Need-to-know marketing strategies for small business startups

It may be that your startup offers the best product or service in the industry, but without effective marketing, you’re dead in the water. People won’t know your brand exists, won’t understand why they should choose you over your competitors, and won’t want to become loyal customers who recommend your business to their friends and family. 

So let’s roll up our sleeves to explore and implement the marketing strategies that your new business needs to become unforgettable.

The key to effective marketing

Before we dive into the strategies you’ll use to attract customers and build brand loyalty, we need to talk about the core factor that steers successful marketing: data insights.

You may be tempted to think this means boring number crunching, which you can put off for later when you’re more established.

But what you need to understand as a small business owner is that without performance analytics and understanding your target audience, you’re flying blind, like a ship with no navigation. This will waste time and money, so getting to grips with data from the get-go is critical.

You don’t need to know the more advanced analytics and metrics, but let’s look at the  need-to-know data which will put the wind in your startup’s sails. 

Performance indicators

These are the most important ones when you’re starting out, and how you calculate them:

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

This measurement gives you clarity on the total cost of acquiring each new customer. For long-term profitability, you’ll want to keep this number balanced with how much you earn from each customer. Naturally, the lower your CAC figures the better. 

Formula:

Total number of sales + marketing expenses ÷ the number of new customers acquired. 

Example:

If you spent $10,000 on marketing and sales in a month, and acquired 100 new customers, that would be: 10,000 ÷ 100 = $100 spent per new customer.

Churn Rate

This KPI tells you the percentage of customers who stop using your product or service over a specific period of time. If you have a high churn rate, you’ll be losing customers faster than you acquire them, which is obviously not going to be sustainable.

You always want to aim for a low churn rate, because losing customers means throwing away the money you spent on marketing to get them. Low churn means you're doing things the right way, with quality customer experience.

Formula:

Customers lost during a set time frame ÷ total number of customers at the start of that timeframe x 100. 

Example:

If you had 500 customers at the beginning of the month and lost 25 that month, your churn rate would be: 500 ÷ 25 x 100 = 5%.

Burn Rate

It’s vital for startups to keep a close eye on the rate you’re spending your cash reserves before reaching profitability. Burn rate lets business owners know how long you can continue to operate before needing to raise more funds.

Formula:

Cash at the start of the period − cash at the end of the period ÷ the number of months in that period.

Example:

If you started the month with $50,000 and ended with $40,000, your burn rate would be:

$50,000 − $40,000 ÷ 1 = $10,000 per month.

Audience insights 

Without knowing your audience, your sales performance will be patchy and slow to grow. Finding the right audience is crucial for startups, since they typically don’t have lots of money to throw around to se what works. There needs to be a more targeted approach. 

The way you hone understanding of your audience over time is to get in the habit of continuously reviewing performance data and adjusting your approach accordingly. In the next section you’ll find some analytics tools we recommend because they do most of the heavy lifting for startups. 

While further guides will dive deeper into this topic, here are the top tips for getting started with audience insights:

• Customer Personas — based on the pain points that your business solves, define  three fictional profiles that represent your ideal customers. Include details like demographics (age, gender, income, etc.), behavior patterns, motivations, and goals.
  
  
• Test & Compare — try out different marketing messages, product features, and pricing models. Only do two versions at a time, so there’s a clear comparison of what your audience prefers. This is called A/B testing, and you’ll want to make it a regular thing to keep improving.
  
  
• Audience Segmentation — your A/B testing should quickly reveal different types of audiences. This will help you finetune your main customer personas, so you can craft your marketing to fit each type. 
  
  
• Market Research — use surveys, interviews, and focus groups to gather insights. You could offer discount incentives for their time. Also analyze your main competitors to understand who they target and how your audience might differ.
  
  
• Social Media Engagement — join discussions in relevant communities to learn about your target audience’s needs, pain points, and common questions.
  
  
• Early Bird Ratings — be sure to ask for feedback from early users or testers, so you can iron out any dislikes. 

Performance analytics

You’ll want to get some core analytics tools activated right from the start, as these will tell you how users are interacting with your website and other channels. You’ll also get invaluable performance indicators showing where you have weak areas that need improvement to increase customer satisfaction and sales.

So, on the one hand you’ll want to know how your brand and products/services are performing in the marketplace, while on the other it’s vital to know your audience so you can hone your offering to what they’re looking for.

Analytics software will put this information at your fingertips, with reports and stats you can pull up from a central Dashboard. The better the tool, the better it breaks things down so you can take action. 

The data they’ll give you is invaluable, because it will guide your marketing strategy to produce great results, as well as tell you where you need to improve.

• Website or App — understand how users interact with your website or app using Google Analytics. Watch this easy video to get setup: Google Analytics GA4 For Beginners. You’ll also want to link it to Google Search Console so you can see how your site performs in Google search results.
  
  
• Social Media — monitor engagement on your channels using RelateSocial. This tool will also help you grow your reach, which we’ll explore in the Marketing Strategy section below. Try it for free.
  
