One of the major obstacles facing a startup is figuring out how to market their product. Be it a hard-line good or a service, if you cannot market it well, you will fail. There is seldom a middle ground. But where do you look? Is there a lead to follow? When should you try to innovate? These are all very valid questions and the life of your company depends on finding the answers.
As a startup you may find yourself wanting to go your own way, forge a new frontier. Why? Unless your product is a brand-new invention, someone has marketed it in the past with success. Copycatting a marketing campaign is alright. Look to the major suppliers of goods in the world. You really only have to look at one to see what I am saying ...Wal-Mart. Personally, I hate going into one of their stores. I’d rather have my liver removed with a rusty spoon, but it is a near necessity nowadays. Why? What did they do to make it so? One helluva marketing strategy. From the company's inception, the management knew that the masses needed certain daily items and wanted them at the lowest price. Now, that is how they met their customer needs. Next comes how to let the customers know you have the goods they want. There is always a multi-pronged marketing campaign going on. Print material is always supplemented by television ads. Both of those are extrapolated by online ads. They saturate a market with their ads, which leads to branding and increased traffic. I am not saying that you must assault your customers with constant ads, but you have to have a multi-pronged attack. Everything starts with an effective print campaign — brochures, ads, letters ... whatever you can think of. Follow that up with e-mails if possible. No matter what your business is, there is a “big dog” on the block. Let them show you the way. Innovation is needed, but do not let innovation replace sales conversion rates. Innovate as a mixer, stir it in with your other advertising. What ways have you developed to stay on top of your marketing campaigns?
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