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6 Ways to Ace Social Media Branding for Your Startup

December 15, 2023 No Comments

Social media offers a level playing field for startups to build their brand presence, but the high competition necessitates a strategic and streamlined social media branding approach.

Did you know that there are over 4.62 billion active social media users worldwide? With such a massive audience, it’s no wonder that startups are leveraging social media branding to create a strong online presence and grow their businesses. But the competition is steep, and you must apply a strategic approach to stand out and make heads turn! So, let’s delve into the world of social media branding for startups. We’ll explore how to build a strong image and thrive in the digital landscape.

The power of social media branding for startups

Social media branding offers numerous benefits for budding startups. It’s not just about creating a logo or a catchy tagline; it’s about creating a unique recognition and following online that resonates with your audience.

First, increased brand awareness is surely one of its biggest benefits. Startups can harness social media platforms for branding by actively responding to customer feedback, initiating meaningful conversations through targeted content and hosting interactive sessions like Q&As or live streams to engage directly with their audience. This proactive approach fosters trust and builds a loyal community around the brand.

Enhanced customer engagement is another unique advantage of social branding. Platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn provide a unique opportunity for startups to interact directly with their customers and build lasting relationships. On Twitter, startups can engage in real-time conversations, respond to feedback, and address concerns, while LinkedIn allows for professional networking, sharing industry insights and fostering community discussions.

Similarly, startups can create community groups, host live sessions and run targeted ads to foster engagement on Facebook. With its visual-centric approach, Instagram allows brands to showcase their products, share behind-the-scenes content, and collaborate with influencers for wider reach.

But it’s not just about engagement and awareness. Effective social media branding can drive more traffic to a startup’s website through quality content, increasing sales and revenue. This is especially effective with video content, as 61% of customers are convinced to purchase based on the brand’s video.

Are you ready to leverage the power of social media platforms to elevate your new brand? Here are some tips to help you apply social media branding for your business effectively.

1. Establish a consistent brand identity

A strong brand identity is crucial for a startup’s success on social media. To create a consistent brand identity, define your brand’s mission, vision, values and target audience. Next, develop a unique brand voice and visual identity that resonates with your target audience.

Consistency is key, so ensure that your logo, colours, fonts and messaging are uniform across all social media platforms. Most importantly, always ensure your brand’s messaging is laser-focused on your target audience.

2. Choose the right platforms

Not all social media platforms are created equal. Each platform has unique features, demographics, and content formats; understanding these nuances is the first step in mastering social media branding. For example, LinkedIn is a hub for professionals and B2B marketing, while Instagram thrives on visual content, making it ideal for lifestyle and fashion brands.

To ace social media branding, it’s essential to identify the platforms that align with your startup’s target audience and objectives. Researching and understanding the demographics of each platform will guide you in selecting the ones that resonate with your brand’s voice and goals.

3. Create engaging and valuable content

Content is the backbone of social media branding. To create a strong brand presence, producing engaging and valuable content that addresses your audience’s needs and interests is crucial. Share a mix of informative, entertaining, and promotional content regularly to keep your audience engaged and showcase your brand’s expertise. And don’t forget to use eye-catching visuals and incorporate your brand’s unique voice and identity in all content. The final aim is to perform effective social media storytelling to build a loyal audience and customer base for your brand.

4. Leveraging user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful tool for social media branding. You can foster trust, credibility, and engagement by encouraging your audience to share their experiences with your brand. Feature customer reviews, testimonials, and user-generated photos or videos on your social media profiles to showcase your startup’s success and create a sense of community among your followers. UGC not only amplifies your brand’s voice but also adds authenticity. When potential customers see real people enjoying your products or services, it creates a more relatable and trustworthy image for your brand.

5. Implementing hashtags and influencer marketing

Hashtags and influencer marketing can significantly boost your startup’s social media branding efforts. Use relevant and branded hashtags to increase your content’s visibility and reach. For example, creating a unique hashtag for a specific campaign can help you track its success and engagement. Collaborate with influencers who align with your brand values and have a strong following among your target audience. Influencer partnerships can help you reach new customers, increase brand awareness, and drive conversions. By choosing the right influencers, you can tap into their established trust and credibility, making your brand more appealing to their followers.

6. Tracking and analysing performance

For effective social media branding, it’s essential to monitor and analyse your startup’s performance on each platform. Use social media analytics tools to track key metrics, such as engagement, reach and conversions. Analysing this data will help you identify trends, measure the success of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions to optimize your social media branding efforts. Regularly reviewing these insights allows you to understand what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t. It’s not just about numbers; it’s about understanding the behaviour and preferences of your audience, enabling you to tailor your content and strategies for maximum impact.

Applying effective social media branding for startups in the competitive online space requires a strategic approach and consistent effort. It’s not just about crafting creative campaigns but understanding your audience deeply and making data-driven decisions catering to their needs. By establishing a strong brand identity, choosing the right platforms, creating engaging content, leveraging user-generated branding content, implementing hashtags and influencer marketing and tracking performance, you can create a powerful online presence that drives growth and success for your startup.

By Vikas Agrawal

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® Contributor

CEO of Infobrandz.com

Vikas Agrawal is a Strategic Marketing Consultant, and Crypto Advocate. With a passion for visual marketing and branding, data privacy and emerging technologies, Vikas leads Infobrandz.com and empowers companies to thrive in the digital era.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

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How to develop a successful marketing strategy for startup

November 14, 2023 No Comments

By Guru Sakthi

In this article, we explore essential steps to develop a successful marketing strategy that will help your startup thrive.

Starting a new business venture can be an exhilarating experience. However, without a well-defined marketing strategy, even the most promising startups can struggle to gain traction in today’s competitive landscape.

Launching a startup requires careful planning and execution. A robust marketing strategy serves as the backbone of your business growth and ensures that your target audience becomes aware of your products or services. By following a systematic approach, you can build a solid foundation for your marketing efforts and maximise your chances of success.

In this article, we explore essential steps to develop a successful marketing strategy that will help your startup thrive.

Understanding your target audience

Before diving into marketing tactics, it’s crucial to understand your target audience. Conduct thorough research to identify their demographics, preferences, and pain points. This knowledge will allow you to tailor your marketing messages effectively and engage with your audience on a deeper level.