  
• Email — monitor the open and click-through rates of your email campaigns using platforms like Mailchimp or Sendinblue. These are the two most popular ones, with free plans for startups.
  
  
• Paid Ads — evaluate the success of your campaigns and prevent a runaway budget using RelateAds. This tool is will also create ads for you, which we’ll explore in the Marketing Strategy section.
  
  
• Brand Mentions — know what’s going on in your industry and what people are saying about your brand across the web, with RelateRadar.
  
  
• Customer Ratings — stay on top of what your customers are saying in real-time, with RelateReviews. This is also a reviews manager which will help you write customer replies.

Marketing musts for startups

Now that you have tools in place to measure your performance and target the tight audience,  let’s dive into the strategies that will get the word out about your brand. 

Good marketing will make people notice you enough to want to learn more, and bring in more sales. Great marketing will build brand loyalty, and have customer recommending your business to everyone they know.

Content Marketing

Regularly creating content that educates or solves problems, is a proven way to build trust with your audience. It also positions your small business as a thought leader, and brings in organic (free!) visitors to your platform from search engines. 

When search engines see people engaging with your content, their algorithms know to boost it higher in search results. So good content is also great for SEO (getting found online).

The classic saying among experienced marketers has long been ‘Content is King’. That’s because building trust and audience engagement naturally translates to conversions. 

This continues to be true, and here are some stats to prove it:

• 61% of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from brands that provide relevant, engaging content – 2024 Content Preferences Survey by Demand Gen Report.
  
  
• 72% of businesses say content marketing helps educate their audience, which enhances customer loyalty and retention – HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing Report.
  
  
• Blogging generates 3x more leads than traditional methods – OptinMonster Report.
  
  
• 91% of consumers prefer authentic, informative content over ads – Edelman’s 2024 Trust Barometer.
  
  
• Content marketing generates 54% more leads than traditional marketing, and double the average site’s conversion rate – Hubspot.
  

Top Tips for startups:

1. Blogging — post regular, unique insights about your industry, along with useful tips that help your customers. Repurpose your blogs in social media posts and infographics. Don’t make them too long, that’s for guides or ebooks. 
   
   
2. Keyword Optimization — make sure your website and other content assets have the right keywords which people use when searching online for the things your business provides. RelateSEO makes this super easy.
   
   
3. Social Media — posting regularly to build brand recognition and engage with people who are interested in what you offer. RelateSocial can even write posts for you, and auto-publish them in bulk. Learn more about social media marketing in the next section.
   
   
4. Videos — create short, engaging videos to upload on YouTube and TikTok. Let your personality shine through to give your brand unique character. Video shorts are a must if you’re wanting to reach younger audiences.
   
   
5. Email Newsletter — build a more personal relationship with your customers to build loyalty. Tailor your messaging towards different audience groups. Focus on giving them useful information that solves their pain points.
   
   
6. User-Generated Content (UGC) — ask customers to share their experiences and post reviews. Social proof builds trust. Check out RelateReviews for help with getting more five star reviews. Learn more in the Reputation Management and Community Building sections below.

Bear in mind that with generic/samey AI content flooding the online space nowadays, and people having shorter attention spans, be sure to make your content: 

• Authentic (genuine, unique to your character)
  
  
• Relatable (no-one wants to do business with an uncaring robot)
  
  
• Useful (always keep the customer in mind)
  
  
• Punchy (no waffle, get to the point)
  
  
• Scannable (add clear headings, so people can jump to what interests them most).

Social Media Marketing

The stark fact is that social media platforms design algorithms to keep users engaged for as long as possible, by supplying them with content they show interest in. While this is a double edged sword, the up side is that almost every type of audience uses social media.

These recent stats by Demandsage demonstrate why every startup needs to take social media marketing seriously:

• 93% of marketers polled said social media has accelerated their business's visibility.
  
  
• 80% or marketers report increased website traffic through social media strategies.
  
  
• In 2024 there are 4.95 billion social media users worldwide, with Facebook currently the world’s most-used social media at 3.03 billion.
  
  
• Globally, spending on social media advertising has reached $269.68 billion as of 2023.
  
  
• 77% of businesses reach their audience base on social media.
  
  
• $68.92 billion was generated in sales on social media from US consumers in 2023.

A few posts a month promoting your product or service isn’t going to cut it anymore. Social media is worth consistent effort for these reasons:  

• Grow Your Reach —  platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn have millions of active users daily. It’s the perfect way to grow your online presence and build relationships with your target audience.
  
  
• Cost-Effective — startups can tap into their audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising​. Organic posting, user-generated content, and affordable paid ad options give you low cost ways to significantly increase your visibility.
  
  
• Precision Targeting — social media platforms give you the opportunity to really finetune your audience targeting, such as by location, age, and likes. This naturally increases your engagement and conversion rates, while keeping you from wasting effort and money on audiences that aren’t interested in what you’re selling.
  
  
• Brand Trust — get direct, real-time communication with potential and existing customers, which puts the power in your hands to build brand loyalty.
  
