Everyone in the business world knows just how important branding and marketing are for startups. New businesses can’t afford to spend a lot on getting their business noticed, which makes it even more important for them to get it right from day one.
And if you’ve just launched your first startup, chances are you want to learn more about it. With that said, let’s take a closer look at six branding and marketing must-haves for startups.
Memorable name
Every business needs a name. After all, how else can you expect customers to differentiate between your brand and every other brand out there? Think of your company’s name as your brand ambassador and something that can help convey your brand’s tone and values. Luckily, there are so many options you can choose from.
A business name can be anything from proper and invented names to alphanumeric ones. Start by making a list of names you like and narrow it down by evaluating each name based on sound, appearance, and ease of spelling.
Carefully-designed logo
When choosing the logo for your startup, taking the “go big, or go home” logo is a must. Logos have to be memorable and instantly recognizable in order to serve their purpose. Just take a look at some of the most popular logos such as Nike’s “Swoosh” logo or the McDonalds logo and you’ll know what we’re talking about.
If you want to design a good logo, it’s important to put a lot of effort into choosing the right colors. According to some studies, opting for the right colors can increase your brand awareness even up to 80 percent. Bear in mind that every color is associated the something and finding the ones that go well with your sector is a good idea.
Functional website
35 percent of business owners think their organizations are too small to need a website. However, we live in an age when consumers instantly turn to search engines when searching for a product or service.
This means that a website is a real must-have for startups of any size. Just bear in mind that setting up a website is not the end of it. If you want your website to be effective, you need to make it engaging and easy to use. Fail to do that and users will prefer browsing your competitors’ websites.
Also, with more and more people using smartphones and tablets, making your website mobile-friendly is recommended.
Online reviews
Due to the power of the internet, most people now do quick research on a company before buying from it. In fact, studies have shown that 84 percent of people trust online reviews just as much as they trust friend recommendations.
Therefore, having satisfied customers write reviews of your business is one of the best ways to promote your business and attract more customers. Most of the time, offering an incentive in a form of a discount or freebie is going to do the trick.
If you’re still not convinced, just take a look at how much these online casino reviews helped businesses in the games of chance industry attract new players.
Social media presence
Social media continues to grow every day. With more than 3 billion people having social media accounts, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have turned into perfect places for business promotion.
Startup owners should have this in mind as social marketing is extremely cheap or even free, depending on what kind of approach you plan to take. Start social media pages for your brand and use them to communicate with your customers whenever there’s a chance. Come up with a good content strategy and new followers will just start showing up.
Brand voice
Businesses now engage in more communication with their customers than ever before. Whether it’s posting on social media or writing a blog post for your website, you can’t do it unless you have a consistent brand voice.
Fail to develop one and you can end up with a random assortment of voices that simply can’t be associated with your brand’s values. This makes it more difficult for consumers to create a clear picture of your business and makes them less likely to come back.
To create a consistent brand voice, try to describe your brand in three words. Then you can take a look at a piece of your content and see if the voice you’ve used matches what your organization is all about.
Final thoughts
With most startups failing within the first five years, it’s critical to make the most of every opportunity to promote your startup. Creating good marketing and branding strategies isn’t easy and you definitely can’t do it without the six things we talked about earlier.
Be sure to use everything at your disposal as quality products and services just aren’t enough anymore.