Define specific and measurable marketing objectives for your startup. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads, setting clear goals will help you stay focused and track your progress. Remember to align your marketing objectives with your overall business goals to ensure consistency and cohesion.

Conducting market research

To develop an effective marketing strategy, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of your industry and competitors. Conduct market research to identify market trends, analyse your competition’s strengths and weaknesses, and uncover untapped opportunities. This valuable information will guide your marketing decisions and give you a competitive edge.

Differentiating your startup from the competition is essential to attract customers. Define your unique selling proposition (USP) the distinct value that sets your products or services apart. Your USP should highlight the benefits your startup offers and why customers should choose you over competitors.

Selecting the right marketing channels is crucial for reaching your target audience effectively. Consider your audience’s preferences and behaviour to determine which channels will yield the best results. Whether it’s social media, content marketing, email marketing, or paid advertising, choose channels that align with your target audience and business goals.

Compelling content is the cornerstone of a successful marketing strategy. Develop high- quality content that educates entertains, or solves your audience’s problems. By providing valuable information, you can position your startup as an authority in your industry and build trust with your target audience.

Implementing SEO strategies

Search engine optimisation (SEO) plays a vital role in driving organic traffic to your website. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant search terms and incorporate them strategically into your website content. Optimise your meta tags, headings, and URLs to improve your search engine rankings and increase your visibility online.

Social media has become an integral part of marketing strategies. Create a strong presence on platforms that align with your target audience. Develop engaging content tailored to each platform, and encourage social sharing and interaction. Leverage social media advertising to amplify your reach and target specific demographics. Regularly analyse your social media metrics to identify what resonates with your audience and refine your approach.

Building strategic partnerships

Collaborating with complementary businesses can expand your reach and create mutually beneficial opportunities. Identify potential partners whose target audience overlaps with yours. Explore co-marketing initiatives, joint events, or cross-promotions that can help you tap into new markets and gain exposure.

To ensure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, establish key performance indicators (KPIs), and regularly track and analyse your results. Monitor metrics such as website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and customer feedback. Use this data to make data-driven decisions, optimise your campaigns, and identify areas for improvement.

The marketing landscape is ever-evolving, and it’s crucial to adapt and iterate your strategies accordingly. Stay updated with industry trends, monitor your competitors, and be open to new approaches. Regularly evaluate your marketing efforts, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments to stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive edge.

Creating a budget and allocating resources

Developing a marketing budget and effectively allocating resources is essential for startup success. Determine how much you can allocate towards marketing activities while considering factors such as advertising costs, hiring professionals, and technology investments. Prioritise your marketing initiatives based on their potential impact and allocate resources accordingly.

As your startup grows, consider hiring marketing professionals who possess the expertise and experience to drive your marketing efforts forward. Look for individuals who understand your industry, have a track record of success, and align with your company’s vision and culture. An experienced marketing team can help execute your strategies effectively and scale your marketing efforts.

Developing a successful marketing strategy for your startup requires careful planning, understanding your target audience, and leveraging the right marketing channels. By defining your goals, conducting thorough market research, analysing competitors, and implementing effective strategies like SEO, content marketing, social media, and email marketing, you can build brand awareness, attract customers, and drive growth for your startup.

By Guru Sakthi

Sourced from YOURSTORY

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The First 90 Days: Marketing at a Startup–People and Mental Processing

November 2, 2022 No Comments

By Chauncey Zalkin

Step one of the first 90 days of marketing at a startup–finding clarity and finding your place in the team.

Over the next couple of columns, I’m going to go into my approach to the first 90 days of marketing at a startup. Silicon Valley coined the phrase “building the plane while flying it.” You have to iterate and do good-enough stuff while making the sparkly shiny thing in the background. You’ve got to connect with people. You’ve got to make choices and you have to execute while managing. It’s a tough balancing act and never perfect, but with good communication and a little patience and compromise, you can find your way through.

The first things I’m going to talk about are finding clarity and finding your place in the team.

The Best Part of Waking Up–The Morning Routine

One of the keys to maintaining perspective is that every morning I wake up and write for 20 minutes or three full pages, whichever comes first. Some mornings with kids as a single mom, I only have 10 or 15 minutes and I take it. I write first thing after the coffee boils, the dog’s been out and the cats have had their breakfast. I do this while the kids are asleep or just waking up. It has helped me see holes in my thinking and be a better listener.

In my morning writing, my worrying mind will record things the founders have said, and they will come back out on paper as problems to solve. Sometimes I find solutions at that moment and my day is completely altered by what my mind has told me in the morning. My day is more impactful as a result. Morning writing is kind of a miracle and I highly recommend it. Whether you call yourself a writer or not.

People Person, Not Politicking

At a startup, different than corporate culture, there is not a lot of coddling going on and not a lot of processes. In my life, that’s a good thing. I am highly entrepreneurial, and I’ve been around long enough to know what I need to do to get things started and where I’ve made mistakes in the past. I am both an extrovert and an introvert. I can spend days alone writing and working and forget to see people until suddenly panic hits me that it’s time to see people again and I start making plans and reaching out again.

Knowing that’s who I am, I made sure to initiate one-on-ones with everyone whose role I would impact and whose role would impact mine. In a lean startup, that means business development and sales, UI/UX, the product owner, and operations and finance–the people creating the math that makes it all work. Pretty much everyone who is not a developer.

I sought to listen before speaking. I had a boss who struggled with that himself tell me to “understand before seeking to be understood” before every meeting. This is not easy, but it is imperative. Also, if you’re new somewhere whether you are in a leadership role or not, you really don’t know anything yet. You need to swim in the pool with the other fish and get a tour of the lake. At the same time, you can’t just sit there completely silently because people need to know who you are and what you will do.

A fellow Chief member in our core group suggested I ask people what they had really wanted to do that had been shelved or abandoned. Knowing what people are passionate about is an amazing way to understand their value and see opportunities at the company that might be getting lost in the shuffle. You can sort through the sands of lost projects and look for gems before starting from scratch.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Chauncey Zalkin

Sourced from Inc.

