Introduction
Building brand awareness and generating interest are crucial for any emerging company looking to establish itself in a competitive market. After seven years of helping small and midsize companies develop and execute successful demand generation plans, WIZ Advisors knows a thing or two about where to spend your valuable marketing dollars.
In this eBook, we delve into five strategies that have proved successful for startup companies that we’ve helped on a small budget.
These strategies include:
1. Leveraging social media
2. Creating relevant content across the lifecycle
3. Collaborating with niche influencers
4. Hosting or participating in events
5. Incorporating press releases and online industry media publications
1. Leverage Social Media
Social media platforms are powerful tools to reach your targeted audience at a low cost. With billions of users worldwide, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and X provide excellent opportunities to showcase your brand’s personality, values, testimonials, and products. For B2B businesses, LinkedIn is by far the social platform of choice, given its professional membership base and bent toward businesses sharing content and thought leadership (just look at this article!). For B2C marketers, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok help companies and creators target consumers with eye-catching posts, videos, and links to purchase products without leaving the platforms.
Here’s a table summarizing the key aspects of each platform and the best ways for your business to use them.
Notes:
• Number of Active Users in the U.S. – these numbers are approximations and can fluctuate based on the latest data.
• Budget Range for a Startup Company – the budget range provided is a general guideline. The actual budget can vary based on factors such as industry, target audience, and campaign goals.
2. Create Relevant Content Across the Customer Lifecycle
Creating valuable, relevant content across the lifecycle helps establish you as an authority in your industry.
HubSpot defines lifecycle marketing as:
Lifecycle marketing is a mix of strategies a company uses to positively influence customer behavior as they move through each touchpoint of the marketing cycle, from the initial attraction to becoming a brand advocate.
The stages in the lifecycle are awareness, engagement, comparison/conversion, retention, and advocacy. All successful lifecycle marketing strategies are fueled by content. Content can include blogs, eBooks, demo videos, podcasts, infographics, social media carousels, case studies, cost savings calculators, etc. Each piece of content allows you to educate your audience and build trust as they move closer to purchase and then to advocacy.
Lifecycle stages can be linear – but in some cases they are not. They can last an hour, a day, or several months depending on your buyers’ needs. Some buyers may become aware of your products/services and go straight to conversion because they need them immediately, and others may take longer, choosing to absorb a significant amount of your content until they are ready to buy.
For a higher resolution of the below slide, click HERE.
3. Collaborate with Niche Influencers
Influencer marketing has become a MUST for brands looking to boost awareness and expand their audience on a limited budget. Partnering with influencers allows your emerging company to tap into their established audiences, giving your brand immediate credibility and exposure.
What is a niche influencer? Niche influencers are content creators that focus on a specific industry → for example, a makeup artist that discusses “The Latest Beauty Brands”, or a web developer that starts a podcast on “Wordpress Plug-Ins”, or a lawyer that hosts a monthly LinkedIn Live on “Financial and Insurance Regulations.” Niche influencers can have any size following and their costs per post/video/reel reflect the size of their following. On Instagram, there is a generally accepted rate of $100 per 10,000 followers.
Shopify provides this breakdown of the five influencer tiers and associated costs.
Depending on how much of your marketing budget you dedicate to influencers (for B2C brands it we’d recommend ~ 25% and for B2B ~ 10-15%), you can engage any size creator, although we’ve found that you can drive significant ROI within the 5,000-50,000 followers range.
So, where do you start finding a niche influencer for your brand? One option is purchasing a tool like Upfluence, Later Influence, or GRIN that have hundreds of thousands of influencers in their databases to help you discover, recruit and manage your influencer relationships
Or, you can get creative and find/manage your influencers manually. Here are some tips for finding influencers on your own.
1) Engage with online groups where your target audience is active – search categories that pertain to their interests.
2) Attend webinars or conferences in your niche to see who is speaking and set up time to speak with them offline.
3) Search hashtags on Facebook and Instagram, see who is posting, and find creators with a lot of likes and comments.
4) Source influencers from podcasts – open your platform of choice and search shows in your niche.
5) Ask your customers – put out a social media post or send an email to your database.
4. Host or Participate in Events
As discussed above, events (conferences, trade shows, etc.) can provide great forums to meet potential influencers and partners. Depending on your budget, you can attend a virtual event, a local networking event, or a large industry conference. Whatever the venue, make sure you capture contact information of potential partners via business cards or digitally through your cellphone.
Some large conferences and trade shows have apps created specifically for the event that show who will be there, where they will be (booth #, room #), what time they will be speaking, and allow you to reach out to them in advance. Use the app to schedule your day. Webinars and workshops are alternative ways to industry attend events for free and network with attendees and speakers.
