Starting a business from the ground up is a challenging process. Apart from your investors, family, and close friends, no one really knows about your products whether you’re selling t-shirts online or gadgets and offering services until you actively promote them. Getting the word out is what marketing is for, but where to begin is a challenge in itself. Digital marketing strategies are very integral to the success of your business.

Digital marketing is perhaps the best route a startup can take because of how accessible it is, regardless of your budget. Digital marketing is a wide and diverse field, but here are eight of the best practices that some successful startups have employed in their own business strategies.

1. Create digital marketing strategies

One can’t talk about digital marketing without mentioning content marketing, the process by which a business creates, publishes, and promotes relevant content to its target audience.

Every startup should begin by analyzing the market and identifying its audience. After all, a great product or service is all for naught if the people who are most likely to avail of such are not aware that the business exists.

2. Build a clear brand identity

You have to set yourself apart from the competition, and that means building a brand identity that is both unique and practical. Every startup has to figure out its name and logo since these will appear everywhere, from your website to your social media pages to your printed marketing materials.

Your logo and brand name don’t have to be complicated, but you should make sure they’re easily recognizable. They should also tell the story of your brand.

3. Advertise on Google

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a form of marketing where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Google Ads is a type of PPC wherein you can place ads on Google’s search engine and the entire Google Display Network.

If your ad wins the bid for a specific keyword, your ad will appear on the first page whenever someone searched for that keyword on Google. It can be tricky to figure out what keywords to use or how to write the copy for the ad, that’s why it’s recommended to partner with a Google Ads expert.

4. Use social media to raise brand awareness

Advertising on social media is perhaps the best digital marketing strategy to build brand awareness. It’s hard to grow your social media pages organically since there is a lot of content online competing for the limited attention of your target market. This means that you have to regularly churn out fresh and up-to-date content so that people would know that your business is active.

5. Don’t dismiss email marketing

For the naysayers that say email marketing is dead, a report shows each $1 spent in email marketing has a return on investment of roughly $44. However, you have to craft personalized emails to urge customers or clients to actually open their mails and browse through your website. Personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened so make sure it’s not only catchy and engaging but also specifically targeted to the client.

6. Build a customer service program

Traditionally, customer service is a totally different aspect of the business from marketing but social media has changed that. Businesses who provide subpar customer service may find themselves in hot water when users complain online of a bad experience they had dealing with you. Mind you, news travels fast. Naturally, it’s less likely that you will attract new customers if you’ve gained a bad reputation from the public.

7. Run retargeting ads

Sometimes, people are just not ready to make a purchase the first time they visit your website. This is where retargeting ads come in. Retargeting is most effective when you present clients with a special or limited-time offer. This is pursuant to the scarcity principle that people are most likely to purchase something from you if they feel that the supply is limited.

8. Invest in Search Engine Optimization

SEO is optimizing your website so that it will rank higher in the results pages of search engines. People are less likely to scroll down or move to the next page of results if they’ve already found what they’re looking for on the first few websites. Higher ranking could mean more traffic coming into your website. A lot of companies invest heavily in SEO because it’s efficient in getting traffic to your website without paying for ads.

Final Thoughts on Digital Marketing Strategies

The deluge of competition will make it an uphill battle for any startup. New businesses must also consider if there is a demand for their products and the logistics that come into delivering these products into the hands of consumers, apart from marketing. Digital marketing ensures that your intended audience is aware of what you have to offer. It takes time to build a presence, but in time and with enough hard work, you will see considerable traffic to your online pages.