  
• Invaluable Data — you can instantly measure the effectiveness of your social media campaigns with data like engagement metrics, click-through rates, and conversions. This lets you tweak your marketing quickly, to leverage what’s working and improve what isn’t.

Tool Tip: check out RelateSocial to make all of the above easy. It even creates social posts for you, and let’s you schedule when you want them to go out.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Brand Voice & Niche — continue to learn about your target audience, and develop a consistent brand voice that appeals to them. A more personalized approach will help you stand out from the online ocean of sameness.
   
   
2. Community Focus — growing a hub for like-minded people interested in the same things should be your goal for effective social media marketing. If you do this the sales will come naturally, whereas if you just focus on promotion people will quickly lose interest. Learn more in the Community Building section below.
   
   
3. Short-Form Video Content — unlike long form videos, no-one expects you to have professional production value when it’s 15 to 34 seconds long. You can simply whip out your phone and record an insight that you think will resonate with your audience. The main thing is to be authentic. This format has high view rates.
   
   
4. Influencer Partnerships — reach out to online influencers who are a good fit for your brand. They already have large audiences,so this is a great way to quickly grow your reach. See the Influencer Marketing section below to learn more.
   
   
5. User-Generated Content — encourage your customers to share their experiences with your product or service. This is powerful social proof to build trust in your brand. Also leverage this valuable content by adding it to all your marketing channels. 
   
   
6. Paid Campaigns — make room in your budget for paid ads, especially on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. It’s worth the spend because you can precision target the right audience, and try out different versions to see what works best.
   
   
7. Track & Improve —  the data you gain from social media platforms is gold. Be sure to consistently use it to steer your marketing. You should be continuously tweaking your activities to grow your engagement and conversion rates.
   

Start by focusing on one or two platforms where your audience is most active. It’s better to excel on fewer channels than to be mediocre or erratic on many.

If you want to learn more about social media marketing, read these guides for small businesses:

• Need-to-know social media management tips
  
  
• Social media content ideas 101
  
  
• How to create great social media content
  
  
• Easy way to create a social media content calendar

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

By optimizing your website and other marketing content with the keywords that best describe your product or service, as well as the keywords that people use when looking for your type of business, search engines know to rank your pages high for relevance.

The beauty of SEO is that once setup, it’s the gift the keeps on giving. You’ll continue getting organic traffic (free page visitors) without any further effort, apart from maybe making a few small tweaks occasionally to update links or add some new keywords. 

Here are some stats from Respona that show how important ranking higher in search engine results is for businesses:

• Nearly half of clicks are on the top three results, while the  #1 Google search result gets approximately 32% of all clicks.
  
  
• Ranking on the first Google search result is estimated to result in a CTR of almost 35%.
  
  
• Results on the second page of Google get only 0.78% of the total clicks.
  
  
• Return on investment for SEO can reach over 12x higher than other marketing.

And since Google currently has 85% of the search engine market, read this guide to discover how to make them happy, while also boosting trust in your brand: EEAT: learn about quality content to boost your long term SEO success.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Keyword Optimization — the more relevant your keywords are to what people are looking for, the higher up in the page you’ll rank. But don’t add too many keywords, as Google algorithms would consider that spammy, instead of helpful to the customer.
   
   Also focus on longer keywords that are less competitive and more specific to your niche. E.g. pet grooming vs. discount dog and cat grooming service in Lambeth, North Dakota.
   
   
2. Blogging — it’s important to have a Blog section on your website, where you regularly post useful content that people are searching for. It’s a win win. This is what ‘driving organic traffic’ is all about.
   
   
3. Link Building — another crucial reason for creating useful content is to encourage people to link to it from their websites. These are called backlinks, and Google values them highly, since that indicates it’s high value.
   
   Another way to get backlinks is to build relationships with other startups, as well as influencers. It’s common to offer an exchange of blog links, but take care to keep it relevant, since low quality, random content is spammy.
   
   
4. Local SEO — if your startup serves local customers, it’s vital to add location keywords throughout your content to boost your visibility. Sign up for Google Business Profile so you’re listed in local searches. Also be sure to keep your directory listings up to date. RelateLocal makes this easy.
   
   
5. On-Page Optimization — make sure your website's pages are optimized with the correct meta titles, meta descriptions, header tags, and alt text for images. Also have good cross-linking to other pages on your website, to create a helpful user journey. It’s important for your website to have clear navigation, both for search engines to index and so users want to stay on your site.
   
   
6. Mobile Optimization — over 50% of all searches are now coming from mobile devices, so you need to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Google ranks mobile-optimized websites higher, so your site neds to looks good on both large and small screens. This is called responsive design.
   
   
7. Technical SEO — this is an umbrella term for making sure your website has fast loading times and is easy for Google to index. This includes fixing broken links, optimizing images, and implementing structured data so search engines can understanding your content​.

Keep in mind there is no single way to rank high on Google search results, since their algorithms are always changing, and there are a variety of factors they take into consideration.

This lack of clear action for tangible results has traditionally had small businesses scratching their heads in confusion, with most having to bite the bullet by making space in their budget for an SEO agency.