In News

How to Bring Authenticity to Your Start-up’s Marketing Strategy

April 1, 2022 No Comments

By Baptiste Monnet

People are tired of being pushed into something they don’t want.

According to a study by Stackla, 90% of customers place a premium on authenticity when selecting which companies they like and support. But what exactly is authenticity? How can we show our customers that we’re human and relatable and not just a brand with an agenda?

Here are six practical tips on how to bring authenticity into your start-up’s marketing strategy.

What is authenticity in marketing?

Authenticity is having a genuine connection with your target audience. If you’re not authentic, it’s difficult for customers to connect with what you do. People want brands that they can relate to — companies who are just like them, only better at their job or service because of experience and expertise. Authenticity is also about transparency and showing the world who you are and what you believe in. So, think of authenticity as your company’s personality; it should be unique to every brand out there.

How can start-ups bring authenticity to their marketing

Did you know that nearly 90% of all start-ups fail? Start-up marketing is difficult because you are often underfunded, have a limited customer base or are just getting started. As a co-founder and owner of a business, I understand the challenges that you are facing. I’ve failed many times. That’s why I’d like to share some of the marketing strategies that have worked well for me and have helped people connect with us on an emotional level every day.

1. Know your target audience

You need to know who your target audience is and what their needs and interests are before you can create a message for them or speak about them on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The more you know, the better your marketing will be.

It’s your job to create an emotional connection between your brands and customers, and authenticity is key here too. Once you understand your target audience and their needs, you can speak to them more effectively on the proper social media channels.

2. Be genuine in your marketing messages

Knowing your target audience does not mean you should be overly promotional. You can still show people who you are as a brand and what makes your company unique while also being more realistic about your company’s benefits. Establishing authenticity in marketing means not trying to be something you’re not. People will see right through anything that seems fake or disingenuous. If you decide to be honest with people, then put all your cards on the table. Don’t try to market your start-up as something it’s not.

3. Be consistent with messaging across social media channels

It’s no secret that social media has changed the way that brands communicate with customers. Social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are potent tools that can help you build relationships with people interested in your start-up’s product or services. Your brand messaging must be consistent across all these channels. You need to be consistent with your words, images and tone of voice if you want your target audience to trust what you’re saying. Why should, for example, potential consumers believe you if you send conflicting messages on social media?

Don’t forget to keep in mind that social media is a two-way street. Start-ups need to be engaging and respond quickly when people ask questions or have concerns about their product or service — this also helps build trust. It’s best to create one voice for your brand across all your social media channels. It will help you communicate with people more personally, and this is what authenticity is about: being real.

4. Give people something to talk about

Don’t just sell people your product or service. You need to give them a reason why they should buy from you. If someone isn’t interested in what you have to offer, there’s no point in pursuing the relationship. Give potential customers something that will make them want to work with you instead of against you.

5. Create an authentic voice for your brand

If you’re looking to create a brand that people will love, your voice must be authentic. Without an authentic voice, your customers may not get the experience they expect and could have negative feelings about your company. Don’t expect to win customer loyalty or get people excited about your product if you don’t sound like yourself. It’s not just what you say that matters. It’s also how you say it. Having an authentic voice for your brand means letting go of the idea that marketing is all science and no artistry. You need to put creativity into everything that comes out of your business, from product development to marketing and sales.

6. Use metrics and data analysis to improve your marketing

Just because you’re authentic doesn’t mean that your marketing will be successful every time. Even if you put a lot of effort into it, everything can still fall flat on its face. Remember that marketing is half art and half science. You need to put creativity into everything you do and keep in mind that metrics and data analysis are essential for adding substance to those creative decisions. What works today might not work next month or even tomorrow, so don’t get too attached to a single marketing strategy.

Take advantage of cutting-edge marketing tools such as social media advertising, influencer marketing and even email campaigns to get your startup’s name out into the world. Keep track of everything you do to improve it over time.

By Baptiste Monnet

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

In News

Top 10 Warning Signs Your Startup Will Fail

May 21, 2021 No Comments

By George Deeb

Being an entrepreneur is no simple task, given the fact that 90% of start-ups collapse. But based on the learnings from past flame-outs, there are some leading indicators that can identify whether your start-up is headed for failure.

1. Lost Focus on Primary Goal

For some start-ups, their focus can divert to unimportant factors than the primary goal at hand. A successful start-up learns to prioritize its efforts, and stay religiously focused on that end goal. Keeping the team firmly focused on the end goal can also be beneficial for the work environment as it will keep the team all rowing in the same desired direction. If you see a start-up flailing in the wind of change, going in multiple directions based on the “flavour of the month,” you know that business is in trouble.

2. Poor or Slow Execution

There are start-ups that begin with innovative concepts but cannot execute them properly. This is due to a number of reasons—lack of relevant resources, lack of motivation or poor working habits for starters. Firms that are properly tracking their progress with regard to a particular project will quickly see if they are falling behind and come up with ways to correct the problem before it becomes a material one. Those that are not executing well will suffer deficits in capital or timelines. There is also a problem with the speed in execution, with many start-ups not being able to push out products or services as fast as their competitors. Speed is critical, to staying ahead of your competitors as the first mover, and not being forced to play catch up.

3. Lack of Customer Engagement

A lack of customer engagement is something many early-stage start-ups face. There are a many possible scenarios in which customers might lose interest in a product or service. Maybe the start-up didn’t properly research the market to ensure meaningful demand? Maybe sales and marketing efforts are not the best strategy for that business? If you don’t truly understand your customers pain points, they will never have a serious interest in your product or service. It is best to figure out why customers are not engaging, sooner than later, to try and resolve those product or marketing related issues to see if they are fixable, before deciding to cut your losses and close shop.

4. Poor Teamwork

Sometimes, perfectly capable and promising start-ups begin descending into failure because of differences among team members or lack of effective teamwork. This does not necessarily have anything to do with how well a person or a group of people can perform in the workplace. It just means, at times, some people cannot work well together. It is a start-up CEO’s responsibility to know what is required to keep the team gelling and how to improve the team’s performance in thinking and acting like one well-oiled machine. If ineffective teamwork goes undetected or unresolved for an extended period of time, the start-up will struggle to recover.

