Advances in technology, constantly emerging innovative trends, and quick and easy access to online content make starting your own business more accessible than ever. Digital marketing provides unlimited options to grow and promote any idea and reach different audiences around the world.
However, creating a startup company is not an easy undertaking, so it requires preliminary preparation, clearly defined goals to achieve and an attractive product that stands out in the market niche.
In the article, we will look in detail at the definition of a startup, how it functions, and the most important and basic steps for implementing such a project.
What is a startup
A startup is a young company that aims to develop one or more unique services or products and bring them to market. It is usually funded with limited funds and its creators have to convince prospective investors that the product/service is worth investing more funds for implementation.
How a startup company works
A startup differs from other types of companies in that it strives for rapid growth. This often happens through the so-called iteration — a process of continuously improving products through feedback and usage data.
Startups start with a basic product skeleton called a minimum viable product or, in other words, MVP. It is tested and revised until it is ready for market launch.
Another key point with startup companies is that they aim to build and expand their customer base as quickly as possible. This way, they can earn more money and take ever larger market shares. In addition, they can improve the products/services they develop and increase their audience.
What are the main steps to create a startup
The first major step of starting a startup business is coming up with an innovative and unique idea.
The idea
A successful idea should include the following characteristics:
- to solve a pressing problem in the given branch;
- to offer unique value;
- be technically and financially feasible;
- to have the necessary components available for its creation.
Once the idea is there, it must be checked whether there is a real demand in the market that it can satisfy.
To define this:
- formulate basic hypotheses about what target audience you are trying to reach;
- gather information about the problem the product or service aims to solve to support why your idea is worth the investment or purchase;
- ask focus groups through surveys and interviews about the needs of the specific market niche you want to fill;
- roughly determine how much money the target audience would pay.
Creation of a business plan for the startup company
The next step is to create a business plan. It will help you build your startup and plan its development more easily. This way you can reduce the risks of possible future losses and guide your long-term operations, marketing strategies and financial matters.
For this purpose, you need to:
- determine the target market – here you need to use the market research already done and choose the segment that best fits the strengths of your startup company. In this step, it’s advisable to consider various factors such as profitability, affordability and market size;
- analyze the competition — that way, you’ll understand the strengths and weaknesses of other companies in your business to use to your advantage when you enter the market.
Building a customer base
Another key point in creating a startup is building a customer base. Age, income, online behavior, and lifestyle are the key elements on which this should happen.
Having loyal users and buyers will help you to:
- increase your sales;
- send messages to new customers that your idea is reliable and unique;
- get referrals and positive reviews to attract new customers.
To build your customer base you need to:
- consistently offer a quality and unique product;
- have loyalty programs to attract new people to your business;
- be active on social networks and collaborate with influencers to advertise your activity;
- offer quality service to users;
- constantly seek feedback from your customers;
- craft a message to target your target audience with the benefits of your product or service.
Look for funding
Any realization of an idea needs an initial investment and financing. Securing them is all about finding the right reliable partners who see the potential of your startup business and the return on investment.
To attract the right people, you can:
- develop a business plan and growth strategy;
- prepare financial forecasts and reports;
- make a presentation to explain how your business differs from others;
- plan for how you will distribute the invested money and what profits you expect;
- prepare legal documents;
- tailor your approach to different investors based on their personality and interests.
Find a suitable team
Teamwork is essential for your startup company to succeed. Look for people with enough experience and potential for development in the business niche, who have the same views and ambitions for the future. This will facilitate and increase the efficiency of the work process.
But how can this happen?
Here are some basic general tips for finding the right colleagues for you.
- Define your needs in terms of roles and responsibilities that are necessary to achieve your goals. Think about what skills you’re looking for in candidates that will help your project come to fruition faster and more successfully.
- Focus on the most key positions that need filling. These are, for example, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Look for qualities such as organization, adaptability, diligence and multi-functionality.
- Consider what additional incentives you can offer the team you want to form: hybrid work, flexible working hours, the opportunity for rapid professional development, etc.