Tool Tip: an easier and more affordable suggestion is RelateSEO. This tool gives you a To Do list of SEO tasks tailored to your website, along with step-by-step video tutorials to walk you through it. Also get the optimization keywords done for you.

If you have a Google ads account, you can also try the Google Keyword Planner tool, although it’s not as simplified.

Paid Advertising (PPC)

Paid ads are important for startups because building brand awareness in other ways takes time. This strategy guarantees insistant visibility among people that are already looking for what you offer, so it significantly increases your chances of sales.

It’s best to start off with the two most popular platforms, Google and Meta (Facebook, Instagram), since they have the largest audiences. Many small businesses only need these two platforms, although if you’re looking for a business audience, LinkedIn will be crucial.

The following stats, based on research done by a range of companies, give you a clear idea of why paid ads are well worth the spend:

• PPC ads boost a business’s brand awareness on average by 80%.
  
  
• Paid ads typically have a 200% return on investment (ROI).
  
  
• The traffic that comes from PPC converts at a 50% higher rate than organic advertising.
  
  
• On average, across all industries, businesses make $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads.
  

Top Tips for startups:

1. Google Ads (Search & Display) — these types of ads get your business in front of people actively searching for your product/service. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a great way for you to quickly gain brand recognition, or traffic to your website.
   
   Otherwise known as Pay-Per-Click, you’ll bid on keywords, and the highest bidder's ad will appears at the top of search page for that keyword. Focus on keywords with high intent, and use geo-targeting to narrow your focus.
   
   
2. Social Media Ads  — take time to precision target different audiences. Start small by testing out two different versions of each ad to see what works best. Use visuals and copy that grab attention while also communicating your unique brand style.
   
   With YouTube skippable ads, you only pay when someone watches at least 30 seconds. Create short, attention-grabbing videos that target users by their viewing habits.
   
   
3. Paid Search Retargeting — both Google and Meta let you do retargeting, which is basically sending ads to people who have already shown interest in your content. Retargeting can boost ad response by 400%. Be sure to use more personalized messaging to create a sense of connection.
   
   
4. Native Advertising — these ads blend seamlessly with the platform they appear on, making them much more likely to engage users. Some research claims 53% more likely than display ads. Take time to create a really catchy headline and clear description.
   
   
5. A/B Testing — constantly try out different ad versions to see how they compare in performance. Test different headlines, images, and offers. The more you learn, the more effective your ads will be at converting.
   

Tool Tip: while PPC can offer great ROI if done right, they can be quite daunting for newbies, and it’s easy to fall into a runaway budget. That’s why we recommend RelateAds.

This tool that can do most of the heavy lifting for you. From flexibility and transparency on what you spend, to even writing the ads for you, based on successful competitor examples.

Email Marketing

Emails let you to build a more personal relationship with your customers, making it good for building brand loyalty.

And unlike search engines or social media platforms where an algorithm change can wipe out your visibility unless you’re paying for ads, your email subscriber list is owned entirely by you.  

Let’s look at some recent research stats from GrowthList and ColoursUI which show the value of email marketing:

• 61% of US consumers prefer email for brand communications, and 99% check their inbox daily, demonstrating wide reach​.
  
  
• Email marketing delivers an average return on investment (ROI) of $42 for every $1 spent.
  
  
• 81% of B2C marketers find email marketing effective for acquiring new customers, and 80% for customer retention​.
  
  
• Personalized emails can generate 6x higher transactions and boost ROI by 122%​.
  
  
• 81% of all emails are opened on mobile devices, and mobile-optimized designs increased company click-through rates by 15%​.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Subscriber List — your subscriber list is gold, these are people who are interested in your solutions. Offer incentives (called ‘lead magnets’) like exclusive content, discounts, and free trials on your website and social media channels to encourage signups.
   
   
2. Segmentation — conversion rates are much higher when emails are more targeted. So you’ll want to  group your subscribers into separate lists based on your main types of audience patterns.
   
   By segmenting, you can also make the subject lines more targeted. To encourage open rates, they need to be attention-grabbing, relevant to the customer’s needs and interests.
   
   
3. Personalization — setup your email client to use the customers name, and tailor your messaging to their interests and behaviors. Personalized emails can significantly increase click-through rates and conversions.
   
   
4. Automate Campaigns — automation is not only convenient, it’s about creating an integrated campaign that reaches your audience at the right time, and builds brand trust with each one.
   
   For example right after someone makes a purchase, they should get a welcome email, with followups of tips, then a request for ratings. Abandon cart email are also an effective way of regaining the interest of shoppers.
   
   
5. Provide Value — each email should be crafted around the customer, not around what you want to sell. Be sure to offer insights, tips, and resources that match their needs. The more value you provide, the more they’ll want to open and engage with your emails.
   
   
6. Test & Analyze — as with all your marketing, keep A/B testing different elements of your emails, like subject lines, message, and call-to-action (CTA) buttons.
   
   Key email metrics are open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Keep a close eye on these metrics for the different versions that you test, so you know what works best. The more you align with your customers, the more you’ll grow loyalty and sales. 