5. High Employee Turnover Rate

If the employee turnover rate is high and recurring, it could be an indicator of a failing start-up. There could be a number of reasons why the turnover rate is high. For one, a start-up’s culture plays a strong role. If employees are unsatisfied with the work environment, don’t like the people they are working with or don’t have confidence with their management, they will most likely be looking to leave. So if you have a revolving door with your staff, something is wrong and needs to be fixed, as you can’t scale a business on a wobbly foundation of talent.

6. Lack of Adaptability

Any start-up that says it is immune to changes in the market is setting itself up for failure. External market forces ultimately dictate how your start-up will fare against changing trends and competitors in the industry. If a start-up doesn’t truly understand or disregards what is happening outside of its own office, it is doomed to fail. For a start-up to truly reach success, it may have to pivot several times until it finds the right mix of product-market fit. If a start-up does not pivot fast enough, that is usually a sign the end is near.

7. No New Product Development

For a start-up to stay relevant, it needs to constantly be reinventing itself. Your product development efforts are never done, as you should always be striving to improve from version 1, to version 2 to version 3 over time. Because if you don’t, you can rest assured your competitors will clearly copy whatever you are doing successfully today, and will be improving their business at your expense.

8. Unaware of Finances

Every good start-up should always be aware of its financial situation. But you would be surprised how many entrepreneurs have no clue about their finances, and hence cannot easily predict they are about ready to slam into a brick wall. There needs to be financial reports, dashboards and KPI’s that a start-up studies closely each week to understand how much it is spending, earning and retaining vs. its goals. You can’t manage what you are not measuring, so make sure you get your key reporting metrics identified and tracked.

9. Creative Block or Stubbornness

Oftentimes, a start-up’s team gets hung up on a particular perspective or approach to an issue. When things are not going well, it is important to push the team to change their perspective and try something new and creative to solve the problem. Start-ups that are heading towards failure are often unsure of where they should be heading as a company, and lack the creative thinking skills that are required to ideate potential solutions. Or, they are simply inflexible and not willing to entertain a different approach.

10. Boredom

The team getting bored with what they are working on can surely be a start-up killer. Early in the start-up’s life, the team is motivated, as the venture is exciting to work on, and the team enjoys working towards the success of a start-up. Hence, everyone works with dedication and puts in long hours. But the reality is, after the euphoria wears off, it is easy for the team to get bored with their work. It could be due to their attention diverting elsewhere, lack of motivation, or monotony in the day-to-day grind of the workplace, especially if the business is not succeeding as planned. A good entrepreneur will figure out ways to keep its employees engaged and motivated at all times.

So, do a critical assessment of your business to make sure you are not about ready to drive off the cliff. If any of the above resonates as happening with your business, it is time to put an immediate fix in place.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By George Deeb

George Deeb is a Partner at Red Rocket Ventures and author of 101 Startup Lessons-An Entrepreneur’s Handbook. For future posts from George, please follow him here or on Twitter at @georgedeeb or @redrocketvc.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

Is It Time To Walk Away From Your Startup Idea? 15 Ways To Decide

February 7, 2020 No Comments

Sourced from Forbes.

Starting a new business can come with doubt and uncertainty. But what happens when that doubt has less to do with nerves and more to do with your gut warning you of potential failure? At a certain point, it may be prudent to walk away from your startup and pursue a different path.

So how do you know when you’ve reached that point? Below, a panel of Forbes Coaches Council members each shared one way an entrepreneur can understand whether they should let their startup idea go or keep at it until they see success.

1. Test Your Doubts Against The Data

Emotional decisions, both in personal and business lives, tend to have debatable outcomes at best. A better way is to formulate those doubts into tangible hypotheses that can be proven or disproved. Then it is rather simple: Consult with peers, collect and analyze data or do both. The end result is rather straightforward: Either the concern is legit or it is not. – Kamyar Shah, World Consulting Group

2. Define Your Direction And Goals

An entrepreneur’s most powerful asset is their mindset. As you define direction and goals, use the BEE acronym to guide change. Belief: What belief do you need or desire in that learning or goal? Effort: Change takes effort and practice. Effortless: Trust the process and it will become effortless! – Dr. Denise Trudeau-Poskas, Blue Egg Leadership

3. Listen To Your Inner Voice And Write It Down

Concerns for entrepreneurs come at the oddest times, such as in the car, at 4 a.m., during a workout or in a meeting. When I am listening to that inner voice, I try to quickly write down the thoughts that may include doubts, concerns or ideas as they come out. I listen to the voice. I can then distill what makes sense and what doesn’t. Track these doubts, examine, share and then take action. – John M. O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.

4. Pay Attention To The ‘Dip’

One book I hand out to nearly all my clients is The Dip by Seth Godin. He talks about the low point where so many entrepreneurs tend to doubt their ideas because they can’t see the progress they are making, but they are so close to a breakthrough. It helps them see that they aren’t alone and, 99% of the time, following through on their strategy will get them where they want to go. – Racheal Cook, Racheal Cook MBA

5. Ask Yourself If It Feels OK To Walk Away

Your body will know the answer. If you feel in your body that you are considering the option to walk away and it doesn’t feel good, then you know that you have to keep pursuing the idea. The idea or the “how” of the idea may have to shift, but the fact that you want to be an entrepreneur didn’t. Listen to the small voice. Also have sounding boards you can talk to who will help you to talk it through. – Monica Thakrar, MTI

6. Run A Competitive Analysis

Entrepreneurs are successful because of passion, intuition and grit. This is also the formula for failure if they don’t have data to inform solid decisions. Market research is invaluable to identify the market opportunity. If you are able to add competitive analysis to the research, you can validate your decision to stay and how to redirect and refine your efforts. – Maureen Metcalf, Innovative Leadership Institute

7. Consider The Impact

It is not uncommon for people to feel doubt. The problem develops when we turn down opportunities based on that doubt. Consider the worst-case scenario if something goes wrong. Will that be the end of the world or just a great learning experience? If a startup is making you unhappy and having an impact on your health, it is time to walk away. – Dr. Diane Hamilton, Tonerra

