Marketing – What Does it Mean For Start-ups?
Marketing in the context of a new business is often misunderstood. In many cases, it’s relegated to a number under the header “sales and marketing” in an excel spreadsheet. This is sad, real sad. Relegating marketing to an after-thought puts a new start up at a distinct disadvantage. This is particularly true in today’s economic situation.
The number one reason for this, is a complete misunderstanding of marketing. This is not the entrepreneur’s fault. They just haven’t been shown the light yet. You see, most start-up entrepreneurs are from technical backgrounds. They have no exposure to marketing. Most have never taken a marketing degree online course, meaning they know little on the subject. Therefore, they assume that all they need to do in order to market their start-up is run advertisements in newspapers, on local TV, on radio and use Google AdWords (if they have heard of it).
This just doesn’t hack it for a start-up. It’s like a space shuttle being launched into space. A new business has to generate a lot of force to leave the atmosphere. It needs an extra kick than an established business. However, most start-up entrepreneurs take their marketing ques from established businesses. As a result, they miss the target.
The secret behind start-up marketing is really simple. It’s about getting people to tell their friends about you. In turn, they will tell their friends and the cycle continues. In order for this to happen there has to be a spark. It’s the first job of the entrepreneur to create that spark.
Creating this spark involves creating a product that gets people talking. The second step is to help people megaphone your start-up. It’s about using word of mouth as a tangible marketing strategy. It’s about turning your customers into salespeople who work for free.
For this to work you need a perfect storm of idea, vision and execution. This is what entrepreneurs should work towards. Invest in making this happen instead of advertising.
Investors are looking for sustainable businesses. If your turnover depends on advertising spend then what happens when this is turned off?
By focusing on creating word of mouth generators for their start-up, entrepreneurs are taking the ideal approach to start-up marketing. Hopefully, more entrepreneurs will focus on this instead of apply clichéd marketing techniques.