Influencer Marketing

This strategy is a powerful tool for startups to grow their brand awareness, because you get to  connect with audiences that are already engaged. The credibility and trust is baked in.

Research by the Influencer Marketing Hub and All Tech Magazine demonstrate why you’ll want to invest time in this strategy:

• Startups can earn an average of $5.78 for every $1 spent on influencer marketing​.
  
  
• 61% of consumers trust influencer recommendations over traditional ads​
  
  
• Over 70% of Gen Z follow influencers​, and they’re popular with Millenials too.
  
  
• 86% of marketers report increased brand visibility through influencer campaigns​.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Campaign Goals — be sure to clarify the specific goal you want to achieve, like brand awareness, website traffic, more subscriptions, or promotion sales. This will help you finetune your partnership.
   
   
2. Micro-Influencers — these are people with social media followers of around 1K to 50K. They’re more affordable, and can often be more sincere. Find ones that are a good fit for your company, and have a strong, engaged community.
   
   
3. Collaborate — work with influencers to create content that feels genuine, not overly promotional. People value and trust authenticity.
   
   
4. Build Relationships — aim to develop ongoing relationships with influencers, rather than one-off collaborations. This allows you to deepen your connection with their audience over time.
   
   
5. Niche Match — choose influencers whose audience aligns closely with your target market. Ultimately, relevance matters more than follower count.
   
   
6. Measure ROI — don’t forget to add tracking links, promo codes, and unique hashtags, so you can measure the impact of each campaign and continue improving. This will also prevent you from spending money on influencer campaigns with low ROI.

Referral Programs

Encouraging your customers to recommend your business to the people they know is a powerful strategy, because just like influencer marketing, it carries with a high trust factor. Referred customers tend to be loyal.

Let’s look at some 2024 survey stats from DemandSage, Truelist, Winsavvy, and TrueList:

• 82% of small businesses said referrals are their primary source of new business.
  
  
• Customers referred by a friend are four times more likely to make a purchase.
  
  
• Referred customers have a 25% higher lifetime value compared to those acquired through other channels. And they’re 37% more likely to stay loyal to the business, meaning higher retention rates​.
  
  
• 55% of companies reported a lower cost per lead through referral programs than other methods. 
  
  
• B2B businesses with referral programs saw a conversion rates boost of up to 70%, while also closing deals faster.
  
  
• 82% of B2B marketers think referrals gave them the best-quality leads​.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Incentivize — offer rewards for referrals, like discounts, free trials, free products, or upgrades. Two-sided incentives work best i.e. reward both the referrer and the referred.
   
   Tiered rewards also work well, where the more referrals someone achieves, the more prizes, discounts, or commissions they earn.
   
   
2. Gamification — run referral contests, where customers can earn points or entries into a giveaway for every referral they bring. Making it fun is a great way to boost engagement and motivation.
   
   
3. Affiliate Program — setup an affiliate program with competitive commissions, whether it’s a percentage of sales or a flat fee per conversion. Reach out to niche bloggers or influencers in your industry.
   
   It’s also a good idea to help affiliates make more sales by giving them access to quality marketing materials like banners, email templates, and site links that have high conversion rates.
   
   If your startup has a subscription-based service, consider offering affiliates recurring commissions for the lifetime of the customer. This will motivate them to keep promoting your offers.
   
   
4. Exclusive Offers — boost appeal with limited promotions. For example, create a campaign where customers or affiliates gain early access to products or services before the general public.
   
   
5. Optimize Sharing — don’t forget to make it easy for customers to share referral links across social media, email, and messaging apps. Add link icons that are highly visible.

Tool Tip: platforms like ReferralCandy can automate and manage your referral program, including tracking and payouts. Some website builders like Shopify offer inbuilt tools for this. 

Community Building

Humans have an inbuilt need for connection and community. This has been increasingly moving online over the past few years, as like minded people can connect with each other globally from the comfort of their homes. 

Taking the time to build community through forums, social media groups, or events has a number of great benefits, from creating brand loyalty to giving you valuable insights that improve your business. This is especially important for startups.

Here’s some recent research by Socialplus and Business2community proving this strategy is well worth the effort:

• Almost 98% of people involved in online groups report feeling a sense of belonging, which results in long-term engagement​ with the brand.
  
  
• Around 30% of organizations surveyed said they see direct financial benefits from cultivating engaged users early on to create communities.
  
  
• 75% of respondents in a branded community survey agreed that these interactions improved their customer experience. 
  
  
• 82% of community site visitors in a study said they welcome brands actively engaging in community building, because it fosters more meaningful conversations that improve customer experience.
  
  
• 64% of managers report that community insights play a vital role in guiding their business decisions in product development and marketing​.
  
  
• 57% of companies report their branded communities are cost effective, since increased engagement has given them a boost in online visibility and more organic traffic.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Clarify — a strong community has to has clearly defined interests, benefits, and values. Define these by focusing on the common goals that align with your brand, as well as the pain points of your target audience.
   
