Startup Marketing: 5 Tips for the Brand New Startup

Starting a business can be both a daunting and exciting adventure. From attracting investors to hiring staff and finding a physical space to work, startup founders have a lot on their plates. However, one thing a startup can't overlook when getting off the ground is marketing. Use this guide to get the right start in startup marketing.

In order to get customers, you have to make sure that people know about you!

One important realm of marketing for startups to focus on is inbound marketing -- particularly content marketing. Not only is content marketing a great way for startups to draw in new customers, it's also a chance for brand new companies to prove themselves as valuable thought leaders in their field, and to show the world that they have something worthwhile to say. If you're a business decision-maker at a startup that's just getting off the ground, the following tips will help you start tackling your content marketing efforts.

1. Figure Out Your Audience

Before you start coming up with content and putting it on the web, you need to figure out who you want your audience to be. For example, are you targeting teenagers, business executives or school teachers? It's important to know who you're going to be addressing before you start writing so that you can make sure you're talking to them the right way -- and in the right places. Determine the type of people you're reaching out to, then shape your company's voice around that demographic. This will help you make sure that your language appeals to the right ears. Also, being specific about your audience from the start will help you determine which channels or platforms you should use to distribute your content.

See also: Who am I? Finding Your Brand Voice as a Startup

2. Set Measurable Goals

Creating awesome content for startup marketing is only a worthwhile endeavor if you're actually getting people to read that content. Otherwise, it can be a waste of both time and resources. To make sure that your content is doing what you want it to do, you should set measurable goals for it. This can include things like gaining a certain number of newsletter signups from your content, reaching a certain number of social media shares, or even directing a set volume of traffic to your site. Check in regularly to make sure that your content is helping you meet those goals. If not, tweak them. Also, make sure to set goals that are realistic. Analytics tools like Google Analytics can help give you insight into how well your content is doing.

Read more: How to Set Content Goals and Actually Achieve Them

3. Determine the Workflow for Startup Marketing

There can be a lot of steps to create content and get it out into the world. Some startups have dedicated writers to do things like craft blogs and create witty social media posts. Others outsource writers from companies like Scripted and then handle the posting of the content in-house. To make sure that your content gets posted regularly and in an organized manner, come up with a content workflow that makes the entire content creation process as easy and effortless as possible. Determine who will come up with content ideas, who will write and edit the content, who will post it or distribute it, and who will help promote it. Figuring out the workflow in advance, and letting your entire team know about that process, will ensure that the system stays consistent and nothing falls through the cracks.

Read More: How to Create a Writing Process That Saves You Time

4. Keep SEO Optimization In Mind While You Write

SEO is critical for startup marketing. You're a brand new business, so chances are there aren't too many backlinks to your company or content out there on the web. Thus, to make sure your content comes up high in search engine results, it can help to focus on optimizing your content's SEO. While SEO can be a tricky science, some strategies include:

• Inserting relevant targeted keywords throughout the body of text

• Inserting keywords in titles and subheadings

• Writing with good grammar, punctuation, and spelling

• Coming up with a short, succinct meta-description with targeted keywords that can help search engines find and understand what your content has to say

Writing with SEO optimization in mind will boost the chances that a potential lead will discover your company when conducting a search on a channel like Google or Bing.

Read More: How to Rank High in Google Search in 2016

5. Check and Double Check Your Work

If you're the new guy on the block, you've got a lot to prove. Make sure that your content really shows you off by ensuring that it's extremely well-crafted. Do your research before you write, then make sure you cite any sources you used. When you're done writing, check for any spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors, then make sure you format the content so that it's visually appealing and is easily readable. If you make mistakes in your content, you look sloppy and unreliable, which can end up driving away potential customers.

Content marketing is one of the key pieces of the startup marketing puzzle for brand new startups, but mastering the art of content isn't too difficult once you get the hang of it. Once you share your great insights with the world, you can start to attract an awesome crowd of potential leads and paying customers, which will take your business from a brand new startup to a leader in the field.

Looking to start your content strategy today? Sign up with Scripted and find the perfect writer for your need!

 

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