Today we are talking about “Why My Marketing Strategies to Make Your Startup MONEY from DAY 1”
I’ve always had one goal when I’m doing a start-up, and that’s to make money the day we launch it. I’d close any of them down if I didn’t make money within 90 days, and I mean more money than I’m spending. I just don’t like to lose money. I don’t have a lot of patience. So a fast start, I think, is critical to most small businesses, unless you have venture capital and they bankroll you in your first three years and you can just blow through money and try things. For the rest of us, which is 99% of all businesses, you need to make money and you need to make it fast.
How do you do that? Well, you must have a marketing strategy. This is why I’m a fan of the business plan, even a simple one because you need to have a strategy of how you’re going to attract customers. It’s a very simple concept, but how are you going to attract customers? If you do not attract customers, you will be out of business. I don’t care how good your idea is, you will be out of business. This is a fundamental pillar in the start-up, your ability to attract customers.
Let’s create a marketing strategy for your startup right now.
1. What Vehicle are You Going to Use to Advertise Your Start-up?
Just picture it. It’s your Bullhorn. Where are you going to attract the eyes and ears of the people that are most likely to buy what it is you’re offering? When we think about that for a second, what will it be? Every business is different. I use so many vehicles because I believe in doing layered marketing, but in a start-up, I wouldn’t do that if I was doing a launch. I need a quick start, I need to hit you in the jaw right away. Godaddy did that when they had a beautiful attractive girl on a Super Bowl ad. Apple did it with their 1984 Super Bowl. It was amazing in its ability to get attention. And they used the Super Bowl, which was the vehicle where they could get the most eyeballs on their product and or service and create a launch.
So what vehicle do you have at your disposal? It’s like in war you have all these vehicles to fight with. You have a tank. You got B-52 bomber. You have all these things that you can use. And the war is against your competition. Are you going to use a submarine or warship? You’re going to use all of these different things and all the vehicles that are at your disposal. Which one’s going to cause the most damage? Is it going to be digital marketing and where is it within digital marketing? Where is it going to go? Is going to be on YouTube, Facebook, etc? Or is it going to be a TV ad or radio ad?
I made a fortune during the election period because I pre-bought a year’s worth of advertising a year in advance, knowing it was an election year. I bought the ad space at pennies on a dollar. I probably could have just sold it off to one of the campaigns, literally, because I had so much. I had five commercials every night between 5 and 10 PM and MSNBC, CBS, and FOX. I made a fortune. ‘
I don’t care what it is, I don’t care if it’s a darn hot air balloon, the vehicle is one of these advertising mediums that you need to choose and you need to pick the one because it’s a launch and you have limited dollars and you can’t typically do five of them. You have to pick the one that’s most likely to work, and this is where maybe doing some beta testing will beneficial to you.
I want to choose the one that’s going to attract the most ears, the most moose eyeballs of my target customer. He’s my target customer, it’s a person that’s most likely going to buy what it is I’m selling. That’s how you have a successful launch and that’s how you have a successful marketing strategy.
2. Introduce Your Company to Your Target Customer and/or the Marketplace
GoDaddy wasn’t talking to a specific target customer. They believed their customer was everybody. Apple really wasn’t worrying so much about a target customer either. They were introducing their product to the world!
Uber doesn’t need a target customer. They target a universal group of people. You need to introduce your company to either your target customer and/or the marketplace.
Here we are world! Let me tell you about my company.
That’s one approach. Introducing your company.
Number two is introducing your brand. A brand is what is your reputation going to be. What is it you want your target customers to think when they think about your company?
How do you create a successful marketing strategy for your launch is going through this and picking one marketing vehicle or channel. You can’t do all these things, so you need to find the one that is going to hit them in the face, the hardest. You have to pick the vehicle, you want to introduce your company, you want to start building your brand. That’s your logo and/or your tagline. You want to tie these things together. Your brand something you’re going to promote and what is going to be the key pillar of your marketing campaign going forward, so you better introduce it when you launch.
Another way to do that is, what’s the one thing that if your target customer here’s it or sees it, they’re going to chase you down for your business? This is your unique selling proposition. Build can your brand around that. That’s what you better be pitching.
You have to decide which one of these is the strongest. You can do a combination of two. You can introduce your company and say you do this, or this is our brand and we do this. You can’t do it all. You have about 15 seconds for a radio ad, you got a minute for a TV ad, you got 30 seconds. Everything’s different. If you created a print ad, you have a limited amount of copy. You can’t be confusing the potential customer so only put two things at the most.
3. Have a Call to Action
Are you going to give your customers a reason to buy today for this launch? Give them a reason to buy today! I want to make money fast. I want to watch my company with some excitement! I want the phones to be ringing from day one! I want internet leads from day one or an estimate request from day one! I want orders from day one!
4. Share a Story that Makes Your Audience Cheer for Your Company
You tie yourself and your story together as to why you started the business, like Tommy John underwear and MyPillow.com. The owner ties themselves to the product through a story, and you become a compelling character, and thus your customers cheer for your success. That’s a very successful strategy. Colonel Sanders did that with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Dave Thomas did it, tying his daughter’s likeness into the image of his fast-food chain. Become a compelling character.
I’m telling you how to launch your company with an effective marketing strategy. This is to launch your business. If the strategy you picked doesn’t work, you better change it quickly and try something else. I’m giving you kind of a buffet and I’m telling you to pick two of these concepts to try. If you think one will do it, that’s great, but sometimes you have to find out what works. I’ve used a combination of two things, normally. These are my marketing strategies that have helped my start-ups money from day one.