   
2. Gather — identify the platforms your target audience is most active on. Get them engaged with relevant content, comments, and real-time discussions. See the Tool Tip below for some popular platforms to build communities from scratch.
   
   
3. Early Adopters — identify and nurture relationships with super fans who strongly resonate with your brand’s mission. Make them feel special with exclusive access.
   
   
4. Quality Content — regularly put out content that revolves around the needs and interests of your audience, from guides and tips to live discussions. Quality content is vital to keep your community engaged. You want to position your startup as a thought leader and a place of understanding.
   
   
5. Meetups — arrange both online and offline events if possible. Live meetups are where people truly bond and feel supported.
   
   
6. Appreciation — show your community you care with engagement rewards like exclusive content, early access, and discounts. This builds a culture of appreciation.
   
   
7. Communication — make it easy for members to give you feedback. When people feel heard, they’re more likely to feel connected and supported.
   
   
8. Showcase — regularly share the stories of how community members have benefited from your business, to inspire others and build belonging. Social proof has powerful appeal.

Tool Tip: platforms like Discord, Facebook groups, Reddit, Circle.so, Mighty Networks, and niche LinkedIn groups are popular for building early interest.

Once you have your community up and running, you may want to charge a subscription fee for exclusive content. Patreon and Substack are good for this. 

Reputation Management

These days there are two main strategies to build your brand reputation:

• Public Relations (PR) — this is all about shining an appealing spotlight on your business through media coverage like press releases, guest blogging, and speaking at events.
  
  
• Online Reputation Management (ORM) — the digital space can be tricky, because a single negative customer comment can end up going viral, causing huge damage. On the other hand, if done right it can provide the social proof that quickly turns your brand into a must-have. It’s all about vigilance and fast response.

Here are some stats from recent research by a number of companies to underline why you ned to take brand reputation seriously:

• In 2024, 89% read reviews before making a purchase.
  
  
• 55% of brands surveyed see more value from earned media compared to paid efforts, because it builds more trust.
  
  
• Over 84% of brands expect social media to remain a primary PR tool for building brand awareness and audience engagement.
  
  
• 45% of customers polled said they’re more likely to visit a businesses that replies to their online feedback. 

Top Tips for startups:

1. Brand Story — write an origin story for your startup that will resonate with your target audience. Share the ‘why’ behind your brand, making it authentic and relatable. Focus on the pain points you’re solving, how your business benefits people and the world, as well as your brand values. This story needs to be consistently threaded throughout your PR efforts, from pitches to social media posts.
   
   
2. Quality Content — it can’t be repeated enough, publishing regular thought leadership content like blog posts, whitepapers, and case studies is one of the best ways to get people talking about your brand.
   
   
3. Social Proof — most people these days want to verify a company’s credibility through user-generated content before they’ll buy from them. Take the time to respond to user reviews, both good and bad.
   
   
4. Crises Management — if you have well thought out replies ready for common complaints, and a plan to stay on top of customer feedback, you’ll come across as professional and caring. See the Tool Tip below for help with replies and getting more positive reviews.
   
   
5. Network — reach out to journalists, bloggers, and influencers in your industry to pitch them on your brand story. A mention in the right publication or by an influencer with large following can see your brand visibility skyrocket overnight.
   
   Likewise, if you participate in events like webinars, trade shows, and local meetups, it’s a good opportunity to demonstrate your expertise. Sponsorships and speaking engagements are other ways to boost your visibility, but be sure they align with your brand values.
   
   
6. Consistency —  make sure your messaging consistently aligns with your brand identity, from press releases to social media content. This is another way to build credibility, as well as making it more memorable.

Tool Tip: the RelateReviews reputation manager puts all customer feedback from across the web into a simplified dashboard, where you can also get Sentiment Analysis to take the pulse of how people feel about your brand. It even helps you reply to customers.

If you’d like to learn more about reputation management for small businesses, we’ve created these guides for you:

• What is Reputation Management and why is it so important?
  
  
• Reputation Management — how to write review replies like a pro

Collaborations & Partnerships 

Startups are like a young tree, they’re vulnerable. By forming joint ventures or co-promotion alliances with complementary businesses and organizations, you can give your fledgling business a strength boost. 

You’ll expand your audience reach without a big budget increase, gain more credibility, and get access to extra resources. For example, if you have a coffee shop it would be a match made in heaven to partner with a nearby bakery, offering combined discounts, referral programs, and local events.

A 2024 report by Allbound explains that partnerships now often outperform direct acquisition, with many startups prioritizing collaboration strategies because of the cost-efficiency, and because market reach would otherwise be hard to achieve. 

There’s also a 2024 study by Partnero which shows that collaborative efforts can lead to substantial revenue growth and brand credibility, especially in the SaaS and ecommerce sectors.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Goals — before you do anything, first clarify what you want from a partnership, the mutual benefits involved. This will prevent resentments down the road, since good alignment is critical to lasting collaboration.
   
   
2. Value Proposition — have a clear value proposition ready for when you approach potential partners, detailing how the collaboration will work and what each side stands to gain. Highlight shared values, audience overlap, and how your offer fills a gap they may have.
   
