How To Promote a Startup Business

Starting your own business can be scary, right? When you have a great idea, putting the plan into motion can be daunting as you want your business to succeed, but a lot of startup businesses fail within the first few years. What makes these startups fail and how can you avoid it happening to yours?

One of the main reasons that startup businesses fail is down to a lack of advertising and promotion. If your business isn’t promoted, how will people know who you are? When people don’t know about your startup, the more likely that it is to fail. How can this be avoided to make sure that your business is well-known?

This article will teach you how to promote a startup business to make sure that your ideas are shown to the world and made successfully. You can find out more about how to promote your startup business below to generate interest and popularity for your brand.

how to promote a startup

Getting Your Startup Noticed

Getting your startup noticed can be easier said than done, but it is very important to promote your business to make sure that it generates interest to make it successful.

Having a marketing strategy is a great way to make sure that your startup reaches its target audience in the most effective way possible.

Create A Marketing Strategy

The most important things to think about when you are creating a marketing strategy are how you are going to introduce your products or services to people, who needs your products or services, and what exactly you are trying to sell.

They are the most important questions that need to be answered to create your marketing strategy to promote your startup.

Research Your Target Audience

To make your marketing strategy as effective as possible, it is important to thoroughly research your target audience.

By researching your target audience, you will be able to market your products or services to them in the most effective way to make sure that they become familiar with your startup, thus generating more business.

Research Your Competitors

Knowing who your competitors are will help you to differentiate your startup from other businesses.

When you have a unique selling point, you will be able to promote your business in a different way to make it stand out in the market. Your target audience will then become more attracted to your business as they will be aware of what makes you unique.

Purchase Target Market Research From Other Companies

When you are starting your business, it is important to make sure that you research your target market to make sure that you successfully reach your target audience.

Purchasing research from other companies allows you to start creating your marketing strategy sooner, but you will still need to carry out your own research for the best results.

promoting a startup business

How To Promote Your Startup

Once you have researched your target audience, you will be more aware of what the best way to reach them is.

There are many different ways that you can promote your startup, and your target market research may indicate that there is more than one way to advertise to your target audience.

Out Of Home Advertising (OOH Advertising)

A great way to reach your target audience is to advertise out of home (OOH). By using various eye-catching tools that will promote your business to a wider audience.

Only using one form of advertising is not good for your business as your business will not be promoted across a wider scale.

OOH advertising is able to reach a wider audience as your advertisements will have people’s attention drawn to them.

When you do not use OOH advertising, your startup will not be present to people and it will not remain in their minds. Using OOH advertising will generate interest and keep your business at the forefront of your target audience’s minds.

Using Billboards For OOH Advertising

Billboards are an incredibly effective way to advertise your startup as they build brand awareness.

It is important to make sure that your startup develops its brand awareness as this helps people to become familiar with your business, its products, its services, and what you can offer them.

As they have been around for centuries, billboards are very eye-catching and when they are positioned in busy areas, they can generate brand recognition. By using the same colors and logos on your billboards, your brand awareness will become very high level due to people becoming more familiar with your brand.

Other Forms Of Advertising

Although hiring billboards in high-traffic areas can seem expensive, the interest that they generate will promote your brand and build your brand awareness to a high level.

There are other cheaper ways of advertising like through social media and leaflets, but eye-catching billboards in high-traffic areas will generate incredible interest.

Social media marketing and paid advertising can reach a wide range of people, but they may neglect other target audiences that do not use social media. You can also advertise in news articles as these can be both online and in print, allowing your brand to reach a wider demographic.

How Effective Are Billboards?

Billboards are highly effective as when they are situated in popular areas, they can build brand awareness and brand recognition.

You can see how successful your advertising strategies are by regularly checking your social growth and website traffic. These will indicate how your brand awareness has increased as a result of advertising.

If your target market is a younger audience, social media advertising may be your first thought when advertising. However, using billboards increases your reach as more people will be able to become familiar with your brand. Positioning the billboards in busy areas like shopping malls or highways will reach thousands of people every day.

promoting a startup business

To conclude, it is important to promote your startup business as this will help you to generate more interest and prevent your startup from failing.

Advertising is very important for making sure that you reach your target market, but you need to make sure that you advertise your startup effectively so that your brand awareness increases.

Using OOH advertising is vital for improving your brand recognition, and using billboards can help to reach a wider audience.

In highly populated areas, billboards can generate high levels of reach that will help your business succeed and grow.

How to Promote Your Business in the Community

Promoting your business is essential if your goal is to stand out from your competitors and gain brand recognition in the community. Therefore, it’s important to take advantage of promotion opportunities in your area that will generate more customers and help solidify a trusted brand-consumer relationship in your community. In today’s digital age, promotion opportunities are endless. Businesses can spread the word about their product through search engines, social media channels, online directories, or even go with the ever-so-trusted billboard. To reach your target audience, you must make your brand visible on multiple platforms. Here are some different ways how to promote your business in the community.

how to promote your local business

Out-of-Home Advertising (OOH)

The first step to promoting your business is to make it visible. What better way to do it than out-of-home advertising (OOH). Outdoor advertising techniques include street signage, flyers, street teams, promotional events, and the beloved billboard.

