix”, 80 % of marketers believe influencer marketing is effective, and 89 percent believe it is as good as (if not better than) conventional marketing channels.

So, therefore, let’s take a look at how an influencer can help grow your startup.

• An influencer campaign requires a clearly defined goal as well as a target audience. If these two elements are not followed, the campaign will almost certainly fail.
• You must have a clear grasp of your objectives and who your target clients are to create an effective campaign.
• Make sure you don’t engage an influencer for a one-time deal when you’re looking for someone to promote your brand. You’ll be able to create a relationship with the influencer’s following if you build a relationship with them.

Case Study: Zomato’s Digital Marketing Strategy

8. Referral Marketing

A word-of-mouth effort created by a firm to incentivize existing customers to suggest their family, friends, and connections become new customers is known as referral marketing. Unlike pure word-of-mouth methods, which are largely consumer-driven and leave the firm unable to track, alter, or assess message content, referral marketing promotes and pays the referrer for allowing a company to do so.

This is a strategy that has lately gained traction among a number of businesses. Referral marketing is efficient since it benefits not only the firm but also the individual who has opted to take on the duty of referring them because they receive a percentage of the entire transaction made by the referee.

Now with the elements covered, let us take a look at the steps that you can take to build and enforce an effective digital marketing strategy.

Steps for Forming Successful Digital Marketing Strategies For Startups:

The above-mentioned elements are the most important factors to consider while developing a digital marketing plan. The focus of any digital marketing strategy is to have a combination of them in the proper balance. 

Here’s how to create digital marketing plans for a new business:

1. You can start by creating a social media account to build your brand’s presence and awareness. Run sponsored posts and articles about your company or the product you wish to promote on social media networks.

2. You can also begin Influencer Marketing along with a social media account. Allow influencers to create a sense of mystery surrounding your brand/product. When a large number of influential people talk about something, it might pique people’s interest.

3. With this, you’ve generated a fair amount of awareness. Now is the time to actively start optimizing your website with SEO, Content Writing, and SEM.

4. Find out how much traffic is coming in and where it is coming from using an analytics tool like Google Analytics and Search Console. Start promoting to individuals who clicked on your advertisements, be it from social media or blog posts.

5. These are your prospective consumers, and they must be further pushed in the funnel to make a purchase. Use remarketing techniques to tap into the already interested users. Remarket using discount offers or limited period sale coupons, etc. 

6. Keep track of how many sales you made with each technique and compare it to prior ones. You can do this by adding UTM parameters to your landing/sales page. Take a look at what worked for you and make a decision based on the data provided.

7. And lastly, to retain your consumers make use of email marketing with automated emails. Topics covered can be discounts, birthday celebrations, new product releases, loyalty program bonuses, and more.

That’s all you need to know to develop a successful digital marketing strategy. We hope this article helped you gain a better understanding of the topic.

We understand that it may get a little overwhelming to begin with, but with the right professional help and guidance, you will be able to start in the right direction. 

IIDE offers a 360 degree customized digital marketing corporate training, which has been crafted by industry specialists to help you grow your business.

As we’ve seen over the previous year, a solid digital marketing strategy is the only way for a business to flourish in today’s digital world.

Volkswagen, Abbott (a well-known pharmaceutical firm), Asian Paints, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, Mahindra & Mahindra, Cipla, and other companies have benefited from our corporate training program.

This article was originally published at Iide.co, by author Aneri Joshi.
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