How To Market Your Startup With Minimal Budget

The biggest challenge faced by many startups isn’t developing your product – it’s letting people know about it. The problem lies in the fact that most of the money you have available is pumped into creating your product. And, when the time comes to start marketing, there is very little left. Thankfully, there are a few tactics you can employ to start spreading the word. Read on to find out what they are.

Show off your wares at a trade fair

All industries have their own trade fair, and they are a cost-effective way of beginning the process of getting your name out there. You will have a huge room full to the brim with people who should have a natural interest in your product. It’s your perfect target market and a great opportunity to get sign ups, arrange some demos, and even sell some product. Promotional lanyards are an excellent idea for when you are walking the room and trying to entice people to your stall. You should also invest a little in a good stand and get some company-branded pens, balloons, and anything else you can think of that will help.

Use social media

Social media may not be the answer to your problems, but it’s certainly worth a shot. If you can come up with a clever way of building your following, then it can help. With social media, it’s often human interest stories and posts that get picked up, so if you can find the right angle, use it. Find similar businesses to yours and get involved with the conversations you read. Answer questions, be helpful, and you never know what may come of it.

Be more involved in your community

Your community will have a broad range of opportunities for businesses, and you should investigate them all to find one that sits well with you. Perhaps you could sponsor a football team or a local charity event. Local events are usually fairly cheap to invest in, and you will get your name seen by thousands of people. Also, think about starting a local group. Let’s say you are a web developer. Perhaps you could start a hackathon or something similar under your business name. Building an app for a local charity group could draw in some serious press attention.

Incentivise everything

If you say you are going to give away your iPad, you will get a lot of interest. So, why not use this or a similar tactic to get sign ups? Incentives are a great way to get attention, as everybody likes free stuff. As long as you target the right people, you should be able to build up enough interest to make it worth your while. For the sake of a couple of hundred pounds, you could get a few dozen sales.

Partner with another business

Find a business that is complementary to yours. Approach them and ask the if they would like to hook up with you. Let’s say that you sell a health food product. Maybe you could team up with a local fitness instructor and work out a way of developing a weight loss and fitness program? There are plenty of ideas that can work when it comes to a partnership – so don’t be afraid to reach out to anyone.