8. Decide If You’re Willing To Ask For Help

Being an entrepreneur is really hard. Aside from exhausting hours, the constant pull from every direction and doubts, there can be a lack of knowledge and experience. If you’re not willing to ask for help, listen to others or invest in coaching; it may be a sign that you’re just not ready to go it on your own. This means you’re not yet where you need to be (personally) to succeed in this moment. – Miranda VonFricken, Miranda VonFricken Mastermind Coaching

9. Analyze Your Sales Numbers

In business, numbers never lie. If sales are nonexistent, that justifies switching gears. If sales are slow, that’s an indication to increase marketing or niche down the target market and ideal client profile. Either way, sales numbers provide an indication regarding the best course of action. Analyze the best and worst selling products and services to find out why they are or are not selling. – Lori A. Manns, Quality Media Consultant Group LLC

10. Run Tests And Share The Results With Customers

Test your ideas in a scientific and methodical manner in order to see whether your hypothesis can prove to be validated. Here’s what that means. First, ask a question and do background research. Next, construct a hypothesis and test it by doing an experiment. Analyze the data and draw a conclusion. Share your results with your customers to see what to do next. – Brian M Harman, PhD, MBA, Business Management Hallmark

11. Make Sure Your Head Is In The Game And You’re Not ‘BOB-ing’

There are ventures that just aren’t meant to be, but more frequently an entrepreneur struggles simply because they’re caught in “business owner belief” (BOB). An entrepreneurial mindset is hungry, driven, passionate and excited to start each day. A BOB mindset has a lot of, “I shouldn’t have to” around learning to sell, market, get help or move beyond belief the product or service is enough. – Laura DeCarlo, Career Directors International

12. Talk It Out With Colleagues

All successful entrepreneurs have someone they share their thoughts with. If your gut is telling you something, it is your subconscious trying to share a thought. Don’t ignore it; discuss it with a colleague and, through the process of discussion, you will identify the root cause of your concern. Now you can make decisions and decide whether you need a course correction on your path to success. – Mark Savinson, Strategy to Revenue

13. Look For The Small Wins

Believe me, I have been there! Doubt happens. What’s kept me driven and motivated as a solopreneur is taking a look at the small wins. Did you land a paying client? Did you get amazing feedback or testimonials from clients? Did you get responses from folks you networked with, thus planting the seeds for future business? Celebrate this momentum and remember why you’re doing this in the first place. – Joyel Crawford, Crawford Leadership Strategies, LLC.

14. Review Your Business Data With A Financial Advisor

Financial data is a critical flag to startup success or failure. Consistent review and discussion of key business data with a financial advisor provides entrepreneurs information to better understand their business status and supports key decision making. Being financially responsible will help to keep you from poor decision making, financial mismanagement and developing a sound exit strategy. – Lori Harris, Harris Whitesell Consulting

15. Trust Your Intuition, Not Your Instinct

A “gut feeling” is instinct based on past experiences. It’s not the right gauge in business as you are in the present creating your future. The only way to know if it’s time to walk away from a startup is by listening to your own intuition. Only you can decipher if your business is aligned with your values, beliefs and purpose. You will feel aligned if it’s heart-driven and will know to keep at it. – Whitney Mullings, Whitney Mullings

Sourced from Forbes.

In News

How To Effectively Build Traction For Your Startup Idea

November 21, 2019 No Comments

By Abdo Riani

Investment in marketing activities can start even if you have no clue what to build yet. Marketing channels and initiatives created to build and nurture an audience make it a lot easier for entrepreneurs to find ideas worth pursuing. Furthermore, startups that launch with an established audience can generate revenue quickly and build better products by engaging their subscribers.

Here are 3 effective marketing channels that will help you build traction for your startup idea before and after going to market.

1. Publish Frequently

Content marketing takes the form of text, audio and video. Pick any of these three, preferably based on how your audience prefers to consume content, and start publishing as soon as possible even if you are not ready to launch a startup or don’t have an idea yet.

If you have an audience of active readers, you can reach out to them for insights, feedback, sales and referrals. Research conducted by ProfitWell shows that companies with an active blog gets around 70% more leads. Furthermore, close to 50% of buyers consume 3 to 5 pieces of content before expressing interest in the product or service, and the close rates of active readers is up to 10 times higher.

Content marketing takes time but pays off big time in the future. One way to leverage the power of content marketing without necessarily producing original content is by curating the best posts and stories in your industry through a weekly or daily newsletter. This will allow you to build an audience and relationships with the readers and content creators, and finally, it’s a good exercise to learn more about the market, discover trends and carefully monitor readers’ interests and comments.

To start writing, you can use platforms like Medium, LinkedIn, or preferably through your own site that you can create in just a couple of hours. Many no-code tools can help you create a blog quickly. To launch a newsletter, you need a landing page to collect email addresses and an email marketing platform to broadcast the newsletter.

2. Organize Events

Networking and educational events are a different form of content marketing. Events are powerful because they allow you to gather different stakeholders around a topic of interest and give you an opportunity to build relationships, gain insights, introduce and sell your product.

Furthermore, events can help you create a network effect by leveraging the audience and followers of your attendees, experts and partners. A small event can grow quickly just by seeking the promotion of influencers such as expert guest speakers. If you’re seeking quality feedback or if you want to presell an idea, use in-person or online events to attract key stakeholders.

3. Build A Community

Anyone can attract website visitors. If not through the first two channels, it can be done with paid ads. The challenge is in turning visitors into followers and fans. Building a community will play the biggest role in your ability to continuously drive traffic and referrals.

It starts by creating a home for the members. This could be an email newsletter, private groups on social media or slack, and/or social events. A small community with dedicated members is much more effective in terms of collaboration and referrals than a big community with most members having no interest to contribute to it. As such, size is not a reference, start small.

A simple marketing funnel shows how potential buyers go through several stages before making a purchase starting by becoming aware of the product followed by building interest in it, wanting to try it, and finally, convert into paying customers. When you make marketing a priority since the beginning, you are accelerating acquisition by proactively building awareness and interest in the product you’re creating. By the time the app is ready to go to market, people will be lined up to use it.