The most trusted and original forms of OOH advertising are billboards. Billboards work because they are eye-catching and one of the most trusted forms of advertising for consumers. The majority of Puerto Ricans live in urban areas, and the great thing about billboards is that they can target local high-traffic areas where customers can interact with your campaign.

Today, we are seeing billboards evolve, boasting endless advertising potential for business. Digital billboards continue to rise in popularity because it allows users to directly engage with the advertisement, creating a memorable experience that highlights the product/ service you are offering.

To ensure a successful billboard campaign, we have determined some best practices to help maximize your promotion:

  • Keep it simple
  • Use borders and cropping appropriately
  • Be intentional with colors and contrast
  • Leverage key locations and seasons
  • Be careful of fonts

Establish a Social Media Presence

There are 2.32 million social media users in Puerto Rico as of January 2021, equivalent to 81.6% of the total population. Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest are great marketing tools because of the ability to engage with existing customers while reaching out to new customers. As of December 2020, Facebook received 80.3% of all social media site visits in Puerto Rico. Facebook advertising is all about getting your message on the right news feeds using targeting options. Facebook allows you to advertise using images, videos, and even polls for interactivity.

Additionally, social media can be used as a marketing tool by creating brand-specific content. Social media has provided us with a range of posting formats such as images, short video stories, live sessions, tutorials, and more. Creating content for these platforms is an opportunity for business owners to engage with consumers while promoting a specific product, service, or event.

promote business with SEO

Take Advantage of Search Engines Like Google

Being visible on Google is great for your brand, it puts you directly in front of consumers seeking solutions. Creating and verifying your Google Business profiles allows your business to show up on Google Maps and caters results to the searcher’s current location. Creating a Google My Business account is free and once verified, you can optimize your listing to show up as a high-ranking result for relevant searches using a good SEO strategy.

Be Involved in the Community

If you’re wondering how to promote your business in the community, a good place to start is to be active and attentive in your community. Businesses can sometimes be involved in the community for the wrong reasons and they show. Be sincere, be genuine. Don’t push your business if it’s not relevant or actually helpful. In one way or another, your business will come up and your community will support it after they’ve seen and felt your support.

Being involved in the community involves giving back to it. Donating to a local charity will bring your business closer to locals by making it more approachable. Consumers are likely to support your business if you’re associated with a charity or cause close to them. You can give back to your community in several ways including:

  • Annual contribution to charity
  • Special promotions with a percentage of sales going to a cause
  • Donate products or services to local schools or community centers

5 star reviews

Get Online Customer Reviews

Set up profiles on platforms like Yelp and Tripadvisor to increase brand exposure. These platforms are used by locals and visitors when looking for local businesses. 92% of consumers purchase from a business after viewing it on Yelp. These platforms allow customers to leave reviews, making it easy for business owners to monitor and respond to any business inquiries. Make sure all business information, such as hours, phone number, address, and website are all accurate for potential customers.

Importance of a Good Marketing Strategy

A good marketing strategy is a blueprint that will determine how your message will reach out to your target audience. Your business might be making a profit, but to remain successful, you must consistently stay ahead of your competitors. The best way to ensure this is to have a good marketing strategy in place. Not only will good advertising give you an edge, but it can also give you insight into how your business is performing, allowing you to make the right business decisions.

Market research is crucial in creating your promotional strategy. Data and information collected from this research will allow you to develop your product or service to boost profit potential. It can also help you create a detailed organization plan, ensuring optimum utilization of resources to get the message in front of the target consumer.

How to Measure the ROI of Your Campaigns

Once you’ve learned how to promote your business in the community, it’s then important to know how to measure the effectiveness of your promotional efforts.

Marketing ROI involves attributing profit or revenue as a direct cause of marketing growth initiatives. To determine whether your advertising campaign is successful or not, there’s a straightforward formula you can use:

ROI = (Sales growth – organic sales growth – Marketing Cost) / Marketing Cost

Marketing costs include but are not limited to:

  • Overhead and internal expenses
  • Agency fees
  • Media buys
  • Creative costs

ROI helps determine budget allocation for ongoing and future ad campaigns. It’s important to consistently evaluate KPIs such as reach, frequency, and impressions so you can determine if your marketing efforts are benefiting business growth and help you allocate your budget accordingly.

Strategize with bMedia Group

If you’re looking for ways to promote your business within your community, reach out to bMedia Group. We are Puerto Rico’s leading experts in outdoor and billboard advertising. Our professionals can help you strategize, execute and maximize the effectiveness of your promotional campaign and market research.

Contact us today! We’ll guarantee your ads will be seen and remembered, helping you unlock unlimited business growth.