7 marketing strategies for a start-up

Establishing a business is never easy. You have to wear different hats and understand sales, marketing, taxes and corporate terms. This will also involve interacting with a number of customers and clients regularly. Flipkart, Ola, and many more succeeded because they all have business growth strategies that worked. So, what is a growth strategy?

It is a plan aimed at expanding and winning a larger market share for a long-term success. Every start-up needs to have a growth strategy and market planning. If you are struggling to grow your business then let me tell you, most of the big companies like Uber, Walmart, Facebook started out small in the past. You just need to have a strategy to grow your business.

Why is it important?

Marketing strategies help you to identify your strength, weakness, growth opportunities and threats to your market schemes or any planning. It can save your precious time and money. You will also get a clearer picture of your objective, vision and mission which can help you in attracting consumers. You can promote your business as well as allocate your resources as per need.

So, here are few tips that you can follow and implement to your work strategies:

Research about the competition in the market

When you are going to the market, research about the other companies, their pages on social media, the ads that are running and how long it has been there. Look toward similar businesses that are growing in new, unique ways to inform your growth strategy. This will help you to get an insight into other company’s plans and strategies.  It is one of the ways to scale your business. Marketing research is important because a company will need to determine if consumers in the new market will potentially like the new products. 

Use social media and make your presence

Blog regularly. Social media is a huge marketing platform. Post to social media and show your presence so that visitors can purchase online, download something or contact you, it's important that every page on the website has an action to take. You have to be active on your page to grab attention and more trafficking. 

Be ready to change with time

Always do what will be the best for your customers in the long-run. You must have the ability to adapt according to the customer and market needs. Try to come up with new ideas and keep working to better your product. 

Focus on customer relationship

With more business moving towards the online platform, it has made easier to stay in touch with the customers and give them personal assistance through chats, calls or video callings. When it comes to business growth strategies, it is very important for the companies to be pro-active. And work even harder to show their customers that they care. Customers can give you honest feedback which you use in the long-run.

Acquisition strategy

Recently, Walmart acquired Flipkart for $ 16 Billion and it is one of the world's largest e-commerce deals till now. This is an acquisition strategy where a company purchases another company to expand its growth. It can be risky but also necessary to expand.  This is cost-effective and established clients and operations. Acquisition strategy can be proved good when establishing in a new location where you lack contacts and local knowledge. 

Diversification in your products/services
In order to grow, you need to think about expansion and this includes diversification. In this, you can launch new products in a new market or in the same market. Think what else you can sell to your clients? Identify new opportunities. You need to make a proper plan while going for this strategy. Do a proper market research as well. 

Partnership

Another essential growth strategy is to go for partnerships with other companies. Partnerships with right companies can make a difference. This will allow you to reach a larger audience and increase your connections. But, look for companies that are complementary to yours. Don't go for any next-door company. Research, then contact them and after that propose for working together.

Marketing strategies should be based on development and increasing growth of the company’s brand. Now with digital age marketing strategies can be in digital format as well. Everything depends on the company’s brand so you have to protect it, enhance it and try to work for it. In order to be successful you need to implement right marketing strategies. Companies are competing to get more customers. You need to have such a strategy that will reflect the mission, vision and goals of your company.