Feature Image Credit: Startups that launch with an established audience can generate revenue quickly and build better products by engaging their subscribers. Here are 3 effective channels for building traction for your startup idea. Getty

By Abdo Riani

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

I help tech entrepreneurs build startup products (apps) that generate revenue quickly with a higher probability of success to serve either as a side business venture or a stand-alone startup with growth potential. I am also the founder of StartupCircle.co, a mentorship platform for passionate startup founders.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

The man who worked with Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and John Chambers reveals why innovation is the cornerstone of startup success

September 23, 2019 No Comments

By Rashi Varshney

Dr Vivek Mansingh, partner and mentor at Gurugram-based early-stage VC fund YourNest, has had a long and successful journey. In an interview with YourStory, he speaks about the importance of innovating, and why startups and companies should ‘think of innovation as oxygen for their organisations’.

“I believe that innovation is a skill, a combination of art, science, and creativity that can be learned by individuals and companies,” says Vivek Mansingh, a partner and mentor at Gurugram-based YourNest, an early-stage venture capital fund.

Based in Bengaluru, Vivek Mansingh has had an incredibly successful global career of more than 30 years across two continents. He began his career in the US as a scientist at Hewlett Packard in Cupertino, and then moved to Fujitsu in 1991 as a Director of Marketing & Sales in California. In 1997, he founded ATTI, a subsidiary of Aavid, and then sold the successful company in the Bay Area. Upon returning to India in 2001, he worked at two US and India startups that exited to Philips and Oracle, headed Dell’s research and development centre, and served as President for Cisco Systems’ Collaboration and Communications Technology Group managing global teams. During his stint, he worked directly with the likes of Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, and John Chambers on innovation among other things.

Vivek holds six US patents and is a gold medal-winning engineer from NIT Allahabad. He obtained a PhD from Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, in 1986 and completed an Executive Business Management Program at Stanford University in 1996. In an extended interaction with YourStory, Vivek reveals how critical innovation is for startups in India and why the next unicorns will come in the B2B space.

Edited excerpts of the interview:

YourStory: Can you take us through your innovation journey?

Vivek Mansingh: My innovation story is very personal and interesting. My tryst with innovation started just after my PhD while I was in Silicon Valley. I gave myself a goal to be financially independent by the age of 40. The path I chose to achieve this goal was innovation. After a lot of hard work, I invented an instrument, used for hardware system design, patented it and licensed it to a Boston company. The instrument was sold to literally every company that designed electronic systems around the world. Thanks to the patent protection, I earned royalty on this invention for 17 years, and became financially independent.

My other five patents came from HP and Fujitsu while I was working at the Silicon Valley. After that, I moved to a management role, and though involved with leading large innovation programmes at Dell and Cisco, and engaged with engineers at nuts-and-bolts level on innovation, decided not to file patents in my name. Otherwise, I would have at least 30 patents.

If I look back at the biggest achievements of my life, innovation will be very much on top.

YS: Looking at the startup ecosystem and its changing landscape, how does innovation play a critical role?

VM: Innovation has been a fundamental part of economic growth in the last 100 years. Umpteen successful companies have been built on the foundation of innovation; a large number of very successful companies have been destroyed by the lack of innovation. Ensuring the DNA of innovation in their companies is the highest priority for 92 percent CEOs.

Big or small, every company needs the magic of innovation. In terms of startups, there is always some innovation in the organisation itself as a startup provides a better solution for an existing problem. The innovation can be technology-based, business model-based, process-based, or in any other form. But there has to be some kind of innovation. The critical question is: does this innovation provide the startup a sustainable and BIG competitive advantage to build a successful company?

In B2C startups, India has done fairly well with examples like Flipkart, Paytm, MakeMyTrip, Naukri, Ola, and many others. These companies have done a great job. However, by and large, these startups have relied on a successful global model. But they have done an amazing job of innovation in their ability to compete with the best in the world with solutions built from India. In addition, there has been good innovation in optimising the solutions for India.

When it comes to B2B, there are a few differences and this is the space where YourNest largely focuses. In the B2B space, the Indian market is not large enough, so startups have to look at global markets and eye a globally sustainable competitive advantage from day one. They may start by selling the product in India and later to the US and the rest of the world. But from day one, their thinking – in terms of product, technology and business model – has to meet global standards.

If you take India-based successful B2B companies like inMobi, Freshdesk, Zoho, Dhruva, and upcoming startups like Uniphore, KaHa Technologies (YourNest portfolio companies), to name a few, all these companies are designing solutions to address global markets from the early stage. Hence, the value proposition of the product and solution has to be based on deep innovation.

Another class of B2C startups is where they are offering products to global markets. YourNest portfolio company Miko is a good example. They are building AI-based learning and companion robots for small kids. The product already has traction in India and the Middle East, and will be launched in the US and the UK soon. Again, the innovation quotient for this product is world class from the early stage.

Therefore, deep innovation is critical for startups, but even more so for B2B. Of course, these innovations, when properly packaged and filed, become patents.

YS: What are the gaps that India faces when it comes to the patent ecosystem?

VM: Countries like the US, China, and Japan file around 50,000 patents in a year while India files somewhere around 2,000 patents per year. Therefore, at this moment, we are far away from any of these leading countries. The good news is that we are now moving in the right direction and our innovation ecosystem is much stronger than reflected by the number of patents filed in India.

In my opinion, both startups and large companies in India need to start deep innovation and patent these. We have a healthy ecosystem of about 20,000-30,000 startups. If half of these file even one patent each, we should see 15,000 patents filed in India in the next few years. Our large companies should seriously consider innovation as oxygen for their organisations. If they do, thousands of patents can come from them.

Another important point to understand is that a patent is country-specific and needs to be filed country by country. So, if a large market for a product is in the US, even an Indian company may first file a patent in the US rather than India, hence reducing the number of patents filed in India.

Another factor, most MNC R&D centres in India file patents in their own respective countries for innovation coming out of these centres. These could be several thousand patents every year alone.

Hence, one should not judge India’s innovation prowess by looking at patents filed in India. The ecosystem is much better and bigger.

YS: What is your view on patents for startups? Realistically, at what stage should they file for a patent?

VM: I strongly believe that startups need to innovate hard and file patents as early as possible. They need to focus on filing patents in their core areas. A patent allows protection for about 17 to 20 years, after which, patents come into the public domain.