- Post internships and assign tasks to potential employees to assess whether they have the skills you’re looking for.
- For specialized matters, rely on external experienced collaborators such as programmers, lawyers, bankers, insurers, accountants, etc.
Creating a digital marketing strategy
Another major step in building a startup business is developing a marketing plan.
First, you need to determine what goals you want to achieve — increase the engagement of your users in social networks, attract new people, make your brand more recognizable and famous in the specific business niche, etc.
Second, you need to choose your audience correctly and think about what channels you can reach them through.
Third, you need to determine and set aside a budget necessary for the implementation of the marketing strategy, as well as allocate your costs based on the potential return.
Then you need to plan your actions by breaking the plan down into smaller, more manageable steps.
Other activities you can take are:
- increased presence in various social networks and platforms to promote your product or service;
- distribution of prizes and cooperation with influencers;
- sponsoring events;
- email marketing — this is an effective way to maintain contact with the audience and promote their loyalty;
- planning content topics, social media posts and email delivery sequence;
- using free or low-cost tools and platforms like Canva and Mailchimp to save upfront overhead;
- copywriting with keywords related to the product/service offered;
- content optimization for search engines such as Google or Bing, which will help potential customers find your site through organic search;
- measuring and analyzing data through the use of tools such as Google Analytics or a similar platform to monitor the effectiveness of your activity. Analyzing will help you understand which approaches work and which don’t, so you can make the necessary adjustments in your strategy to achieve success;
- run paid ads — investing in them is worthwhile, as they can drive more traffic to your site and social networks faster while increasing sales.
Other steps you can take include:
- video content creation — short, informative and engaging videos will help promote your service/product faster and engage your target audience more easily. You can post them on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok;
- personalization of the experience according to your customer’s preferences and behavior. This way you will be able to create personalized offers, emails and advertising messages and increase the chances of conversion. Last but not least, this way your audience can become more loyal to you;
- following new trends and technologies in your business niche — you need to keep up with innovations and be able to adapt quickly to the changing digital marketing environment. Examples of such technologies and trends are the implementation of new platforms, the use of artificial intelligence and the integration of chatbots to improve customer service.
Brand identity building
This is a process that has different steps, the main ones being market and company analysis, defining the business goals of the startup, defining the customer profile and creating the message to reach the consumers.
Brand identity is important to establish a business in the market and distinguish itself from the competition by spreading the innovative product offered by the company.
Building involves several sub-processes that may differ depending on the business niche in which the startup is developing. Such, for example, are:
- competition analysis and research;
- developing a brand strategy;
- application of SWOT analysis;
- creating a design of the main elements;
- engaging users by giving out prizes, presence on social networks, collaborating with famous personalities, etc.;
- building a relationship with the audience and turning it into a loyal one;
- discovering ways to increase brand visibility and attract new potential clients/buyers.
- maintaining a good brand reputation.
Presentation of the startup product on the market
After the research is done and the creation of a business plan and marketing strategy follows the launch of your product on the market. This is a test of whether it can be successfully sold to customers, what can be improved to differentiate itself from others in the business niche, and whether it interacts well with the audience. In addition, this way you will be able to understand what are his weak and strong points and work on the stumbling blocks and obstacles that appear.
Evaluate how successful the launch was and whether it met the goals you and your team set beforehand. To do this, you need to collect information about sales, customer reviews, media coverage, etc. This will give you a complete picture of the product’s performance and the steps you can take to improve it.
In conclusion, realizing a successful digital marketing startup requires a unique idea that fills a specific niche in the market and a lot of preparation. Good organizational skills, ambition, persistence, as well as strategic thinking, are fundamental for the successful implementation of the conceived project.
Every step, from the idea to coming up with a marketing strategy, business plan and finding an adaptable and experienced team, is extremely important to distinguish your startup business from the rest.
If you need professional help and a team with experience in creating a marketing strategy for a startup business, we at CreateX are here to help you.
