5 must-be places for creating a strong digital presence for a start-up
Start-up marketing is undoubtedly a challenge with limited budgets competing for various immediate business requirements. However, we believe that in today’s age, it is a lot easier to kickstart a company’s marketing efforts through the digital medium.
It is almost a given, but one of the basics is to set up a good, functional and easy-to-use website. Now, some may argue that a website is not very necessary considering that other channels may offer greater presence with much less effort and cost. The argument is not without merit, but a website on your own domain is like entrenching your company’s identity firmly. With the Singapore Government helping businesses with the PIC grant for various activities, which includes creation/ automation of digital presence to improve productivity, there is no reason why a Singapore-incorporated business shouldn’t have its own website.
Irrespective of whether the company website is setup or not, there are 5 other places where you must create accounts and a detailed profile page (as applicable). These are:
a) Google Places: Having a Places account is great for local marketing and generating leads from a local audience. Setting this up is easy. Simply visit this page and get started.
b) LinkedIn: Create a company page on LinkedIn for your business. For this, you will need to have a personal account on LinkedIn.
c) Facebook: If you are serving retail consumers directly, then Facebook is an absolute must, simply because of the enormous reach this medium offers. With billions of active users worldwide, you are bound to find a sizeable chunk of your target audience present here. If you are serving businesses (ie. a “B2B” company), it helps to have a presence for your business on this channel, though you must alter your expectations from this marketing channel.
d) Slideshare: We are sure you would have created a presentation for sales prospecting purposes. If so, why not use that presentation for online marketing and lead generation? Simply create an account, and post your presentation on SlideShare; it’s an easy way to get started. With Slideshare being integrated with LinkedIn/Facebook, you will soon find individuals “following” you through this medium.
e) YouTube : Creating and posting videos is extremely easy with the proliferation of smartphones and tablets. So, take advantage of the easily available technology; shoot a video of yourself communicating about your company or product and post it on YouTube. Add related videos from other sources to your channel and continue to build your channel with a mix of your content and those shared by others. With every video you post, ensure the description includes some information about your company.
So, there they are- five channels that you can and must use to market your start up effectively. However, do note that as with any form of marketing, it will not be enough to just create a profile and forget it, but you will have to post updates regularly to build your visibility. However, as this doesnot require any ‘cash spend’ – so it is well worth investing the time in this.
- Article contributed by On Target Media & Marketing Services.