Since patents are country-specific, my suggestion to founders is to file a patent in the country where the innovation was done in addition to countries that are large markets for their products.

YS: A lot of startups believe that filing a patent is not a strategic decision but a financial decision. What do you have to say about that?

VM: As mentioned earlier, patents are granted country by country. So, if your market is in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, China, and India, one has to file a patent in each country. Although in India patent cost is a couple of thousand dollars, in the US and other countries, it is around $10,000 for each country. If one has to file multiple patents in multiple countries, the cost can become prohibitive for a startup.

My suggestion to startups is to not go by the number of patents, but file patents in the core area of technology that differentiates their solution and gives them a significant and sustainable competitive advantage.

A good patent with solid claims can become an invaluable differentiator and one such patent can be better than 10 ordinary patents. To elaborate on claims, a patent claim is the most important part of a patent. It defines exactly what is claimed by the invention and therefore what is sought to be protected.

In addition, patents make startups more valuable in the eyes of investors and partners.

YS: Can you provide some examples of how have you helped your startups innovate?

VM: During my stints as head of R&D at Dell and Cisco, I drove innovation across these companies. These practices were so successful that they were adopted globally. I understand how innovation DNA can be institutionalised and that is what I do with portfolio companies of YourNest.

The first step is to encourage our founders to take innovation seriously from early stages of the company and file patents.

I am a big believer in collaborative innovation. We engage with startups to identify their core technology areas, go deep in competitive solutions, do out-of-the-box thinking to bring new ideas to the table, brainstorm on each potential idea vigorously, and finally come up with some unique innovative ideas.

People sometimes associate innovation to a single person; however, collaborative innovation is much more productive.

For instance, one of YourNest’s portfolio companies is Golflan. They are developing deep technology products to improve the golf experience. It shares a full 3D map of the golf course with golfers to enhance their game. In addition, their AI-driven features increase efficiency of golf courses. It is a fairly complicated hardware-software deep technology product where innovation was done together by Golflan team, myself, and a YourNest technology director. It is a very successful and amazing product installed across some top golf courses around the world.

As many golf courses do not use a cart, Golflan wanted another handheld product with the same features. After understanding various factors like the product requirement, competition, our core competencies to name a few, we came up with a mobile product with a competitive pricing. Again, this was true product innovation done collaboratively by Golflan and YourNest teams. I see phenomenal success for this product around the world.

Miko is a beautiful innovation from India and is now heading for the global market. One of our associates at YourNest has worked closely with CTO and CEO of Miko to innovate and patent some key technologies. As the product is ready to be launched in the US, I have worked closely with the founders to drive innovation that helps in localising the product for US markets.

Another portfolio company Lavelle Networks is working in the SDN area (software-defined network). We are working closely with the founding team to help them innovate and patent some critical pieces of technology that can give them a sustainable technology edge.

In a SaaS startup, Wolken Software, working closely with the founders, we were able to innovate on a strong base platform makes the product stand out in terms of new features, scalability, and deployment agility. This company has been able to win global customers at this early stage due to this hardcore innovation.

At EnCloudEn, I have asked the CTO to not come to office for a week and dedicate the time to innovation. We will spend time to go deep into core technology and competitive state-of-the-art technologies, and then bring out-of-the-box ideas for their product. The goal is to come out with a couple of patentable ideas in that week that can be drilled down further to come up with solid patents.

Many YourNest portfolio companies have done tremendous innovation, acquiring multiple patents even at their early stages. KaHa Technologies (23), Uniphore (19), Orbo (10), Miko (1), (5 more in the pipeline) and SSTS (4), to give a few examples.YS: What do you think is the next big thing for India’s startup ecosystem?

VM: India is on the right path. In phase one, companies like Infosys and Wipro established themselves as global companies of magnificent size. In the second phase, our B2C companies like Flipkart, Ola, and Paytm have set global standards by becoming very successful unicorns. We will continue to see B2C successes, but I think India is now ready for good number of B2B successes. I believe you will see 30 B2B unicorns from India in the next 10 years. These companies will be globally successful based on deep innovation done right here in India.

YS: You have had a long career and are now extensively involved with startups. What are you planning next?

VM: My personal goal is to help create at least three B2B unicorns from India in the next few years. I would also like to see YourNest become the best deep tech Indian fund in early-stage funding, and nurture some global successes.

On the nonprofit side, I am on the board of Janaagraha and Dream A Dream, have adopted a hospital and built ICU and maternity wards there, run a school for handicapped children, a school for less privileged, and a free programme for corrective surgeries for handicapped children.

Lots to do!

By Rashi Varshney

Sourced from Your Story

In News

How to Master YouTube Ads to Grow Your Startup

July 22, 2019 No Comments

By John Boitnott

You need to know your audience, formats, and competition to really get people to visit your site and buy your product.

As the second-largest search engine in the world, YouTube can be an effective way to generate interest in your startup as well as to drive traffic to your website. It doesn’t matter whether your company is B2B or B2C: YouTube Ads provide an engaging way to reach your target customers, and give you an opportunity to work with a channel that consumers trust.

Here’s how I and others got started and made the most out of YouTube ads, as well as how you can use the social media platform overall to help grow your company.

Familiarize yourself with various YouTube targeting options.

To maximize the return on your YouTube ads, you’ll need to know how to target your specific audience. You can understand your audience better as well as how to target potential customers by learning and using these options:

1. Remarketing

Remarketing, often called retargeting, offers a way to go after those non-converting visitors by sending an ad to other places they visit.

I used to work for a startup that used this strategy quite a lot. I and other members of the marketing team noticed that visitors would leave before buying our services. We worked with a company specializing in this form of marketing (top options include Outbrain, Adroll and ReTargeter) to incentivize people to return to our site, even months later–and it worked.

2. In-Market and Affinity Audiences

These are traditional audience targets. These audiences align with Google’s pre-defined segmentation model, based on previous knowledge Google has gathered. Affinity audiences are those that have a strong interest in a specific topic, while in-market audiences are those currently researching a certain product and are ready to buy.

3. Life Events

Google created this target specifically for YouTube. It focuses on reaching a target audience based on upcoming life events like graduation, moving, and marriage.

Get to Know YouTube ad formats.

