How to Establish a Stable Customer Base through Shameless Self-Promotion as a Startup

We are living in a business surrounding where startups are booming and entrepreneurial culture is heavily encouraged. Some would say a bit too much. With each new aspiring startup entering this competitive arena, finding a unique voice and reaching out to future clients becomes increasingly difficult. With the things as they are, the only way up and coming businesses can make a sufficient splash is to be as shameless as possible with their marketing approach.

So, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can quickly grab customers’ attention without having to spend a fortune

So, let’s take a look at some of the ways you can quickly grab customers’ attention without having to spend a fortune.

Target your audience

What we like to call shameless, edgy or in-your-face marketing campaigns were never truly known for their broad appeal. As a matter of fact, we can easily say that, in order to be effective, they have to polarize the public. That is why it is very important to properly identify your intended audience and tailor the marketing messages according to their tastes. This way, your campaigns will not only be more effective in terms of reach but also invested resources. Just remember that being bold doesn’t mean being aggressive. Too much pressure may alienate your core customer base.

Engage your audience with interesting content

As soon as you manage to establish your brand as a subject matter expert, you won’t have to worry about a stable influx of visitors you can later convert to customers. There are a couple of rules you need to abide by, though. First, you need to choose the channels and platforms close to your core customer base. Second, your content needs to be created with conversion in mind, meaning it has to be clear, relevant, without too many distractions, offer distinct value proposition and create a sense of urgency.

Play up the free promotional products

When it comes to promotional gifts, the numbers are pretty clear – according to recent research after receiving promotional products, 85% of consumers eventually do business with the advertiser. Even better, once you find a reliable company doing promotional printing on affordable products like mugs, USB sticks, key rings and magnets, all these items tend to change a lot of hands during their long lifetime. You can even expect that some of them will find a way out of your intended customer base and make an unintended splash elsewhere.

Utilize the power of email marketing

Although often being written off as obsolete, email marketing continues to showcase tremendous endurance. As a matter of fact, as long as your messages are short and not overly annoying, emails may prove to be the most efficient channel you can use to deliver product updates, special offers and customized content to your customers. Of course, you also need to make sure that your messages will be received and read. This extensive research about best email list verification tools may help you find the right software for the job.

Go guerrilla!

Guerilla marketing is usually characterized by two things – low investments and high impact. It is probably the most rebellious way of reaching out to new audiences, which makes it an excellent choice for all up and coming brands that want to showcase a fighting spirit. Of course, some guerilla tactics work better than others. If you want your actions to make an optimal impact, they need to be clever, interactive, and memorable while still being subtle and not coming off as too desperate (think Raising the Roof’s recent “Homeless youth” campaign).

Manage the media

This is the part where you need to gather all the money you saved in the previous campaigns and buy yourself good old relentless media exposure. The thing that will set your campaign apart from the rest of the noise the general public barely registers is the angle in which you are going to present your brand. Remember, your story and your values are as important as the product/service you are selling. You need to give your carefully selected audience something they can sink their teeth into and hopefully inspires conversation. Also, don’t forget to be selective when choosing the platforms where you are going to distribute the message.
As we can see, as long as they are familiar with the tastes of their core audience, selective with their marketing channels and creative with their messages, startups can produce a significant splash upon launch. Even if that means they will come off a bit of shameless to the rest of the public. This shouldn’t be too much of an obstacle, though. The competition is relentless and every way of establishing a core customer base is a legit one.