• Host webinars or workshops: Webinars are designed to offer significant value to its audience, while helping to position the speaker/host brands as leaders in their industries. If you don’t have a large network to invite to a webinar, use ads on Facebook/Instagram with a link to register OR partner with other businesses in your niche to gain access to their networks. Alternatively, you can partner with a media outlet and pay for access to their audience (something we discuss in more detail in #5 below).
• Sponsor local events: Sponsoring events in your city can help you connect with local businesses and gain visibility. As a sponsor, you can hang banners throughout the event with your logo, tagline and QR code for consumers/ businesses to visit your website or specific landing page.
• Attend industry trade shows: Attending trade shows and conferences are extremely valuable ways to build brand awareness. They can be expensive so let me break them out into the three cost tiers:
a. Least expensive – the least costly way to attend a trade show is to buy a ticket, bring a bunch of business cards, and walk the floor. If you walk the floor, do research ahead of time to understand who is attending and put together a schedule for yourself.
b. Middle of the road – a middle-cost option is to purchase a booth which allows you to showcase your products/services and interact with trade show participants. Important with this option – make sure to go with at least one other person so you can take turns walking the floor.
c. Most expensive – the costliest option is to sponsor the entire event or an aspect of it like lunch or cocktail hour. As part of a sponsorship package, you may be able to speak at the event or join a panel on a particular subject, showcasing your thought leadership. The benefits of sponsoring also include obtaining a list of all attendees with contact information which you can use to follow up after the event and add to your lead/partner database.
5. Incorporate Press Releases and Online Industry Media Publications
Press releases and industry media publications provide additional ways to build your brand’s awareness and credibility. A well-thought out and executed media campaign can really expand your reach. Typically, you target your ideal customers with a unique piece of content (report, eBook, webinar, podcast, etc.) that they are likely to engage with given their relationship/membership with your chosen publication(s).
• Write a press release: Press releases can be used to share newsworthy updates about your startup, such as product launches, funding rounds, or partnerships. Launch the release and upload it to your website and social media channels. Not many people beyond your current network will likely read your press release in real time – but that’s okay. That is not the primary purpose. The primary benefit of press releases is that they are among the first results that appear when a prospect searches for your business/products/services online, greatly enhancing your credibility.
• Reach out to top industry publications: Combine the press release with a media campaign. Contact the top industry publications in your niche through a listed phone number or contact form and ask them for a media guide and list of advertising options. Choose a publication(s) whose audience mirrors your ideal customer profile(s).
• Run content in your chosen publication(s): What type of content should you run? One of my favorite types of content is a trend article or report that quotes your CEO/Founder as a guru and provides proprietary knowledge/data that only you have access to – or a product/approach that only your company can deliver. If you just launched a product or service, focus on that. Have the publication share a link to the article/report on their email and social media and you do the same. A second content option is to share your brand story in an interview with the editor – either via video or written article Help your potential customers understand who you are, why you created the company, and what you offer that is truly innovative or different. Once the audience has heard from you, you can follow up with a dedicated email to their readers and/or ads in their newsletter. Point the email/ads to a landing page that you host with a valuable piece of content to download in exchange for their contact information.
Conclusion / Budget Allocation
Building brand awareness and a solid lead pipeline on a tight budget requires a strategic approach that combines multiple tactics. By combining the five strategies discussed here – leveraging social media, creating valuable content, collaborating with influencers, hosting or participating in events, and investing in PR/industry media publications – you can build a strong brand presence that resonates with your target audience and builds your lead pipeline.
On a final note, let’s talk quickly about budget allocation. What should you budget for these marketing initiatives? How should you allocate it?
As a rule of thumb, marketing should represent 10-15% of your revenue at a steady state (not including salaries). However, in the early years, you may want to allocate twice that to get your name out. So, let’s say 20%. If you are generating $500K in sales per year, 20% of that would be $100K.
The pie chart below is how I would allocate that budget: Marketing Platforms – 20%, Content Development – 24%, Social Media Ads – 12%, Influencers – 12%, Media/Industry Publications – 16%, Trade Shows/Conferences – 16%.
If you have internal marketing resources like great writers, graphic designers and website developers, you can do most of your content creation inhouse and use that money to double down on other pieces like advertising and third-party media partners.
Do you need an experienced partner to help you develop and execute your brand building strategy? Feel free to email me directly at stacey@wizadvisors.com.
I look forward to hearing from you.
About WIZ Advisors
WIZ Advisors is a female-owned and operated digital marketing agency that offers a full suite of solutions for small to mid-size B2B companies, seeking to build their brand awareness, increase leads, drive engagement, and accelerate revenue. WIZ Advisors has over 25 years of experience delivering strategic marketing solutions to clients from startups to global organizations. We employ a customer-centric approach, focusing on your company’s unique strengths and challenges and delivering solutions tailored to your specific goals. Through open and honest communication, commitment, flexibility, and results, WIZ Advisors continues to earn its clients’ trust.
Learn more about us at www.wizadvisors.com.