Making the most out of YouTube ads also means developing a format that catches peoples’ attention. Here are the main types of ads.

TrueView In-Stream ads play before a video. They offer a way for audiences to reach your website. Audiences can choose whether or not to skip them. They’re often effective during remarketing campaigns and can help bring more subscribers to your YouTube channel.

TrueView Video Discovery ads appear on the right-hand side of the video view page, search results pages, and as thumbnails on an individual’s YouTube homepage. This format works well for traditional search campaign ads, as well as for prospecting and remarketing campaigns.

Finally, there are bumper ads. They’re under six seconds long and appear prior to a video. Impressions drive the cost of these ads, which also often work well for remarketing campaigns.

Know the competition and your other marketing efforts.

Before designing and producing your ad on YouTube, make sure you know what your competition is up to. You don’t want to end up looking just like them and blend in too much with the crowd.

Your YouTube ad campaign should align with your other marketing efforts. This promotes brand consistency, which in turn can build brand awareness. To get started on framing your campaign, make sure you first have a Google AdWords account. This is where you will start your YouTube ad campaign.

Create a visually compelling ad around one value-add point.

Keep the video ads simple by focusing on one way you can add value rather than trying to cram all your benefits into one ad. Select the most relevant value-add point to catch the audience’s attention and focus on explaining that benefit in a visually compelling manner.

Develop content and SEO opportunities.

Be sure to include relevant written content like the ad title and description by using keywords. This is where YouTube’s search engine capability can provide a significant advantage. Plug in your own search terms to see what appears, and use those results to help shape keyword usage and content to improve ranking for your video ad.

Don’t forget to include a “call to action” in that description. Be sure to include links to your site so potential customers can find your website, improving conversion rates.

Build out your YouTube channel.

Before visiting your website, those target audience members may want to see what other video content you have available on YouTube. To get the most out of your ads, make sure you have first developed a channel that offers relevant video content.

By engaging with your audience in multiple ways beyond a single YouTube ad, you can deliver more value, enhance your credibility and drive higher returns on your YouTube ad investments. This may also inspire your target audience to visit your site and make purchases.

Review and assess your YouTube ad results.

Continue refining your campaign efforts, leveraging Google AdWords. You can use this analytics tool to assess response rates to your YouTube ad, providing valuable information for your company. While these tips help you master YouTube ads, you’ll still be able to learn as you go, improving along the way.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By John Boitnott

Sourced from Inc.

In News

3 Tips To Create A Mission That Will Drive Growth

January 11, 2019 No Comments

By Kara Goldin

Last year, just over a third of small businesses grew their revenue. That gives you an idea of how hard it is to scale a startup. One mistake many entrepreneurs make is to think that growth is simply about increasing sales. True expansion demands more than just a great product or idea. You need a mission.

When a business has a clear and distinct purpose, it attracts the kind of employees who will drive growth. People who fit the culture of your company, share your ambitions and bring passion and enthusiasm to everything they do are 30% more likely to be high performers than those just there for the paycheck.

Having a mission also appeals to customers. Edelman’s Earned Brand 2018 report states that 64 percent of consumers take a brand’s principles into account when buying a product. Connecting with customers over shared values is a great way to build brand loyalty.

Finally, your purpose will guide your growth. Scaling is often where a business loses sight of what’s most important. A mission will keep you on the right path no matter how quickly growth comes.

It’s not always easy to know what your ultimate goal should be. Here are three tips for uncovering the mission that will drive growth at your business.

Make your customers central to your mission

Having worked in fashion publishing, Emily Weiss decided to start a blog where models, stylists and makeup artists would share their daily beauty routines. Soon her readers began sharing their own tips and advice with each other. Weiss realized that this community could shake up a beauty industry that typically relied on experts and brands to set the standards.

She founded Glossier, a beauty products company with a mission to democratize beauty. When creating a new moisturizer, the company asked customers for ideas and received more than 1000 responses. When marketing products, Glossier sends samples to its most engaged fans instead of the usual media outlets and social influencers. By making customers central to its mission, Glossier has grown from one woman writing a blog to a 150-person company that has raised more than $86m in funding.

Go back to your why

In Start With Why, writer Simon Sinek emphasizes the importance of purpose by stating “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. Yet most startups inevitably focus on developing a product or service and finding customers. When they finally get time to outline a mission, they are so consumed with “what they do”, they’ve lost sight of their “why”.

As my business started to grow rapidly, I went back to the very beginning in order to articulate our purpose. I created our flavoured water drinks to solve a specific problem: I wanted to stop drinking sugary sodas but found water boring. Ultimately, I wanted to be healthier, so I took that “why” and expanded it to a mission of making people enjoy water again. This mission impacts who we hire, the new products we introduce and other decisions we make as we’ve become a multimillion-dollar business.

Don’t make your mission about what you’re selling

Not all businesses produce worthy or world-changing products or services. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an inspiring mission. Warby Parker began life after business school graduate Neil Blumenthal wondered why people weren’t buying glasses online. Blumenthal thought about this because he was also involved in a non-profit organization that trained women in developing world to give eye tests. So, he and his co-founders made this social cause part of their company’s mission.

When you buy Warby Parker glasses, a pair is also donated to people in need. Blumenthal acknowledges that this isn’t the main reason why customers buy their products. But having a social conscious is core to the business as a whole: “To be customer first, you need to be employee first. And to be employee first, you need to be mission-driven.” It’s definitely working. Warby Parker was valued at $1.75 billion earlier this year.

Creating true brand believers

Whatever your businesses, chances are you’re not the only company out there offering that product or service. Even if you are doing something unique, others will try and replicate your success. To stand out you need to give people a reason to believe in your brand. Your purpose is that reason. And as it informs every person you hire, product you make and action you take, your mission will become the main driver of growth for your business.

By Kara Goldin

I am the founder and CEO of San Francisco–based hint, which produces the leading flavoured water with no sweeteners and nothing artificial. I founded The Kara Network and recently launched my podcast Unstoppable to tell the stories of entrepreneurs and founders.

Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of San Francisco–based hint, which produces the leading unsweetened flavoured water. Listen to her podcast and follow her on Twitter, @karagoldin.

Sourced from Forbes