The arrival of free and fast internet in India has surely transformed the ways in which consumers engage with brands. For multiple startups, the old ways of marketing their businesses are irrelevant and unsustainable as a magnitude of them operate out of digital platforms like websites and mobile applications.
Although what hasn’t changed over these years is that consumers still seek a clear brand promise and the value a product or service can add to their lives. Depending on whether your startup is a B2C or a B2B model you can determine multiple touch points where your target audience will be most open to influence, and ways in which your communication can interact with them at those points.
In the past, start-up marketing strategies would typically align the lion’s share of resources into building brand awareness and a strong recall would encourage the customer to finally open his wallet and make a purchase.
However, when you market in a digital world the touch points change in both number and nature, requiring a major shift in the marketing strategy and budgets that provide a constant reminder of the brand’s existence to its target audience.
From sparking a new conversation on digital media, marketing in a digital world requires your start-up to be a part of the conversations the consumers are already having.
Where Can A Start-Up, Start From?
Of course, any start-up begins its journey by identifying it’s ideal target audience and their demographics. However, a deep investigation of a customer’s decision journey determines a successful marketing strategy that might as well extend the boundaries of the brand itself.
The details of a careful digital strategy will vary at every stage, according to the company’s products, target segments, campaign strategy, and the decided media mix.
A well thought marketing plan includes everything, from where and how will the consumers’ gain awareness about the brand to the discussions and engagement on social media to the final buying experience and continued interactions with the company and the retailer that build brand loyalty.
Relentless social media feeds that contain Canva creatives or paid marketing tactics such as promoted posts or email bursts will only exhaust your budgets and gain no movement in the constantly evolving, noisy digital world. All they achieve is a significant presence on digital media which will no longer sustain the increasing requirements of leeds for business growth.
Your plan and budgets must include these three clear bifurcations of media channels – paid media, owned media, and earned media.
Paid Media: As the name goes, this form of marketing includes everything from your promoted posts to paid collaborations with an influencer. From attractive graphic layouts that seamlessly include your pricing to influencer reels that unbox your packaging and product – your paid media should build a strong awareness and affinity for your brand.
Owned Media: These include your mobile app, your websites, blogs on the websites and the social media handles that you control. You can excel at these areas by creating easy-to-use interfaces, fun to read content and active updates that comply with your audience’s current needs. Owned media requires minimum budgets but an active supervision on your part. To enhance the performance of your owned media you must become a platform analytics expert who has a working knowledge of SEO and SEM.
Earned Media – These are customer-created channels or communities of your brand enthusiasts which require no investment but an excellent brand experience. This stage of marketing is extremely volatile especially in a digital world. After the awareness of your brand has been successfully created, this drives the consideration set as the digital consumer is heavily driven by external validation. Inputs from peers, reviewers, retailers, and the social media accounts they follow – every area determines the final conversion. These media channels also lay a lot of focus on the interactions that happen after a successful conversion.
What They See Vs. What They Do:
Start-ups are known to have sparse marketing budgets which puts a lot of burden on making the right choices with the available resources.
You see, consumers living in a digital world have a magnitude of products and brands in mind at every stage. Their preferences are majorly driven by previous experiences, but their attitudes and consideration is where you can really make a profound impact.
For example, a highly-product driven brand that wants to be preferred for it’s remarkably low price and quality similar to that of their competitor, having a strong e-commerce presence is a must. Contrary to the popular belief, consumers do not start their journey with a simple Google search. They login to sites like Amazon and other e-commerce sites where a rich and expanding array of price-comparison information, consumer and expert ratings, and visuals help them make a final choice.
Align your marketing budgets in strict response to the platforms and touch points where your USPs can shine and your excellence can make a mark.
Even the most successful global brands customize their approaches according to their category, brand position, and channel relationships. Apple does not invest time in consumer data-mining and personalised communication but constantly creates content that helps an average Microsoft consumer get accustomed to the brand’s disruptive design and products. Nike’s presence on search engines shows little distinctiveness from it’s competitors but they focus on telling compelling stories with athletes who are capable of inspiring transformational journeys. McDonald’s hasn’t focused on leveraging a core company website but promise witty responses on various social media platforms and emoji wars that reinstate the notion of their quick service. Your decisions must be deliberate, grounded, and have a clear sense of priorities.
The Point Is…
You may find marketing in the digital world difficult and overwhelming, but you can catch a breath and understand that changes in the digital world are not incremental—they are fundamental.
Consumers’ perception of a brand has always been the core of any marketing campaign, but the phenomenal reach, speed, and interactivity of digital touch points makes close attention to the brand experience essential. At many start-ups the founder brings to this role the needed vision and the power to enforce it. Now is the time for your budding brand to establish a stronger position in the market and make consumers’ brand experience central to the final marketing strategy.