   
3. Compatibility — look for collaborators with a similar audience and values, but offering non-competing products or services. Some helpful places to do your research would be LinkedIn, industry events, and of course social media.
   
   Also attend networking events, trade shows, and virtual meetups where you’re likely to meet decision-makers open to collaborations.
   
   
4. Start Small — it’s a good idea to begin with a smaller initiative to see how things go and to build trust. Propose a pilot co-marketing effort, like a joint webinar or discount cross-promotion. Case studies, interviews, and product bundles are other ideas.
   
   
5. Small Business Groups — check out organizations like your local chambers of commerce. Also try coworking spaces as these can be good for networking.
   
   
6. Community Event — think about collaborations that support the local community, for example you could host a small business get-together at a local coffee shop.
   
   
7. Track — set KPIs like customer acquisition, brand exposure, and sales leads to gauge the partnership’s success and make sure it remains mutually beneficial. 

Event Marketing 

Whether virtual or in-person, hosting or participating, events like webinars, trade shows, and pop-ups are an excellent way for startups to directly engage with the marketplace, showcase your offering, ramp up brand awareness, and connect with your audience. 

Let’s jump into some 2024 stats from Event Academy and Eventcube to see why this type of marketing is worth your time:

• 80% of consumers polled thought that in-person events are the most trustworthy marketing channel.
  
  
• 77% said live interactions increase their trust in brands, and 64% had positive impressions of brands they engaged with at events for at least a month afterward.
  
  
• 80.4% of organizers in a study found in-person events the most impactful marketing channel for their organization.
  
  
• 79% of event organizers polled saw increased engagement and ROI from a combination of hybrid (virtual and in-person) events they hosted.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Clear Objectives —start with clear goals: Do you want brand awareness, lead generation, or customer education? Defining goals will shape the event's format ad messaging.
   
   
2. Buzz — use platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, or X to build event anticipation. Partner with industry influencers or micro-influencers who align with your brand for expanded reach and trust.
   
   
3. Immersive Experience — host interactive activities and demonstrations that let attendees engage with your product or service. Experiences leave a lasting impression and encourage word-of-mouth marketing.
   
   
4. Exclusive Content — provide early access, exclusive insights, or limited offers to event attendees. This creates a feeling of excitement and makes the event feel special.
   
   
5. Leads & Follow Up — use methods like QR codes or digital sign-ups for easy lead collection. After the event, follow up on email with a thank you and a tailored offer, to maintain interest and build relationship.
   
   
6. Engagement — during the event, use things like live polls and Q&A sessions to make people feel involved.
   
   
7. Track & Analyze — gauge the success of your event using metrics like attendee engagement, and social media reach. Take note of interesting conversions and feedback for future events.

Product-Led Growth 

PLG boils down to using your product as the main driver of customer acquisition and retention, by offering free trials, freemium models, or demos. That way, customers get to experience the value firsthand. This cuts marketing costs and makes sale conversions easier.

For startups that offer services instead of products, the equivalent to PLG would be a free trial so customers can try it out before they buy a subscription. 

Let’s look at some recent research demonstrating the benefits of PLG marketing:

• CareerFoundry reported that companies using this strategy significantly reduced their acquisition costs and had faster customer conversion.
  
  
• StudioLabs research found that PLG tactics, especially freemium-to-paid conversions, boosted lifetime customer value by 20–40% in B2B SaaS companies.
  
  
• A survey of B2B SaaS companies found that 61% of product growth teams plan to become even more product-led to optimize onboarding, user engagement, and retention.

Top Tips for startups:

1. Freemium or Free Trial — offer a freemium model or free trial so users don’t have to think, they can jump in and experience the product without commitment. Identify which features can give them major value and make those easily accessible.
   
   
2. Referral Incentives — encourage users to become promoters and share the product. You could offer additional storage, features, or credits when users invite friends.
   
   
3. Easy Onboarding — guide new users through initial actions that deliver early value to adoption. You could do this through app tutorials, pop-ups, and tooltips.
   
   
4. Data-Driven Product Improvement — use analytics tools to understand how users interact with the product. Continuous feedback helps you refine your product features and customer experience. Focus on friction points.
   
   
5. Connect — build a community around the product, where users can share tips, ask questions, and give feedback so they feel like they’re part of the product development. 

Wrap up

This guide gives you a comprehensive list of the marketing strategies that every startup needs to build brand awareness and customer loyalty. Plus, instead of just telling you about their benefits, we’ve hunted around to give you real-world statistics, proving how well they work. 

We know how busy startups are, so instead of giving you loads of advanced information to wade through, our goal with this article has been to offer practical top tips, so you have the know-how to dive right in and get your feet wet.

The key takeaway here is to continuously gather audience and competitor performance data from a number of marketing channels, because this will give you the insights to consistently make profitable decisions.

We recommend you try out all these strategies, to see which ones work the best for your business. And most importantly of all, each channel will give you valuable insights on what your customers want. Knowing how to keep your audience happy is ultimately how you’ll achieve long term success.

