Marketing is an essential part of business growth. From growing brand awareness to roping in customers, from increasing sales to expanding the business, marketing plays a central role. It makes sure that people know the ins and outs of the product and how much of a difference the product will make in their lives. Most importantly, it makes the business a two-way street by engaging its consumers. Through marketing, a company takes customer feedback, works on customization, and builds a strong base. It also applies effective communication and public relations strategies to mold the business’s reputation over a period of time. Everybody aims at easy and affordable business marketing techniques. Yet, most business people turn to instantly paid advertising, which costs a ton. Instead, get creative with business promotion with the following growth hacks.
Beta Version Hack
This is a less-known secret that many businesses use. Before you launch your actual website or product into the market, announce a beta version of the same. Strange as this seems, it will actually help create a sense of wanting in your audience. It will also give you an estimate of the product’s initial performance. Use your beta version to gather your initial customer base, and then shape your product’s marketing strategy accordingly. Apart from developing and refining the product, use the beta version to collect feedback on the marketing techniques themselves. This will also kindle an air of exclusivity around the product since customers will long to try it out. Moreover, those involved in your beta-version testing will feel honored to be part of the “insiders” who get the first scoop of the ice cream before everyone else. If it works out well, you can even expect a loyal audience built by word of mouth before the actual product comes into the picture. You can launch your beta product on Product Hunt and others.
Forgotten Forums
The easiest way to build a long-term audience is by utilizing dedicated marketing forums to promote your business. Connect with other industrialists, complementary businesses, and fellow marketers. The more you network with the best of other industries, the more chances you will get to promote your business and grow organically. With a proper forum-marketing strategy in place, you can participate in domain-specific discussions and render your expertise to an interested customer base. Done well, this audience can convert into a loyal one for the long-term soon!
Publication Platforms
If you want your product to reach avid readers, aim at getting featured in major marketing magazines. Keep yourself updated with the latest trends and prepare detailed reports for advertising trade publications. You can cover topics like public relations, branding, career opportunities, digital marketing, automation, industry events, case studies, and strategy development. Plus, when you provide value through editorials, newsletters, and publications, your product gets traction in the elite circle of industrialists.
Ultimate User
People tend to trust actions more than words. No matter how loudly or frequently you tell people about your product, the real impact will reach them only when they see you use it yourself. It’s simple: Become the main user-turned-ambassador of your own brand. Moreover, when you become the biggest user of the product you develop, you will know its benefits and limitations and improve it.
Referral Recipe
One of the most affordable marketing plans is to build a word-of-mouth propagation chain involving existing customers. In fact, 78% of B2B experts bank on this type of social network marketing to generate excellent leads. Referrals include the experienced users of your product spreading the word through their network of friends and relatives to bring in more customers. You can offer rewards for every recommendation converted into a customer to encourage them. However, to leverage this trust-based marketing hack, make use of referral program software like GrowSurf.
Count on Contests
Running a contest with rewards being your own products is a great way to spread brand awareness and build an engaging audience. Contests can also help businesses with market research and competitor awareness. You can have occasion-based contests on Valentines’ Day, Organ Donation Day, or on holidays according to your target audience. Likewise, you can organize polls for gathering direct information about your customer base’s preferences. You can plug in a prize in the end that they, again, can choose from multiple options. A more interesting contest option is holding a quiz with a mix of easy and challenging questions to hook the audience onto your brand and the trivia surrounding it. Better even, run a social media competition with challenges requiring people to upload a photo of themselves with your product in the frame. Not only will you understand more of your consumer base, but you’ll also acquire customers through different social networking channels.
Capture with Cash
The best incentive you can give to your customers is cash. Offer them cash rewards or the equivalent when they bring into your audience a new member. This can be getting someone to sign up for your website, download your mobile application, register for your product, or even post about your company on a social media platform. When you begin rewarding people for small acts of brand promotion like these, they will automatically gain interest in your company and services. This marketing secret gives high returns on a small investment.
Networking Hack
Build a strong network of like-minded people from different industries through trade meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and public shows. Once you find potential investors, clients, or complementary partners, present your product and visionary plans to promote your brand. Not only will you connect with clientele, but you can also join hands with developers, content strategists, accountants, and designers who can help you elevate your business with their services.
Public Pamphlets
One brilliant way of making your brand memorable is by investing in distributable pamphlets, brochures, badges, and stickers. Understand your audience and base the flyers on AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action). Include CTAs with attractive deadlines to kindle a sense of urgency among the readers. Most importantly, make it easy for the readers to connect with you through a website or an app. Make sure to employ top-notch copywriting, designing, and dispatching services to execute this marketing hack strategically. If you want to go one step further, assure the flyer readers that there is no risk of signing up for your product by including a money-back guarantee option. The more efficiently you manage to distribute such pamphlets publicly, the better the response will be. Plus, brand promotional displays on walls and billboards can make your product memorable and exciting to connect with.
Campaign for a Cause
Running a campaign for a social cause like awareness on organ donation, eliminating child hunger, saving water from pollution, etc., can attract well-meaning customers to your brand. When you associate yourself with a campaign working to better society, you get viewed as a socially responsible company. Such initiatives can even bring you crowd-funded support. On the day of the event, you can give out tees with your brand name or hand out flyers on how your business aligns with the social cause. This way, build a community that you can later convert into consumers.
Viral Video
The usage of social media apps like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter is increasing by the day. Thus, the smartest marketing growth hack is to create a visually appealing video that influences. 81% of companies choose video marketing by thoroughly explaining the product and its applications creatively. You can make the video unusually hilarious or abnormally exaggerated for the general public to spread it. If this video becomes viral, your brand will become known in almost all social circles in no time! You can check out the Intel video to understand this in a better way.
Conclusion
Marketing goes a long way beyond paid advertisements. Make the most of your brand promotion and product awareness strategy by utilizing all the possible growth hacks mentioned above. Your business is bound to skyrocket soon!
