Product Marketing Strategies Every Startup Should Adopt In 2019

Running a startup is a stressful job. It is one of the undeniable facts of the startup ecosystem. Apart from expenses to maintain the staff, miscellaneous office expenses and overhead costs, startups struggle every day to stay afloat and maintain the necessary cash flow required to continue their operations. As a result, it is no wonder that so many startups end up shutting shop within the first two to three years of inception.

According to an article by failory.com, 90% of all startups fail. These are depressing figures indeed. And this is in spite of the startups having products that cater to a relevant market need. However, all startups do not necessarily follow the same route to destruction.

One of the prime reasons why so many startups fail, and some of them despite having great products, is their lack of a proper product marketing strategy. In the chaotic process of trying to stay in business, most startup owners fail to address this one important factor that contributes the most to the success of any business.

How Proper Product Marketing Strategies Help Startups Succeed

In the hectic schedule of running a new business, the prime focus of all startup owners is on their day to day operations. While it is indeed true that a relevant product which solves a market need is absolutely essential for a startup to succeed, just having a product that no one really knows or cares about will not help.

Along with a great product, a well-thought-out marketing strategy is the one ingredient that can help make that distinction between soaring to new heights and fading into oblivion. This is where many startups take missteps by ignoring the need for a proper product marketing plan using digital marketing services.

In this article, we are going to explore some of the best product marketing strategies every startup should adopt and utilize in 2019.

Create A Needful Product

The heart and soul of any proper product marketing strategy has to be the product. While designing and creating the product, the prime focus should be on how the product solves some of the problems that are faced by the target audience.

Having a great product does not mean that it has all the features and capabilities available in the market. A well-designed product that focuses on the user and delivers solutions to specific user problems will always score better than a product that simply tries to incorporate all its features under the sun.

Create A Brand Story

When launching a new product, one of the most effective marketing strategies is to promote the product as a new brand that caters to the users’ needs. And use the product brand to tell a story. Just expostulating about the new features and uses of a product is often not enough to engage customers in a way that piques their interests. This is where storytelling comes into play.

Stories are embedded in the human psyche since time immemorial and can invoke powerful emotions that elicit action. Hence, turning a product marketing campaign into a story that resonates with the users is one of the certain ways to ensure the success of the product in question.

Focus On Organic

Digital marketing strategies become essential to improve a product’s organic visibility and ranking on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). According to an article by searchengineland.com, a good organic ranking helps to build a solid foundation for your product marketing. Sure, it requires time and diligent effort, but once you attain a good organic position it stays with you and provides valuable user flow that helps to increase the visibility of your product.

Utilize Affiliate And Influencer Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is another strategy that works very well for startups. By contacting prominent bloggers and influencers and getting them to promote the product is an effective way to generate interest. Influencers usually have large, loyal follower bases and by getting them to promote a product, startups can gain a sizeable chunk of customers in one go. Further, in affiliate marketing the business only has to pay when someone buys the product through the affiliate program; this makes it cost-effective as well.

Use The Power Of Social Media

The entire world is on social media nowadays; as a result, startups cannot afford to ignore this all-important channel to market their products. Harnessing the power of social media to generate interest in a product is one of the most efficient and effective marketing strategies that startups can utilize.

Further, a strong social media presence helps to build a loyal fan following which itself becomes a strong promoter of the product. This can be further enhanced by setting up referral programs and reward based incentives to encourage customers themselves to market the product. And as we all know, nothing is more powerful than word of mouth.

Build A Loyal Community

Another useful product marketing strategy for startups would be to target and develop relationships with the community that acts as the end-user for the product in question. This can be done through careful audience research, followed by community-building efforts through multiple channels, both online and offline.

Creating a community of dedicated followers can go a long way towards ensuring the long term success of the product and creating value in the market.

Think Outside The Box

Perhaps the most important strategy that startups should do well to remember in 2019 is that there is no substitute for creating thinking and innovative ideas. By creating new ways to market a product, startups can save on costs, while building a strong, loyal customer base at the same time.

Attending trade shows, organizing giveaways, utilizing print media and press conferences are all good ways to promote a new product. Startups should create new and catchy ideas for product marketing such as contests and exclusivity programs that pique user interest and generate buzz.

Final Words

In the world of startups the competition is cutthroat and the changes rapid. The only sure way to survive in this tough environment is to be innovative and apply on-the-feet thinking. When it comes to product marketing there is no one size fits all solution. But by using a combination of the techniques described above, startups can hope to create effective marketing campaigns for their products and achieve their desired goals.

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