Having a hard time getting your startup business off the ground? Well, allow us to tell you this one thing: marketing matters!

Ask any experienced entrepreneur and they’ll readily tell you that effective marketing plays a massive role in helping startup businesses achieve lasting success. You may be offering the best product or service out there but without spreading the word about your business, attracting significant sales could be a real struggle. Regardless of your industry, you will need to master the art of finding – and then reaching – your intended audience.

One major thing to consider here, of course, is that the digital age has entirely changed the game compared to, say, 20 or 30 years ago. Nowadays, business owners need to be familiar with the tech and more creative in their digital marketing strategies in order to gain the attention of their potential clients.

Here are some common pitfalls you will want to avoid if you’re seriously aiming to grow your business and promote your brand better to your target market:

1. You don’t have a great website.

Guess what? One of the first things people will do when they hear about your business is to look it up online. If you don’t have a functional website, you immediately lose the opportunity to make a positive first impression.

These days, it’s crucial to have a site that represents your business in the digital sphere and probably functions as your 24/7 online store. Naturally, it should also be easy to navigate so as to encourage visitors to keep browsing. Plus the landing page shouldn’t take forever to load.

Unless that is the case, you really can’t expect much when it comes to ever converting your website’s organic traffic into actual sales.

At the end of the day, having a terrible website can actually do more harm than good for your business – so make sure you have a great one.

2. You’re not doing SEO the right way.

According to research, around 92% of internet users searching for information about businesses prefer to click links that are on the first page of local search results. You are definitely losing to your competitors if your website has a low ranking.

One way to resolve that is by engaging in white hat search engine optimization practices. For example, some worthwhile goals to pursue would be to gain quality backlinks from high-authority sources through guest posting, outreach, and other methods.

If you do not have the necessary skills and knowledge to get this done, you and your team could look up SEO tactics online so you can get started as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can hire industry experts who could do the task and deliver the results you want. 

With the best SEO techniques in place, you can boost your online presence, improve your brand’s credibility, expand your reach, and earn bigger revenue all at the same time.

3. You’re not utilizing social media to your advantage.

It’s not enough to simply create a social media page for your business. More than that, you want to keep it updated with fresh content and relevant information.

Startup business owners who fail to see the importance of taking full advantage of social media platforms will likely learn their lessons the hard way. As a 2020 report tells us, there were more than 3.6 billion social media users across the globe in that year alone. That figure is expected to climb to 4.4 billion by 2025.

You definitely want to have a space where customers can easily send inquiries about your products or services. Or leave you glowing reviews for all the world to see. Moreover, you want to make it easier for your fans to share your content with their contacts.

So yes, social media marketing is always an excellent idea. And the best thing is that this tool is usually free, making it a great way to advertise your business while engaging with your audience at the same time.  

4. You’re not performing competitor analysis.

You want to see what other companies are doing right to rise above the competition. Besides, you want to understand their strengths and their weaknesses. Think of this one as strategic spying!

Competitor analysis should be done for both your direct and indirect competitors, meaning businesses that are offering the same or similar solutions as your startup. You should regularly research what your rivals are doing, especially when it comes to handling their own digital marketing campaigns. Go check what keywords they’re ranking on and what you can do to catch up with them. Additionally, you can also target other strong keywords that may still not be on their lists.   

You’ll be better able to position your brand in the market plus you’ll easily recognize marketing opportunities and potential threats.

5. Completely ignoring negative feedback online.

While it’s always exciting to get positive reviews, you also need to deal with the reality of receiving negative ones.

It’s impossible to please everyone so you might as well expect to get negative feedback, sooner or later. What’s important, of course, is that you know how to handle such comments when you encounter them.

Entirely ignoring criticism is a big no-no, especially if they’re bringing up valid points. Other potential clients will likely be discouraged from buying your products or services if you are not addressing unfavorable feedback online. 

Be glad that people care enough to write about your business – and then use that to improve. Apologize and offer solutions, if necessary. Assure them you will do better and express your desire to serve them better next time.

As Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates once put it, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”

Conclusion

Business owners definitely need to be on top of their game when it comes to implementing marketing strategies on the web. There sure are a lot of opportunities online so if you’re trying to achieve real growth for your startup, it’s important to continue to evolve and not get stuck with traditional marketing techniques. 

With these 5 simple tips, you can experience business growth and success in no time!