At times marketing a startup can seem like an impossible task. Thinking of an effective strategy is challenging and creating startup campaigns that yield the best results can prove to be even more difficult.
Luckily, there are many companies similar to yours that began as small startups and later experienced major growth due to effective marketing campaigns. Here are some of the best startup marketing campaigns that caused multi-million dollar companies to become the household names we know today, and how you can do the same.
Uber
Uber is arguably the most popular rideshare platform available, but they didn’t earn this title overnight. Their innovative spirit is one of the things that contributed to their growth
In 2014, Uber made the move from solely offering ride-share solutions to food delivery with Uber Eats – a platform that allowed users to order food from restaurants in their area. However, to set themselves apart from competitors like DoorDash and Grubhub, Uber Eats offered enticing incentives. For example, they gave users the option to batch orders to get free delivery and cut costs.
Ultimately, the company capitalized on the time and place that its potential users would want something delivered. Rather than pumping money into traditional advertising methods Uber kept users front of mind and adapted their services accordingly. Wherever there was a need, they provided an answer. This vital step is what allowed Uber to pivot its startup branding strategy from a rideshare app to the go-to for all things delivery.
Our advice: Establish your startup as a “problem solver”. Look closely at the market and identify loopholes that your business can fill. Not only will this help your business grow, but it will help establish your business as an industry expert.
MINT
Mint is a trusted application that gives people the ability to manage their finances on the go. We chose to highlight Mint because of how quickly they scaled their company using expert content marketing.
With hundreds of personal finance tools already on the market, Mint founder Aaron Patzer knew his startup would need to go above and beyond to stick out amongst competitors. This is why Mint tailored a lot of its content toward young people who wanted to get better control of their finances. Who also felt underserved by existing personal finance tools.
Patzer’s idea behind Mint was to make it dead simple to get your finances in order and to feel in control of your life. They accomplished this by driving an epic amount of traffic to their website using their personal finance blog tailored to young professionals. Mint also took advantage of free advertising on hundreds of different blogs of varying traffic levels as well as social media marketing.
Our advice: Mastering content marketing is an inexpensive way to scale your business and connect with your target audience. We recommend developing a strong content marketing plan to help get the word out about your startup and build relationships.
Pinterest is a virtual human indexing machine used for finding inspiration on all things lifestyle from recipes to daily affirmations. We chose this company because it bypassed typical marketing campaigns for startups and catered to niche users.
Although Pinterest is a giant in the tech industry today, that wasn’t always the case. Like most startups, it relied on invitation marketing at first to get the word out, however, they struggled to gain traction. To better scale their business co-founder Ben Silbermann worked directly with users and met them where they were. By holding meetups in person where they could get feedback about their site, and also provide incentives for referrals.
Ultimately, the key to their success was to focus on niche-passionate users, referral marketing, and focus groups to better cater to their audience.
Our advice: Identify your target audience early on so that your marketing strategy will cater to their needs. Also, don’t be afraid to think outside the box and meet your users where they are. Hosting events and focus groups are both great ways to connect with users to better understand them.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a smart workspace that brings files and cloud content together with the tools your team wants to use. We chose this company because of their impressive growth through their affiliate program which allows anyone with a blog or website to earn cash (up to $50) for each new Dropbox Pro subscriber they refer.
In addition to excellent affiliate marketing, Dropbox takes advantage of referrals. Currently, they offer 500MB of free storage space for new signups referred by a current user. By doing this Dropbox increased signups by 60%.
Our advice: Use affiliate marketing and referrals to encourage current users to show and share your services with people they know. This will help users market for your startup on your behalf.
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Need Help With Your Startup Marketing Strategy? Dia Creative is the solution.
As experts in content marketing, we at Dia Creative can assist you with all your marketing needs for your startup. Schedule a consultation today to begin strategizing and planning your next marketing campaign.
Resources
laveh.com blog – Best Startup Marketing Campaigns We’ve Ever Seen
