A guy named Justin McGill just published a list of 100 digital marketing tips for startups based off his experiences with digital marketing and starting a company.
I recently read his article and pulled a few of the tips I think would be the most effective use of someone’s time. As I have never been one to appreciate even the slightest of spammy sales techniques, you might notice the 15 tips I chose to highlight all have a humanistic touch to them. I think one thing digital marketers often forget, is sometimes it’s a good idea to simply be human.
The following 15 tips are from Justin McGill’s article “An Epic List of 100 Growth Hacks for Startups.”
Amazon Book Reviewing and Commenting
If there are books published in your niche on Amazon and you’ve read them, start reviewing them. If there aren’t any books…well then, write one!
Discounts to Influencers
Find influencers in your niche and offer them heavy discounts (or even a free account) in exchange for some promotion.
Upload Training Videos to Lynda
Upload your training videos to Lynda.com, an online collections of training videos.
(I would also suggest starting a Vimeo account and adding these training videos to your own resource page)
HARO
Use helpareporter.com for press opportunities.
(HARO – Help a Reporter Out – is designed to enable journalists to connect with people who have expertise or experience in particular issues, so that journalists can obtain valuable advice and quotes for stories they are covering.)
Here is a detailed article that explains How to Use HARO to earn Earn Valuable Mentions and Links
Discounts for Beta Testers
Give half off or some other deep lifetime discount to beta testers who helped you validate your model.
Handwritten Notes
Send handwritten letters to key accounts / influencers. Actual handwritten letters are extremely rare these days so you will stand out.
If you spend time reading blogs in your niche (you should!), leave thoughtful/relevant blog comments.
Use the website/url field to link to your app.
Bonus tip: In the “Name” field use ‘your name @ company’ for more brand awareness for those that don’t click the link.
Utilize an FAQ Page
Create a separate page on your website specifically for FAQ’s.
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Position questions around your key selling points.
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Monitor search queries to your site and build content specific to those queries.
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Make note of actual issues or questions your customers are having and address them to lessen support requests.
Ask Users to Take Pics w/Your Product
If you have some enthusiastic customers, ask them to take pictures with your product and have them share it on their social feeds.
You can then use this social proof on your website!
Make Signing Up Easy
Just require an email (that will be their username) and one password input initially. Don’t have them confirm the password, don’t ask for an email AND a username (email can be the username). Make it as quick and painless as possible.
Tweet or Mention New Users
Tag new users (or one’s with the biggest following if there are lots) in
Double Loop Referral Program
Dropbox made this technique popular by rewarding you with more storage when you refer someone, while at the same time giving that new referred user more storage as well.
tweets and on Google+ after they sign up and thank them for the signup.
In-App Sharing
Allow users to share milestone achievements or something they can be proud of and will want to share.
Downsell at Cancellation
When a user goes to cancel, offer to keep/store data or push them toward a lower tier instead.
If a user has been a customer for X number of months, offer a big discount (50% or so) to stay on their current plan. Make sure it’s understood this is a one-time offer and only because they met certain criteria.
Exit Survey
Make money from website visitors who leave by knowing why they left.
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Ask why they weren’t interested and what they were looking for.
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Use this data to improve your marketing and/or your app with the feedback.
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Let them know you can follow up with them in the future as the product evolves to meet their needs.
Annual Payments
Give customers the option to pay with annual payments. Reward them with X% off or # of months free. This gives you a large sum of cash upfront which can be put back into marketing.
If you think your startup could use some more help with digital marketing, contact The Clix Group.