For more of a steer on easy tools that can help you achieve your goals, including a short Quiz that offers recommendations based on what stage your business is at, check out the Build & Grow Hub.

Frequently asked questions

What is digital content marketing, and how does it work?

This is the umbrella term for regularly creating online content (like blogs, videos, and social media posts) that educates, or solves people’s pain points. The goal is to build awareness of your brand, and boost interest in your products or services, not to overtly sell.

You should have a blog on your website, and also look to publish your content elsewhere, like on YouTube or other websites. Also link to your articles on social media.

How can content marketing help a business?

Content marketing is a proven way to build trust with your audience. It also positions your business as a thought leader, and brings in organic (free) visitors to your platform from search engines. Building trust and audience engagement naturally translates to conversions.

What is content marketing in SEO?

When search engines see people engaging with your content, their algorithms know to boost it higher in search results. So good content is also great for SEO (getting found online).

How to create a small business content marketing strategy?

Use a content calendar, to schedule new content at least once a week. Read these guides to simplify things, and learn how to do content marketing like a pro:

• How to create great social media content
  
  
• Easy way to create a social media content calendar
  
  
• Social media content ideas 101

What is social media marketing or SMM, and why is it important?

SMM is a type of content marketing, but it purely focuses on using social media platforms to grow brand awareness, engage your audience, and increase your sales. 

If you’re a small business, check out RelateSocial, because it’s designed to simplify things, at an affordable price. It even writes posts for you.

Why is SEO important?

SEO is about getting found online. In marketing jargon, it drives organic traffic (visitors that are already searching for what you offer) to your website.

By optimizing your site and other marketing content with the keywords that best describe your product or services, search engines know to rank your pages high for relevance.

Is SEO worth it for small businesses?

SEO is a way to level the playing field. While large companies with big budgets can pay for lots of ads, if you have relevant keywords and quality content that people find interesting, search engines will rank you high up on search result pages. 

What is the cost of SEO for small business?

Understanding how to optimize your website so that search engines rank it higher has traditionally been tricky, so most businesses used to have no other choice but to pay an agency or specialist.

But now there’s an easy, more affordable tool to figure it out for you – RelateSEO gives you a list of optimization tasks tailored to your website, and walks you through it with step-by-step guides.

What is influencer marketing?

Your brand collaborates with people who’ve built trust and credibility as experts in their niche, so have a big social media following. This helps you introduce a wider audience to your brand

How does influencer marketing work?

Do some research to find influencers who are a good match for your business. Reach out to them to see if they’d be interested in promoting your products or services.

How much does influencer marketing cost?

You can pay influencers either a base rate, or a bonus payment if they reaches certain targets. The amount varies from $100 to crazy amounts like a million, depending on their platform and following. Learn more: How much & how to pay influencers in 2024.

What is paid advertising, and why is it important?

There are two main types of digital paid ads – search where you place ads at the top of search result pages, and social media where ads appear in people’s feeds. Most of the time, digital ads are pay-per-click (PPC), meaning you set a budget on the advertising platform, but only pay an amount each time someone clicks on the ad.

Paid ads let you target your audience with precision, such as by keywords people search for, their age, likes, location etc. Because of this, paid ads give you valuable insights about your audience over time.

When to invest in paid advertising?

If done right, paid ads deliver valuable return on investment at every stage of your business. They can be especially beneficial when your brand is unknown, as they guarantee your ad will get seen by the right people.

If you’re worried about how to write successful ads, or your spending getting out of control, check out RelateAds, designed to simplify things.

How does email marketing help small businesses?

Email marketing delivers a number of great benefits, from owning your audience subscriber list (unlike search or social platforms), building more personalized relationships with your customers, increasing brand awareness with helpful information, automated campaigns to save time, and valuable insights on customer behavior.

When is the best time to send a marketing email?

This depends on a number of factors, like your industry, audience, type of email, and time of year. But generally, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays have higher open rates than Mondays and Fridays. 

What is referral marketing?

Create loyalty programs that encouraging people to spontaneously promote your business to their friends, family and colleagues.

What is affiliate marketing?

You setup an affiliate program that pays commissions to people who promotes your product or service with a link. The affiliate gets paid when someone clicks on the link, or when they visit one of your landing pages and buy something.

What is community building?

Community-based marketing is where you build a sense of belonging to a like-minded tribe, around your brand or product. Making people feel supported builds loyalty.

What is PR in marketing?

Public relations encourages customers and journalists to think and speak positively about your business. Described in two words, it’s reputation management. 

How to do PR for a small business?

If you have big news about your business, and want to get the word out, these are two popular platforms for press releases

• PRWeb
  
  
• PR Newswire

But for small businesses, PR is mostly about staying on top of customer feedback so you can build trust with customers. To make this easy, check out the RelateReviews tool.

What is product lead growth?

PLG is a business model that uses a product to drive customer acquisition, retention, and expansion: The main approaches are to focus on the product instead of sales campaigns, deliver value quickly so the product ‘sells itself’, and use free offerings so people want to try it.